WIZM - La Crosse Talk Interviews

La Crosse teachers' union co-president Jill Schams joins to talk about the Brewers Racing Sausages visiting her school, Gov. Tony Evers' 400-year school funding bill upheld, teaching music and the new school board. Schams is the co-president of the La Crosse Education Association and K-5 music teacher at Southern Bluffs, where the Brewers awarded a $1,000 check and gave a first-grade teacher there...

Nobody told Jed Olson quite what “conductor” meant, as the executive director of ORA Trails came into the WIZM studio ready to run a train. As Olson advocates for ORA Trails, he is also part of the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra’s conductor wannabe competition.  So, we poke fun at the idea of Olson running a symphony, in between talking about everything that ORA Trails is doin...

Jacob Sciammas and Jamie Schloegel in the WIZM studio wearing their 90s gear or, more specifically, their Saved by the Bell getup. The two joined La Crosse Talk to promote 90s trivia night at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Rivoli to raise awareness and funding for the La Crosse Community Nonprofits Initiative (LCNI). The way voting works is through donations. Half the donations go to the group being vo...

Sherry Noble from Next Chapter, joins, to talk about what their group is about and a big fundraiser they're having Wednesday. Next Chapter's moto is “From Prison to Purpose." It's a way for incarcerated men to get help restarting their life when they get out of prison.  They’re having an important fundraiser from 4-8 p.m. Wednesday at Burrachos. If you go there at that time and &m...

We reveal the identity of “Theatre Man,” and his pitch to win the Conductor Wannabe competition for the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. Erik Vose is the executive director of the La Crosse Community Theatre (LTC) joins and makes his pitch for winning the wannabe competition. Vose is advocating for the La Crosse Community Theatre’s Star Academy, youth summer program. How the competi...

Conductor Wannabe, Pastor Mark Kvale of the La Crosse Youth Symphony Orchestra, in the WIZM studio for La Crosse Talk making his pitch to win the competition. Five groups are competing to win the fundraiser put on by the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra ( vote here ). A minimum $2 donation toward will get split between the symphony and the group being voted for. The winner will be a conductor at the M...

Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Jill Billings in the WIZM studio for La Crosse Talk to discuss a bipartisan bill on postpartum care that mysteriously didn’t get passed, her hosting two local budget listening sessions and the state of campaign finance, after the $100 million spring WI Supreme Court race. We began the show with discussing a bill that passed the state Senate last session 32-1 &md...

Republicans talk with Republicans over a Wisconsin run for governor, what businesses are missing from La Crosse and UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, defends his stance that peeps are the best Easter candy on a Friday La Crosse Talk. We also discuss candidates already getting into races that aren’t happening for at least a year, the amount of money already bein...

Meghan Roh, Program Director at Opportunity Wisconsin, joined La Crosse Talk to preview an upcoming town hall featuring special guest U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (D–Madison). The event begins at 5 Tuesday at the Capella Performing Arts Center ( register here ). Opportunity Wisconsin is helping organize the event, which aims to engage residents on key federal issues. Roh noted that U.S. Re...

Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Steve Doyle in studio for La Crosse Talk discussing a range of issues, including his recent budget listening session in Onalaska, how the Legislature is grappling with federal funding cuts, and whether bipartisanship is improving this term. Doyle (D-Onalaska), who also serves on the La Crosse County Board, weighed in on the county’s potential sale of 111 acres o...

William Garcia is in studio discussing his running for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair on the platform of “Grow - Persist - Resist.” Garcia has been the chair of the La Crosse County Democratic Party for the past five years — he is co-chair this year. He is also the chair of the 3rd Congressional District Democratic Party and the Secretary/Treasurer of the DPW Latino Cauc...

She's one of five groups in the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra "conductor wannabe" competition. Kelly Colgan, joins to discuss why she's advocating for the Habitat For Heroes project.  Colgan, president of Colgan Air Service in La Crosse, talks about why this project that’s been going on since 2019 — building and fixing up houses for veterans in La Crosse — is so important to...

Kahya Fox in studio to preview Habitat for Humanity's first-ever La Crosse Housing week, which begins April 28 with 12 different programs. Fox, the executive director of Habitat For Humanity of the Greater La Crosse Region, talks about what exactly Housing Week is, why La Crosse needs to have these conversations and how we can fix housing in the region. Along with La Crosse Housing Week, Fox also...

Parents, grab your kids for the “Fired up for Science” event happening at Viterbo University on Tuesday. Viterbo chemistry professor, Dr. Kyle Backstrand, stopped in the WIZM studio to talks about some of the things people will see there, like gummy bear sacrifices, slime, elephant toothpaste and more. The experiments are put on by Viterbo STEM students and some kids attending the even...

The Green Bay Packers Tailgate Tour to help the Hunger Task Force of La Crosse came at just the right time. Shelly Fortner, executive director of HTF said the event brought in $98,000. Seven players — past and present — along with Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy held their Tailgate Tour event at the Stoney Creek Hotel in Onalaska that saw 400 fans in attendance. Of that fundraisi...

Jordan Shaffer and Cam Tschanz in the WIZM studio to promote Thursday’s plant sale at Western Technical College. Shaffer and Tschanz are botany students at WTC and are helping organize the Landscape and Horticulture Club’s spring sale from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Horticulture Education Center ( map ). Not only will folks be able to get everything from indoor to outdoor plants, but the...

They’re attempting the impossible.  Phillip and Claire Mitchell are trying to, what we’ve been calling, “Fix Rick.” Now, some WIZM listeners might think, ‘There’s no fixing that liberal.’ But that’s not what’s going on here.  The two own Mitchell Holistic Health (MHH) in Onalaska and have been working with me for the past few months o...

La Crosse Schools superintendent, Dr. Aaron Engel, joins to discuss potential “DEI” federal funding cuts, the next steps for new La Crosse School Board members, his going to a state Budget Listening session, and the District Vision survey going out next week. We started the show, though, talking about Logan Middle School students holding their own version of March Madness, with four di...

Liz Filter in studio, celebrating the nonprofit her dad started 50 years ago, the Vernon Area Rehabilitation Center. Filter, now the president of VARC , talks about taking over, who they serve and how it’s grown — with three of its 13 locations in La Crosse. VARC began in 1975 and now serves 1,000 annually of those with varying abilities and other barriers. VARC helps develop and provi...

Bri Holden in the WIZM studio helping us navigate the world of Parkinson’s disease, as she’s helping put on the 3rd Annual La Crosse Area Parkinson’s Walk and Awareness event. What Holden needs everyone to do is sign up ( here ) by April 20 to that all-important t-shirt, then come out to the event that happens at Myrick Park in less than a month. Holden is the program coordinator...

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky in the WIZM studio for Friday’s La Crosse Talk, discussing the Highway 16 construction, the length of time before La Crosse’s mayors and judges take office and the future chairs of the Democratic and Republican parties in Wisconsin. Began the show with a weird transition from the situation on Highway 16 in La Crosse, where...

La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds makes his last appearance on La Crosse Talk, as we reminisce about the last four years, talk about the highs and lows, and how things are set up for a new mayor and members on the council. Reynolds’ last official day as mayor will be Tuesday, as Shaundel Washington-Spivey gets sworn in, as well as six city council members — four totally new. We discuss so...

La Crosse County Board chair Tiny Tryggestad in studio just hours after a meeting about the future of 111 acres of county land in West Salem. Tryggestad breaks down some of the options the County Board has with four different parties — Ho-Chunk, West Salem, the School District of West Salem and Country Boom — interested in acquiring at least some of the farmland. She also discusses som...

Ben Hein, executive director of what's best known as The Exchange in La Crosse joined to talk about a couple of events they have coming up. The Exchange - La Crosse Area Furniture Bank is just that, a place to donate and receive gently used furniture and households items . Hein talks about the people they serve and the biggest needs — which just happen to be queen sized beds — and what...

Wisconsin state Sen. Brad Pfaff in the WIZM studio for La Crosse Talk with election reaction, money in politics, upcoming budget listening sessions and a new housing proposal, plus the best places for a Friday fish fry. Began the show with some election reaction in regards to the amount of money spent on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race the past two elections — both record-setting for the mo...