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• New Year's Eve Wisconsin style: Carp & cheese; more state briefs

Who needs Times Square? Wisconsinites will have a ton of great choices to ring in the new decade.

A carp will drop in Prairie du Chien at midnight, and cheese will fall in Plymouth. La Crosse has fireworks planned on the Mississippi River, and La Crosse Logan High School will host a non-alcoholic New Year's bash.

In Door County, a stable in Egg Harbor will have two-hour horse rides by candlelight, ending with champagne around a fireplace. In Portage, skiers can run the slopes until midnight at Cascade Mountain after enjoying a fireworks show at 10 o'clock.

And there will be lots of music, from blue grass in Washburn to a Beatles tribute in Brookfield.

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2009 is state's least deadly year since 1944

Wisconsin will end 2009 with its fewest traffic deaths since World War II.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 541 people were killed in state crashes in 2009.

State Patrol Major Dan Lonsdorf expects the final figure to be around 550. That would be the fewest since 1944 when 526 people were killed on the highways.

The state recorded 583 traffic fatalities in 2008. The average for 2004-2008 was 717 per year, according to the Department of Transportation's Website.

The recession is a big reason for the decline. Lonsdorf says people have driven about 3% fewer miles in Wisconsin this year than last, and they're also saving money by slowing down and conserving fuel.

Also, Jason Bittner of the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education said today's cars are better designed for safety and so are the roads.

In Wisconsin, he said, median barriers have helped prevent head-on crashes, and roadside hazards like poles and trees have been removed from numerous rights of way.

Bittner and Lonsdorf also say the recent crackdown on drunk driving should help make things safer in the future.

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Health inspector is champion liar

A state health inspector from Sun Prairie is this year's World Champion Liar.

Larry Legro won the annual award from the Burlington Liars Club, which announces the winner every New Year's Eve.

Legro, 58, poked fun at the nation's banking crisis with this line, "I just realized how bad the economy really is. I recently bought a new toaster oven, and as a complimentary gift, I was given a bank."

Over 100 people submitted entries for this year's World Champion Lie. Liars Club President Joel Weis said three judges chose Legro's lie because it's so relevant.

Legro said he's been submitting entries for about five years, and he told people all year he planned to win the contest.

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Two decades of dog racing end

Almost 20 years of dog racing in Wisconsin will come to an end Thursday night when the final races are run at Kenosha's Dairyland Greyhound Park.

The track suffered years of losses, and it could no longer wait for the government to approve a long-running plan to have a new resort and casino gambling.

The state's five dog tracks opened after voters approved pari-mutuel dog race-betting along with the state lottery in 1988.

Dairyland Vice President Roy Berger expects a lot of business on this final night - something he calls "bitter-sweet."

Meanwhile, efforts continue to find new homes for the greyhounds that race at Dairyland. An estimated 150-to-200 dogs will be available after the track closes. Some will move on to other tracks around the country, while many will be adopted by families.

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Were holiday sales up? Maybe

Wisconsin retailers say they're cautiously optimistic that their sales might have gone up this holiday season.

Nationally, MasterCard Advisors estimates a 3.6% increase in retail sales from a year ago, when sales were down as people were just starting to get a grip on how deep the recession was.

David Storey of the Wisconsin Retail Council said this year's increase is welcome news, considering the past few years. He said retailers had low expectations going into the season, and any upswing is welcome.

Bill Smith, the state director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said there were a few bumps this year, but he remains hopeful for a good season.

He said shopping was pretty good last week, but the weather dampened people's ability to find bargains. There will be a clearer picture in January after retailers start posting their final December sales figures.

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