La Crosse Talk PM WIZM

La Crosse city clerk Nikki Elsen joined to talk about the process for replacing a city council member, as Justice Weaver announced his resignation earlier that day. She also breaks down the city's plan to add absentee ballot boxes, as the state Supreme Court ruled they're illegal. Before that, talked about the Taj Mahal of Kwik Trips that opened. The second half of the show, we took some calls, including the council revisiting a conversion therapy ban and marijuana penalties.

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Round 2 of turning Adam Murphy into a radio pundit. We hit on the US Senate race in Wisconsin and how some are excluded from the debate. Also took some calls on past topics this week, which included homelessness and funding schools. And spent a few minutes on Amazon Prime Day and inflation. 

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La Crosse Education Association president Jesse Martinez joined. The teachers' union president discussed where the district is at with pay increases. We also compared teacher pay in La Crosse to other nearby areas and similar districts. Before that, discussed La Crosse County putting marijuana legalization on the ballot for referendum.

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La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds stopped in studio. After doing a quick overview of the show Reacher, and a bit on La Crosse native Johnny Davis at the NBA's Summer League, we hit on both the River Point and Copper Rocks (Kmart lot) developments, before talking about the homeless situation in the city. Ended with a little snow shovel talk in July.

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La Crosse County Democratic Party chair William Garcia joined. Kicked off the show chatting about what the nightlife was like when the Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention was held in downtown La Crosse. After that, we argued about when the primary elections should be held and Garcia agreed with Republican candidates for governor (and others) they should be moved. Wrapped up taking some calls, talking about the Supreme Court decisions both federally and in the state and hit on the Jan. 6 insurrection, as well. 

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UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, joined. We discussed some of the major decisions by both the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court recently, including one in the state that could allow partisan-appointed positions to never have to leave office. We also hit on a GOP governor primary debate, where Rebecca Kleefisch and Kevin Nicholson can't talk around making an admission on the 2020 election. And, of course, the $1 million-plus, taxpayer-funded Michael Gableman investigation accumulating more lawsuits — which will also be fought with taxpayer money.

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Kicked off the show talking about a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision to allow the DNR policy board member, whose term expired over a year ago, to stay on indefinitely. After that, Brian Fukuda, Community Development Manager, for La Crosse County, talked about a new $2 million grant funding program for housing projects. And, lastly, International Owl Center exec. director Karla Bloem broke down the baby barn owl drama in Onalaska and a new ambassador owl at the Houston, Minn., center, beginning work Friday.

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It's called the Dark Sky Initiative, but it's not as sinister as it sounds. Scott Lind is a retired electrical engineer, who is working on a project to get three areas in Wisconsin to become part of what's called the International Dark Sky Association -- essentially a place where you can look up and see the stars.

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Aaron Rupar, who just survived a toddler meltdown at DQ and went over 750,000 followers on Twitter, joined to talk about covering right-wing media and politics. We hit on some of the national talking points, including the recent news of Ron Johnson's role in trying to overturn the election, as well as the Republican Senator's ability to use the media for his benefit. Also, as a couple of Minnesota residents, we discussed the upcoming governor's race between Tim Walz and Scott Jensen. Find his stuff on Public Notice at AaronRupar.SubStack.com

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UW-La Crosse political science professor Dr. Anthony Chergosky in studio. No, we did not deep dive into women's right to choose being taken away, left for each state to decide. We did discuss how the GOP-hired investigator into the 2020 election in Wisconsin was working out of the public library using his personal email, deleting records and not taking notes during seminars dealing with "election fraud." We also discussed ketchup Popsicles, Captain Morgan in your root beer float (as opposed to just root beer) and how Chergosky's dad still using cassette tapes.

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