WIZM - La Crosse Talk Interviews

We got La Crosse Education Association co-president Jesse Martinez's reaction to last week's elections for school board, supreme court and Department of Public Instruction, and we also spoke about a fun, student-led March madness bracket. Martinez, basically the teachers' union co-president with Jill Schams, is also a Logan Middle School teacher. We began the show talking about these student brack...

Jacob Sciammas and Jamie Schloegel in the WIZM studio making their pitch as conductor wannabes for the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra . They're the only pair in the competition, and they're representing the La Crosse Community Nonprofits Initiatives (LCNI). So, not only do we talk about LCNI, the two also discuss the unique way they want to win the competition, which includes an April 24 trivia fund...

We review turnout in local elections with UW-La Crosse political scientist, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, on WIZM's La Crosse Talk, plus the Elon effect in Wisconsin's elections and the professor's going international after the $100 million state Supreme Court election. We began the show there, with Chergosky becoming an international media mogul. Not only was he asked to come on CNN and Bloomberg TV, bu...

Lee Walraven and Bob Servant Jr. stopped in studio to help preview a casino themed fundraiser in La Crescent on Friday evening to help out  ABLE Inc.   The nonprofit has been helping those with developmental disabilities across southeast Minnesota for 45 years.  "Fun Night” runs from 6-9 p.m. at the La Crescent Events Center to raise funds for Able to continue providing resour...

Danielle Swedberg, a member of the Coulee Region Child Abuse Prevention Task Force (CAPTF), in studio helping promote a couple of things they’re doing in the next couple of weeks. April is Child Abuse Prevention month and CAPTF, which has been around since 1998, is doing a couple of things at Myrick Park for the community. At 4 p.m. there Friday, the public is welcome to join CAPTF to plant...

Possibly a record for most people in the WIZM studio, students participating in iFeed this weekend joined to help preview the event. Around 200 students from seven Coulee Region high schools will be packing 80,000 meals from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. Those meals will be sent to a country in either South America or Africa.  People can donate to the program at Logan High school, all Festival Foo...

Dr. Richard Kyte in studio, helping preview a free event Thursday at Viterbo about finding your “place” in the community. Kyte is the director of the Viterbo’s Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership. At 7 p.m. Thursday, they bring in Dr. Jessica Finlay from the University of Colorado for an event called Are we losing essential sites of community, connection and care ? Finlay...

He’s taking over for a legend. Joe Veenstra won Tuesday in the election for judge of La Crosse County Circuit Court Branch 1. Veenstra takes over for Ramona Gonzalez, who was both the first woman and first minority elected to the bench in La Crosse County. She wraps up in August, a career that began in April of 1995. Veenstra defeated Eric Sanford by 4.21% out of 38,898 votes. Veenstra won 2...

La Crosse city clerk talks with us right after results come in for mayor, city council and everything else, capping off an 18-hour work day. La Crosse saw near-record turnout, only being beaten by "presidential preference elections" in 1976 with a record 66% turnout and 1972, where 62% voted. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

La Crosse Schools superintendent, Dr. Aaron Engel joins, discussing Act 10, which is essentially on the ballot in the state Supreme Court race. Engel also helps define the Department of Public Instruction and what the district's role is with the La Crosse mayor (in general). The race between Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel for Wisconsin Supreme Court essentially means Act 10 could be struck down o...

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky in the WIZM studio Friday discussing the Elon Musk saga in Wisconsin's supreme court race — a conversation that happened before his $1 million giveaways — and trying to predict voter turnout as compared to recently elections. We also discuss the state school superintendent race and Rudy's opened in La Crosse, which means i...

We hit the big main issues with La Crosse city council candidate Doug Happel in terms of housing, homelessness and city administrator on WIZM, but also another that he’s dealt with in his district and an older issue that could be reintroduced. Happel, who has been on city council since 2011, is running for reelection in District 12. His opponent is Lisa Weston. You can read more about both c...

La Crosse city council candidate, Lisa Weston, in the WIZM studio breaking down her stances on things like city administrator, housing, homeless and representation, plus her experience with home construction, building codes and contractors.  Weston is running for council in District 12 and her opponent is Doug Happel. You can read more about both candidates on the WIZM election page . The big...

City council candidate Roseanne Northwood stopped in studio discussing why she's running, her position on potentially hiring a city administrator, housing, and homelessness.  Northwood is running in District 13 against Paul Brown. You can read more about both candidates on the WIZM election page . This is the seat being vacated by Mark Neumann.   Began the conversation talking about...

Clara Gelatt and Katie Bitner in the WIZM studio helping preview the No Man’s Land Film Festival happening Friday evening at the Rivoli in downtown La Crosse. Doors open for the free event at 5 p.m. and films begin at 6 p.m. ( reserve tickets here ). The festival features nine short films ranging from just over a minute to just under 20 minutes, celebrating the voices of women, men, and gend...

La Crosse County Circuit Court judge candidate Eric Sanford in the WIZM studio discussing his experience, the role of a judge and trusting in the courts. Began the conversation discussing Sanford’s experience, before getting into some of the roles a judge can play in a community and how high-profile cases should be handled. We talked about whether judges are too lenient and if their decision...

La Crosse County Circuit Court judge candidate Joe Veenstra in the WIZM studio discussing his experience, the role of a judge and trusting in the courts. We began the conversation talking about Veenstra’s experience and then veered off into how both the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court have gotten more political. We then got into the role a judge could play locally in terms o...

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford in the WIZM studio, discussing her campaign, going against — not just opponent Brad Schimel — but Elon Musk, who has now spent around $19 million in the race, since this interview. Began the interview telling Crawford the best strategy for campaigning in what’s supposed to be a nonpartisan race, and that’s going to a each cou...

Jill Schams, co-president of the La Crosse teachers’ union, joined to tell a story about the mysterious thing on the wall in her classroom — a pencil sharpener. We also discuss the big statewide races that could impact schools, including one that could eventually restore bargaining rights for public workers. And, lastly, Schams noted there’s still time to nominate school staff fo...

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, joins to discuss Buc-ee’s vs. Kwik Trip, the best place for a photo op in the Coulee Region, making Elon Musk fix the roads and the $100 million Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Began the show on Wisconsin having the most expensive state Supreme Court race in the U.S. history — breaking second place, which was Wisconsin last...

La Crosse mayor candidate Chris Kahlow in the WIZM studio discussing her top priorities, what to do about homelessness, and her stance on hiring a city administrator, plus dog parks and city outreach.  Kahlow is running against Shaundel Washington-Spivey in the spring election, which concludes April 1. You can read more about the candidates on the WIZM election page . Washington-Spivey also j...

La Crosse mayor candidate Shaundel Washington-Spivey in studio discussing how to handle homelessness, hiring a city administrator, his lived experiences as both a black and a gay person, and the idea of bringing community together to solve local issues. Washington-Spivey is running against Chris Kahlow in the spring election, which concludes April 1. You can read more about the candidates on the W...

Viterbo immunologist, Dr. Chris Mayne, in the WIZM studio discussing the measles outbreak happening in the U.S. right now, and the origins of the conspiracy linking vaccines to autism.  Mayne, an associate professor of biology at Viterbo, says the measles is the most contagious virus known to man, and talks of how the MMR vaccine nearly eliminated it.  He also breaks down Andrew Wakefiel...

La Crosse Education Association co-president Jesse Martinez joins to talk about the plans for the new elementary, what it probably won’t be named, plus their process to endorsing school board candidates. Martinez is a seventh-grade social studies and math teacher at Logan Middle School, along with being the teachers’ union co-president, so we also talked about some funny stories he&rsq...

La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds joins with less than a month left in office. We discuss what he’s most proud of over the past four years, and things he wish he could have accomplished. Plus whether he’s going to get back into politics and some city business currently happening. Started out with the big unknown, ‘Is Reynolds going to get back into politics at some point?’ Aft...