Yesterday in la Crosse
- Do you recall the school busing battle of the early 90’s? June 13, 2025WIZMnews.com The 1991-92 academic year was one of the most chaotic in the La Crosse school system, with school leaders and citizens arguing for most of the year about busing plans and socio-economic balance, and leading to attempts to recall six of the nine school board members. The proposal in La Crosse to equalize kids […]
- Sing us a song, Piano Man, if you can: Shows that didn’t happen in La Crosse June 6, 2025WIZMnews.com Remember when Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen did concerts in La Crosse, at the old Sawyer Auditorium? If you don’t remember, it’s because the scheduled shows didn’t actually happen. Fifty years ago, in the summer of 1975, the Tribune reported on music stars who were supposed to perform at the old auditorium, but cancelled […]
- If you didn’t go to the beach, where else was there to swim? Checking out favorite pools in La Crosse May 30, 2025WIZMnews.com The city has had a variety of swimming spots over the years, besides popular beaches like Pettibone and Black River. Memorial Pool on Campbell Road, at the UWL campus, was originally built in 1938 as the city’s first official outdoor pool. The cost of construction was just over $70,000. That pool operated until 2016, […]
- How have we observed Memorial Day? With parades, and ceremonies, and sometimes by shoveling snow May 23, 2025WIZMnews.com Memorial Day activities around the La Crosse area generally include parades, and ceremonies in local parks and cemeteries, along with many family picnics and cookouts. The traditions for the day include solemn ceremonies at sites including Oak Grove Cemetery. In 1913, members of the Grand Army of the Republic, veterans of the Civil War […]
- Out with the old, in with the new, La Crosse in the 1970s May 10, 2025WIZMnews.com The 1960s and 70s were a time of urban renewal for downtown La Crosse, especially for government buildings. You can still find business buildings over a century old in the downtown area, but some long-standing landmarks didn’t make it to the 80s. The La Crosse County Courthouse was among the earliest to be replaced. […]
- Remembering 1965, when the Mississippi River recorded its largest flood in La Crosse April 25, 2025WIZMnews.com In early April of 1965, the Mississippi River was rising quickly. The water had reached the flood stage of 12 feet in La Crosse by April 9, and forecasters expected the flood level of 15 feet set in 1952 to be beaten by a couple of feet. The city of La Crosse ordered 15,000 […]
- To Tell the Truth, it was like January during one April, 52 years ago in La Crosse April 18, 2025WIZMnews.com On April 8th and 9th of 1973, La Crosse saw one of its biggest snowstorms on record to that time. The 16-inch total easily beat the previous record for April snow in the city, set 21 years earlier. Only two other storms delivered more snow to La Crosse…in 1959 and 1971. The total of […]
- Springtime, must be candidate season in the Coulee Region April 12, 2025WIZMnews.com The La Crosse area has elections every April, but there’s only a race for president every four years. The 1976 primary campaign, in which Gerald Ford was the incumbent, brought the leading candidates to La Crosse during a two-week period. Ford led a Saturday night rally at the Sawyer Auditorium downtown, less than a […]
- When the Catbirds and Bobcats ruled downtown La Crosse April 3, 2025WIZMnews.com La Crosse basketball fans all remember the names Stephen Jackson, Mark Davis, Vince “The Prince” Hamilton and Flip Saunders. They were part of the show that were the La Crosse Catbirds and Bobcats in the 1980s and 1990s at the La Crosse Center in the heyday of the CBA (Continental Basketball Association). The Center […]
- Three courthouses in less than 40 years…it’s been known to happen, Yesterday in La Crosse March 21, 2025WIZMnews.com Some counties in Wisconsin have used the same courthouse for a century or more. For example, Vernon County has used the same building in Viroqua for its court system since the 1880’s. In La Crosse County, however, there have been three courthouses occupied over the last 70 years, as the county updates its facilities […]