La Crosse Talk PM WIZM

Congressman Ron Kind joined. Talked about a lot of things from saving our wildlife refuges (or not saving them), running for a 13th term, conversations over policing and protests and whether the campaign fight between he and Van Orden will get messy.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Had some stuff planed, but Eric from Sparta had other ideas. What, was Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh railing on mail-in voting before La Crosse Talk PM on Monday? Kind of seems like it. So, that's what we talked about. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Derrick Van Orden joined. He is running to unseat Ron Kind in the US House's 3rd Congressional District here in Wisconsin. Before that, talked about the whirlwind of news on a Friday. After the interview, some socialism talk. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We got the flamethrower conversation out of the way, right away. Also hit on some position cuts proposed by the mayor, PFAS regulation being delayed in the state, new police/fire command center, and a bit on the homeless in La Crosse. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UW-La Crosse political science professor joined and we talked about EVERYTHING — Biden's VP pick, Kamala Harris, the do-nothing Congress on the fed level, Trump executive orders, the Marquette Poll, the do-nothing Wisconsin state Legislature. PHEW.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lately, a lot of homeless in Cameron Park have been ticketed for being there after hours, some even being kicked awake, they say. Kimmarie Erickson joined. She's been trying to help homeless since the pandemic — since she lost her job, as well. Also talked to Randy Whitney, a homeless man who was ticketed Monday night for $124. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

OK, the cartoon-native American statue in Riverside Park named Hiawatha didn't come down today, but we talked a bit about it with La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat. Also, hit on FIX THE ROADS, PARKING, policing and the homeless issue in La Crosse. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The underdog running for the Republican nomination in US Congress for Wisconsin's 3rd District, Jessi Ebben joined, and we jumped around on both why she's better for Wisconsin than Derrick Van Orden, and why Ron Kind needs to go. Reaction after that, as well as some news on the virus in La Crosse. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

La Crosse Assistant Police Chief Rob Abraham joined for most of the show. We talked about the Campbell Police drug bust that involved confiscating some AR15s and a flamethrower, which, of course we had a couple conversations on throughout — including a text to La Crosse Fire Chief Ken Gilliam.  Also discussed how the police seemed to be the topic of conversation at a bunch of city commi...

Brad Pfaff, who's running for the Democratic nomination for the 32nd District in the Wisconsin state Senate joined. After that, we more or less broke down what Pfaff had to say, along with a little sidebar on the Mayor calling out healthcare systems over medical debt. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eric Timmons is the editor and chief of LaCrosseIndependent.com, a relatively young site for news in the Coulee Region. He joins to talk mostly about some recent stories the Independent has had on medical debt and that evolved into a conversation about universal health care. Rick also stuck him with most of the anti-healthcare-for-all callers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Onalaska's police shared a video of a guy trying to kick a Trump sign. It didn't go well. We talked with Chief Charles Ashbeck about that and a couple other things. After that, MASK-gate. Some callers think they found the loophole into not having the tyrannical government make you wear a mask so we don't spread the virus. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Four-part show. A. Rick rails against elected Sheriff's railing against mask mandates. B. Wisconsin 32nd District candidate Nurse Jayne (Swiggum) brings it from multiple perspectives on why she should be area's rep. C. La Crescent Police Chief Doug Stavenau on the MN mask mandate and the year "anniversary" of the state banning cellphones while driving. D. Police's dilemma when 100 "Karens" call ab...

Gov. Evers imposes a mask mandate on Wisconsin. A county sheriff says, "Nope, not enforcing that." Gundersen's infection control specialist joined, and, lastly, callers got into a conversation about the guy who was killed by police after he was caught passed out behind the wheel at a drive thru. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Turn downtown and uptown La Crosse into a big open market? A plan SORT OF like that is in the works, and we talked with Robin Moses exec. director at Downtown Mainstreet Inc. about the “Outdoor Cafe Program." City committees, council votes on it Thursday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

La Crosse teachers' union president John Havlicek, who is also a Spanish teacher at Central High School, joined to discuss the decision by the district's decision to postpone in-person school for at least a month. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Spent most of the show on parking in La Crosse, as the group conducting the $100,000 parking study the past year presented to the Board of Public Works on Monday morning. Rick did open with Trump and Favre golfing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a little rant about parking in La Crosse (a $100,000 parking study) we talked with Mayo's Dr. Andrew Jagim, director of sports medicine research, on how pro sports are restarting, and how to do that at a high school / college level -- if possible. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do you do when there's no "humane society" for stray animals in your county? Aside from a quick hit on Rick's stray kitten dilemma and sports being back, spent most of the time discussing why a mask mandate is a good thing for states -- because you can just blame the Democrats -- and a caller brought up the trouble with a backlog in testing and having to quarantine yourself until results come...

About 700 things covered today. Everything from tearing down statues because communism (?) to mask mandates to defunding the police, who need not be on kitten patrol. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

La Crosse Schools superintendent Dr. Aaron Engel joined to talk about reopening schools, along with the relationship with La Crosse Police over School Resource Officers.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat joined. Talked about masks mandates, the statue, a boat dock for Riverside Park, shootings in La Crosse and whether he's running for mayor in April 2021. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Started the show talking a bit about the first COVID-19 deaths in La Crosse and Trempealeau counties. Spent the rest of the hour letting people "vent" about the La Crosse parks board voting unanimously to remove the Hiawatha statue. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another day, another discussion about whether or not the Hiawatha "native/Indian" statue should be taken out of Riverside Park.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a "Scott's comment" from the La Crosse County Republican Party chair on how the gerrymandered political maps in Wisconsin aren't gerrymandered, Viterbo University political science professor Keith Knutson joined to discuss how they are, in fact, gerrymandered. Before that, hit on a couple different topics from the virus, to schools reopening to unemployment benefits.  See omnystudio.com...