1410 WIZM

A couple of long-time Oktoberfest volunteers get more royal treatment for this year's fest...

Bill Bush and Ardie Schock have been grenadiers, but they'll be parade marshals this fall. Bush will lead the Torchlight Parade the night of September 30th.

And Schock, who worked for 40 years at the Heileman and City Breweries, is marshal for the Maple Leaf Parade a week from Saturday.

You can blame the brewery for that offensive odor of effluvia in and around downtown La Crosse during the last several days. City water utility manager Mark Johnson tells us some sort of malfunction at City Brewery's pre-treatment plant overwhelmed that plant and then did the same to the city's nearby sewage treatment facility. The result: a really, really bad smell in the air over the week-end and one that continues in some respect today. Johnson says both his facility and the Brewery are working on the problem and making some progress.

It took days for a La Crosse woman to escape her imprisonment. Police say a 21 year-old was held captive by her boyfriend, 25 year-old Steven Parker for three days last week-end after Parker brutally beat her and wouldn't let her near a phone. Cops say the couple initially got into an argument over their infant daughter. Parker apparently beat the woman to the point where she was huddled on the floor, bleeding and crying in pain. They say he wouldn't let her leave the house. Even while cops walked outside during the Labor Day parade, the woman says was too afraid for her daughter to call for help. A week passed before the woman reported Parker. Police say she still looked pretty rough from the beating. Parker faces a number of charges.

Ever wish you could be magically transported back in time? To a simpler day and age. With maybe no cars. Wish granted. The city of La Crosse is holding a car free day for Pettibone Park this coming Sunday. The park will close to cars at seven in the morning and re-open at six that night. So eleven hours of a car-free park experience. Kind of an event, too, with bands playing, a fishing derby and some ultimate Frisbee. The goal: apparently just to give you a taste of Pettibone park without having to worry about traffic.