Advertisement Or some of them did.
Now I’m no fan of ridiculously loud motorcycles. I never quite understood why my old Geo Metro with the failing exhaust system would get pulled over more quickly than the motorcycles that invariably drove by while the officer was writing me a warning — and whose pipes were patently illegal and much louder.
But for the sake of a big event — S&S Cycle’s 50th anniversary celebra-tion — and lots of spectacle, I sure can put up with the extra decibels for a weekend. Here’s what some of our site visitors had to say:
OnaRes wrote: “This event will bring millions of dollars into the local economy, but all we will hear about is how loud the motorcycles are and how many tickets the local law issued this weekend. Sad but true.”
LAX wrote: “Events like this are fine — just make sure your motorcycle has effective mufflers! No mufflers or inadequate mufflers and straight pipes need to be ticketed for noise violations — I don’t care if it belongs to Jay Leno or the King of Sweden.”
woodyearly wrote: “This sounds like a great event for the city. I wouldn’t want to see a lot of tickets issued over the weekend for noise. However, on a normal day, the noise from some of these bikes IS ridiculous. What if every vehicle on the street sounded like that? All conversations would cease and we’d need to use sign language. It’s silly and tickets should be issued.”
Mack wrote: “Loud mufflers are necessary to call attention to the posers. Many posers realized people were not noticing their poses, hence the loud mufflers.”
GoodListener wrote: “This is a HUGE, exciting event! What great publicity La Crosse will get from this! It’s just a couple of days that probably won’t inconvenience any of us posters. Relax and enjoy or go to a quiet place.”
outsidein wrote: “I am sure those that are complaining that the cops should enforce the noise ordinance are the same people who complain when the cops give them a ticket and say ‘shouldn’t you be out catching REAL criminals.’”
Exercise wrote: “Mr. Kelly and S&S: Thank you for bringing this event to La Crosse. It may not be everyone’s cup o’ tea but great exposure for the Coulee Region, causing great short- and long-term tourist revenue for the area. In perceived difficult economic times, your organization of this major event is appreciated by any sensible resident.”
Swimmers safe; killer debate revived
When two people were rescued in separate alcohol-related incidents Sunday on the Mississippi River, readers were quick to offer their commentary at www.lacrossetribune.com.
Here’s a sample:
Hillbilly wrote: “John Barleycorn ... the cereal killer strikes again!”
Sphinctuss wrote: “Uh, I may not be the brightest bulb in the bunch, but isn’t swimming in the Mississippi River during high water inviting oneself to leave the gene pool permanently?”
pumpkin wrote: “Good job, Operation Riverwatch volunteers. If not for you, we could possibly have another river death. ...”
OnaRes wrote: “I can see the headlines now: ‘MAN SURVIVES MISSISSIPPI RIVER SERIAL KILLER, GIVES POLICE A DESCRIPTION.’ ‘I saw him all night long, everywhere I went he was there. He was about 10 inches tall, brown in color, and everybody kept calling him Bud. Not wearing much, just a small piece of red and white paper with his name on. ...”
No public school critic left behind<b>
A report on how Coulee Region schools fared when measured against No Child Left Behind Act standards gave visitors at www.lacrossetribune.com an opportunity once again to beat up on, and defend, public schools and the teachers they employ.
Here are a few of those observations:
groucho wrote: “What’s wrong with this scenario ... George W. Bush in charge of national education?”
hopeful wrote: “The smaller districts will have more and more of these scores as parents are allowed to throw temper tantrums insisting their children’s slow and/or no progress is the teachers’ fault. Let’s ignore the fact that the child won’t do the work, turns it in late. Just get the administration to have the teacher up the grade, fudge the grade, whatever needs to be done so Johnny gets the grade Mom and Dad want. Then at state test time — oops!”
East Coast Elitist wrote: “Wow, I’m glad my kids are in the care of private schools. They get a way better education than you public schoolers. Plus the teachers are way nicer and smarter. I’m just glad I don’t have to deal with the shenanigans of this ‘No Child Left Behind’ junk. Kudos to private education!”
drbantavery wrote: “... I have to hope that as painful as it might be, NCLB might put the brakes on some of the rampant social promotion and grade inflation that occurs.”
By the numbers ...
One of the recent daily online polls at www.lacrossetribune.com tried to get a handle on site visitors’ anxieties.
Thirty-three percent, or 573 of 1,740 respondents, cited the price of gasoline as the most discouraging state of affairs today, more than the housing market, health care, cost of food, natural disasters and the war in Iraq combined. But “all of the above” was the “winner” of that poll at 43 percent.
Marc Wehrs can be reached at mwehrs@lacrossetribune.com or (608) 791-8218.
