Monday State News Briefs: Study shows Upper Midwesterners don't vacation much after July

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A new study shows that many families in the Upper Midwest stay at home in August and September, when school starts before Labor Day.

The University of Minnesota’s Tourism Center examined travelers’ behavior in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, and Virginia. And they found that family trips of two-or-more nights went down by 50-percent in August and September when their kids go to school before Labor Day. Also, one-night visits were down 30-percent during that same period. The data for the study came from U.S. Census Bureau’s Time Use survey.

In Wisconsin, schools cannot legally begin their fall classes until at least September first. Many schools – especially rural ones – used to start around mid-August. But tourist operators complained that their summer workers were leaving too early. So in the late 1990’s, former Governor Tommy Thompson signed a law requiring a September first start date – but schools could still start earlier if they held public hearings. Former Governor Scott McCallum got rid of that loophole in 2001, saying too many schools were using it. Now, schools don’t end until early-to-mid June – and that’s made farmers, upset because they need the young help. There have been several efforts to repeal the September start date. But none have been successful.

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A one-year-old boy was killed after a vehicle ran him over in a driveway. It happened Saturday afternoon south of Wisconsin Rapids in the town of Saratoga. Wood County authorities said they’re still trying to find out what happened and why. The youngster was airlifted to a Marshfield hospital, where he died almost three hours after the mishap was reported.

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A medical examiner in Waukesha County hopes to identify a woman whose skull and partial bone fragments were found 36 years ago in a field in Waukesha. Deputy Medical Examiner Kathryn Dougherty will have the person’s grave exhumed from a cemetery, to get DNA tests. And she’ll compare reports of missing persons with case information from unidentified victims in a national database. Dougherty hopes it all adds up to an identity for a person known as Jane Doe. A skull, an arm bone, and two bone chips were found by a National Guardsman in 1976 in a field near the Guard’s Waukesha Armory. The remains were believed to be those of a woman younger than 40 who had been dead for no more than 10 years. The Jane Doe case is one of eight anonymous cases of its kind in Waukesha County – and it’s among 40-thousand unidentified human remains in cemeteries and morgues throughout the country.

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Have you ever wondered how Wisconsin’s first residents planted their gardens? Old World Wisconsin is putting on a program this month to explore that subject. Maria Carmichael, the museum’s historical gardener, will talk about the gardening styles of German immigrants – as well as their traditions. And she’ll lead a walk which demonstrates those traditions. The after-hours stroll will take place on August 23rd at Old World Wisconsin, the state’s largest public historic site near Eagle in Waukesha County. Folks can register through August 22nd at Old World Wisconsin’s Web site.

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The Powerball jackpot has surpassed $200-million dollars for the first time since June 13th. It's at $212-million for the next drawing on Wednesday night. Nobody won the top prize on Saturday. A Wisconsin ticket won $40,000 by matching four regular numbers plus the Powerball with the Power Play option. Just over 15,000 Wisconsin players won smaller prizes. Saturday's numbers were 19, 30, 48, 53, and 55. The Powerball was 18. Wednesday's cash option is just under $143-million. In Mega Millions, the top prize is at $21-million for tomorrow night.

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