Wis. Town Struggles to Prevent Drownings

A memorial, shown Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2006, has been set-up for University of Wisconsin-La Crosse basketball player Lucas Homan, who was found drowned Sept. 30 in the Mississippi River not far from this spot in Riverside Park in La Crosse, Wis. (AP Photo/Tara Walters, FILE) (Tara Walters - AP)

LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Searchers combing the Mississippi River this month pulled out the body of University of Wisconsin-La Crosse basketball player Luke Homan _ the eighth college-age man in nine years to disappear from a city tavern and turn up dead in a river.

La Crosse officials have debated for years how to keep drunken students safe, but some say there may be no answer for a town with three colleges, three rivers and $3 pitchers of beer.

"I'm not sure anything we do can prevent a future tragedy," Mayor Mark Johnsrud said.

Some officials want to rein in the binge drinking culture. Others have proposed fencing off the scenic waterfront.

But solutions have so far eluded this community where drownings and drinking have claimed lives for years. The city's first recorded alcohol-related drowning was in 1867, according to the mayor.

The more recent string of deaths began in July 1997, when searchers pulled 19-year-old Richard Hlavaty's body from the Mississippi River near a park. College wrestler Jared Dion became the seventh drowning victim in 2004 when his body turned up in the same park.

The community is saturated with thousands of students attending the University of Wisconsin's La Crosse campus, as well as Viterbo University and Western Wisconsin Technical College. Downtown bars cater to young drinkers, offering booze at dirt-cheap prices.

The Vibe, where Homan was last seen alive, offers an all-you-can-drink special for $5. Shots are just $1. A sign in the bar's window proclaims: "You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on."

Down the street, Brothers offers bottles of beer for a buck on Wednesdays. The Helm boasts 50-cent schnapps and $3 pitchers from midnight to 1:30 a.m.

The community has a long tradition of drinking. Thousands of people converge on La Crosse every fall for its Oktoberfest, a dayslong party with abundant beer. And on days when the wind blows just right, the smells of City Brewery waft through downtown.

"The problem is the culture is already up on a pedestal in this town," said University of Wisconsin-La Crosse senior Cathy Long.

The city also lies where the Black and La Crosse rivers empty into the Mississippi. Hemmed in by rugged bluffs, LaCrosse is well-known for its scenery.