8 O'Clock Buzz

WORT 89.9FM Madison · WI DNR Releases New Wolf Management Plan

In February, 2021, the Wisconsin DNR held a hastily-organized hunting season for Gray Wolves, after a Jefferson County judge ruling forced a hunt in February of 2022.  Within three days of opening season, hunters had already killed 218 wolves.  That number of deaths destabilized the Wisconsin wolf population said conservationists and Native American tribes.  Hunt opponents slammed the DNR for relying on an outdated management plan.  Then, in February of 2022, a federal judge ruled that the Gray Wolf remained endangered in the continental United States, banning further hunting.  On November 10, the Wisconsin DNR released its new draft 2022 Wolf Management Plan for public comment.  Adrian Wydeven is a retired DNR biologist who headed up the DNR’s wolf recovery program from 1990 to 2013.  Adrian now serves as a science advisor to Wisconsin Green Fire.

Photo of wolf on glacial erratic: Jim Peaco for the National Park Service, public domain via Wikimedia Commons

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Madison’s own Hanah Jon Taylor, Café Coda proprietor and internationally known jazz saxophonist and flutist, is currently hosting his venue’s first ever CodaFest with both free and ticketed events through Sunday. He took a few minutes this morning to talk with 8 O’Clock Buzz host Tony Castanéda about CodaFest, the important role jazz plays in cross-cultural communication and how Café Coda serves as a hub for regional jazz artists who might not otherwise make it to Madison.

Photo courtesy of Bogomil Mihaylor on UnSplash.

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Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces De La Frontera, joins Thursday’s 8 O’Clock Buzz to talk with host Tony Castañeda about how immigration issues played out in the midterm elections and how they relate to current policies at the southern U.S. border.

Immigration was a huge issue in election politics as conservatives tried to stoke fears about asylum seekers even though many of them are women and children trying to escape desperate situations. Also discussed was the lifting of Title 42, a Trump era policy which restricted immigration from select countries based on misleading public health concerns.

Photo courtesy of Nitish Meena on UnSplash.

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Make millionaires pay more taxes? What a concept!

But that is exactly what Massachusetts residents voted for in the 2022 mid-term elections — an amendment to their state constitution that charges a 4% tax on anyone making $1 million a year — with that money going to transportation and public school funding throughout the state. Rebekah Entralgo, Managing Editor at the Institute for Policy Studies, Inequality.org, talks about this and other ballot initiatives in Nevada, Nebraska, Illinois, and Arizona which raised minimum wages, protected the right to organize, allowed undocumented individuals to receive in-state college tuition prices in their recent article “Inequality-Fighting Initiatives Win Big“.

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With very few glitches or confrontations, the 2022 mid-term elections went smoothly, a testament to the dedication of local election officials and the public’s faith in the system, according to Michael Li, Senior Counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice. Their preliminary report “Democracy Wins the 2022 Midterms” again refutes the election deniers protests. Li also talks about the success of court or commission directed redistricting changes in some states (not Wisconsin, unfortunately).

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Approaching its 50th anniversary, the RCC Sexual Violence Resource Center (formerly known as the Rape Crisis Center) is the second oldest such counseling center in the country, according to Dana Pellabon, the Executive Director of the program. With a goal to make sure the voices most impacted are the voices heard, the center has services for all racial groups and individuals of all sexual preferences, including a trans support group, in-person and virtual support groups, forensic exam support persons, therapists, and much, much more. Pellabon gets into the “nitty gritty” of the services they provide. 24-hour Help line numbers are 608.251.7273 (English) and 608.258.2567 (Spanish)

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WORT 89.9FM Madison · Wisconsin Heat Health Network Protects The Vulnerable

Between 1982 and 2008, 116 people in Wisconsin died as a direct result of extremely hot weather.  Those numbers are likely to increase, thanks to climate change.  According to the Wisconsin Institute on Climate Change Impacts, the Badger State can expect the number of 90 degree days to triple over the next 30 years.  We have warning systems for tornadoes and snowstorms, but nothing so sophisticated for heat events.  Three graduate students at the University of Wisconsin Nelson Institute are working with four municipalities and UW meteorologists to create a new Wisconsin Heat Health Network.  Nelson Institute PhD candidates Elizabeth Berg and Becky Rose, along with Masters candidate Sara Pabich joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on November 14, 2022.

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In an 8 O'Clock Buzz exclusive interview, CEO Dirk Seehoosen talks to host Andy Moore about his new sports streaming service: QAnon Sports. The new service seeks to correct the "corrupt, rigged systems" in our American sports institutions and media, and "Make American Sports Great Again." How disturbingly familiar!

Dirk Seehosen is played by Chicago actor and filmmaker John Mossman. John’s new feature length film, “Good Guy with a Gun,” opens at Dances with Films Festival in New York City on December 2nd.

The midterm elections are over, but for Milwaukee's Black Leaders Organizing for Communities—or BLOC—voter engagement work doesn't wait until the next big election. BLOC's own Angela Lang joins host Andy Moore on the Friday 8 O'Clock Buzz to reflect on the election results, the efficacy of BLOC's get-out-the-vote efforts, and how the organization will continue to build political power for Milwaukee's Black community year-round.

Angela Lang is the Executive Director for Black Leaders Organizing for Community. BLOC works to invest in Milwaukee's Black community and empower Black leaders to organize and ensure that they are being represented at all levels of government. More information about BLOC's mission and goals can be found at www.blocbybloc.org/bloc-agenda-2 .

In her new book "Black Disability Politics", author Sami Schalk explores the often-overlooked intersection between racial justice and the disability rights movement—namely, how the Black civil rights movement has historically addressed disability rights issues differently than the mainstream, white-centered disability rights movement. On this edition of the Friday 8 O'Clock Buzz, Dr. Schalk talks with host Andy Moore about her book's origins, her writing process and what she hopes readers will take away from the experience.

Dr. Sami Schalk is an Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at UW-Madison. Her studies focus on the interactions between gender, race and disability in contemporary American culture. "Black Disability Politics" is her second book, her first being "Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race, and Gender in Black Women’s Speculative Fiction."