Betty’s Sports Inn to Close Friday

By Steve Cahalan, La Crosse Tribune, Wis.

Apr. 17–Betty’s Sports Inn, located in the former Bohemian Hall built in 1881, will close Friday night. Gundersen Lutheran is buying the nearby building from the Gamoke family and doesn’t plan to lease it for use as a bar. Betty Peterson, who owns the bar business, said in February she would have to find a new location if Gundersen Lutheran won’t lease the building to her.

“I would like to lease and stay on the South Side, but there’s just nothing available,” Peterson said this week. “If something would come along on the South Side, I would definitely consider it.” But at this point, she plans to look for a job with another business.

Much of the bar’s contents will be auctioned Sunday. The auction will begin at 1 p.m. at the bar at 1503 Clinic Court.

Gundersen Lutheran expects to acquire the building later this month or in early May, said Gary Schmuck, the health care company’s director of facility management.

“Gundersen Lutheran is willing to work with anyone to move the structure,” he said. “No one has stepped forward. It is likely the building will be razed, however, plans have not been finalized.”

Schmuck said Gundersen Lutheran has made preliminary contact with the Habitat for Humanity ReStore about possibly collaborating to recycle and/or salvage usable materials from the building.

Main Street Pub and Pizzeria opened April 8 at 18 N. Water St. in downtown Black River Falls, Wis. The location previously was home to The Gathering Grounds coffee shop, which closed in February. Dave Layland, who also operates the Circle Hill Bar and Grill near Merrillan, Wis., said his new Black River Falls pizzeria and bar serves several kinds of pizza as well as grinder sandwiches, Italian beef sandwiches, hot dogs, chili dogs and soup. An all-you-can-eat pizza buffet is available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

Main Street’s hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Layland also will open the Main Street Arcade on Friday in another space in the same building. Featuring games and a pizza party room that also can be reserved, it will be open from 4 to 9 p.m. Fridays and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays. Layland plans to have the arcade open additional days after the school year ends.

Main Street’s phone number is (715) 284-9882.

His & Hers Fashions & More opened April 7 at 618 Hwy. 54 East in Black River Plaza in Black River Falls.

Linda and David Schumacher own the new business, which she said sells clothing to fit all sizes of men and women. The store also sells accessories and gifts, such as jewelry, belts and suspenders.

Linda said she and her husband opened the business because it was difficult to find clothes for larger people in Black River Falls and because the area needed a larger variety of clothing.

Hours are noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

The store’s phone number is (715) 284-2274.

Scam du jour: The Better Business Bureau says airports and other public places are being used by computer hackers who set up fake Wi-Fi connections designed to steal your personal information.

If you assume it’s a free connection offered by the establishment and log on, you will be able to surf the Internet through the hacker’s computer. The hacker then will be able to steal pass-words, credit card, bank account and Social Security numbers.

The BBB recommends never connecting to an unfamiliar ad-hoc network, even if the name sounds

genuine; making sure your computer isn’t set up to automatically connect to open networks; and disabling your wireless connection when you’re working off-line.

For more tips, visit www.wisconsin.bbb.org.

Tribune business editor Steve Cahalan can be reached at (608) 791-8229 or scahalan@lacrossetribune.com.

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Copyright (c) 2008, La Crosse Tribune, Wis.

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