Small, rural town home to federal prison
OXFORD, Wis. -- This rural hamlet -- population 536 -- in central Wisconsin, will be former Gov. George Ryan's new address.
It's a place where lunch for some is Marlboros and Miller High Lifes at Al and Rosie's bar. Here, $40,000 can buy a three-bedroom home with an acre of land. It's a place where bait shops outnumber gas stations 3-1.
The offices of the town's police and fire departments, clerk and library are all in a squat, one-story building.
Mike Cavanaugh recalls playing bar-league softball games against prison inmates 25 years ago. And right out of central casting, a few miles out of town on the road to the federal correctional center where Ryan will serve, there's an establishment called "Redneck Bar."
Mary Haugaard, who has lived with her five dogs in a mobile home across from the prison for nine years, opened her driveway Tuesday to a TV media horde.
"It's the most noise I've heard around here since deer hunting season," Haugaard said.
Sun-Times News Group, with AP contributing.