WIZM 2013 #10 Story Of The Year

Today, we begin our year-end countdown of the 10 biggest local stories of

2013, as voted on by the newsroom.

At number 10 for the year, a budget-cutting plan that struck a nerve in one La Crosse neighborhood.  Under orders from city hall to make severe spending reductions, the library board voted in September to shut down the South Branch of the library on 16th Street.  Library director Kelly Krieg Sigman wasn’t happy about making the recommendation:

(Click for Audio)

Users of the South Branch rallied to save the building, and the library board found 170-thousand dollars in a reserve fund to keep the building open through 2014.  In the new year, a special task force is supposed to be appointed, to find ways of avoiding a future shutdown.