La Crosse Talk PM WIZM

Got some numbers on drug overdose deaths in La Crosse County. Tied that into a conversation with Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Jill Billings passing some fentanyl legislation over the past week. One of those was increasing penalties for dealers, while a caller suggested we just end the war on drugs and legalize it all. Something that's being done with marijuana everywhere around here, but Wisconsi...

UW-La Crosse economics professor Adam Hoffer joined. Talked about the idea of Congress trading stocks and governing its own ability to trade stocks. Also hit on Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers plan to spend a budget surplus vs. the Republican plan, and hit on "inflation." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UW-La Crosse political science professor Dr. Anthony Chergosky joined. We discussed the strange analogies from Kevin Nicholson, the newest candidate in the GOP governor's race — calling someone Scooby-Doo and another a "bag of hammers." Also hit on the Jan. 6 committee subpoenas for a couple of Republican cosplay officials who pretended to cast electoral votes for Donald Trump. Lastly, we hi...

Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Steve Doyle joined. We hit on a mess of topics the state Legislature is dealing with — from the very unimportant (dogs vs. cats allowed in stores) to actual issues (catalytic converter thefts). We also hit on Gov. Evers making it rain $150 checks to Wisconsinites and the fight over absentee ballot drop boxes.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

Rebecca Rom, the National Chair of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters joined to talk about some breaking news from the US Dept. of the Interior. We also dug into the foreign billionaire's company that's trying to mine Minnesota's Boundary Waters. Took some calls and digested that news on the back half of the show. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

City of La Crosse Police Chief Shawn Kudron joined. Discussed the responsibility police might have if marijuana is legalized. Also hit on the recent drug bust with 11 pounds of meth, how traffic cams might help police and what happens to the gun after an arrest. Get all these shows by searching La Crosse Talk PM wherever you download podcasts or go to WIZMNews.com/podcasts See omnystudio.com/liste...

Talked with the development group that's working on the old Kmart site in La Crosse at State Road and Losey Blvd. Brainstormed some ideas for the site, a new name for that area and what's going to happen to the Kmart building. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes joined the show, along with UW-La Crosse political science prof. Dr. Anthony Chergosky. Discussed an array of things, including the state Legislature being quite indecisive about whether Colby cheese should be the state cheese, while also passing other somewhat controversial legislation. Also asked Barnes about a CEO salary cap and his thoughts on Mitch McConnell's "he said...

Talked with RepresentUs Connor Glassen about the redistricting process in Wisconsin and the gerrymandered maps. After that, Mark Neumann came on to announce he's running for Congress in the 3rd Congressional District. And, capped things off with La Crosse Democratic Party chair William Garcia on gerrymandering. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Megan Danaher is the new coach of Viterbo's newest sport, E-Sports. We dive into just about every aspect of e-sports and gaming. What her parents think of her new profession and what e-sports will look like at Viterbo. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

La Crosse County Board chair Monica Kruse joined to discuss the meeting happening Thursday, where they will look at the definition of Lake Onalaska, a potential dog kennel expansion and how the county plans to allocate $22 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding -- or Biden Bucks.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Keith Knutson joined to discuss Martin Luther King, Jr., as Viterbo hosted a community celebration. We also discussed, toward the end of the podcast, some of the political battles happening in Wisconsin — including gerrymandering, as well as senate, congressional and governor races. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky in studio. The professor sort of dropped a bomb on if Tommy Thompson were the Republican nominee for governor. Also talked about potential penalties for Republican electors in Wisconsin, including La Crosse's GOP Party Chair, Bill Feehan, casting votes for Donald Trump for president. Was there a bigger conspiracy? And, perhaps most im...

Peggy Wirtz-Olsen, President of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, joined the show to talk about the ongoing dilemma teachers are facing in Wisconsin, exasperated by the continuing COVID-19 pandemic that's shut down schools.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Viterbo history professor and computer guru there, Dr. Eric Weinberg, joined and we had a fun conversation about online gaming and that as a collegiate sport. After that, we discussed Viterbo hosting the MLK Day community celebration in La Crosse and what keynote speaker Dr. Sylvia Hood Washington could focus on. Also hit on the road situation in downtown La Crosse with 4-way stops and speed bumps...

Pete Marra is a Georgetown biologist and author of Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer. He discussed the proposal up for the La Crosse city council on saving feral cats. The city is looking to catch, vaccinate, fix and release feral cats back into the city, which Marra believes is wrong for a plethora of reasons. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Started, again, with La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds on hometown stud Johnny Davis and the Badgers. Got into the city/county effort losing out on the perfect property for a Homeless HQ (though Reynolds didn't call it that). And, of course, another session of Cat Talk PM, as city wants to save feral cats. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, joined. Discussed the city's legislation on feral cats, Robin Vos turning over a new leaf for 2022 and Ron Johnson finally confirms he's running for his Senate seat, though he said he wouldn't.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Had some fun talking about a fifth grader in La Crosse taking over as principal for a day. Was hoping she could come up but I got stood up. Sarah Godllewski, however, did show and we talked about a bunch of things as it pertains to running for US Senate. That included the filibuster, healthcare, a $750 billion bloated military budget and, of course, the Jan. 6 insurrection and how some people pret...

Assembly Rep. Jill Billings joined for the hour, talking about everything from the north-south corridor and the year anniversary of drinking bottled water bc of PFAS on French Island to a partisan Wisconsin election investigation that's still going and Republicans dissolving another (semi-)nonpartisan group that oversees elections. Oh, and we did do Cat Talk PM for the third consecutive day! See o...

As the city debates a plan to catch-and-release cats, after spay/neuter and vaccinating them, we talk with Coulee Region Humane Society executive director Heather Dreivold about it. The city ordinance change does not mention the word "feral," though that's what the change would be. Before that, a bit on La Crosse's Johnny Davis dropping 37 for the Badgers on No. 3 Purdue. See omnystudio.com/listen...

Started the show talking about the evacuation of Central High School due to a bomb threat. After that, city council member Chris Woodard joined to explain a committee agenda item about re-releasing neighborhood cats back onto the streets, instead of keeping them for adoption and possibly being euthanized.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, joined to break down the best and worst local stories of 2021 -- from Trane Park opening to Biden's visit on the good side and a triple-homicide and an abduction downtown on the bad. We also got a really late, New Year's Eve, Friday news dump. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ranted a bit about political candidate texts and emails nonstop asking for donations. After that, WIZM's Brad Williams joined to talk about the 2021 political stories, including, instead of stopping for ice cream,  how Joe Biden's La Crosse visit could have grabbed more headlines. After that, discussed some city projects that made news in 2021 -- La Crosse Center, Fish Labs and the north-sout...

After I mourned the loss of John Madden, brought on Dawn Wacek, who's been a librarian for 20 years and is the La Crosse Library's deputy director. We got into a banning books discussion and how the library handles things like that, as the Holmen Middle School is going through a conversation about banning a certain book. Before that, though, we talked about some of the more interesting books of 20...