La Crosse Talk PM WIZM

Brad Quarberg, a bit of a historian when it comes to La Crosse’s Oktoberfest, joined in studio. Quarberg was the 2016 Oktoberfest Parade Marshall and Oktoberfest Board President back in 2001. He also was chief editor and one of the authors of the book, The Fest of Times, a look back on 50 years of Oktoberfest from back in 2010. We talked Tuesday on La Crosse Talk PM about how four golfing buddies started this major event 62 years ago and how things like the Maple Leaf and Torchlight Parades came to be, as well as how becoming Mrs. Oktoberfest has evolved over the years.

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Talked Oktoberfest with WIZM's Brad Williams, as he just came from a secret meeting of fest royalty. Before that, Infection Preventionist Megan Meller with Gundersen on how the flu could be troublesome this winter.

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A revelation at the end of the show in regards to guest UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky. He's never seen the movie What About Bob. The reference came up in a discussion about GOP governor candidate Tim Michels walking back — "baby steps" if you will — his stance on abortion. And along those lines, we discussed how politicians base their decisions to create or adjust laws. Other topics included how US Senate Republicans denied a bill to keep dark money out of politics and Halloween candy — but those topics were unrelated. 

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La Crosse County Board chair Monica Kruse in studio. Hit on a vast amount of items, including how the county is handling childcare, homelessness and the roads. We discussed the finalization of the yearly budget, where the board is at distributing ARPA funding and the timeline for hiring a new County Administrator.

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Viterbo University Ethics Culture and Society professor, Dr. Keith Knutson joined. We first talked about a speaker at Viterbo, Gary Tyler, who was wrongfully convicted of murder at 17 years old and spent 41 years in prison. After that, we argued about the political atmosphere right now, what side might have the advantage heading into the midterms and the idea of having or not having candidates debate.

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Jayne Swiggum in studio. She’s an Emergency Room Registered Nurse, who is running for state Assembly in Wisconsin’s 96th District — which is a vast area south of La Crosse. Some of the things we hit on were, of course, healthcare and legalizing marijuana. Also talked about women’s right to choose, as well as teacher pay and funding education.

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La Crosse city council member Chris Woodard is running for Wisconsin state Assembly here in the 95th District. The Republican is going against incumbent Jill Billings. Woodard joined the second half of the show to discuss the issues of legalizing marijuana, fixing the roads, funding schools, PFAS and working in a bipartisan matter. Before that, we took some calls and discussed some of those same issues leading up to the interview.

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UW-La Crosse Outreach Coordinator, Spencer Hulsey, in studio to talk science. One topic discussed was what scientists do when they're bored, and that's apparently breaking down Game of Thrones and whether dragons could fly. We also hit on the Doomsday glacier melt in Antarctica, as well as the arms race between Australia and its Cockatoos. Oh, and we also now know how big space is. 

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UW-La Crosse political science professor, Anthony Chergosky, Ph.D, in studio. Spent some time talking about the FBI "raid" of the MyPillow guy at a Hardee's drive-thru in Mankato, Minnesota, where we broke even more news. Also talked about the scam Brett Favre pulled with Mississippi welfare money. Kicked off the show with some good news from WIZM's Brad Williams at the Logan pep rally. Also talked about the Elmer's Auto & Toy auction. Ended the show with Republican Derrick Van Orden's rejection of a debate in the US House race against Brad Pfaff.

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La Crosse School Board president Juan Jimenez joined. Started off with a little La Crosse history dealing with the schools and joked with him about past contention between the school board president and the superintendent. After that, talked about the newly appointed school board member and the ability of members to talk to the media. Wrapped up talking about the district's $194.7 million referendum.

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