[This is one of many articles in the Halloween 2006 Season series. Go this way to read the rest of them.]
I've been hearing more and more bad things about the state of Wisconsin lately. I wonder if there is a wicked wasp compound up there.
There will always be trouble no matter what holiday it is. It's just that Halloween produces the most trouble of all, like in the story from the ASSociated Press below:
Wisconsin Halloween Party Ends Peacefully
Event Has Been Marked With Chaos in Years Before
By SCOTT BAUER
AP
MADISON, Wis. (Oct. 29) - The crowd was a lot smaller, but so were the problems, at an annual Halloween party that ended without violence or the use of pepper spray as it had in recent years.
Police recorded fewer arrests among the estimated 35,000 costumed revelers, less than half the 80,000 that jammed the party last year.
The total number arrested from Friday night through 2 a.m. Sunday was 230, compared with 566 in 2005. One person was arrested for felony assault of a police office. Another officer broke a wrist in a fall while pursuing a suspect.
Police released no other details early Sunday about the arrests.
Overall, though, the crowd was well-behaved and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Police Chief Noble Wray called Saturday night a success.
"We met all three of my goals for this year," Cieslewicz said. "We did not have to use pepper spray or have our police in riot gear. We reduced the amount of over-consumption of alcohol. And we recovered a significant part of the costs."
This year marked major changes in the event. In an attempt to avoid mayhem, city officials charged $5 admission, blocked off the street, hired bands to play on two stages and imposed time limits.
After the festivities ended at 1:30 a.m., it took about an hour for the last remaining groups of people to disperse. With police watching from the sidewalks, and atop about a dozen horses, the crowd of primarily students dressed as everything from Tigger to the Duke lacrosse team, chanted, sang and hopped around in the frigid night.
"I expected more rowdiness," said Josh Simpson of Madison. "We're expecting them to use tear gas."
There was no widespread vandalism or violence. Police reported no major incidents along State Street, where the party was centered, or adjoining neighborhoods.
"I thought it would be more chaotic," said Tom Berringer, a senior at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill., who made his second trip to Madison for the party.
The strong police presence, at more than 250 officers, was a sign of the beginning of the end of the party to Berringer, who was dressed in a woman's two-piece sailor suit.
"I figure it will only get worse," he said of the police involvement.
But the mayor said he thinks the party's success will help rebuild support for the event.
Significant problems date to 2002, when revelers threw rocks and bottles, breaking at least 12 windows and damaging police cars. In 2003, store windows were broken and at least two cars were tipped over. In 2004, a small bonfire was started and 450 people were arrested.
Last year, between Friday night and Sunday morning, 447 people were arrested. As they had since 2002, police used pepper spray to quell a crowd of about 2,000.
On the Net:
City of Madison Halloween information: www.halloweenmadison.com
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