1410 WIZM

After nine years of no water rate increase in the city of La Crosse, you'd almost expect a big rate hike to be coming.

And the city's not disappointing that expectation. The city council will vote on a rate boost next month that would increase the average home user's water bill by 32%. That's a bunch, agrees public works director Dale Hexom but the state's Public Service Commission would actually prefer a larger rate increase.   He says the PSC wants water utilities to have enough cash flow so that extensive borrowing isn't required to keep water systems in good working order.

The La Crosse Central Basketball Association will be hosting the 7th Grade Wisconsin State Invitational Championship Tournament to be held here in La Crosse on Saturday and Sunday. With over 95 teams coming to La Crosse, this tournament will draw over 5000 fans and family members to the community each day. Over 700 hotel rooms have been reserved by team members and their families.

The tournament brings the very best 7th grade teams from all around the state who have participated in the Great Northwest Basketball League. The league organizes weekly tournaments in local communities from December - March culminating in this by invitation only tournament.

The La Crosse Central Basketball Association has been chosen from among several communities to host this tournament each of the last 5 years in part because of their ability to host multiple sites and the cooperation they receive from the La Crosse School District, Viterbo, UWL, and the Boys and Girls Club. 17 courts and 6 different sites will be utilized almost non stop on Saturday and Sunday.

Gundersen Lutheran’s high-quality performance has been recognized by one of the nation’s premier ratings systems. For the fourth year in a row and the fifth time overall, Gundersen Lutheran was named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals.

Among hospitals this year who have received the award at least five times, Gundersen Lutheran is one of only 13 hospitals in the nation to achieve this distinction four consecutive years. CEO Jeff Thompson says being in the top 100 is a great honor........being number 1......that's the goal.

The winning hospitals were announced in the March 28 edition of Modern Healthcare magazine.

The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation today released the 2011 County Health Rankings. Of the 72 counties in Wisconsin, La Crosse County ranked 22nd in health outcomes, the same as in 2010.

In the category of health factors, the rank went from 6th in the state last year to 4th this year. Health behavior rankings rose from 21st to 8th in Wisconsin and for the 2nd year in a row, La Crosse County came out on top in the state for the quality of its clinical care.

The La Crosse Area Medical Health Science Consortium, a coalition of health and education partners from the Coulee Region, has set a goal to make La Crosse County the healthiest county in Wisconsin by 2015. More detailed information on the rankings specific to La Crosse County will be analyzed and released over the next few weeks.