Yesterday in La Crosse
Do you want to drink poison? A fluoride question 50 years ago
In the fall of 1968, La Crosse was getting ready for a referendum to place fluoride in the city tap water. Opponents of the plan bought several newspaper ads, quoting doctors and citizens from New Jersey who said personal fluoride treatments are better for preventing tooth decay than putting a chemical in the drinking water. The voters rejected fluoride that fall, and again the following spring. La Crosse did not say “yes” to fluoridation until 1988.
Interstate 94 between Chicago and the Twin Cities was finally complete in October of ’68, with the opening of the section between Tomah and Black River Falls. A 37-mile segment between La Crosse and Tomah would not be finished until the following year.
And a La Crosse native became the new president of the state university at River Falls. George Field was the son of long-time La Crosse Logan principal Donald Field. We heard about it 50 years ago, 1968, yesterday in La Crosse.