Advertisement So when La Crosse County found a place on Cameron Avenue to house female jail inmates, neighbors weren’t altogether thrilled. They’ll likely make themselves heard at a neighborhood meeting with county officials at 6 p.m. Monday at Aquinas High School’s theater.
While one county board member described the women who would live there as “not scary or dangerous,” some of the visitors at www.lacrosse
tribune.com begged to differ. Here’s a sample of comments they attached to a story about the issue:
Paladin wrote: “I’ve stayed in contact with a family member who is incarcerated in the women’s jail. They already have it pretty darn easy there, being permitted to sleep, lounge and read all day long with no responsibilities. Most of them are multiple-repeat offenders. ... These people need jail, not a halfway house. I would not want to live next to them. They are not good people; most of them are very bad people.”
love lax wrote: “... Let’s continue to coddle these women, who really aren’t criminals, but only had a ‘hard life’ and only commit crimes because of men.”
Nattybug wrote: “I also attended the meeting last night. I had no idea that the county could just do that to a neighborhood without getting our input, and I had no idea how many bright, articulate, wonderful neighbors I have. It was a real eye-opener to me, and I do feel blind-sided by the county. It’s not that I’m afraid of the women who would be in the program or that they don’t deserve a program like this. I just think my neighborhood has done enough for La Crosse County, and they should be looking elsewhere instead of adding more on our shoulders.”
Seriously Now wrote: “I would not be so concerned about these women as I would about their boy-friends, associates and others who will want to visit them. What provisions are made for that? I’ve seen shelters for abused women that have to be like fortresses to keep the creeps out.”
Don’t threaten our marsh
When a visitor at www.lacrossetribune.com suggested draining, filling and paving the marsh to make more room for the city of La Crosse, the marsh lovers jumped to its defense.
Here’s some of the exchange attached to a story about high water closing trails in the
La Crosse River marsh:
GOD_HIMSELF wrote: “Where are all the geniuses who thought it was a good idea to fill the marsh in and build businesses and homes on it now? There is a reason the marsh is there, and this is evidence of why it needs to be left alone.”
Honestly wrote: “Bulldoze it, and make more area for businesses so the community can survive. Why would you want slow standing water. Put a drainage system in to move the water out quicker. We can all live with fewer mosquitoes. We don’t need a swamp in our city. Push our problems downstream.”
rfield wrote: “Re: Honestly — Have you seen our storm drainage system? It can’t handle a light rain! If it weren’t for the marsh, La Crosse would have been under water, too.”
kay27 wrote: “I grew up a block from the marsh right off the UW-L campus. I’ve seen how high the water gets in there during extremely rainy years. Just imagine what would happen with all that water if it had no where to go. It would be destroying houses along the rivers. Honestly, you are truly stupid if you think the marsh should be developed.”
Honestly wrote: “Did I stutter? I said ‘proper drainage.’ There is a lot more to proper drainage then just forcing water elsewhere. Please tell me you all aren’t that stupid. Please let me know how actual cities that are concrete jungles don’t get flooded with every heavy rain? Proper drainage. It is about hydraulics and detention systems, all of which is very realistic, if the crockpot citizens and engineers of this community would take a moment and look into it. Fill can always be added and holes can always be dug (detention ponds).”
Willie wrote: “No drainage system can match the merits of a marsh in the ability to retain or ‘detain’ water in the deluge of rain the area has experienced. Besides, you are still advocating forcing the water into retention ponds. What happens when they fill up? Look at Mason City or Iowa City: That is what happens when storm sewer and other flood prevention infrastructure fails. Thank God for the marshes. If La Crosse is so worried about adding area, why doesn’t it build UP? I guess they are afraid of earthquakes.”
By the numbers
Lurch was the favorite pop culture butler by a whisker over Mr. French.
That was the result of one of the recent online polls at www.lacrossetribune.com: 20 percent of respondents (287 of 1,487) picked Lurch of “Addams Family” fame over Mr. French from “Family Affair” and Geoffrey of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” who each garnered 19 percent of the vote. Two others cracked double figures: Alfred of “Batman” and “Mr. Belvedere” at 11 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
You may reach Marc Wehrs at mwehrs@lacrossetribune.com or (608) 791-8218.
