A referendum on Dick Swantz? That was school board politics, 40 years ago

In February of 1980, La Crosse School Superintendent Dick Swantz got his contract renewed–narrowly, by a 5-to-4 vote of the school board.  Swantz had been in La Crosse only three years, arriving the same summer that five school board members were recalled for firing the principal of Longfellow Junior High.  Candidates for the board in the 1980 election found themselves taking sides on some of Swantz’s policies, including school closings and a shift of the border line to determine whether high school students would attend Central or Logan.   

A Twin Cities company was proposing a downtown mall for La Crosse, to compete with Valley View Mall being built on Highway 16.  One suggested location for the downtown mall was just north of Montgomery Ward, on the land where the county courthouse is located now. 

Boyer’s Furniture on Main Street was having a “quitting business” sale, selling out to the “bare walls.”  Eventually, Boyer’s set up shop in a new location, on South Avenue.   

Storms in southern California were causing mudslides and flooding, even at the homes of the rich and famous.  Johnny Carson’s basement was flooded, and Andy Griffith fell off the roof of his house and hurt his back.   

On TV, “Saturday Night Live” was being hosted that winter by Teri Garr, Rodney Dangerfield, and Kirk Douglas.  The U.S.A. was hosting the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, and was winning at ice hockey.   The U.S. men’s hockey team beat the Soviets in the “Miracle on Ice” game, and defeated Finland for the Olympic gold in 1980, yesterday in La Crosse.