Shelly Fortner, executive director of the Hunger Task Force of La Crosse, in studio, discussing the struggles food banks are having right now with federal funding cuts and future uncertainty, plus the dire need for the community's help.

Fortner also talked about their annual Taste of the Garden fundraiser coming up from 5-8 p.m. Aug. 20 at the Kane Street Community Garden. This year's event will feature a bunch of local drink and food vendors, including: 

• Pearl Street Brewery
• Turtle Stack Brewery
• Lost Island Wine
• Bluff Top Vineyard
• River View Vineyard & Winery
• Hoch Orchard and Gardens
• Gillette Pepsi-Cola
• Olive Garden
• Howie’s
• Black Student Leaders/ Hope Restores
• Pasture Pride Cheese

The Hunger Task Force just wrapped up a food drive last month, where the community helped collected nearly 3,800 pounds of food and $2,400. The Hunger Task Force serves over 120 meal sites, food pantries, youth programs, and outreach sites in a eight-county area in Wisconsin Minnesota and Iowa.

Food banks have already seen $1 billion in federal funding cuts. And with food prices continuing to rise, and plus future SNAP regulations coming, that means more people will be in need.

The SNAP — or food stamp — changes in the Big Beautiful Bill passed by Republicans and signed by President Donald Trump will raise the work requirement age from 54 to 64 and force parents with children older than 6 — instead of 14 — to meet added requirements.

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More bubbler talk, plus a discussion about some plans on Highway 35 and airport improvements with La Crosse city council president Tamra Dickinson in the WIZM studio.

Two resolutions are before the city council at Thursday’s meeting in regards to bubblers. One is to install 18 ADA compliant bubblers and the other is to delay removal of the green, cast iron ones. 

We discuss why this is even an issue and how much installing those bubblers might cost, among other things.

Before that, however, we also look at three different items on the agenda in regards to the airport that includes: 

In between those two conversations, Dickinson discusses some of the Wisconsin DOT plans for Highway 35, which includes an added stop light, integrated bike lanes with sidewalks and some bumpouts.

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Smuggling cigarettes is a thing and there’s a new No. 1 in town, when it comes to which state does that the most.

Economist, Dr. Adam Hoffer, joins to talk about the Tax Foundation’s latest report on cigarette smuggling. Wisconsin ranks 19th in the U.S., while Minnesota is sixth in the latest rankings.

Hoffer explains why it happens and how states kind of depend on that excise tax from cigarettes too much because people don’t smoke as much as they used to.

Hoffer also vents about how Wisconsin is missing out on promoting certain tax policies being situated next to high-taxed states in Minnesota and Illinois. 

And, like we do every week, we also hit on a sports topic, as Hoffer used to teach sports economics at UW-La Crosse.

That topic this week was colleges trying to catch up financially with a new ruling that they must pay their players. The University of Minnesota is adding $200 to tuition to support athletics, while the Iowa State is pausing $45 million in sports building projects because of a budget deficit. 

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It’s Overdose Awareness Month in La Crosse County, and health educator Laura Runchey stopped in studio to talk about it.

We discussed why the county recognizes this month — understanding overdoses, reducing stigma around drug-related deaths — and how overdose deaths have dropped sharply over the past two years, after reaching a record-high 55 deaths in 2023.

The La Crosse County Health Department has several activities planned throughout August, including Friday Myth Busters on its social media pages and three public events:

• Bridging the Gap: Treatment Resource Fair
  • August 12, 3:00–6:00 p.m. at Coulee Recovery Center
• City-County Proclamation and Movies with a Mission: Heroin(e)
  • August 26, 5:30–7:00 p.m. at La Crosse Public Library-Main Branch
• Candlelight Vigil Service
• August 27, beginning 5:30 p.m. at Coulee Recovery Center.

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Author Tom Nelson joins ahead of his visit to La Crosse to discuss his book, Wrecked — about not only the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, but also its connection to the collapse of America’s industrial economy.

Nelson will be at Pearl Street Books from 6:30–7:30 p.m. Tuesday for a book signing and discussion.

November marks 50 years since the ship sank in Lake Superior, claiming all 29 crew members. On the show, we discuss how a lack of safety oversight and the push for profits contributed to both the ship’s demise and the decline of U.S. industry.

Nelson, an Outagamie County Executive and former member of the Wisconsin state Legislature, also addressed rumors he may run for statewide office — such as lieutenant governor.

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A gigantic number of topics Friday with UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky in studio, including 83-year-old Tommy Thompson for governor, Democrats fleeing Texas and the parallels it has with Wisconsin, what’s on the Presidential Fitness Test, and how much Elon Musk actually spent here last election.

Plus, how the kids’ meal toy at Rudy’s Drive-In is better than an iPad, why we call it a “bubbler,” and why you should never send an email saying “We need to talk Monday” — right before the weekend.

News this week was Thompson was considering a Wisconsin governor run. He already holds the record for most terms in office (four). But we had to talk about the age factor — which was a big reason Gov. Tony Evers decided to retire. 

We then moved on to the chaos in Texas, where Democrats have fled the state to avoid Republicans rigging the voting maps at Donald Trump’s orders. Chergosky drew two parallels to Wisconsin — how Dems fled the state during Act 10 protests and the recent state Supreme Court decision not to take up a lawsuit challenging the state’s U.S. House maps.

We then broke from politics to talk about Chergosky’s daughter’s fascination with a certain Rudy’s toy, which led to a memory of the California Raisins in McDonald’s meals back in the 1980s.
Back to politics, Wisconsin state Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) floated the idea of a lieutenant governor run. We discussed how state and federal senators have the advantage of running for other offices without giving up their seat — thanks to longer terms.
From there, we talked more on Thompson and Texas, before Chergosky broke down new data on Musk’s spending in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race — now believed to be double what was previously reported. We also raised the question: Should voters know these numbers before the election, not four months after?

We ended Friday with some lighter topics: Trump’s executive order to bring back the Presidential Fitness Test — triggering Chergosky’s childhood PTSD — plus a revisit to an old show topic: when your boss sends a 3 p.m. Friday email saying “See me Monday” with no context. Same goes if your wife texts something similar. And finally, with the city currently fighting over bubblers, we looked into the origins of the term — because nobody calls them that anywhere else.

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Wisconsin state Sen. Brad Pfaff in studio almost announcing a run at lieutenant governor, plus his being one of the decisive votes in getting the state budget passed — and UW-La Crosse’s science center approved.

We also discussed what’s missing from the budget and upcoming priorities with a lame-duck governor.

Pfaff, while not exactly announcing his intentions for a lieutenant governor, kept reiterating how these statewide offices needs to look for candidates outside of just Milwaukee and Madison. Would that be him? 

Pfaff also talks about the good and the bad in the state budget, and how negotiations with Democrats in the state Senate needed to be made because not all Republicans were on board. 

Pfaff highlights getting the $194 million needed for UW-L’s Phase 2 of the Prairie Springs Science Center approved — seven years and $100 million after Republicans took it out of the plans and balked at adding it until now.

We ended discussing some state priorities as the Legislature gets back in session in September, after having July and August out of session — and whether those will even get done with a lame-duck governor. 

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Pat Stephens didn't think Irishfest would last 20 years, but here we are. He stopped in studio to preview the three-day festival that runs Friday-Sunday at the south side Oktoberfest grounds — and across the street for the Highland Games. 

Stephens gives a bit of the origins story on Irishfest, then highlights some of the activities, including all the Irish beer, a mashed potato eating contest and those Irish games, like throwing a telephone pole — which Stephens hasn't done in a few years.

For more info on Irishfest, click here.

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She’s done with summer vacation. Jill Schams, the La Crosse Education Association president, stopped in studio to talk about back to school.

We got into the School District of La Crosse changing its clocks and calendars — the year will start earlier on the calendar, while older and younger students will start at new times on the clocks.

We also did our recurring segment on teaching music, because Schams does just that at Southern Bluffs Elementary.

And, while she doesn’t worry about it much in her school, we got into A.I. a bit — something she needs to stay on top of as part of her union president duties.

Politics wise, Schams didn’t like the state budget and we ended the show discussing that in abbreviated fashion. She’ll be back on Monday, though, to dive into that more.

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She’s been called the Jimi Hendrix of the fiddle. Eileen Ivers is this week’s featured Moon Tunes performer, and unofficial kickoff to Irishfest in La Crosse.

Moon Tunes co-founder Terry Bauer stopped in studio to preview this week’s concert series. Along with Ivers, the band Gadan, along with Enda Scahill of the We Banjo Three will open Thursday’s show at Riverside Park.

The free concert runs 5:30-8 p.m. There are plenty of food and drink vendors, though guests can bring coolers and chairs. There are free train rides for the kids and free valet-like parking for bicyclists. Bauer also noted those who are handicap can park at the Fish Hatchery on the north end of Riverside and they will shuttle you to the bandshell.

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