Mornings with Pat Kreitlow

With Lt. Governor Sara Rodriguez launching a bid to become governor next year, there will be a wide open race to take the number two spot in the state in 2026. Sarah Godlewski, the current secretary of state and former state treasurer, announced her candidacy Wednesday to grab a third constitutional position in as many elections. We’ll talk to her live about her decision and her platform. We’ll al...

Gov. Tony Evers isn’t wasting time changing how business is done in the Capitol, now that the state Supreme Court has struck down one of the (many) ways Republicans in the Legislature had been blocking him from implementing laws and rules. We’ll also get a rundown of this weekend’s Wisconsin events with Cherita Booker. And we’ll replay our conversation with Dan Shafer about a very liberal US senat...

Congressman Derrick Van Orden can’t stop, won’t stop holding private events rather than public town halls to defend the damage being done to his refusal to stand up to President Trump. One of his upcoming events is a country club fundraiser with an Ohio congressman nicknamed “Gym” Jordan, and folks in the Wisconsin Rapids area are planning to make sure both lawmakers know public opinion isn’t on t...

For all of the talk about federal budget cuts, there is also some new federal money being made available to schools — but it’s a trap. It’s being billed as a national tax credit scholarship program, but it’s also a back-door way to fund more vouchers for private schools. State officials who want to protect public education can try to modify how the dollars are distributed, but it’s funding that co...

We are live in Wisconsin Rapids to help WFHR celebrate 85 years of local broadcasting. We’ll talk to members of the Civic Media family about the historic role the station has played over decades of community service. Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast...

We’ll catch up with Dan Shafer of The Recombobulation Area to discuss how Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is coming to western Wisconsin to help one of the Democrats trying to unseat US Rep. Derrick Van Orden. We’ll also look into whether US Rep. Bryan Steil is signaling a willingness to help President Trump kill mail-in voting, something used by hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin voters. Mornings wit...

We’ll talk to former state legislator Fred Clark about how ridiculous certain Wisconsin politicians looked in sending a letter to Canada to complain about, you know, their country burning down. We’ll fact-check the people who want to blame everything other than a changing climate for everything that’s changing in our climate. Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on sev...

President Donald Trump recharged his autocratic batteries after meeting up with Russia’s dictator and is back to bashing a cornerstone of democracy: making voting easier for everyone who’s qualified to vote. Also: Derrick Van Orden quietly appeared in Eau Claire, not holding a town hall or hearing from voters. The show has plenty of fun as Pat educates Parker about New Coke, something Pat thinks P...

John & Gordy join from Madison to talk about some international affairs after Trump gave Putin a photo op. Dr. Kristin Lyerly joins the show from a hotel as she travels back from her conference in Peru. She shares details on her experiences there and some observations about democracy. Also: Civic Media’s Jane Matenaer checks in. Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs...

Wisconsin is unlike many states that allow ordinary citizens to collect signatures and put ideas on a statewide ballot for new laws or constitutional amendments. We’ll talk to two guests who recently wrote an opinion column outlining why we should have that kind of setup in our state, too. We’ll also check in with Civic Media’s Jimmie Kaska. Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, an...

We’ll discuss the Brewers’ extending their winning streak to a record 14 games before finally losing a game on Sunday. And we’ll discuss how Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has figured out the best way to approach today’s meeting at the White House: Bring friends, lots of ‘em, as several European leaders join the follow-up to President Trump’s Alaskan bromance with Russia’s dictator. Mornin...

A new report from a nonpartisan research group outlines how the new Wisconsin state budget will draw down the multi-billion dollar surplus. That’s the data. Here’s the judgement: Good. A surplus isn’t supposed to just sit there for years, as Republican legislators have allowed. Now it’s coming back in the form of both tax cuts and new investments, showing the importance of having a Democratic gove...

We’ll review the latest moves by the Trump regime with our Week In Review panel: whether it’s a military takeover of Washington, DC streets; sending armed, masked troops to a rally by California’s governor; or inviting Russia’s war criminal dictator to a summit today in Alaska, the president is all about putting on a show — even though he keeps losing in courtroom as judges strike down his illegal...

There’s finally some movement in the legal case surrounding the mayor of Wausau taking it upon himself to remove an absentee ballot drop box from City Hall while echoing Republican talking points about the issue. There’s only one problem: The new special prosecutor happens to be the last Republican candidate to run for state attorney general. We’ll also talk to Courier Newsroom’s Keya Vakil about...

Living in an era where the MAGA far right can’t stop drifting further to the right, Wisconsin has a candidate for governor with a position on public safety that puts a sickening spin on the old Oprah Winfrey line: “You get a gun! And you get a gun! And you get a gun!” We’ll review Bill Berrien’s idea to eliminate permits and encourage flooding the streets with concealed weapons. Also, Sean O’Malle...

The president’s extremism means no Republican incumbents should take their elections for granted in 2026, even a state senator whose district went for Donald Trump by 34 points last year. We’ll talk to Mike Van Someren of Delafield, who announced Wednesday he’s challenging Sen. Chris Kapenga in that suburban Milwaukee district. After all, “Suburban Milwaukee district” isn’t synonymous with “solidl...

Leave it to a master narcissist to fire board members from the Kennedy Center, appoint new members who would vote to make him their chairman—and then name himself as the host of this year’s Kennedy Center Honors. We’ll have details on this latest blow to American culture and the arts. Also: Cherita Booker reviews some of the many events going on across the state this weekend. And of course we’ll r...

Wisconsin was the first state in the country to use President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act as a way to put money back in people’s pockets for projects that made their homes more energy efficient. Two years later, it has paid out millions in rebates. We’ll talk to Melissa Baldauff about the program’s success, compared with what the current administration is doing to shift all that money back...

Naturally, the headline writers have to be brief and leave out context: “Evers vetoes portable benefits for delivery drivers.” The real story is how the governor vetoed the ongoing imbalance between how corporations treat their workers—and abuse the loophole of “gig workers,” “independent contractors,” and “part-timers.” We’ll talk to former state Rep. Dana Wachs about worker misclassification — a...

Taylor Swift has mastered the art of album anticipation and has created another P.R. juggernaut with her next release, “The Life of a Showgirl.” It got us wondering what other albums were highly anticipated over the years, from the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper” to Nirvana’s “Nevermind.” What was your version of “shut up and take my money?” We’ll also hear from Jeff Rennicke of Friends of the Apostle Isla...

We’ll talk to Dan Shafer of The Recombobulation Area — less about politics this time and more about what he’s seeing in his hometown as Milwaukee takes stock of the damage from massive flash flooding over the weekend. And we’ll check in with Chad Holmes of our Civic Media station in Wausau about the stories he’s following up north. Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs...

The fall session of the Wisconsin Legislature features bills that lawmakers had hoped might make it to the new state budget, but now have to pass on their own merits. One would allow Wisconsin farmers to have paying campers without having to obtain a campground license. We’ll talk to Hans Breitenmoser and Sheila Everhart about what advocates hope is the opening of another agricultural tourism reve...

Washington, DC is coming under federal, perhaps even military control, because the president is claiming, falsely, that crime is out of control. (It’s far from perfect, but it’s not at its worst.) The irony is that DC’s most violent crime actually occurred on January 6, 2021 and its mastermind is now the one in charge of its police. What could go wrong? We’ll also ride another wave as the Brewers...

Every profession needs a good national organization dedicated to best practices, ongoing education, and a little morale boosting. For state lawmakers, that’s the role of the National Conference of State Legislators. We’ll talk to Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire) about this year’s convention discussions — and the difference between a group like NCSL vs. similar groups focused on partisanship and di...