Liquor giant Diageo will contract with LaCrosse, Wis.-based City Brewing to make Red Stripe for its U.S. consumers beginning next year, while keeping production at Jamaica-based Desnoes & Geddes for sales in Jamaica, Brazil, Canada and Europe. City Brewing runs breweries in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Tennessee. Diageo, which announced the move last month, said it will "enable greater investment in the brand in the U.S." But at the same time, Diageo said Red Stripe's "personality will continue to embody the Jamaican culture that has always been its inspiration.

In 1948, the La Crosse Jaycees decided something had to be done about dangerous jaywalking. Motorists and pedestrians had collided more than 50 times during the previous year, and only good luck had prevented fatalities.

So that September they hung loudspeakers connected to hidden microphones at two downtown intersections notorious for mid-block crossing. Club members took turns hiding nearby with microphones in hand.

Whenever a pedestrian blithely walked into the street, a disembodied voice would directly address the unsuspecting offender: "Lady, you in the red skirt, do you know you are walking against the red light?" Or, "Watch out there, mister. There are pedestrian crossing lanes at the corners. Use them."

One man was so startled that he dropped his bags in the middle of the street. When a young woman was singled out for public embarrassment, she "blushed the color of her pretty pink sweater," according to the La Crosse Tribune. Another woman was so startled that she stopped and waved her arms in panic as if fending off a ghost.

The paper speculated that "the big Friday night shopping crowd, notorious jaywalkers on mass scale, will keep the men at the mike talking constantly in an effort to make La Crosse pedestrians safety conscious." So on weekend evenings the Jaycees enlisted Boy Scouts to patrol the sidewalks, too.

City officials enthusiastically endorsed the "hidden mike" campaign, despite its obvious invasions of privacy and the public harassment involved. But they refused to enact a city ordinance that would have made jaywalking illegal.

- Wisconsin Historical Society, www.wisconsinhistory.org

La Crosse police are looking for a man they said tried to rob a downtown bank at the drive-up window Thursday evening.

The man walked up to the State Bank at 401 Main St. about 5:20 p.m. and passed a note demanding money through the window drawer, police stated. He claimed to have a weapon, though none was seen.

He fled east when he thought the teller tripped an alarm, police said.

He was described as a Hispanic or biracial man in his late 20s or early 30s, about 5 feet 6 inches in height and weighing about 200 pounds. He had a thin mustache that extended just below the corners of his mouth, police stated.

He last was seen wearing dark-colored glasses, a khaki knit cap, a black puffy jacket and dark-colored pants or jeans.

Anyone with information should call the La Crosse Police Department at (608) 785-5962. Callers can remain anonymous by calling the La Crosse Area Crime Stoppers at (608) 784-8477 or text "laxtips" to 274637 and may be eligible for rewards up to $1,000.