Ray Bice was concerned about vice, 33 years ago

In 1987, retired State Senator Ray Bice of La Crosse spoke out about gambling as a guest on the local public radio show “Newsmakers.”  Bice and a minister for the Wisconsin Conference on Churches discussed efforts to bring dog racing and a lottery to the Badger State.  Although Bice said he didn’t think bingo was especially harmful, he remembers lawmakers back in the 1940’s opposing bingo, to keep the gambling industry out of Wisconsin.  And he didn’t think voters were ready for a statewide referendum in ’87 aimed at allowing gambling to expand in the state.  

The incumbent State Senator for La Crosse in ’87, Brian Rude, spoke out in favor of wearing seat belts, but he didn’t want the Senate to make seat belt use mandatory.  Rude was bothered by an auto industry push to avoid installing air bags in cars, and he worried about similar attempts at government mandates–for example, passing laws to regulate safety at swimming pools.  

On local stages, the La Crosse Community Theatre was presenting the Larry Shue comedy “The Foreigner” that winter.  UW-La Crosse put on “Romeo and Juliet” in March, and that same month, Central High School students performed a famous musical variation on “Romeo and Juliet.”  They did “West Side Story,” in 1987, yesterday in La Crosse.