Wisconsin State Journal from Madison, Wisconsin • 9

Wisconsin State Journal Wednesday. September 4, 2002 A9 Ladysmith Continued from Page A1 f-r MADISON CITY BUDGET PROPOSAL Pools, fire services targeted in proposal -1 1 i 1 7- fie Associated Press photos An aerial view of Ladysmith early Tuesday shows train cars blown off the railroad tracks and the heavily damaged Davis Motel, foreground, after Monday's tornado. -5 -x i Ladysmith Mayor Marty Reynolds, a candidate for lieutenant governor, walks away from the debris outside his bed and breakfast Tuesday. Superior- Ladysmith i Eau Claire-f ''rOVJ chairs off the deck," she said. "I heard that roar.

It was so loud. I ran for the closet in my bedroom, but couldn't get the door open. I tried to run for the bathroom to get into the tub, but I couldn't get out that door either. Then I heard the windows cracking. The front wall caved in first Then the ceiling felL It took what felt like an eternity.

I just huddled there with my arms over my head. I thought I was going to die." When the twister passed, Roehl said, she came out of her shelter and saw sky where the walls and ceiling of her second-floor apartment had been. The closet no longer existed. The bathtub was filled with bricks. The living room floor sagged under the load that had been a wall and blocked the exit Fearing collapse, she raced to the bathroom now missing its outer wall, stood on the toilet and began shrieking.

"Some guy over in the Sears parking lot he's my knight in shining armor ran over and scaled the walL I don't know how," Roehl said. After helping her down, another stranger, Jason, drove her to the hospital and a girl named Amanda held her hand. "I was one of the first ones at the hospital," Roehl said. "It was chaos." Miraculously, no one died. In all, at least 40 were injured.

Thirty of those were treated at the Rusk County Memorial Hospital in Ladysmith, administrator Michael Shaw said. Two of the more seriously injured were flown to Luther Hospital in Eau Claire. There was only one working X-ray machine in Ladysmith because it was on emergency power. Others were sent to Lakeview Medical Center in Rice Lake and a family of five was sent to Hay-ward hospital Shaw said only two were still hospitalized in Ladysmith and were in fair condition. Most injuries were cuts and bruises, he said, with a few broken bones.

Ladysmith is about four hours north of Madison and 45 miles east of Rice Lake. Surrounded by pine forests, its streets straddle the wide, racing Flambeau River. The tornado an F3 on the Fujita Scale, with F5 causing the most damage swept through the city's eight-block business district and an additional nine blocks of homes on the south side of the river. The Labor Day twister is -likely to become a local legend The people who saw the damage will say the twister arbitrarily pummeled Ladysmith's downtown, leveling one building, leaving its neighbor. Residents stood side by side, one cussing luck, another thanking God.

"I just bought this business a year ago," a crying Tami Kraft, 37, kept repeating at 7 a.m. Tuesday as she surveyed a pile of bricks that had been the 100-year-old building housing Thriven Financial for Lutherans. "You don't know the work she's done in the place," whispered Dorothy Ruege, 68, a nearby homeowner. "She had all these beautiful antiques." Most were shocked by the devastation. "I just left here on Sunday, for God's sake," said U.S.

Rep. NrTTHJ Green Bay-' A fire station would be built on the far Northeast Side, and the feasibility of public pools studied. By Dean Mosiman City government reporter Despite tight finances, Madison Mayor Sue Bauman on Tuesday proposed more fire protection and the possibility of public swimming pools in the future. Bauman suggested building a fire station on the far Northeast Side the first additional station in more than 40 years buying land for another station on the far West Side and adding a seventh rescue unit in a $107.8 million capital budget for 2003. Bauman also proposed to study the feasibility of swimming pools, and to buy buses, fix streets and sidewalks, improve a library branch, complete a Southwest Bike Path link, and start the reconstruction of State Street There is also money to add high-tech equipment to police cars, boost electronic government and continue the redevelopment of the Lake Point Drive-West Broadway Neighborhood.

The budget presents an "affordable" and "workable" spending blueprint for next year and the future, Bauman said The proposed budget was unveiled at a press conference at the new fire station site off Nelson Road on the far Northeast Side and presented to the City Council on Tuesday evening. The council will vote on it later this year. The budget would require borrowing $31.2 million next year, with the remainder coming from outside sources. The borrowing is about $4.5 million more than the current year. The total budget is $12.6 million more than 2002, mostly due to fluctuations in federal and outside money.

The mayor's proposal also anticipates more fire and police stations, library space, parking garages and a lot of street reconstruction in the next five years. "We're really playing catchup," City Council President Matt Sloan said. We're going to be doing that for a number of years." Assistant Fire Chief George Burke and firefighters union president Joe Conway Jr. applauded the budget as a late but needed move to help the city gain its unmet target of five-minute response 90 percent of the time. "We should have done it four years ago," Burke said.

"(But) there are significant budget issues." The Fire Department will continue to push for more stations in coming years, Burke said. And that means policy makers may be choosing between firefighters or water slides if the city seeks to minimize borrowing and keep its prized AAA bond rating. Budget highlights Highlights of Mayor Sue Bauman's proposed $107.8 million capital budget for 2003. (Sums reflect city and outside funding sources). 4 Fire.

$3.9 million, including $3.3 million to build and equip Fire Station 1 1 on the far Northeast Side and buy land for Station 1 2 on the far West Side, and $130,000 for a new rescue unit Future: Buy land for 13th station in 2004 and build 12th station in 2006. Police. $1.2 million, including $1 million to add mobile computing equipment to all squad cars. Future: Buy land and build new East District station in 2004-05, and redo Central District in 2008. 4 State Street-Capitol Square.

$3.2 million, including money to start State Street reconstruction, buy new bus shelters and replace fountains and planters on part of Capitol Square. Future: Continue rebuilding State Street and side streets through 2008. Major streets. $33 million, including $1.7 million to rebuild West Broadway from Fayette Avenue to Bridge Road; $6 million to rebuild West Johnson Street from Campus Drive to State Street; $4.2 million to rebuild McKee Road from Maple Grove Road to Nesbitt Road; $2 million to rebuild Old Sauk Road from Heartland Trail to Prairie Trail; and $770,000 to start multiyear reconstruction of East Washington Avenue. Engineering.

$3.8 million, including $200,000 to connect Southwest Bike Path with lakeshore. 4 Library. $25,000 to finish improvements at the Meadowridge Branch. Future: Buy land for new East Side and far Southwest Side branches and improve Sequoia branch in 2004. Build East Side branch in 2008.

4 Parks. $2 million, including 1 0,000 to study possible municipal swimming pools. Future: Renovate Breese Stevens Stadium in 2004 and build new Franklin Field facility in 2005. 4 Madison Metro: $13.4 million, including $4 million to replace 90 buses in six years, $7.1 million to buy equipment and software, and $500,000 for a park-and-ride site on Aberg Avenue. 4 Parking.

$2.7 million, including $1.7 million for mid-State Street parking garage to be built in 2004. Future: Build West Washington Avenue parking garage in 2004-05, and Madison Municipal Building parking garage in 2007-08. 4 E-government $23,000 to let City Council members access the city network from council chambers. $200,000 for software to let council members, staff and the public track pending or adopted legislation. 4 Planning and development $10.7 million, including $880,000 for the next phase of the West Broadway Neighborhood Improvement Plan.

I. I Milwaukee Warning Continued from Page Al defense back in the 1950s, Getter said. And finding parts for them is difficult The sirens can be destroyed by the very thing they are designed to warn against Although many of them have backup batteries, some don't said Craig Mathews, vice president of Jefferson Fire and Safety, a Middleton company that sells warning systems, When a tornado hit the village of Siren last June, for example, the community's warning system was inoperable, knocked out by lightning several weeks earlier. Finally, Getter said, sirens are not designed to warn people who are inside their homes. They are meant to alert those who are outside.

"People have to realize what they're for," Getter said. "They're for outdoors. You're not going to hear them if you are in your basement watching television I think people rely too heavily on them." The sirens, Getter said, should be viewed as one of several early warning systems that together can protect against sudden severe weather. A better option, according to Mathews, might be weather radios, which can be purchased for as little as $25 and will alert listeners to approaching severe weather. Monday, the National Weather Service issued several alerts about the unsettled weather and the potential for tornadoes, and anyone listening would have heard them.

Getter said Doppler radar, which can show advancing storms in great detail and allow meteorologists to accurately predict their movements, has made television and radio reliable tools to warn of approaching storms or tornadoes. In addition to using all of these warning systems, Getter said, people need to simply be more aware of the weather. And be prepared with flashlights and radios as well as extra batteries, in case of an emergency. "People need to take their personal protection into their own hands," Getter said. "You need to be aware." brigadier general and commander of the Army National Guard, viewed the damage from a helicopter and on foot McCallum pledged $1.5 million in low-interest loans to homeowners.

He promised an additional $1 million in loans to help small businesses rebuild. "We're going to provide the resources necessary to get this community back on its feet," he said. The community is already getting a lot of help. About 500 people showed up Tuesday to help the residents clean up. And law enforcement from northern Wisconsin rolled into town.

Five Siren police officers, including Chief Dean Roland, were among them. Ladysmith and Rusk County officers helped out in Siren when a tornado swept through that community in June 2001. Starring today and through Friday, the National Guard will help clear debris. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will come to town this afternoon to begin assessing the damage to help determine what, if any, financial help president Bush will give to the area. Many need the money, but there are possessions that can never be replaced.

Roehl said she is lucky. She lost irreplaceable photos of her late mother and grandmother. But when she came back to what was left of her apartment Tuesday morning, 16 stitches in her upper arm, she found her purse, a charm bracelet that belonged to her mother, and a ring and guardian angel pin that belonged to her grandmother. And she was alive. "I'm just happy to be here." WSJ graphic David Obey, D-Wausau.

"It's horrific. The town is in shambles." The white clapboard Baptist church a block to the north on Lake Avenue is gone. So is the steel water tower that dropped like a water balloon in the storm, dousing the remodeled Carnegie Hall bed and breakfast next to it Pat Reynolds wife of the city's mayor, Marty Reynolds (a state representative and Libertarian candidate for lieutenant governor) stood in the meticulously decorated building, unsure of where to start The people of Ladysmith will also remember the good fortune that brought the twister to town on a holiday. Many people were away. Others were relaxing at home, away from the downtown.

Any other Monday, said Ladysmim Police Chief Norm Rozak, this would have taken a human toll What scared people most was the lack of warning. Rusk County Sheriff Dean Meyer said he was notified at his home that there was a storm warning. Eight minutes laterhe heard that a tornado had been spotted on the ground near the Hardee's in town. Gov. Scott McCallum, accompanied by Al Wilkening, Wisconsin National Guard adjutant general, and Kerry Denson, LOCAL REACTION Money managers say to focus on long-term goals plenty of bad news for investors to digest: overseas markets were down, a report by the Institute for Supply Management showed flat growth during August, concern continued about the objectivity of analysts, there was more talk of war with Iraq, and investors are fearful of the approaching anniversary of the Sept.

11 terrorist attacks. But Knapp said that trading volume was about average. "There wasn't a big panic sell-off. There wasn't this big rush to the exits," Knapp said. "Continue to focus on the By Paul Johnson Assistant business editor Although the major stock indexes each fell about 4 percent on Tuesday, two Madison money managers cautioned investors to keep their focus on their long-term goals.

"One day's trading activity has very little predictive value," said Scott Knapp, an investment officer at Members Capital Advisors, the investment affiliate of CUNA Mutual Group. Knapp said that there was while, the yield on two-year notes fell to 1.98 percent Bond prices rise as yields fall, meaning that investors are paying more for lower yields. Holt-Smith said that the bidding up of bond prices indicates that "There's cash out there that's leaving the market and going into bonds." Holt-Smith said that investors with less than a three- to five-year time horizon shouldn't be buying into the stock market. Instead, she said, they might consider rebalancing their portfolios, or even refinancing their homes. long term," he said.

"Make sure your portfolio matches your risk tolerance and time horizon." Hidden behind the hoopla about stocks is what is happening in the bond market Marilyn Holt-Smith, managing director at Holt-Smith Yates Advisors, said that yields on Treasury notes are the lowest since the early 1960s. The yield on 10-year notes fell to 3.97 percent on Tuesday. The last time it was that low was May 31, 1963, according to The Bond Market Association, an industry group. Mean Market Continued from Page A1 Management "There's doubt about the economic recovery, and there's not much confidence that corporate profits will recover in any meaningful way." The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 355.45 points, or 4.1 percent, to close at 8308.05, which leaves the index of 30 blue-chip stocks down 17.1 percent this year. The much broader Standard Poor's 500 index gave up 38.05 points, or 4.2 percent to close at 878.02 and a year-to-date loss of 23.5 percent The Nasdaq composite index was off 51.01 points, or 3.9 percent, to close at 1263.84, leaving the tech-heavy index down 35 percent for the year.

This bear market, which began in March 2000, has lopped off 75 percent of the value of the once highflying Nasdaq. "The market is in a major defensive position, and insurance companies, pensions and mutual funds have no particular incentive to jump in, said Larry Wachtel, market analyst at Prudential Securities. The market was in a foul mood even before trading began Tuesday because Japan's Nikkei index slid to a 19-year low, dropping about 3 percent Then, shortly after the opening bell, an industry report showed that U.S. manufacturing activity was little changed in August Another report showed that layoff notices increased in August company's chief executive officer. "We had hoped that down-sizing would diminish." So far this year, 934,560 job cuts have been announced, which is on track to be the second-largest year of job cuts since the survey was started in 1989.

Challenger said the biggest surprise in the August number was the 23,000 layoff announcements in the retail sector with the holiday season approaching. On top of all that September is historically the worst month in the market Since 1950, the 500 has been down an average of 0.5 percent in the month. In September 2001, the dropped 8.2 percent and in 2000, it was down 5.3 percent Brian Sayers, manager of the Dallas office of CIBC Oppen-heimer said he wouldn't be surprised if the market revisited the bear market low of July 23. On that day the Dow closed at 7702.34, a 34 percent drop from its all-time high of 11722.98. The consensus among market analysts was that the day marked the bottom of the bear market Many had hoped that the August rally, which saw the rise almost 6 percent, was the beginning of the end for the worst bear market in 60 years.

But a few more days like Tuesday, and the market will soon breach the low of July 23. "We are really in for some volatile times here," Sayers said. "Most likely the market will at best go sideways until we get some clarity on the economy." dieted that Intel the semiconductor bellwether, would trim its third-quarter revenue expectations when it meets with analysts later this week. Intel shares dropped from $16.67 to $15.86, a 4.9 percent decline. An analyst at Prudential Securities cut his rating on Citigroup, the nation's largest financial services company, to a "sell," citing losses he predicts related to Enron lawsuits, exposure to Latin America and consumer loans.

Citigroup shares dropped from $32.75 to $29.39, a 10.2 percent decline. The Dow opened lower and basically never recovered. "This shows that the economy is stagnant," said William Barker, investment strategist at RBC Daln Rauscher in Dallas. "And if the economy is stumbling, earnings estimates will have to come down." Earnings growth has been generally disappointing this year, and the prospects for the stock market will remain suspect until profits improve, market experts said. Among the companies in the 500, earnings fell 11.5 percent in the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago, accord- Negative news was also forecast for Ford Motor Co.

because of its falling market share and signs that Ford's underfunded pension fund would be a drag on earnings in the future. And Morgan Stanley downgraded investment bank giant Goldman Sachs. A report on corporate layoffs from job-placement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas added more fuel to the fire. It announced that layoff notices climbed from 81,000 in July to 114,000 In August "This is another sign of the doldrums that the economy is in," said John Challenger, the ing to Thomson First Call In the second quarter, earnings growth turned slighdy positive, moving up 1.1 percent First Call estimates that earnings will grow about 11.2 percent in the third quarter. Although that might sound robust, the estimate was for a 17 percent uptick at one point earlier this year.

"If we end up with third-quarter earnings growth of 7 to 8 percent, the market is going to be disappointed," Barker said. "And we could see a lot of earnings warnings this month." In fact, on Tuesday, a Lehman Brothers Inc. analyst pre- I.