Yesterday in La Crosse

Sit-in at a library, 32 years ago

Published

6 years ago

October 16, 2018

A couple hundred students at UW-La Crosse staged a protest on a Saturday afternoon in late 1986 in the Murphy Library. They wouldn’t leave at closing time, protesting changes in the library’s hourse which they said were unfair to students. The university said reduced hours were needed to save money for computerizing the library, which still used card catalogs. The library’s director of instructional services, Dale Montgomery, told the students that he hadn’t been to a sit-in for a number of years.

The sheriff’s race took a long time to settle after the election was over. Incumbent La Crosse County Sheriff Sylvia Boma and challenger Karl “Butch” Halverson had a tight race in the fall of ’86. County workers went through a long recount, and Halverson eventually was named the winner shortly before Christmas.

The biggest hit movie of the fall of ’86 was “Crocodile Dundee.” The fourth “Star Trek” movie and “Stand By Me” also reached #1 in 1986, yesterday in La Crosse.

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.