Courier Press

By Caitlin Bittner

Two Prairie du Chien boys have the chance of a lifetime to play on the Team USA Junior Men’s Fastpitch team at the World Championship this summer. Both Peyton Hall and Brogan Potter, graduates of Prairie du Chien High School, have been playing softball for quite a while.

“I’ve had a bat in my hand ever since I can remember,” said Hall, who added that softball was a fun pastime for him and his dad. Hall first heard of the team from a rival ballplayer, who told him to try out for the team.

“Peyton was first, then I tried out,” said Potter.

Now, the two of them, along with Bryce DuCharme of Hudson, are the three players from Wisconsin on a roster of 19 players.

Dear Editor,

It seems our oversize equipment navigating through the roundabouts has been the topic of discussion in the Courier Press (Feb. 29 and July 6). I am writing to hopefully clear up some myths about oversize equipment and the roundabouts. 

In the Feb. 29 edition, the Courier published a picture of a drum from our facility passing through a roundabout with ease. In the July 6 story, it was stated that a drum from our facility had issues navigating the roundabouts. I believe that is a little misleading and led to some interesting Facebook posts about the roundabouts. The load did have issues but they were mechanical in nature with the steerable axles on the trailer. Without this mechanical issue, the drum load would have made it through without any issues. 

A retired National Park Service official was sentenced Friday to one year of home detention and 10 weekends in jail for stealing Native American remains from Effigy Mounds National Monument in 1990. 

Thomas Munson, 76, of Prairie du Chien, was the superintendent of Effigy Mounds north of Marquette in 1990 when he ordered another employee to pack the bones into two cardboard boxes. He then drove the boxes to his home where he stored them in his garage. 

The remains of the Native Americans, who died hundreds of years ago, stayed in Munson’s garage for more than two decades and suffered damage due to inappropriate storage conditions. 

On July 1, Northern Natural Gas received a report of a natural gas odor near its underground pipeline facilities located near the LaRiviere Park at Prairie du Chien. Northern personnel immediately responded and detected a small leak in its 6-inch-diamater odorized line. The leak and repairs to the line required the temporary closing of the park. 

Emergency repairs were completed on the line over the weekend. There was no loss of service as a result of the leak or repairs to the line. When the repairs were complete, the park was reopened. The cause of the leak was likely a lightning strike. There had been heavy rains in the area and there was evidence of damage from a lightning strike at a nearby tree.