Yesterday in La Crosse
Looking for a new DA, 35 years ago
In the spring election of 1983, La Crosse County voters chose District Attorney Michael Mulroy to succeed retiring Judge Eugene Toepel. Mulroy defeated Maureen Kinney in the April balloting, after six years as DA. Several potential DA candidates were mentioned in the media…including Roger Le Grand, Helen Kelly, Beverly Fleishman, and Robert Wells. Mulroy’s personal choice was Wells, already an assistant prosecutor. Le Grand was appointed district attorney, and years later, he would also serve as a county judge.
Three La Crosse city council members lost their elections that April, but they still got to keep their seats for another two years. Lee Foley, Keith Ellison, and John McConaughey were allowed to keep serving through the winter of 1985, because a downsizing of the council from 21 seats to 18 would not take effect until ’85.
She was billed as “450 pounds of fun.” Funny Fanny Farkle, the “big mama of burlesque,” was appearing at Viner’s Pub north of Onalaska…35 years ago, 1983, yesterday in La Crosse.
