La Crosse Talk PM WIZM

US Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) joins as a midnight Friday deadline looms to fund the Department of Homeland Security and rein in what she describes as "unidentified, masked, armed, untrained agents" roaming residential streets. The negotiations come in the wake of the killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a Green Bay Preble High School graduate and ICU nurse, who was fatally shot by federal age...

 To bike lane or not to bike lane? That’s one of the questions La Crosse's city council will answer Thursday at its monthly meeting. If that isn't enough, the council will also vote on whether to hire a city administrator. Council President Tamra Dickinson stopped in studio to help break down the legislation and discuss some other city business. Before getting into bike lanes and the ad...

From 8k to 100-miles, we covered the distance runners with UW-La Crosse national champions, Aidan and Grant Matthai, and ultramarathoner Julia Hartig in studio. The Matthais are in the midst of trying to win back-to-back triple crowns — winning national titles in cross county, plus indoor and outdoor track. So far, the seniors have four wrapped up, as they’re in the midst of indoor sea...

Covered a lot with Wisconsin state Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska), including the GOP-led Legislature ending its work for the year by Feb. 19. We looked at bills butting up against that clock to legalize recreational marijuana, ban cellphones in schools, and exempt tips from taxes — thought Pfaff would like to see that coupled with raising the minimum wage. We also discussed the situation with...

Measles is making a comeback, chicken pox hides in your brain and — once more — we discuss why vaccines don’t cause autism with immunologist Dr. Chris Mayne. The Viterbo University biology professor joins us as Wisconsin sees its first case of measles — a University of Wisconsin student — and as outbreaks occur in ICE detention facilities and in various states —...

Lame ducks and property tax breaks, Coulee Region Burger Kings breaking child labor laws, and putting a "K" in Kornfest with UW-La Crosse political science professor Dr. Anthony Chergosky in studio. Does the political scientist know the origins of the phrase lame duck? No, we had to tell him but Chergosky does explain the situation President Donald Trump and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers are currently...

Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Tara Johnson (D-Shelby) in studio to discuss the couple of days Republicans have scheduled for the Legislature to work this year. The Republican majority intends to end the 2026 session by Feb. 19, meaning a slew of bills have very little time to clear the floor. Johnson offered a bit of a civics lesson on how members try to get bills passed, how they co-sponsor colle...

The stated goal is to “reduce recidivism,” but in talking to Colin Walsh, manager of Project Proven, it’s about more than that. The Western Technical College program works to break the cycle of incarceration by providing a clear pathway back to normalcy. For those trying to reset, it’s as much about finding a social outlet and a community as it is about earning a degree. Wa...

We get a little “old curmudgeon” with UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, in studio Friday with the cellphone ban and movie theatre talk — since we didn’t have cellphones in school and couldn’t reserve recliner seats back in the day.  We also dive into lawsuits against the major social media companies, examining claims that they&rsquo...

La Crosse School Board president Deb Suchla in studio discussing naming the new elementary school, what to do with the old buildings in the district, plus the district's unique intra-city rivalry and the “400-year veto” of taking $325 in per pupil funding. With the demolition of the 125-year-old Hogan building now underway, Suchla outlines the timeline and process to naming the element...

A week ahead of the La Crosse common council voting on creating a city administrator position, there’s dueling legislation on the matter. City Council member Aron Newberry stopped in studio to discuss his separate proposal for creating the position. Also joining the conversation is Mac Kiel, helping break down that role, plus what’s happening in city government throughout February. The...

Tearing up downtown La Crosse from storefront to storefront for bike lanes, extended sidewalks, a roundabout and more is the plan. Michelle Howe, major study supervisor for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, joins the show to help break it down, along with two other projects underway in La Crosse. Howe, the major studies supervisor for the DOT Southwest Region, discusses their "hybrid" re...

Missy Hughes stopped in studio on a frigid Friday to discuss her bid for Wisconsin governor. We began by talking about her background leading the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation for six years under Gov. Tony Evers and her 17 years as general counsel for Organic Valley. Then we got into her newly released “Unlock Wisconsin” economic plan, which proposes specific targets for h...

Rivoli Theatre co-owners Clara and Jon Gelatt in studio discussing the changing landscape of movies — stemming from Matt Damon’s criticism of Netflix — a YouTuber’s horror film coming soon thanks to fan emails and how they stay relevant with community events ranging from politics to the outdoors. One of the nice things about going to a theatre is you’re basically comm...

UW-Oshkosh's Dr. Mike Ford, Director of the Whitburn Center of Governance and Policy Research, joins to break down everything "city administrator," ahead of next month's council vote on creating the position. Ford explains why La Crosse is currently in the minority among Wisconsin cities of its size and addresses the growing "nationalization" of local politics. We dive into where Mayor Shaundel Wa...

Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Steve Doyle in studio on the Legislature’s earliest adjournment in history, his priorities in this last month of work for 2026, the state’s $4 billion surplus, and a package of bills on elderly care he hopes will pass. We began the show with Republicans, who control the Legislature, hoping to be done legislating for 2026 on Feb. 19 — which Doyle poin...

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, in studio talking the big names headed to La Crosse as campaign season begins, when is it OK not to tip, the La Crosse mayor trying to sway the council on the city administrator plan, and what Wisconsin's state Legislature is attempting to cram into the two months it's going to work this year. We began the show with comments made thi...

Dr. Carolyn Colleen joins to discuss Viterbo's 21st annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day community celebration coming up Monday. Not only do we dive into the event, highlighted by keynote speaker Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, and events running from morning until night, but Colleen also discusses the happenings on Tuesday, when 1,000 seventh graders descend on the university to learn. The conversatio...

A month away from a vote on a city administrator, La Crosse’s mayor doesn’t support the specific plan currently on the table. Shaundel Washington-Spivey stopped in studio Thursday for La Crosse Talk PM and discussed why he’s not for this iteration of a city administrator. We also talked about the Wisconsin DOT’s new design for bike lanes and a roundabout on 3rd and 4th stre...

Ahead of his visit to the city Saturday, Brewers manager Pat Murphy joined to discuss coaching — football and basketball — Bob Uecker and, of course, pocket pancakes. Murphy will be the La Crosse Loggers special guest Saturday for their winter BBQ at the La Crosse Center, appropriately themed “An Evening with Pat Murphy.” On the show, we dove deep on pocket pancakes, if he'...

Wisconsin State Rep. Jill Billings in studio to discuss how Republicans in control of the Legislature aim to wrap up their work for the year by the end of February. Billings also addressed the recent funding loss for WisconsinEye — a state version of C-SPAN — which has left only the media as the source of video for committee and floor sessions. This comes as the GOP begins enforcing an...

A roundabout and bike lanes in downtown La Crosse, ending “prayer” before council meetings, and cutting judges’ terms to save tax money. Those are the big topics we discussed with Mac Kiel on Monday’s La Crosse Talk PM. Ending council invocations After that, we talked about the council voting 9-4 to end “invocations,” which is basically prayer before meetings. M...

From governments holding invocations — like prayers before meetings — to the best and worst first-date topics, we covered it all with University of Wisconsin-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky. The conversation comes as the La Crosse City Council voted Thursday to end invocations before meetings. WIZM’s Brad Williams helped open the show with his own ren...

Seven-time log rolling world champion, Livi Pappadopoulos, stopped in studio to talk about how ending up alone balancing on a log in the water can be an amazing third space. All week, La Crosse Talk PM has focused on third spaces — so not home, not work, but that third space where you can be social or feel part of the community. As the director of Coulee Region Log Rolling , Pappadopoulos ta...

Amanda Worman Holmgaard stopped in studio to talk about how The Good Fight Community Center in La Crosse is a third space for kids. La Crosse Talk PM has focused this first week of the new year on third spaces — so not home, not work, but that third space where you can be social or feel part of the community. Worman Holmgaard, the executive director at The Good Fight, tells us how the center...