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Grossklaus retiring after 40 years at RCU. 2C.

Sports Abes clinch share of fifth straight BRC title. 1D.

The Abes' Saxton Soley

Suggestions to improve downtown discussed By Chuck Rupnow Leader-Telegram staff

Conceptual designs of redevelopment and gen-eral improvements to the riverfront area of down-town Eau Claire were unveiled Tuesday night at a public information meet-ing, but nothing has been decided and suggestions are still being encouraged

Ideas ranged from basically making street improvements to several streets to ■ More creating downtown In- a down- formation and town comment op- "festi- portunities: val" area www.leader through telegram. major com/links street and aesthetic improvements, including a riverwalk and converting the Haymar-ket parking lot, just south the convergence of the Eau Claire and Chippewa rivers, into a pedestrian plaza.

No cost estimates on any of the possibilities were presented. The only

See DOWNTOWN, Page 2A

Traffic Circulation Study Area

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City/Region Love of children kept coalition leader Wahl going. 1 B.

Health Fall Creek man has close call with aortic dissection. 1C.

State/Nation Fierce weather blasts nation from Texas to Maine. 10C.

Opinions State View: Wetlands bill sets bad precedent. 8A.

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Associated Press Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker gave his State of the State speech to a joint session of the Legislature Tuesday in the Assembly chamber at the state Capitol in Madison.

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www.leadertelegram.com Serving Eau Claire and the Chippewa Valley Since 1881 Wednesday, February 2, 2011

INSIDE

By Eric Lindquist Leader-Telegram staff

With the Green Bay Packers gearing up to play in the Super Bowl on Sunday, plenty of houses across Wisconsin are flying Pack-ers flags or displaying other signs of support for the home state team. Even the state Capitol dome is illu-minated with green and gold lights.

But motorists driving down Starr Avenue will see that Tim Abraham went to a whole lot more work than most of his fellow fans to show his Packers spirit.

Abraham, 51, spent five hours Monday night carving a giant snow sculpture in honor of the Packers earning a berth in Super Bowl XLV. His sculpture includes a 7-foot-tall replica of the Lombardi Trophy and a huge Packers "G" with an XLV above it designed to look like they were carved out of the side of a mountain.

In fact, Abraham had to create the "mountain" of snow, accom-plished by using a snowblower to

Super Bowl Coverage Page ID

■ Rodgers handles the media rush.

Page 4D ■ Matthews wants to surpass

family expectations. ■ Packers, Steelers both have

true heavyweights. ■ Frigid temperatures disrupt

activities.

throw processed snow into a home-made box 8 feet long, 5 feet wide and 7 feet tall, before he could begin carving his Packers version of Mount Rushmore.

"The Lombardi Trophy just seemed like the right thing to do," said Abraham, a Packers season-ticket holder who learned the pro-cessed snow trick from carvers at past Winterfest celebrations in

Eau Claire. The tools of the trade for this

snow Michelangelo: a hand saw for cutting and a customized rasplike object for shaving.

As for why he decided to go to all the work of carving a snow sculp-ture so large it obscures the view of the north end of his house at 857 Starr Ave., Abraham said he was continuing a family tradition.

He carved a much smaller Lom-bardi Trophy and Packers "G" on top of an XXXI for the 1997 Super Bowl, in which Green Bay defeated the New England Patriots. He also carved a giant football with the word Packers and XXXII on it before the Packers played in the 1998 Super Bowl.

"We have a long history of making snow forts, and we like playing in the snow. We love winter," said Abra-ham, who did all of this year's carv-ing himself but had help from his 15-year-old daughter, Ali, in creating the block of snow over the weekend.

See BLOCK, Page 2A

Staff photo by Steve Kinderman Tim Abraham stood by the snow sculpture he created Monday night on the front lawn of his house at 857 Starr Ave. in honor of the Green Bay Packers playing in Super Bowl XLV on Sunday in Arlington, Texas. Abraham also carved snow sculptures the past two times the Packers made it to the NFL championship game.

A block for the team Eau Claire man carves out a sign of allegiance to Packers

Walker aims at public workers' benefits

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Volume 41

His debut State of the State speech short on specifics By Scott Bauer Associated Press

MADISON — Gov. Scott Walker promised to target pub-lic employee benefits and Med-icaid programs in order to deal with Wisconsin's budget shortfall but offered few details in his first State of the State speech on Tues-day about how he will plug the $3.2 billion gap.

He did wrap himself in Green Bay Packers pride, quoting Vince Lombardi twice, speaking live via video with team president Mark Murphy, and noting that he was speaking under a Capitol dome that was lit green and gold in honor of the team that plays in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

But the thrust of his 30-minute speech before a joint session of the Legislature was on the state's budget problem, which the new Republican governor promised to solve without raising taxes while also avoiding massive layoffs and reductions in critical services.

"The decisions we face are not easy and the solutions we must approve will require true sacri-fice," Walker said. "But the ben-

■ According to a news release issued Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Scott Walker will set out on a five-city tour Thursday to visit with em-ployers and employees. One of the scheduled stops is in Eau Claire. At 2:35 p.m. Walker will visit American Phoenix, a rubber-mix-ing plant in Banbury Place, 800 Wisconsin St.

efit of finally making these tough decisions and being honest with the citizens of this state will help

us to balance the budget in a way that creates a permanent, struc-turally sound state budget."

Walker said "rhetoric will meet reality" in the solutions he intends to release to the current fiscal year shortfall that ranges between $79 million and roughly $340 mil-lion. He releases his two-year budget plan on Feb. 22.

Democrats derided Walker for his lack of specificity.

See WALKER, Page 2A

Local lawmakers respond to talk with respective cheers, skepticism By Sara Nemec Leader-Telegram staff

Local state legislators' reac-tions were mixed tonight Tuesday night after Gov. Scott Walker's State of the State speech in Madison.

Republicans, who control both houses of the Legisla-ture as well as the governor's office, were encouraged with promises of frugality and reduced spend- ing, while

: Democrats ; were left won- • dering about • specifics — : figures they ; say they didn't • hear. • Larson • Rep. Tom : Larson, R-Colfax, said in an ; e-mailed statement that the • state's financial crisis — a • $3.2 billion gap is projected •. for the next biennium — had ; to be addressed with tough • decisions.

See REACTION, Page 2A

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