La Crosse Talk PM WIZM

Two conversations about homelessness on Monday's La Crosse Talk PM with city council members Chris Woodard and Mac Kiel. 

La Crosse’s two big committees meet next week Thursday, Woodard discusses a resolution he’s authored that — simply put — requests the state and federal government’s help in addressing homelessness.

After that, Kiel joins to talk about the warming shelters being full and how the council’s “camping ban” has affected the homeless. Plus, we discussed the need for a surge shelter and how that should have coincided with something like a camping ban. She also broke down the city’s policy on using the Main Street library as an emergency shelter.

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UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, in the WIZM studio Friday for La Crosse Talk PM, discussing whether Santa is a Democrat or a Republican, how old is too old to believe, is Elon Musk or Donald Trump the president, and will the next two years of the Wisconsin state Legislature be less productive than the last.

Began the show with a caller complaining about alternate-side parking rules, after she received a $0 ticket, and using police to hand out tickets when they have better things to do.

After that, we talk of the news that the US House could only fund the government again for a few months. It kicked the can down the road to now the next Congress to fund the government. One of the funding bills that didn’t pass was the House — whose members make $174,000  a year — giving itself a pay raise. We recap how this Congress has been the least productive in modern history, especially in the House. That debacle began with a historic record 13 votes to make Kevin McCarthy the Speaker, kicking him out, and not ever passing a government funding bill or a farm bill. 

After that, we quickly hit on a new La Crosse mayoral candidate has filed to run, bringing that total to four to replace Mayor Mitch Reynolds.

Then, from an unproductive Congress to just how productive will Wisconsin’s state Legislature be with new voting districts, a state Supreme Court race that could turn that upside down and a governor’s race at the end of the term. 

Part of that conversation was about how the Legislature was unable to do much with a multi-billion-dollar state surplus to pass any meaningful legislation on PFAS, rural hospitals, marijuana legalization, childcare or the state’s 175-year-old abortion ban.

After that, we went back to Congress, and the future of now-Speaker Mike Johnson, and whether Musk or Trump is running the country, after Musk tweeted to kill the first US House government funding bill.

Finally, we discuss a couple of YouGov polls in regards to whether Santa Claus is a Democrat or Republican and how old is too old to believe in the big guy.

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Central High School teacher John Havlicek in studio discussing, in his over 30 years, how kids have changed because of cellphones. We also hit on the $4.5 billion state surplus, as Gov. Tony Evers was in La Crosse on the budget, and how school funding leads to better student outcomes.

We started, though, with Havlicek teaching Spanish and how or whether that’s changed of his three decades. 

After that, we got into the state’s $4.5 billion budget surplus, how Gov. Evers was in town for a budget listening session and Havlicek’s takes for attending.

At the midway point, we got into school funding — as voters in the La Crosse School District just passed a $53.5 million referendum to build and upgrade elementary schools — and how much the voucher school system costs taxpayers and the district.

We then got into healthcare for just a bit, before discussing a listener question on how more money means better students — or better student outcomes. 

And that led into a conversation about how kids have changed in Havlicek’s time in schools with the evolution of cellphones and the negative impact they have on things as simple as interacting with each other.

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A giant mix of politics and holidays on Friday’s La Crosse Talk PM with UW-L political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, that included why the mayor isn’t running for reelection, ending the tradition of buying Christmas presents and politicians, off the last nine months, telling workers to return to the office.

Began the show, though, on Donald Trump winning the Time Person of the Year — a list that didn’t include Joe Biden. Plus, how Trump runs on prices are too high and in the very same Person of the Year article, Trump said of grocery prices, “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up.”

We then weaved that into why La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds isn’t seeking reelection. And, as there are still only three on the list, could he get back in the race?

We bring that up, too, in discussing how anyone running for the spring election needs to announce now. The deadline is Jan. 7, but the window to get your name out there could close Feb. 20 — the last day of primary voting.

After that, speaking of running for reelection, does Rebecca Cooke need to get into the 2026 race for US House in the 3rd District against Derrick Van Orden now?

About halfway through the show, we completely changed gears and talked about if families should stop buying Christmas presents for each other, because it becomes just a “tell the other what to get” exchange.

We then highlighted the past two Yesterday In La Crosse articles, featuring when the Valley View Mall was essentially downtown La Crosse and how much Mt. La Crosse cost in 1959 — as it is the ski hill’s 65th year.

Ended the show with a bit about the cold and walking through La Crosse’s Rotary Lights in Riverside Park and capped it all off on how Wisconsin state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says workers need to return to the office. And that’s coming from a guy who hasn’t worked since March, as the Wisconsin state Legislature is out of session for the last nine months of 2024.

La Crosse Talk PM airs weekdays at 5:06 p.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk PM wherever you get your podcasts.

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Chi Chi’s making a comeback, local news is not and the time is now to announce a run for La Crosse mayor — all things we broke down on Friday’s La Crosse Talk PM with UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky.

We began the show picking WIZM News reporter Brad Williams’ brain about that mayoral election — up to three candidates now — and when the Chi Chi’s closed in La Crosse. The Mexican restaurant is making a comeback.

After that, we got into a deep dive on local journalism as WXOW axed a lot of its staff earlier in the week, and how important hometown media is when it comes to local elections — like mayor, city council and school referendums.

That conversation also included how there are three candidates for La Crosse mayor (Shaundel Spivey, Ellie McLoone and Vicki Markussen), four years after there were 10. And there really isn’t much time to announce, as the deadline to file is Jan. 7 but the primary to cut the field to two is Feb. 20.

Ended the show first chatting about Williams’ awesome Yesterday in La Crosse article on the history of downtown La Crosse shopping, where Sears, JCPenny, Herberger’s and Montgomery Ward were all located.

Then we quickly hit on the TikTok ban moving forward in the U.S.

La Crosse Talk PM airs weekdays at 5:06 p.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk PM wherever you get your podcasts.

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A lot covered with Adam Hoffer, including how much taxpayers would be on the hook if the Badgers fired their football coach, how much Wisconsin loses by not legalizing vices like sports betting and weed, plus Chi Chi’s is coming back and Kmart is almost gone.

Hoffer is the director of excise tax policy at the Tax Foundation in La Crosse.

The first thing we tackled is how much of the $40 million owed to Badgers football coach Luke Fickell would be put on the taxpayer if he were fired?

Along with the legalizing vices conversation, we also inadvertently made Hoffer a La Crosse School Board candidate, while discussing the recently passed $53.5 million elementary school referendum plan.

Began the show, though, ranting about a bunch of different things from fun to dystopian, including

• the last Kmart closing
• Chi Chi’s coming back
• a special animal up for adoption from the Coulee Region Humane 
• United Health’s CEO murdered on same day another insurer wants to limit anesthesia

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La Crosse Assistant Police Chief Jason Melby joined to talk about guns, mostly in reference to the city’s first-ever mass shooting, plus a bit about the parking situation downtown. We also, of course, had to work in some Thanksgiving themes, too. 

Spent most of the show talking about guns, using the Deandrew Grant case as an example. Grant is responsible for La Crosse’s only mass shooting. Last year, he drove the wrong way down Third Street, downtown, and opened fire hitting seven people. He was sentenced to over 30 years in prison.

But the conversation with Melby hovered around the gun. And not just in this case, but guns in general. Grant was a felon who should not have had a gun. So, we talk about how these guns are obtained, how are they traced back to the person that had them before and what should the penalty be, not just for people like Grant, but also those who sell guns to people who shouldn’t have them.

After that, we made the smooth transition to parking. The police are in charge of La Crosse’s parking utility and the city is in a tough spot because it still owes a lot of money for parking ramps and Melby explains how the pandemic completely flipped the model the city had to repay that debt through things like parking permits. 

Melby has been with the La Crosse Police Department his entire 32 years in law enforcement. We began the show discussing why he got into this career, in which he tells a story that describes just that.

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La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke joins to breakdown the city’s first-ever mass shooting — a drive-by, downtown —  tracking the origin of the gun in those incidents, plus 1,000 felonies in 2024 and the politicization of positions like the one he holds.

We began the show discussing an initiative Gruenke is going to bring back called the Citizen Prosecutors Academy, where people can learn more about his position, why they make the decisions that they do and better understand everything that happens after a crime is committed. 

After that (7:50), we got into the politics of positions like district attorney and other local elections, and whether those positions should be nonpartisan or even consolidated to cover more regions. Some of that conversation revolved around how it’s not a very coveted job, where 90% of the elections go without an opponent. 

The second half of the show (19:25), we began with a bit more on the Prosecutor Academy, before getting into La Crosse County hitting 1,000 felonies for the year (23:20) and what most of those consist of. Plus, how first-time drug offenders are heavily penalized when, perhaps that is too severe.

Then we discussed La Crosse’s only mass shooting (27:20), where Deandrew Grant was sentenced recently to 32 years in prison. Grant drove the wrong way down 3rd Street, in downtown La Crosse, and opened fire, hitting seven people. Gruenke discusses his disbelief that the shooting wasn’t more publicized. 

Gruenke was also asked about the gun in that situation, and where Grant could have gotten it — as there are no laws that would trace it back to who sold it to him. Plus, how police might want better laws surrounding guns, so they aren’t on edge for every vehicle they pull over, worried that person might shoot them.

Another aspect of the drive-by mass shooting was the victims, and just how someone who has hospital bills from being shot is compensated. 

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Dr. Bri Spicer, Lifestyle Program Director at the La Crosse Area YMCAs, in the WIZM studio Wednesday for La Crosse Talk PM to discuss a diabetes prevention program she’s overseeing and shame news talk hosts into getting checked out. #Sarcasm. #Kindof

The La Crosse YMCA’s National Diabetes Prevention program is for those who have pre-diabetes. Spicer talks about who that is, how you would find that out and all the things that surround being part of the program.

We talk about the mental and physical aspects of preventing diabetes, including stress and what Spicer called positive self talk. We also hit on some of the more easily known factors, including nutrition — plus reading food labels — as well as sleep and activity — though we did stump Spicer on sleep OR activity.

Spicer said around 50% of people are pre-diabetic.

Spicer also talked about a quick quiz to see how at risk for diabetes, which we had her filibuster during the show, while I took the 1 minute test.

To find out more about her program at the La Crosse Area YMCAs, click here.

La Crosse Talk PM airs weekdays at 5:06 p.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk PM wherever you get your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UW-La Crosse political scientist, Dr. Anthony Chergosky in studio discussing the billions Wisconsin taxpayers agreed to pay for schools, Donald Trump's "outrageous" cabinet, going viral on Wheel of Fortune, The Onion buys Infowars and words that were born the year you were.

Began the show with news of President-elect's cabinet, like Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, for example, and why this makes headlines now, but didn't four years ago, when Joe Biden was coming into office.

Then we got into the Time Traveler on Webster's (8:30), where you can see what words were born in each year — dating back to before the 12th Century, before talking about The Onion buying Infowars, the outlandish media venture of Alex Jones.

Back to some politics, we hit on Republicans reelecting Robin Vos as Assembly Speaker in Wisconsin (20:35), despite his feuding with Trump. Then we talked how the state set a record for tax money to schools (23:30), and if residents are starting to get referendum fatigue, plus will that start to show in the state Legislature. The education secretary has requested a record for school spending for the upcoming budget.

Lastly, Ryan Seacrest's first viral clip on Wheel of Fortune, how he blew it and what you should be doing on the gameshow if you want to actually win money.

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