La Crosse Talk PM WIZM

Jill Schams is getting her accordion ready as Oktoberfest nears. The Southern Bluffs music teacher and La Crosse Education Association president stopped by to debate whether the area is running low on squeeze boxes, what it takes to land a spot on the Oktoberfest Accordion Club float, and what happened when she blasted live polka in her classroom right as Superintendent Dr. Aaron Engel walked in....

Republican candidate for Wisconsin’s 95th Assembly, Cedric Schnitzler, in studio, discussing the critical agricultural and economic issues facing western Wisconsin, and issuing a direct call for the federal government to tackle soaring diesel prices. Schnitzler, a lifelong farmer and Monroe County Board Chair, also discussed local policy and ag issues, including the push to protect groundwat...

An Anthropic insider recently gave humanity a decade before A.I. triggers total extinction, but we only had four minutes to chat about the end of the world on Friday’s Rick Solem Show—needing to talk about more urgent local matters, like an 11-year-old giving everyone a three-day head start before she found the Oktoberfest medallion. UW-La Crosse political science professor Dr. Anthony...

A lot covered with the city planning department in studio, from the old Kmart demo timeline and creating a public market to revamping the La Crosse's decades old zoning code. Planning director Andrea Trane and deputy director Tim Acklin stopped in studio to help navigate some of the city's biggest projects. Trane sets us straight on the $600,000 "public market study," while Acklin breaks down how...

Current Festmaster Brent Smith and last year's leader Mike Bakalars stopped in the WIZM studio for The Rick Solem Show to preview the final countdown to La Crosse’s Oktoberfest — and show how the sausage is made, literally. The two shared what it's really like to keep one of the city's biggest secrets for six months — being selected Festmaster — from an anonymous front-door...

What does the La Crosse School District do with the gigantic Trane property? Economist Dr. Adam Hoffer in studio with a hot take: Turn the 40-acre site into a high school. Voters shot down a Trane site high school back in 2022 , but with the company donating the land and the district facing facility challenges, we debate why Hoffer thinks having this property changes the math — and why past...

As La Crosse's Oktoberfest gets underway, we look back on how it all started — and Brad Quarberg reveals the festival wasn't actually a secret ploy for G. Heileman Brewery to sell beer.  In fact, the brewery once ran the numbers on how much beer fest-goers actually drank, and how long it took to brew — and Quarberg’s reveal of those the results will shock you. It’s our...

The demolition of the old Kmart might have a due date, and La Crosse leadership is about to restart the city administrator conversation again. Council president Tamra Dickinson stopped in studio, ahead of Thursday’s monthly meeting, where the council will vote on giving final approval to a development agreement over the old Kmart lot, while also looking at a charter ordinance that isn’...

A packed Friday, where we get the La Crosse airport director’s reaction after someone tried sneaking a foot-long medieval weapon through security, and dive into Kwik Trip ditching roller grills — can you really call it a Tornado if it didn't spin?  Plus, UW-La Crosse political scientist Dr. Anthony Chergosky breaks down new Facebook rules for kids and who’s the most known po...

The biggest race in Wisconsin isn't for governor — not according to Devin Remiker. He wants Democrats to win the whole thing. Remiker, who’s been the chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin for just over a year now, sat down with us at the 26-year running corn roast on Wednesday and made it clear that while winning the governor’s seat is critical, the party's primary goal is s...

David Crowley sat down with us from the corn roast in West Salem on Wednesday. Along with why he’s the favorite parent at home, the Democratic candidate for governor was asked about how he plans to tackle housing, healthcare, and childcare affordability across Wisconsin. As La Crosse gets set for another update on homelessness next week, the Milwaukee County Executive also broke down why he...

A Hallmark Christmas movie right out of La Crosse — why not? A fun conversation with Teddy Eck, executive director of Coulee Arts in downtown La Crosse, where we get a little nuts on a La Crosse Hallmark Christmas, talk about the movie industries new tax incentives to come to Wisconsin and how decaying attention spans are ruining movies forever. Eck also broke down everything under the...

La Crosse School District Superintendent Dr. Aaron Engel stopped in studio to unpack the massive 42-acre Trane property donation, breaking down how the surprise gift is reshaping long-term facility plans. The handoff opens up possibilities the district couldn't have imagined just a few months ago — but forces leadership to re-examine everything from future campus layouts to athletic fields....

Wisconsin state Sen. Brad Pfaff stopped by the studio to warn that despite a landmark Meta settlement, state lawmakers are failing to pass lasting regulations on Big Tech. Coming off the multistate lawsuit settlement — where Wisconsin is set to receive over $250 million from a $17 billion national payout — Pfaff called it a major step for the state, but warned it’s only a startin...

Democratic Party Chair for Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, William Garcia, stopped in studio to unpack why he believes U.S. House Rep. Derrick Van Orden is running a “desperate” re-election campaign. Garcia highlights Van Orden’s use of AI deepfake videos on social media and bringing controversial Trump cabinet officials, like RFK Jr., into the district. We also dis...

One homeless meeting down, another to go in La Crosse, as Mac Kiel stopped in the WIZM studio for the Rick Solem Show to help break them down, as well as preview committee week. The homeless conversation centered on a recent  two-hour special meeting  with a state official, in what Kiel called a “lively discussion and debate” between department heads and council members over...

It’s data centers now, because it’s not Francesca Hong. That looks to be how the Wisconsin governor’s race is shaping up, and state Republican leader Ryan Huebsch stopped in studio to analyze the fight between Tom Tiffany and David Crowley. Huebsch, the GOP Vice Chair of the 3rd Congressional District , weighed in on whether early Republican attacks against Hong backfired by clea...

She’s searching for the building blocks of life in deep space, and now UW-Madison astrochemistry Ph. D. student Alejandra Lopez Holguin is bringing that search to Trempealeau. Lopez Holguin joined  The Rick Solem Show  to share her journey from a small town in Mexico to studying interstellar molecules — and to preview her hosting Friday’s free “Universe in the Par...

We got the guy to blame for all the chaos in the Wisconsin primary election in studio to defend why he chose not to run for governor. Attorney General Josh Kaul played along with the bit that his decision not to run caused multiple people to drop out of the Democratic primary, before David Crowley got back in and eked  out a win over Francesca Hong. Kaul was also asked how many times he&rsquo...

Rick opens the show talking some headlines, including potential cuts La Crosse's library might have to face — one over the city's budget, where a special meeting Monday could see a reduction in staff, while the other comes from the feds potentially cutting internet subsidies to libraries.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They're two of La Crosse's best-ever basketballers but — for being Division I athletes headed overseas for Year 2 of the pros — we find out one of them is utterly terrible at bar-league sand volleyball. Jordan Davis and Lexi Donarski stopped by the studio before heading back to Europe.  We hit on everything from how bad Jordan and his twin brother Johnny are on the sand to how man...

The Wisconsin governor's race has turned into who can run away from data centers the fastest — unless you really love cheese. UW-La Crosse political science professor Dr. Anthony Chergosky in studio to break down the ironic data center clash between Tom Tiffany and David Crowley and the bizarre argument by Wisconsin's econ chief that hating data centers means giving up dairy. But we start th...

City administrator drama, changing park hours, and clearing up budget confusion with La Crosse Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey in the WIZM studio Thursday for the The Rick Solem Show. Washington-Spivey discusses the council failing to pass a city administrator ordinance again and what the path forward looks like. Plus, we discuss homelessness with two meetings coming up soon, the closure of Karun...

Ahead of Friday night's season openers, both of La Crosse's high school football coaches stopped in studio to talk about why kids don't watch games anymore, what it’s like preparing for the iconic "Ark" rivalry game between them and the evolution of the game — and the athletes. Central’s Michael Arnold and Logan’s Casey Knoble step away from the playbooks for a wide-ranging...

A $1.3 million jail redesign to better handle severe mental health challenges and the future of 111 acres of county farmland in West Salem are two of the big topics discussed with La Crosse County Board Chair Tina Tryggestad. Beyond the big policy votes, Tryggestad shares a personal connection to the old Shelby ball fields on 33rd Street as the county considers a new lease agreement. Plus, a light...