La Crosse Talk PM WIZM

With voters headed to the polls in just days, there could be drama that comes afterward — but not from the election results. Citizen Action Wisconsin executive director Robert Kraig joins, and warns that the Trump administration could intervene in the midterm elections by targeting ballots after voting ends — a scenario he says could threaten the ability to verify results in closely co...

La Crosse Loggers co-owner Dan Kapanke has been a Milwaukee baseball fan — since listening to the Braves on WKTY radio as a kid working on his family's farm. Now, with the Brewers on the brink of their first World Series championship, Kapanke looks back at the 1957 Braves title, the heartbreak of 1982 and what makes this year's Brewers team different. Kapanke also shares stories from his tim...

The La Crosse Area Family YMCA is aiming to raise $375,000 during its fifth annual Y Giving Day, with donations supporting 13 projects focused on food access, mental health, cancer survivorship and youth programs. Becca Zajkowski, director of development, and Kathleen Graham, volunteer and donor experience director, explain what those projects provide to the community — from delivering meals...

UW-La Crosse political science professor Dr. Anthony Chergosky in studio breaking down the Wisconsin governor’s debate between David Crowley and Tom Tiffany and the 3rd U.S. House District debate between Rebecca Cooke and Derrick Van Orden.  Which candidates helped themselves, which had awkward moments, and what did we learn about their positions on taxes, spending, guns and the 2020 el...

Wisconsin could bring in tens of millions of dollars a year from recreational marijuana, an issue dividing the two candidates for governor. Adam Hoffer, director of excise tax policy at the Tax Foundation, was in studio to discuss the potential state revenue, how Wisconsin's gas tax compares with neighboring states, and what drivers would gain — and lose — if the tax were suspended. Ho...

Derrick Van Orden and Rebecca Cooke finally debated. Did voters get the debate they deserved? It's the first one in the district for Van Orden since 2019. William Garcia, Democratic Party chair of Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District, stopped in studio to break down the matchup — from Van Orden’s attacks on Cooke to the fight over health care subsidies. We also get into Wisconsin&rsq...

Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Jason and Chucky — we all know the names. So who's next? Jon Gelatt, co-owner of the Rivoli Theatre, in studio talking about the slashers, whether we're making new ones or just living off the life of Freddy Krueger — and the deaths of everyone he kills. We also preview the fifth annual Schlocktoberfest, which expands to three days this year, with a Friday...

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Republican red and Democrat blue — that hasn’t always been the case, and a study of both sides of the aisle found that one party liked the other party's color more. That was part of an intriguing conversation with UW–Madison psychology professor, Dr. Karen Schloss, whose research looks at why we like certain colors, how our experiences shape those preferences and why our favorite...

Everything from the cheese club to UW-La Crosse athletics teams is taking part in year seven of “One Day,” beginning Tuesday across campus. Lauren Wanders, UW-L’s strategic giving programs manager, was in studio to talk about the 24-hour event, which gives alumni, students, employees and community members a chance to support more than 200 campus causes. One Day for UWL raised a r...

La Crosse is facing a choice: raise property taxes or use city reserves to cover a $681,000 budget shortfall.  Mac Kiel stopped in studio Friday to break down the trade-offs, what budget cuts could mean for city services and why the decision isn't as simple as it might seem. We also discussed the city administrator proposal being back for a potential third vote, and that opposition to La Cros...

Three donors are funding most of the campaign for Tom Tiffany’s run for Wisconsin governor. Wisconsin state Rep. Jill Billings (D-La Crosse) stopped in studio and talked about getting big money out of our elections. We also discussed the timing of a bill to eliminate tax breaks for data center construction, given that the Legislature hasn’t been in session since March — even thou...

Donald Trump drew a packed crowd to the La Crosse Center back in 2024.  Will Trump return to campaign for Republican governor candidate Tom Tiffany?  On the Rick Solem Show this week, Tiffany, a U.S. House Rep. in Wisconsin's 7th District, was asked about bringing Trump back to La Crosse to campaign with him and Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien). Tiffany somewhat avoided the id...

Outdoor enthusiasts getting hyped to watch movies inside might seem like a bit of a contradiction, but the La Crosse Adventure Film Festival is leaning all the way into the irony for its fifth anniversary.  Mike Crawford and Paige Manges with La Crosse Adventure Films, along with La Crosse SOUP’s Kyle Petrashek stopped in studio to lay out a packed lineup spanning four venues from Oct....

It’s the sixth-most expensive U.S. House race in the country — and the price tag keeps climbing. Why is so much money pouring into the race between U.S. House Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) and Democratic candidate Rebecca Cooke, and what does it say about the fight for control of Congress? UW-La Crosse political science professor Dr. Anthony Chergosky stops in studio to b...

He wants to swing the wrecking ball, but that might have to wait. Fresh off a couple of groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings, La Crosse Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey stopped in studio to discuss the old Kmart development, before moving into deeper conversations about the state of the city — from the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old by another teen to homelessness to the budget challenges th...

La Crosse School Board President Trevor Sprague in the WIZM studio for The Rick Solem Show discussing the district’s new brand and how they’re competing for students. We get into the thinking behind the new ‘Grow here, go anywhere’ identity — and why Sprague sees the $100,000 rebranding effort as an investment in keeping students in the district. We also discuss schoo...

No wrecking ball on the old Kmart in La Crosse yet, but Jeremy Novak from Three-Sixty Real Estate Solutions stopped in studio to talk about when that could finally happen, what's next for the $64 million Copper Rocks development and why the project has taken more than five years to get to this point. Novak, Three-Sixty's vice president of development, also talks about the housing shortage in La Cr...

A discussion about rural health care on The Rick Solem Show ahead of two days of health and public health programs hosted by UW-La Crosse this week. Two educators joined, looking at different pieces of the rural health puzzle — Dr. Caitlin Carroll of the University of Minnesota and UW-La Crosse’s Dr. Gary Gilmore. Carroll is a health economist, whose work focuses on rural hospitals, me...

Three Wisconsin billionaires have essentially bankrolled Tom Tiffany’s side of the governor’s race — nearly $24 million of the $26 million he raised in the latest reporting period. And yet the latest Marquette poll has Tiffany and David Crowley separated by just three points, and 25% of voters still can't say whether they like or dislike Crowley. UW-La Crosse political science pr...

A Volkswagen Beetle wrapped in fur, cruising down a central Wisconsin highway with eight giant spider legs dangling. That was the scene in 1975 during the filming of what turned into a cult classic, The Giant Spider Invasion — a film based in central and northern Wisconsin that became one of Mystery Science Theater 3000 ’s most popular episodes. Ahead of his visit to La Crosse on Frida...

Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Tara Johnson in studio breaking down the controversy over the 200-foot MariBell power lines and what a Democratic legislative majority would look like in Madison. Johnson (D-Shelby) helps explain the environmental risks in the Driftless region over those power lines, how the state’s Public Service Commission works in deciding what happens, and where this all wra...

A lot happening in the La Crosse art world this week and three people crashed the WIZM studio to break everything down. From the October First Friday Art Walk downtown, to multiple events at the Pump House and on to Viterbo University, we covered it all. Joining The Rick Solem Show included Pump House Regional Arts Center director Allison Krzych along with Marlene De La Cruz-Guzman, vice president...

With election season underway, AARP Wisconsin State director Raj Shukla stopped in studio to break down some key issues impacting local families this fall. Shukla walked through the everyday challenges voters should research before heading to the polls — from helping small-business workers without access to a 401(k) to supporting family caregivers.  The conversation covers retirement, S...

A new committee on healthcare in the city of La Crosse is a vote away from being created. In November city of La Crosse residents will decide if the Community Healthcare Action Plan gets passed through referendum. Nick Padesky, a campaign manager with Community Action Wisconsin, stopped in studio to explain how the seven-person panel would work. He says it will give local residents, doctors, and u...