There was a day when thrills in the Wisconsin Dells area were horse-drawn wagon trips through Lost Canyon, watching a German shepherd leap the gap at Stand Rock and taking a splashing ride on a Duck. Now there is much more. And with it, an increased sense of danger.

A few years ago, a Madison gang targeted a prominent detective for murder. That plot failed. But police say gangs have been responsible for at least three murders in the last three years.

Larry Krznarich of Park Falls — along with his wife, Rita, and their dog, Lilly, along with Mark and Gay Rumppe of Clinton — used the 2,000-pound log table on his campsite to escape the ravages of a July 27 tornado at this northern Wisconsin wilderness area.