Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Steve Doyle (D-Onalaska) in studio discussing everything from another candidate entering the governor’s race to proposals banning candy and soda from poor people, to the feds killing the cannabis industry, plus his work on the Elder Services task force.

Began the show discussing Mandela Barnes getting into the Wisconsin governor’s race and whether having six Democratic candidates or two Republicans is too many or too few.

Next, we talked about the Legislature — which is out of session for the rest of this year and works 17 days all of next year — may meet in an "extraordinary session" one more day to negotiate with the governor on SNAP (food stamps). Doyle talks of how Republicans want to negotiate paying for federal cuts by creating a candy and soda database so poor people can’t spend SNAP funds on those items. A database that could cost $6 million.

We also covered how small Wisconsin breweries could be devastated by a ban on hemp-derived cannabis products, secretly slipped into the recent government reopening bill.

Finally, we discussed Doyle’s work on the Elder Services task force, and some of the scams he’s learned that are devastating seniors — especially in cryptocurrency. Doyle also brought some attention to the county’s Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC).

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La Crosse Schools superintendent, Dr. Aaron Engel, joins to discuss how they decide its a snow day, new school names as the Hogan Administrative building comes down, and the fact that Central High School now has the only planetarium in town.

We began with snow days, as Engel shares insights into how they make the decision, which includes him driving the district as early as 3:30 a.m. to test the roads himself. We also talked about whether they even need snow days with the ability to use remote/virtual instruction. Lastly, Engel was proposed the idea of having limited childcare for the parents that can’t leave their kids home alone.

From there we got into the planetarium, run by Chad Wilkinson, and whether it needs to have more shows, especially with UW-La Crosse’s facility now offline. We noted that tickets for Central’s planetarium December shows sold out in just a couple of hours.

Lastly, we discussed Hogan coming down this month, and what the process might be for creating a new building name, as well as new school mascots — not just for the new elementary school there, but also when Spence and Hintgen schools consolidate.

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Tim Alberts in studio discussing the formation of a new committee between the La Crosse School District and the city with the primary focus being an indoor pool plan on the north side.

Alberts, a La Crosse School Board member, details how the committee is being formed, drawing on his past experience with similar groups through the school district and, of course, dives into the pool discussion.

The committee is centered around the school district and the city finding ways to successfully collaborate on projects — the pool being the first order of business. The group has met three times in more of an unofficial capacity and is still working out ways to add members.

The pool discussion stems from recent concerns: the North Side Community Pool could close. This became more of a reality over the past couple weeks, as the pool needs nearly $1 million in repairs and the city did not budget for that funding.

The other half of this equation is that the School District of La Crosse doesn’t have a competitive pool. Logan High School has one, but it cannot be used competitively. The idea of collaborating between the two groups could make a new indoor pool more of a reality.

Some other factors brought included the cost of new facilities — UW-La Crosse recently built a new fieldhouse that cost $49 million. Also mentioned was Viterbo University President, Dr. Rick Trietley, expressing interest on WIZM in possibly collaborating on the pool plan in a La Crosse Talk discussion from September.

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Araia Breedlove with the Lac du Flambeau Tribe and Sister Sue Ernster with the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration join to talk about a historic first: a land return — a reparations deal between the Catholic church and Native Americans.

The two tell the story of returning the Sister’s Marywood Spirituality Center in Arbor Vitae, Wis., back to the Tribe for $30,000 — the original price the sisters paid when the land was acquired in 1966.

Breedlove talks about how this is a step to repair the harms that came from Catholic boarding schools that forced Native children from home and made them assimilate. Nearly 1,000 tribal children died in those schools nationally, including some from the Lac du Flambeau Tribe and others in Wisconsin.

Sister Sue, president of the Franciscan Sisters in La Crosse, discusses why they came to the decision to return the land, how they came up with that price, and the kind of example this act of reparation sets for other Catholic institutions to begin to repair these harms done to Native Americans.

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"Come for community, stay for the food," that's the motto for this year's 44th annual La Crosse Community Thanksgiving Dinner.

Ruth McQuiston-Keil and Vince Ristow stopped in the WIZM studio to help preview the event, which happens 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. on Thanksgiving in South Hall at the La Crosse Center.

McQuiston-Keil stressed that this event is free to all, and welcomed everyone to come in and enjoy the company.

They expect to serve over 3,000 meals — from deliveries, carryout and in house. 

Ristow noted it cost about $30,000 to put on the dinner and gets more expensive every year. The whole thing is donation funded and volunteer run. Anyone who wants to help donate to the cause can so online here or mail donations to LCTD, Inc., P.O. Box 662, La Crosse, WI 54602-0662.

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A week away from “committee week” in the city of La Crosse, and Mac Kiel stopped in the studio to help break down what’s on the agenda.

We also discussed the old Kmart development, as Three-Sixty Real Estate Solutions presented to another neighborhood association this week, a new restaurant — Ichiddo Ramen — opening in downtown La Crosse.  

Committee weeks starts with City Plan Commission on 4 p.m. Monday, then goes to the Judiciary and Administrative Committee on Tuesday, before Finance and Personnel meets Thursday — both those meetings are at 6 p.m. 

Kiel said the J&A committee is a bit “chill” this week, though we did discuss a potential ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) and some zoning changes.

As for F&P, the committee will discuss a lot of moving money, including moving $183,801.50 of unspent funds to the Grand Crossing Trail reconstruction project.

F&P could discuss adding a paid parental leave policy and settling a tax dispute with Valley View Mall.

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Pat Stephens in the WIZM studio to help preview the 31st annual Rotary Lights.

The holiday display goes live in Riverside Park when Santa hits the switch after the downtown parade at 5 p.m. Friday. 

Stephens tells the story of how they got Rotary Lights started, and why it moved a couple times and now is home at Riverside.

He also talks about some of the new lighting displays this year, including a volcano, and some of the old favorites. 

Checking out the event is free, but guests are asked to bring a nonperishable food item. 

Last year, they brought in 340,000 pounds of donations — just off the record of 351,000 set in 2023.

The display will be lit up until January 1. 

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We talked mostly what's on the table for Thanksgiving dinner with Southern Bluffs music teacher Jill Schams, but we did get into some education topics, as well.

Schams more or less admitted that her mom won a turkey cooking competition one year simply because she wrapped that turkey in bacon. Schams, the La Crosse Education Association president, also talked about the types of conversations that are had at her big Thanksgiving dinners.

In education, we discussed changes in special education funding and Schams reiterated that the state Legislature needs to better fund public schools, instead of having to go to taxpayers with referendums. 

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Green Bean casserole, pistachio salad — these are staples that we only see on Thanksgiving. But one item that's never talked about is the turkey itself. Do people actually like turkey?

That was just one part of the Thanksgiving show with Wisconsin state Sen. Brad Pfaff and UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky.

We also got into some holiday-related politics, including Republicans in the state Legislature trying to ban items like Funyuns and Coke from being purchased with food stamps. That led to a conversation about the behind-the-scenes lobbying that comes with such a bill.

Additionally, we discussed the federal government sneaking a hemp industry ban into the bill to keep the government open, and the unanswered questions Wisconsin small businesses now face.

Lastly, we asked Pfaff about the idea of mandating holiday pay for businesses that stay open on Thanksgiving — which stemmed from the trend of stores opening around 5 p.m. on the holiday.

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There aren’t many Thanksgiving movies, but we found one Rivoli co-owner Jonathan Gelatt hasn’t seen. Gelett joined WIZM's La Crosse Talk, as we discussed holiday movies and what the downtown La Crosse theater has coming up for the season.

We also learned that the Rivoli has a semi-relaxed spaghetti policy — for those Always Sunny fans.

Gelatt talks about how the Rivoli focuses on community, including hosting a Taste of the Movies event, featuring Diggers Sting, which whipped up a Godfather-themed dinner that included spaghetti. The Riv also just hosted the locally produced documentary, “Come Here, Brother Wolf: A Veterans’ Pilgrimage.”

We also talk about some of the popular movies in theaters now, including Wicked 2 — which the Rivoli has right now — and how the new Predator movie shapes up against Arnold Schwarzenegger's original.

For the holidays, the Rivoli will show The Godfather Part 2 as part of its Black Friday gangster movie tradition. In December, it’ll have Home Alone (Dec. 5-11), Edward Scissorhands (Dec. 12-18) and the Muppet Christmas Carol (Dec. 19-24).

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