WIZM - La Crosse Talk Interviews

All we covered with Mac Kiel in studio was the city administrator plan, homelessness, 2nd Street cycle track funding, the 2026 budget shortfall and the potential of closing another library or pool. The last two are somewhat related, as the city deals with what La Crosse Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey said last month on WIZM is a $3 million budget shortfall.  Kiel, though, explains that &mda...

Wisconsin Farmers Union president Darin Von Ruden joins in studio to discuss how farmers are being affected by federal cuts and tariffs, the push for potential bailout funding, and how the state had to step in after farmers had already invested in crops and livestock for local farm-to-table programs. Some of these dilemmas are interconnected. China has retaliated against U.S. tariffs by not buying...

Beth Enneking, the Executive Director of the Alliance of Wisconsin Animal Rehoming Efforts (AWARE), joins to talk about Sunday's Pet Expo La Crosse happening at the OmniCenter from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. This is a fundraiser for AWARE and the event will feature 13 rescue shelters, over 50 vendors, a cat show, food trucks and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A bit of a free flowing conversation on local government control, taxes and we worked in data centers with Wisconsin state Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) in studio last week.  We also did a bit of a civics lesson on some of the inner workings of the state Legislature — a conversation that revolved around a bipartisan bill being circulated to make skateboarding legal again. In Wisconsin, i...

There’s nothing quite like learning about a conservation success story — and getting it straight from someone who lived it. Dr. Stan Temple, a giant in the world of wildlife ecology and conservation, joins us to preview his visit to La Crosse on Sunday, where he’ll share the comeback story of the Greater Sandhill Crane — from near extinction to thriving populations in Wisco...

La Crosse Homeless Services Coordinator Brian Sampson in studio to discuss how the Pathways Home plan to end homelessness is progressing and to preview a big event happening next week. The documentary, “Beyond the Bridge: A Solution to Homelessness,” will be shown at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Weber Center , followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and other homeless experts. The event is...

Tried to get through as many things as possible dealing with the federal government with US House Rep. Mark Pocan. After hosting a town hall Wednesday in downtown La Crosse, the Wisconsin Democrat stopped by the WIZM studio to reflect on the event and talk about what Congress is — and isn’t — getting done.. Part of that conversation was, of course, Pocan — again — hol...

City council member Lisa Weston stopped in studio to discuss how the public engagement sessions on city administrator have been going, plus her experience so far trying to finalize La Crosse’s 2026 budget. Weston is about six months into her career on city council. She is also on the council working group studying the city administrator plan that could come up for a vote in February. So far,...

Ahead of the monthly meeting, La Crosse city council president Tamra Dickinson in studio discussing the budget process — and shortfall — operations director vs. city administrator, liquor license approval and police reports on bars serving underage people, plus all the groundbreakings. One other thing Dickinson brought up was something discussed by the Board of Public Works this week a...

Clara Gelatt and Katie Bittner stopped in studio to help preview the five-day La Crosse Adventure Film Festival, that begins Wednesday.  Events are taking place at the Pump House, Mt. La Crosse and the Rivoli, featuring “powerful films, storytelling under the stars, inspiring women adventurers, trail cleanups, and opportunities to support our community.” Ticket pricing is below (...

School District of La Crosse superintendent, Dr. Aaron Engel, joins to discuss financial aid, State Road Elementary additions and the dilemma of retaining and growing the student body amid declining enrollment, a trend driven by falling birthrates. Before getting to any of that, however, we spoke about the fight over National Guard troops being sent to Portland and Chicago. Engel is a Lieuten...

There's nothing quite like interviewing a dementia expert — and then forgetting your next question. Dr. Alexis Eastman, a geriatrician at the University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Institute, joins to discuss dementia and ways to reduce its risk, ahead of her  Badger Talk series at UW-La Crosse from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday. All are welcome to attend and bring your own question...

Economist Adam Hoffer joins to fire Badgers football coach Luke Fickell and discuss just how many hundreds of millions of dollars Wisconsin is losing out on by not legalizing sports betting statewide. First, though, we discuss a La Crosse City Council proposal to spend around $600,000 to update the 2nd Street bike lanes. Hoffer is the director of excise tax — sin tax — policy at the Ta...

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, on 83-year-old Tommy Thompson giving “serious consideration” to entering the Wisconsin governor’s race, allowing voters — not county boards or city councils — to vote on wheel taxes, and how it’s illegal to skateboard on Wisconsin streets, but the Legislature could change that. We started, though,...

The Pickwick Fire Rescue’s volunteer department is having its annual fundraiser Sunday, and assistant chief Bob Bruno is cooking up his mom’s Sicilian recipe sauce. Bruno and EMT/firefighter Teri Market were in the WIZM studio to talk about what the funding for the Pickwick department goes towards. They also said the dinner is also a bit of a hangout session with some cribbage gam...

HorseSense, an organization dedicated to enriching the lives of individuals with and without disabilities through horseback riding and unmounted horsemanship program, has its biggest fundraiser of the year Saturday — the Fall Harvest Festival. Ashley Adams and Sam Harding from the nonprofit stopped in studio to tell us what HorseSense is all about and what to expect at Saturday’s fundr...

Revealing the seedy underbelly of La Crosse has been Scott Brouwer’s mission for over a decade. The La Crosse Public Library archivist stopped in the WIZM studio for La Crosse Talk to discuss the history of their series, Dark La Crosse Stories — ahead of a state award it’s receiving Monday from the Wisconsin Historical Society. We also tease the newest installment in the now YouT...

La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke in studio discussing the rise in shootings and gun incidents, his upcoming Citizen Prosecution Academy — an interactive program giving residents a closer look at the criminal justice system — plus a look at felonies and drug crimes here. We began the show discussing gun-related activity in La Crosse County, including several road rage inci...

As the 50th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s sinking approaches, UW-Madison Professor Emeritus of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Dr. Steve Ackerman joined to preview his upcoming Badger Talk in La Crosse on the mysterious tragedy and the song behind it. Ackerman, a longtime weather and climate researcher and former director of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite S...

William Garcia, La Crosse County Democratic Party co-chair, in studio discussing the 2026 election season, including the Democratic primary for the U.S. House and campaign fundraising challenges. We also took a break from politics to rant about the new Tron movie. Started the show discussing the recent dropout of Democratic candidate Laura Benjamin from the 3rd District U.S. House race, the hurdle...

La Crosse County Board chair Tina Tryggestad in studio reviewing the September meeting, including $1 marijuana possession fines, $10 million opioid settlement funds, selling the 111 acres of county farmland, and road funding. We started the show discussing the 2026 budget before moving into the marijuana ordinance change process. The county board will review the change over two meetings and is lik...

La Crosse School superintendent, Dr. Aaron Engel joined to discuss how the district’s $2.3 million budget deficit, school funding and how it gets involved in the Wisconsin governor’s race. Began the show, though, highlighting the district’s marching bands that took part in the Oktoberfest parades last week — four in the Maple Leaf and another three in the Torchlight. After...

The year the city of La Crosse wanted to change the drinking age for a weekend.  That was one of three topics discussed with UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky. We also hit on taxpayer money for state lawmaker home and personal security — a reaction from the Charlie Kirk assassination. Lastly, we talked about how huge La Crosse’s Maple Leaf Parade is,...

La Crosse Education Association president — the teachers’ union president — Jill Schams joined Monday, as we discussed the expanding role of the teacher and the marching bands playing in a parade of 120,000.  Began the show, though, talking quick about kids having to walk or wait for the bus in the pouring rain and we hit on “The Ark” game, between Logan and Cent...

Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Steve Doyle in studio discussing rigging election maps, the governor’s race, data centers, and a pair of bills he’s working to pass. Doyle also serves on the La Crosse County Board, in which we talked about the contention of those elections, road funding and the proposal to set $1 fines for marijuana possession. We began the show with the Wisconsin governo...