Mornings with Pat Kreitlow

Legislators held a hearing Wednesday on a bill that represents the latest effort by right wing politicians to insert themselves in the medical decisions made by women and their doctors. The authors claim the bill addresses situations where abortions are necessary to save the life of the mother, but it also would define a fertilized egg as a person. Instead of trying to micromanage which medical pr...

Measles is nothing to take lightly. While it sounds like a common ailment, measles is a highly contagious viral illness that can lead to a rash, fever, cough, ear infections, pneumonia, brain inflammation, and death. And it is entirely preventable, except for the efforts of a few people spreading another contagious hazard: misinformation. We’ll talk to pediatrician Dr. Kellie Snooks about the alar...

We’ll ask Congressman Mark Pocan if Tuesday’s election results provided the extra force that could break the Republican logjam on the government shutdown. We’ll visit with newsletter editor Ellie Bourdo and start some trouble by asking you who makes Wisconsin’s best cheese curds? And Civic Media sports director Jimmie Kaska gives us an update on the many fall sports seasons winding down for Wiscon...

Tuesday’s election results should not be seen as some big surprise. Donald Trump’s Republican Party went backwards in every non-president election cycle in his first term as well. We’ll review the results and the reaction of a president who increasingly sees himself as someone not bound by any rules or laws, even courts that tell him to stop withholding food from struggling families. Who does that...

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes came within a whisker of unseating US Sen. Ron Johnson, whose campaign carcass was dragged over the finish line by billionaires who put tens of millions of dollars into racist ads. And yet it’s Barnes who’s the target of not-so-subtle talk in some Democratic circles that he shouldn’t run for governor in 2026 because he didn’t beat Johnson and the billionaires in 2022...

It’s one year until some big elections in Wisconsin. We’ll visit with Emily Berge , Eau Claire City Council president and a candidate for Congress in Wisconsin’s 3rd District. We’ll talk to guests behind an idea to engage in something called forest carbon management and voluntary forest carbon markets as a way to reduce the impacts of a changing climate, by offsetting industries that can’t quickly...

There’s a fair debate to be had about whether it’s a waste of time and taxpayer resources for legislators to create and pass bills they know will be vetoed by the governor. Was it right to make a statement by passing the doomed bills? Or was it the state capitol version of, “This meeting could have been an email,” and it would’ve been enough to issue a press release on what you’d like to do? Eithe...

A Wisconsin Senior Summit in Stevens Point this week will help a statewide group put together an agenda for 2026 that will help candidates understand what the state’s older population needs most from our state and federal leaders. 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...

The current administration has proven itself to be no friend to small businesses: tariffs that raise costs, cuts to healthcare that impact their workers, a shutdown that hurts the economy. We’ll talk to Shawn Phetteplace from Main Street Alliance, a small business group active in court cases that challenge the hostile agenda coming out of Washington, DC. Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by Up...

Well, that was painful. Despite being two-touchdown favorites, the Green Bay Packers never had the lead at Lambeau Field on Sunday, losing to Carolina, which appeared nearly unstoppable while slicing through Green Bay’s defense en route to an upset win. Also: Gov. Tony Evers declares a state of emergency to help the 700,000 people in the state impacted by President Trump’s likely-illegal cutoff of...

We’ll visit with State Senate candidate Emily Tseffos on why it’s important for candidates to step up even in the districts that appear to be unwinnable in order to send a message of hope and provide voters with a great alternative to the politics-as-usual coming out of Madison. Also: A little game of politician or Disney villain to kick off the Halloween weekend. Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is pow...

Our Week In Review panel will break down the stream of misinformation coming from the White House and Capitol Hill about the shutdown and the pain being needlessly inflicted on American families and the nation’s economy. 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 pod...

Next Tuesday will mark one year until some very important elections in Wisconsin, but there will be voting going on next week in several other states — and those outcomes in New York, California, and other states could be an indicator of how voters feel as the Republicans’ government shutdown enters a second month. Plus: Greg Bach joins us for our daily History Lesson. Mornings with Pat Kreitlow i...

We’ve seen the recessions caused by the dot-com bubble of 2000 and the real estate bubble of 2008. Now there’s reason to fear a new bubble. The stock market is higher not because of basic fundamentals (which aren’t great) but because Wall Street has a new idol to worship: artificial intelligence. With one chipmaker now worth $5 trillion, we’ll ask Sean O’Malley if he’s concerned that there will be...

We’ll talk to an expert on so-called Medicare Advantage plans because we’re in the open enrollment season for seniors or their caregivers to make important choices on their health insurance plans for 2026. Original Medicare can’t match all of the TV ads being run by the private health insurance companies who get to claim their plans have some kind of advantage — when the truth is there are signifi...

Congressman Derrick Van Orden could not have been more clear when he said it: “When we have unified government. If we cannot get our 12 appropriations bills through in a budget, then we don't deserve to be in the majority any longer.” Of course, this was in December of last year and Van Orden has since removed any pretense of being a moderate, but we’ll play back the audio and ask if you agree wit...

Residents in Jamaica and Cuba are in the earliest phases of assessing the damage from Melissa, yet another hurricane that went from zero to Category 5 in record time. And yet cuts from President Trump and congressional Republicans have left the National Weather Service’s parent agency in need of volunteers to help with data collection. Melissa Baldauff will have more in our Climate Check. Mornings...

As a teacher herself, state Rep. Angelina Cruz knows a few things about the importance of keeping kids safe from harm, especially from trusted figures who turn out to have ulterior motives. But Cruz also knows political games when she sees them, and that’s what she’s calling out now as Republicans (who haven’t exactly been rushing to release the Epstein files) pile criticism on state education lea...

Wisconsin voters are getting an idea of just how extreme some of the 2026 candidates will be when it comes to something as basic as protecting democracy. Both US Rep. Tom Tiffany, a candidate for governor, and Judge Maria Lazar, a candidate for state Supreme Court, recently held events with one of President Trump’s former advisors, a prominent 2020 election denier. Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is po...

There’s a lot of selective outrage happening among Wisconsin’s Republican politicians. Some of the people bellowing the most about how the Department of Public Instruction handled accusations of misconduct in schools are also the ones preventing the release of files that would help victims of serial sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein receive justice. The Wisconsin Examiner’s Ruth Conniff gives us som...

The government shutdown means there’s a lot that’s not getting done in our National Parks. Some are obvious — like permits, trash collection, and education programs. There’s also work behind the scenes that’s been parked for now: planning, research, search and rescue training, and more. We’ll have a guest from Friends of the Apostle Islands to tell us how the shutdown is affecting the National Lak...

Open enrollment begins next weekend for families and individuals in Wisconsin who want to buy or renew the health insurance coverage they get through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. They are in for a severe case of sticker shock. President Trump and congressional Republicans have been trying for more than a decade to kill the ACA, and they’re hoping the upcoming explosive cost of policies tur...

While Latinos across the country worry about a government hostile to their dreams — or maybe even their existence — there are still plenty of people carrying on with visions of creating their own American success story. We’ll talk to a woman whose journey from Mexico to Wisconsin had included the creation of a successful small business. She recently shared her story with a virtual summit for the W...

We’ll talk to Lucy Ripp with the progressive political research group A Better Wisconsin Together about how there are already a number of 2026 conservative candidates whose views on women’s healthcare rights are far from the mainstream of Wisconsin values. We’ll also have a report from UpNorthNews reporter Salina Heller highlighting the angst being felt by families whose budgets are about to get a...