La Crosse Talk PM WIZM

Republican red and Democrat blue — that hasn’t always been the case, and a study of both sides of the aisle found that one party liked the other party's color more. That was part of an intriguing conversation with UW–Madison psychology professor, Dr. Karen Schloss, whose research looks at why we like certain colors, how our experiences shape those preferences and why our favorite...

Everything from the cheese club to UW-La Crosse athletics teams is taking part in year seven of “One Day,” beginning Tuesday across campus. Lauren Wanders, UW-L’s strategic giving programs manager, was in studio to talk about the 24-hour event, which gives alumni, students, employees and community members a chance to support more than 200 campus causes. One Day for UWL raised a r...

La Crosse is facing a choice: raise property taxes or use city reserves to cover a $681,000 budget shortfall.  Mac Kiel stopped in studio Friday to break down the trade-offs, what budget cuts could mean for city services and why the decision isn't as simple as it might seem. We also discussed the city administrator proposal being back for a potential third vote, and that opposition to La Cros...

Three donors are funding most of the campaign for Tom Tiffany’s run for Wisconsin governor. Wisconsin state Rep. Jill Billings (D-La Crosse) stopped in studio and talked about getting big money out of our elections. We also discussed the timing of a bill to eliminate tax breaks for data center construction, given that the Legislature hasn’t been in session since March — even thou...

Donald Trump drew a packed crowd to the La Crosse Center back in 2024.  Will Trump return to campaign for Republican governor candidate Tom Tiffany?  On the Rick Solem Show this week, Tiffany, a U.S. House Rep. in Wisconsin's 7th District, was asked about bringing Trump back to La Crosse to campaign with him and Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien). Tiffany somewhat avoided the id...

Outdoor enthusiasts getting hyped to watch movies inside might seem like a bit of a contradiction, but the La Crosse Adventure Film Festival is leaning all the way into the irony for its fifth anniversary.  Mike Crawford and Paige Manges with La Crosse Adventure Films, along with La Crosse SOUP’s Kyle Petrashek stopped in studio to lay out a packed lineup spanning four venues from Oct....

It’s the sixth-most expensive U.S. House race in the country — and the price tag keeps climbing. Why is so much money pouring into the race between U.S. House Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) and Democratic candidate Rebecca Cooke, and what does it say about the fight for control of Congress? UW-La Crosse political science professor Dr. Anthony Chergosky stops in studio to b...

He wants to swing the wrecking ball, but that might have to wait. Fresh off a couple of groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings, La Crosse Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey stopped in studio to discuss the old Kmart development, before moving into deeper conversations about the state of the city — from the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old by another teen to homelessness to the budget challenges th...

La Crosse School Board President Trevor Sprague in the WIZM studio for The Rick Solem Show discussing the district’s new brand and how they’re competing for students. We get into the thinking behind the new ‘Grow here, go anywhere’ identity — and why Sprague sees the $100,000 rebranding effort as an investment in keeping students in the district. We also discuss schoo...

No wrecking ball on the old Kmart in La Crosse yet, but Jeremy Novak from Three-Sixty Real Estate Solutions stopped in studio to talk about when that could finally happen, what's next for the $64 million Copper Rocks development and why the project has taken more than five years to get to this point. Novak, Three-Sixty's vice president of development, also talks about the housing shortage in La Cr...

A discussion about rural health care on The Rick Solem Show ahead of two days of health and public health programs hosted by UW-La Crosse this week. Two educators joined, looking at different pieces of the rural health puzzle — Dr. Caitlin Carroll of the University of Minnesota and UW-La Crosse’s Dr. Gary Gilmore. Carroll is a health economist, whose work focuses on rural hospitals, me...

Three Wisconsin billionaires have essentially bankrolled Tom Tiffany’s side of the governor’s race — nearly $24 million of the $26 million he raised in the latest reporting period. And yet the latest Marquette poll has Tiffany and David Crowley separated by just three points, and 25% of voters still can't say whether they like or dislike Crowley. UW-La Crosse political science pr...

A Volkswagen Beetle wrapped in fur, cruising down a central Wisconsin highway with eight giant spider legs dangling. That was the scene in 1975 during the filming of what turned into a cult classic, The Giant Spider Invasion — a film based in central and northern Wisconsin that became one of Mystery Science Theater 3000 ’s most popular episodes. Ahead of his visit to La Crosse on Frida...

Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Tara Johnson in studio breaking down the controversy over the 200-foot MariBell power lines and what a Democratic legislative majority would look like in Madison. Johnson (D-Shelby) helps explain the environmental risks in the Driftless region over those power lines, how the state’s Public Service Commission works in deciding what happens, and where this all wra...

A lot happening in the La Crosse art world this week and three people crashed the WIZM studio to break everything down. From the October First Friday Art Walk downtown, to multiple events at the Pump House and on to Viterbo University, we covered it all. Joining The Rick Solem Show included Pump House Regional Arts Center director Allison Krzych along with Marlene De La Cruz-Guzman, vice president...

With election season underway, AARP Wisconsin State director Raj Shukla stopped in studio to break down some key issues impacting local families this fall. Shukla walked through the everyday challenges voters should research before heading to the polls — from helping small-business workers without access to a 401(k) to supporting family caregivers.  The conversation covers retirement, S...

A new committee on healthcare in the city of La Crosse is a vote away from being created. In November city of La Crosse residents will decide if the Community Healthcare Action Plan gets passed through referendum. Nick Padesky, a campaign manager with Community Action Wisconsin, stopped in studio to explain how the seven-person panel would work. He says it will give local residents, doctors, and u...

It's a bit of a light committee week preview, but there was plenty of city business in La Crosse to discuss with Mac Kiel in studio.  Kiel helped break down what was finally a public meeting on — basically — creating a city administrator position, plus major staff cuts hitting the public library and why council members might have to trim their own expense accounts.  We also d...

Sarah Godlewski stopped in studio to talk about her vision for lowering everyday costs for Wisconsin residents. The Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor outlined plans to ease pressure on local budgets — from fully funding public schools to help lower property taxes, to finding ways at the state level to combat gas prices. Godlewski also went after D.C. gridlock, pointing directly at...

He manages a $1.6 billion state fund with no staff and is the only Republican aside from Ron Johnson to win statewide office in the past decade.  John Leiber, Wisconsin's state treasurer, stopped in studio to help explain why an office called state treasurer is mostly tasked with buying tech for school libraries and overseeing tens of thousands of acres of timberland. We also got into the pol...

Jill Schams is getting her accordion ready as Oktoberfest nears. The Southern Bluffs music teacher and La Crosse Education Association president stopped by to debate whether the area is running low on squeeze boxes, what it takes to land a spot on the Oktoberfest Accordion Club float, and what happened when she blasted live polka in her classroom right as Superintendent Dr. Aaron Engel walked in....

Republican candidate for Wisconsin’s 95th Assembly, Cedric Schnitzler, in studio, discussing the critical agricultural and economic issues facing western Wisconsin, and issuing a direct call for the federal government to tackle soaring diesel prices. Schnitzler, a lifelong farmer and Monroe County Board Chair, also discussed local policy and ag issues, including the push to protect groundwat...

An Anthropic insider recently gave humanity a decade before A.I. triggers total extinction, but we only had four minutes to chat about the end of the world on Friday’s Rick Solem Show—needing to talk about more urgent local matters, like an 11-year-old giving everyone a three-day head start before she found the Oktoberfest medallion. UW-La Crosse political science professor Dr. Anthony...

A lot covered with the city planning department in studio, from the old Kmart demo timeline and creating a public market to revamping the La Crosse's decades old zoning code. Planning director Andrea Trane and deputy director Tim Acklin stopped in studio to help navigate some of the city's biggest projects. Trane sets us straight on the $600,000 "public market study," while Acklin breaks down how...

Current Festmaster Brent Smith and last year's leader Mike Bakalars stopped in the WIZM studio for The Rick Solem Show to preview the final countdown to La Crosse’s Oktoberfest — and show how the sausage is made, literally. The two shared what it's really like to keep one of the city's biggest secrets for six months — being selected Festmaster — from an anonymous front-door...