WIZM - La Crosse Talk Interviews

La Crosse City Council member and candidate Mac Kiel (District 7) in studio discussing the future of the old Kmart, housing & zoning changes, homelessness and city services ahead of the primary election. Perhaps one of the more curious issues for city residents is the old Kmart, which is located in District 7. Kiel breaks down a recent update she listened to from the development group and when...

La Crosse mayor candidate Shaundel Washington-Spivey stopped in the studio to discuss his priorities for mayor, including how he might deal with something like the federal funding freeze news last week, working to end homelessness and his position on hiring a city administrator. We also talked about how campaigning is going, how he'd help promote small business and tourism, and his priority to mak...

Ken had a chance to talk about the 20th year of The Frozen River Film Festival in Winona with Managing Director, Eileen Moeller.  She came to the festival during the pandemic and has been excited to see things start to get back to normal.  There are over 60 documentary films in the festival thins year, including some as short as 3 minutes.  Listen to the end to find out Eileen's fav...

Ken sat down in the studio with Lisa Olson, one of the zany's behind Heart of La Crosse.  They talked about their show coming up at The Pump House and the benefits of humor in our lives.  And then some old lady stopped by to tell it like it is.  You never know what to expect when you talk with Lisa.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We got to know La Crosse mayor candidate Ellie McLoone, who stopped in the WIZM studio Tuesday for La Crosse Talk and discussed the experiences she brings to the position and her top priorities for the city.  Some of those included housing, homelessness, having a city administrator, attracting business and filling vacancies within the police department. Spent the first half of the show hearin...

Sara Eskrich, executive director of Democracy Found , joined to discuss a new system of voting called Final Five. Eskrich will be in La Crosse to discuss this more with the public, along with UW-L political scientist Scott Scinta, during a LeaderEthics hosted chat from noon-1 p.m. Wednesday at the Black River Neighborhood. To take part, RSVP here . Lee Rasch, executive director, was in the WIZM st...

La Crosse Education Association co-president Jesse Martinez joins to discuss starting the school day later next year, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers' budget proposals on mental health funding and free school meals, plus how they get involved in the school board races. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ken talked with Colin Thelen from The Pumphouse about the Bard A Thon continuing through this weekend. It's free to be there, you can just listen and enjoy or you can be a reader.  There's also a chance to catch it via Zoom, just check the Pumphouse's Facebook page for that.  They've been reading every play by Shakespeare and his sonnets.  It's going no right now and the final ready...

Ken talks with David Stoeffler in Springfield MO.  David is the CEO of the Springfield Daily Citizen. David served seven years as executive director of the La Crosse (Wis.) Public Education Foundation. The SDC is a non-profit, independent, online news outlet.  Their mission is to bring their readers unbiased coverage of the local news that affects each of us.  There are over 400 org...

Vicki Markussen in studio to discuss her priorities in running for La Crosse mayor, including homelessness, housing challenges, and the potential city administrator hire. We started the conversation by reflecting on what she learned from running four years ago and what her experience will bring to the office. We then discussed the ongoing challenges of homelessness and affordable housing, along wi...

La Crosse Area YMCAs CEO Bill Soper joins to talk about a new additional land gift in Holmen for a future facility there. We also got into what that YMCA might cost, when it would be built and what could be included there. Soper was also asked about the expansion, not just to another city, but in what the La Crosse Area YMCAs do in terms of helping those in need. Lastly, we talked about some upcom...

Adam Hoffer, a La Crosse School Board candidate, joined WIZM's La Crosse Talk to share his reasons for running, insights on the current state of the district, and the key decisions facing the next school board. Hoffer, the director of excise tax policy at the Tax Foundation, began by discussing how his professional experience could translate to the school board. The conversation covered a range of...

Kevin Skow, a senior forecaster for the National Weather Service La Crosse, joined WIZM's La Crosse Talk on Tuesday to break down the end to the bitter cold, and where the temps go from here. Were the negative temps even close to a record? He explains why not, as they hit -19.9 degrees early Tuesday. We also briefly talked about what Skow said was the first-ever blizzard warning on the gulf coast....

William Garcia, chair of the La Crosse County and 3rd Congressional District Democratic Party, in the WIZM studio for La Crosse Talk discussing Donald Trump “saving” TikTok and the inauguration, plus the priorities of Democrats and Republicans in Wisconsin state government. We also took a couple of calls, including one from a listener accusing him of disrespecting President Trump and a...

John Reiman, a retired social studies teacher, in studio discussing his candidacy for the District 7 La Crosse city council seat. During the interview, Reiman shared his thoughts on addressing the housing shortage, plans for the old Kmart lot, parking issues, and his vision for beautifying the city. District 7 is the only council seat with a primary, which includes incumbent Mac Kiel and Gary Pade...

Minnesota Marine Art Museum communications director, Caitlin Crouchet, joins to discuss her appreciation of art and why it's important to keep it in our lives. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Heather Drievold, Coulee Region Humane Society executive director, joined WIZM's La Crosse Talk to tell us about PETFLIX , a fundraiser with some comedy. Your funniest pet video could win $1,000 through PETFLIX, as the Coulee Region Humane Society (CRHS) has gotten together with Onalaska Animal Hospital to raising money for much need medical services. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

Elizabeth Sorenson, a forecaster for the National Weather Service – La Crosse, joined to discuss key weather topics, including the region’s last blizzard, the lack of snow this season, and the wild swings in temperature we’re currently experiencing. She also addressed whether the Los Angeles fires might have an impact on the area. The conversation began with an update on the &ldq...

La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds joins for the first time since declaring he wasn't going to run for reelection. We discuss that decision, how only four people are running to replace him, advice for the new mayor, a city sales tax, cuts to city services and a homeless update.  One of the challenges for the new mayor will be simply paying for city services and Reynolds' breaks down his recent pr...

Democratic Wisconsin state Rep. Tara Johnson in the WIZM studio Monday for La Crosse Talk discussing her new role in the Assembly, how sadly short the Legislative calendar is and what committees she’ll be on, plus how the committees are unevenly distributed. Johnson, who was La Crosse County Board’s first female chair and is now the first Democrat in District 96 since the mid 1980s, ta...

School District of La Crosse superintendent, Dr. Aaron Engel, joins to discuss the what students do in terms of school shooting drills, a few weeks after the Madison shooting. In relation to that, we also talked about metal detectors in schools and the state's Office of School Safety. We began the conversation about "snow days," as it was -1 degrees out while we were talking and what the temp need...

WIZM's Ken Cooper sits down to talk with  LeaderEthics executive director Lee Rasch about local news shrinking staff sizes and concerns with a growing lack of trust in journalism. LeaderEthics, a La Crosse nonprofit/nonpartisan organization founded in March of 2018, is committed to promoting ethical leadership among elected officials. It believes ethical leaders are: truthful, transparent wit...

Have you ever met a Green Bay Packers cheerleader? We at Mid-West Family are lucky enough to get to work with one. Hannah cheered for the Packers while attending UW-Green Bay, which has cheerleaders but not a football team. She shares some great stories and memories with WIZM's Ken Cooper. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kathleen Graham from Downtown Mainstreet sits down with Ken Cooper to talk about this past holiday season and also what we can look forward to in 2025. Sounds like it's gonna be a great year in the heart of the city. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vinny Rottino is the Brewers TV analyst, who played in the MLB, including for Milwaukee. He's the featured guest for the La Crosse Loggers 21st annual winter BBQ happening at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the La Crosse Center. We talk about Bob Uecker, who will turn 91 on Jan. 26, how the Brewers TV broadcast has changed over the past couple of months and about UW-La Crosse, where he played baseball and i...