WIZM - La Crosse Talk Interviews

She’s been called the Jimi Hendrix of the fiddle. Eileen Ivers is this week’s featured Moon Tunes performer, and unofficial kickoff to Irishfest in La Crosse. Moon Tunes co-founder Terry Bauer stopped in studio to preview this week’s concert series. Along with Ivers, the band Gadan, along with Enda Scahill of the We Banjo Three will open Thursday’s show at Riverside Park. T...

Another episode of La Crosse (Bubbler) Talk.  This time, WIZM news director Kevin Millard popped in the studio Wednesday to discuss the Judiciary and Administrative Committee meeting from the night before that he covered, which had two resolutions dealing with La Crosse's bubblers. One of those from council members Padesky and Kahlow was to order the city not to remove the historic bubblers....

US House candidate Emily Berge in studio to discuss the key issues she’s hearing about while touring Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District. Berge, a licensed professional counselor and Eau Claire City Council president, is one of three Democrats running — along with Rebecca Cooke and Laura Benjamin — to unseat Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R–Prairie du Chien). Mental healt...

From what he calls a UW-L house party band to one of La Crosse's favorites, lead singer, Andy Hughes, in studio to talk about TUGG at 25. Hughes says TUGG started as a house party band at UW-La Crosse, and now they’re about to release a new album called 25 — celebrating a quarter-century of making music. We also talk about Hughes turning 40 and becoming an old curmudgeon who hates all...

A lot of hoopla last week about a salary cap in baseball.  Dr. Adam Hoffer, former professor of sports economics at UW-L and current director of excise tax policy at the Tax Foundation, joined to discuss what that might look like.  Is it good for small market teams or big money players? What would a strike or lockout do?  We also spent a little bit of time discussing the revenue num...

A public forum Wednesday in La Crosse on bringing back fusion voting to state ballots. Dale Schultz, former Republican state Senate leader and co-chair of United Wisconsin , joined to break down just what is fusion voting — where a candidate can appear on a ballot more than once. Schultz, who was in the Wisconsin state Legislature from 1983 to 2014, talks about why it was shut down by the tw...

It’s one thing to host an “Ice Cream Town Hall” — but politicians could aim higher. UW-La Crosse political science professor Dr. Anthony Chergosky in studio, along with WIZM’s Brad Williams, to discuss Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers visiting La Crosse for his “Ice Cream Town Hall” at Rudy’s. But it brought up a lot of questions. Is Rudy's the place for ic...

Bubbler talk with La Crosse city council members Chris Kahlow and Gary Padesky.  The two have an item on Tuesday's Judiciary and Administration Committee meeting agenda aimed at preserving the city's historic bubblers.  It's one of two pieces of legislation on bubblers for the committee to debate. The other was put for the La Crosse Mayor Shuandel Washington-Spivey. According to the city...

Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Tara Johnson in the WIZM studio for La Crosse Talk, discussing the state budget — including Prairie Springs — partisan primaries in the governor’s race, and issues like PFAS, farming and plastic waste. Johnson (D-Shelby) is one of just a handful of Democrats who voted for the budget, which included all area Democrats — largely because the plan...

She said the girls golf team can afford seven balls a player and the football team has enough funding to buy a helmet. Jocelyn Buxton, with the Central Booster Club, joined to tell us about their first-ever Riverhawk Rally, which happens 4:30-10 p.m. Saturday at All-Star Lanes.  T.U.G.G.'s Andy Hughes , a Central graduate, will be playing an acoustic show that night, beginning at 7:30 p.m. &m...

T.U.G.G.'s Andy Hughes is a Central High School grad and playing a solo acoustic show at Saturday's Riverhawk Rally. It's the first-ever booster club fundraiser to help the over 50 co-curricular activities at Central. Hughes doesn't go too into his Central High glory days, but does talk about what the show will be like, including possibly some 90s rap and taking requests. The Riverhawk Rally is fr...

Terry Bauer in studio previewing this week's Moon Tunes, featuring Fayme Rochelle & the Wax Wings , along with the Saner & Gibbons Band. Moon Tunes happens from 5:30-8 p.m. each Thursday at Riverside Park. They are free and open to the public. Multiple food and drink vendors are staged throughout the park. There's also free train rides for the kids and a bike corral — basically free...

The 42nd National Night Out is right around the corner, and La Crosse Police Captain Avrie Schott joins to help preview the event. This is the 28th year La Crosse's police department has been involved and they are in a big way — with 14 different locations throughout the city. We also discussed the reasoning behind speed enforcement zones. La Crosse Police have been posting these zone locati...

The Mac and Rick show turns into La Crosse (Bubbler) Talk ahead of next week’s committee meetings, where there are two pieces of legislation on those now infamous green water fountains scattered everywhere. Kiel breaks down what’s on Tuesday’s Judiciary and Administration Committee agenda in references to the bubblers — where we’ve determined there are at least four d...

Wheel tax and transportation funding talk with Adam Hoffer, director of excise tax policy at Tax Foundation, in the WIZM studio. Most of the La Crosse Talk conversation hovered around the Onalaska city council recently passing a $25 wheel tax but not for what those fees typically go toward. That led to a discussion about Congress having to pass a federal transportation bill that could see the stat...

La Crosse Schools superintendent, Dr. Aaron Engel, joins to discuss school lunch debt, teacher contracts, a middle school backpacking trip — with probably a lot of bug spray — and a first-ever Central High fundraiser That's where we kicked off the interview, discussing Saturday's Central fundraiser, featuring Andy Hughes from T.U.G.G., which happens from 4:30-10 p.m. at All-Star lanes....

La Crosse School Board president Deb Suchla in the WIZM studio to discuss results from a recent community visioning survey, the district’s building plans, and upcoming work — including approving new teacher contracts. Suchla, elected board president in May, is currently in her second stint on the board. She previously served from 2001 to 2018 and was re-elected in 2023. We talked about...

Is Wisconsin still a purple state? With Gov. Tony Evers announcing Thursday he won’t seek reelection, we may have a definitive answer next year. UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, joins to break down who’s up next for both parties in the quest to replace Evers and just how purple Wisconsin really is — given Democrats have won 12 of the past 16 statew...

Previewing Saturday’s 67th annual AAUW Art Fair on the Green with Jan Eriksen. The event happens from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Viterbo courtyard featuring over 60 artists exhibiting, and will include food trucks, food-drink booths and an art raffle. Eriksen is the past president of La Crosse’s branch of the AAUW (American Association of University of Women), which focuses on helping gi...

Just hours after Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced he would not seek re-election, Rick Solem called state Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) for reaction. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just hours after Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced he would not seek re-election, Rick Solem called Hannah Testin, the chair of the 3rd US House District Republican Party, for reaction. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just hours after Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced he would not seek re-election, Rick Solem called state Rep. Steve Doyle (D-Onalaska) for reaction. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Molly McCormick, community risk educator for the La Crosse Fire Department, in studio discussing where we’re at with fire calls in the city, the uptick in accidents on the river, plus a look ahead to overdose awareness month in August. Over the past couple months, La Crosse has been a bit of a rollercoaster with fire calls. It was way up, then way down. But now, after the Fourth of July, McC...

Ryan Braun is back — but only for a day. Wisco Sports Show host, Grant Bilse, joins to preview the Milwaukee Brewers alumni home run derby Friday, how Wisconsin lost out on 200,000 free hamburgers, and share details about the bus trip to the Bob Uecker tribute game. Before Friday's 3 p.m. game with the Marlins, Milwaukee will have an alumni home run derby that includes: Ryan Braun Carlos Gó...

Terry Bauer, co-founder of Moon Tunes, in studio to preview Thursday’s concert at Riverside Park featuring High Mileage and Sunshine Drive. We joke about how High Mileage is 1980s-90s music but now categorized as "classic rock," which just means that I'm getting old but Terry is ancient — his music should, perhaps, be called "ancient rock." We also discuss a potential bandshell project...