The La Crosse Tribune from La Crosse, Wisconsin • 17

SECTION Hometown Hometown: 791-8235791-8231 La Crosse Tribune Thursday, October 24, 1996 Insido 1st District: Candidates take Off gloves in debate C-8 are still in a strong financial position. But we could not take another hit like this in the future. Also opposing the budget recommendation was Donald Bina. Roger Plesha, Donald Hammes and Joe Przywojski favored it. Member Steve Doyle left before the vote was taken, and Shirley Holman was absent.

Seubert said the good news is that the equalized property value in the county is $3.4 billion, a 9.6 percent increase from last year. That higher value pushes By BILL WHITE Of the Tribune staff The proposed 1997 budget going to the La Crosse County Board next month has nearly $1 million more in expenses than this years budget. It does not have the overwhelming support of the boards Finance and Personnel Committee. After the committees fourth eview session Wednesday, the anel voted 3 to 2 to pass on a rndget that would increase the down the mill rate for county expenses to $3.67 per $1,000 of assessed value, compared with $3.92 this year, he said. He said the taxes on a property valued at $70,000 would be $256.90, based on the proposed budget, down from $274.40 for the same property this year.

The board has scheduled a public hearing on the budget for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, and then will begin final deliberations on the document in what could be a three-day annual meeting. The committee added $639,567 county tax levy by 8.2 percent well above the boards goal of a 2.7 percent increase to $12.5 million. The committee was able to hold the levy at that level by pulling $1.4 million from its undesignated balance in the general fund and $375,000 from the Human Services Departments undesignated funds, finance director Gerald Seubert said.

We wont have this ability in the future, said committee chairman Ralph Geary, who voted against the proposal. We in expenses to the budget recommendation submitted by administrative coordinator Paul Webber, who tried to keep the spending increase to the boards goal that was based on the estimated hike in the cost of living. No significant county programs were cut. The committee boosted expenditures to $11,648,487 compared with $10,640,468 in the 19 budget and $11,008,920 recommended by Webber. The tax levy is $12,476,034 for 1997, compared with $11,525,285 this year.

Webber said he knew the boards 2.7 percent increase could not be held because of requirements in opening the new law enforcement center and other departments needing additional people. At some point the county board is going to have to make some tough decisions as other funding sources dry up, he said. The solution is not going to be more staff on the part of the county board or more pay for the staff that has previously been paid for by out-of-county funds. Steamy Day Harsdorf calls Kinds latest commercials shameful distortions By TERRY RINDFLEISCH Of the Tribune staff It was Jim Harsdorfs turn to attack Ron Kinds advertising Wednesday. Harsdorf, the Republican candidate for the 3rd Congressional District, called his opponents latest ads shameful distortions and asked the Democrat to talk about the issues.

Kind is trying to distract voters, Harsdorf said, adding that his opponents campaign is devoid of issues. Kinds campaign started running new television and radio commercials Tuesday saying Harsdorf supports the agenda of Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey. The commercial says: You decide. Ron Kind has a balanced budget plan that protects student loans and senior citizens. And Ron Kind supports welfare reform.

Jim Harsdorf said he supports Dick Armey and Newt Gingrichs agenda 100 percent. They plan to cut student loans and cut back Medicare $270 billion. And Harsdorf voted to let profitable corporations avoid paying even a minimum state tax. Whos on your side? Ron Kind. Its time to take care of our own.

In the race, Kind has linked Harsdorf to Republican leaders and their Contract with America. Kind said Harsdorf brought Armey to a fund-raising dinner earlier this year and Gingrich has given Harsdorf $5,000 from his Monday Morning Political Action Committee. Kind cited Harsdorfs campaign fund-raising letter, which quoted the Republican saying: And I want to go to Washington to make certain that we keep moving forward with the type of reforms that Dick Armey and so many of his loyal troops envisioned in the Contract with America. When he was asked Wednesday if he would go to Washington and carry out the agenda of Gingrich and Armey, Harsdorf said, Absolutely not. Harsdorf, a dairy farmer, said there is no one more independent than a dairy farmer.

Ive got a record and Ive been very independent as a Steam rises off the hot asphalt as Fred Berg of Mathey Construction smooths a patch while repairing Wednesdays rainy afternoon. The weather is expected to improve today with partly sunny skies and HIV-positive speaker lectures I'm dying. But Im here in front of you with a smile on my lace because of one thing hope. Stove Sawyer, hemophiliac who contracted HIV Tipper Gore visit EAU CLAIRE: Tipper Gore, the wife of Vice President Al Gore, will visit a Head Start center in Eau Claire today with Democratic 3rd Congressional District candidate Ron Kind. Gore will participate in a roundtable discussion on Head Start at 8 am.

at Lowes Creek Early Learning Center. She has traveled around the country talking about key education initiatives such as Head Start and supporting literacy programs, Hope Scholarships for college students and a tax deduction for college tuition for up to $10,000. Her visit to Eau Claire is part of a two-day trip in Wisconsin. She was scheduled to travel to Green Bay and Milwaukee later in the day. Vice President Gore is in Madison today to speak to the Wisconsin Education Association Councils annual convention.

Republican elected in a Democratic area, he said. I have proven my independence while serving in office. Harsdorf said he has stood up to his party and its leadership from time to time. I have disagreements with my party, he said. Michael Fahey, Kinds campaign manager, said the ad was based on Harsdorfs words and actions.

Harsdorf said he supports student loans and is against cutting the Medicare program. But Fahey said the ad refers to the Republican leaderships attempt to cut student loans and Medicare. The ad distorts my commitment to Medicare and Social Security, Harsdorf said. Harsdorf said he thought he voted against corporations paying a minimum tax in a budget bill while he was in the state Legislature. But the bill also increased funds for education and provided some property tax relief, he said.

This race is about the 3rd District, and if Ron Kind wants to run against Gingrich and Armey, he should move to Georgia and Texas, Harsdorf said. I think we need a professional in there to run county government, he said. But I think we have that in the county administrative coordinator. (County government) should be like any good industry or factory. They do not go out and elect somebody to run their company.

Their board elects, and thats what we have here. The county board determines who is going to be the administrative coordinator. He is concerned, Ehrsam said, that electing a county executive could result in just a popularity contest. With an administrative coordinator, if he doesnt work out, you can fire him, he said You cannot fire an executive. Keil agreed with Ehrsams position, noting that an elected county executive would diminish the power of the county board.

See LA CROSSE, 5 By JACI GARDELL Of the Tribune staff A message of hope came special delivery Wednesday night to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. It was delivered by 21-year-old Steve Sawyer. Sawyer is a who contracted HIV from an infected blood supply between 1980 and 1983. He brought his message of hope, JToo Young to Die, to more than 1,000 students at the Valhalla room in the Cartwright Center on campus. Campus Crusade for Christ sponsored the event.

Im dying, Sawyer said. But Im here in front of you with a smile on my face because of one thing hope. Sawyers message had three parts: That the vast majority of circumstances in our lives are beyond our control; that for the most part those circumstances control our behavior instead of the other way around and that i you can have hope in any circumstance. is because he has hope. Sawyer said he didnt know he was HIV positive until he was 17, when his health deteriorated to the point that doctors gave him only months to live.

My initial reaction was to try to deny it, Sawyer said. But eventually you must face the problem, or it will explode on you. For Sawyer, it exploded into rage. He said he often punched walls until his knuckles were bloody and treated his family one day his father interrupted one of his tirades. My father told me that there was only one person who could help me God, he said.

So, even though most of my anger was directed at God, I still knelt down and asked for his help. Erik Daily of the Tribune staff a section of Larson Street during temperatures in the mid 50s. on hope Shortly after that, Sawyer said he experienced a remarkable recovery. At the time he chalked it up to coincidence, but he said he doesnt believe that now. The definition of coincidence is God deciding to remain anonymous, Sawyer said.

But his recovery wasnt enough to give him hope. Sawyer graduated from high school and went off to college in Boston. His health remained fine, and he found a roommate, Brent, who was a Christian. Sawyer went to some meetings with Brent but didnt join. Then I went on a trip to Daytona Beach with this group of people like Brent, and it was there that I found hope, Sawyer said.

It came in the form of a prayer that made Sawyer realize that when you let circumstances control your life, instead of the other way around, hopelessness is easy. But when you put your faith in a higher power, he said, any circumstance suddenly looks insignificant by comparison. Even terminal illness. cy Actwmtan of th Tribun staff League of Women Voters examines future of La Crosso County government at meeting Snack Time Man chargod with harboring, aiding suspoctod cat burglar He illustrated his points with a story. There was a college professor who was conducting an experiment with his class, Sawyer said.

He put a rat in a bowl filled with water. The rat swam around once or twice but then slipped under water and drowned. The professor took that rat out and put a second one in the bowl. This rat began to swim around, but just as he was going under, the professor lifted him out of the bowl and gave him a breath of air. Then he put the rat back in the bowl, and it swam around and around.

The class ended, and, when they came back the next day, the rat was still swimming. Do you know the professor asked the class. It police officers. The complaint against Nordahl in Monroe County said he stole expensive antiques, porcelain items and sterling silver from affluent families. Filer is accused in La Crosse of renting a room at the Exel Inn, 2150 Rose for himself and Nordahl.

The complaint said he was recognized on a surveillance video as the person who came into the room and registered in his own name for two adults. Three keys were given to Filer, the complaint said, and one was found in Nordahls possession when he was arrested. A Ford Explorer, registered to Nordahl, who was using the name of David Price, was parked in the Exel Inn parking lot and contained information and evidence of his ownership, the complaint said. By MAXENE RENNER Of the Tribune staff The future of La Crosse County government and what form it will take was the topic of a meeting Wednesday night of the La Crosse County League of Women Voters. La Crosse County Board chairman Jim Ehrsam and fellow board members Sheila Garrity, Steve Doyle and Jan Keil defined their visions of county government in the year 2000 and beyond.

The questions of whether La Crosse should go to a county executive form of government and reduce the size of the board dominated the evenings discussion. Currently, the county has an administrative coordinator, James Webber, who handles the day-to-day functions of the county. Webber is leaving at the end of the year. Ehrsam said he is not in favor of creating an elected county executive position. A man who allegedly paid for a room at a La Crosse motel on Oct.

15 for himself and a suspected East Coast burglar was charged in La Crosse County Circuit Court Wednesday with harboring and aiding a felon. Robert A. Filer, 29, no permanent address, was ordered held in custody on a $10,000 cash bond. Filer was charged with the same count Monday in Monroe County Circuit Court in Sparta for sheltering Blane D. Nordahl, 34, who is linked to a string of burglaries in Connecticut, New York and other eastern states.

The men were arrested in the Sparta Wal-Mart parking lot on Oct. 15 after an off-duty federal police officer from Fort McCoy recognized Nordahl from an FBI wanted flier and notified Monroe County and Sparta A deer eats a pumpkin Wednesday on Goose island..