Public engagement sessions on La Crosse hiring a city administrator are coming.

Lisa Weston, on the city council and on the city admin working group, stopped in studio to discuss what those sessions will look like and what the working group has been doing since it was formed back in December.

We also discussed another similar proposal of operations director, that was put on this Thursday’s council agenda by the mayor.

The city admin position isn’t up for a vote by the council until February. In the meantime, four dates and eight public engagement sessions have been scheduled and are as follows:

BLACK RIVER: Sept 30
NATURE PLACE: Oct 6
ONLINE: Oct. 8
HMONG CULTURAL CENTER: Oct. 14

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The two Moon Tunes co-founders in studio together, Terry Bauer and TJ Peterslie, discussing the last concert series of the season, what the future holds for year No. 15 next summer and how last week went with the combination of a marching band and Elvis impersonators. 

This week’s finale features Adam Gruel and the Space Burritos. Peterslie says Gruel is an amazing talent, who’s even recorded some songs with comedian Charlie Berens.

The two also talk about next year being their last for Moon Tunes, which started as Noon Tunes, but moved to the evenings 11 years ago.

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UW-La Crosse football coach Matt Janus joined ahead of their first game this weekend. On the show we discussed replacing one of UW-L’s best receivers in school history, what it’s like when 100 football players show up at a waterpark and trying to get back to the playoffs for a fifth-consecutive season.

Janus is 37-11 in his four years as coach, winning at least one playoff game in three of those years. He has his quarterback and top running back returning this season, but the schedule is not easy — beginning with a road trip to Pittsburgh to face No. 17 Carnegie Mellon, before taking on a Division II school the next week.

UW-L has to replace Jack Studer, who set all sorts of receiving records and was invited as a nondrafted rookie to tryout for the Packers. We talked about where he’s at, as well as other players trying to make it in the pro game right now.

We also talked about their training camp outing in Wisconsin Dells, where they may have gotten more of a workout at the Kalahari Water Park — plus whose jaws dropped further when 100 football players hit the pool, the kids or the parents that happened to be there that day. On a more serious note, Janus talked about the importance of team building through outings like that. 

After UW-L’s two nonconference games, they take on a WIAC that has five teams ranked in the Top 25. And, while UW-Whitewater is the lowest of those ranked teams, that may be the hardest place to play — and that’s where the conference season starts for the Eagles. So, we also talked about the challenges of trying to survive conference to make the playoffs. 

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A unique show that includes the audience, called Every Brilliant Thing, begins this weekend at the Pump House Regional Arts Center.

Colin Thelen, producer with Grey Area Productions and Alexandria Adeline-Chapes, one of two actors that will be on stage, joined in studio to explain the many layers to the play.

It’s a comedy, it has aspects to mental health awareness, the audience is all in play — and literally in the play — while there is just one actor on stage — either Adeline-Chapes or her counterpart Mathew Herman. 

The shows happen at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday this week and next, along with a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee both weekends.

Along with the play, we also discussed last weekend’s opening of the Rivoli Arts District, as well as the city renaming the Arts Board to include culture. 

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La Crosse city council president, Tamra Dickinson joined in studio to discuss the “dueling” proposals to hire a city administrator or operations director. She also talked about the potential collaboration on building an indoor pool, plus the city closing two parks and forcing the farmers market to move — again.

Dickinson joined just a few days before the monthly city council meeting, which happens at 6 p.m. Thursday.

One of the agenda items is La Crosse Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey’s proposed operations director position. Much of the conversation focused on how that compares to the city administrator proposal.

We also talked about the city council members tasked with studying the latter idea for the past 11 months, and whether they can also study the operations director idea, and what the goal is for that group. Do they present their findings to the council or the public — and when?

The city administrator vote is on the February agenda.

After that, we turned to the pool situation, where the La Crosse School District and the city recently discussed a potential collaboration to build an indoor pool. That would happen in place of the city spending about $1 million fixing the North Side Community (outdoor) Pool.

Also mentioned on the show, an update is set for 5 p.m. Thursday on Pathways Home — the plan to get homelessness down to functional zero in the city — and the situation around closing Burns and Cameron parks.

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Economist Adam Hoffer joins to discuss new vaping regulations that could clear shelves, and how Wisconsin and Minnesota compare to the rest of the U.S. on gas taxes.

Hoffer, director of excise tax policy at the Tax Foundation, explains a new Department of Revenue rule that would make most vaping devices illegal to sell. But will the $1,000 fine be enough — or even enforced?

We also look at one of the Tax Foundation’s most popular data sets: how much each state charges in gas taxes, with California the highest per-gallon and Alaska the lowest.

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As Saturday’s 20th Annual Steppin’ Out in Pink nears, Courtney Daniels-Burke stopped in studio to talk about the Gundersen Medical Foundation, the organization behind the event.

Daniels-Burke discusses the different fundraisers the foundation oversees and the many programs supported through that funding.

Along with Steppin’ — which begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at Riverside Park — the foundation also organizes the Children’s Miracle Network Radiothon with Mid-West Family, the Drive for Hope for lung cancer research, and other community health initiatives for La Crosse-area students.

She also explains how donations stay local to support projects such as the mobile medicine unit and equipment purchases, including NICU camera beds.

Heading into the 20th year of Steppin’ Out in Pink, the community has helped raise more than $7 million. Last year’s event brought in $443,000, and organizers are hoping to reach $500,000 this time around.

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A free lecture series begins Monday in La Crosse called The Search for Meaning, held at Viterbo University.

The series is conducted by Endowed Professor of Ethics, Dr. Rick Kyte. We chatted last week on WIZM's La Crosse Talk with Ktye about what the seven-part series will entail.

As society relies more upon technological aids to assist with work, education, and daily living, an increasing number of people are questioning what life is about. Kyte and audience members will explore the timeless ideas that guide people in the search for meaning.

The series is open to the public and goes from 6-7 p.m. every other Monday in room 134 at the Reinhardt Center. The first half will be more lecture from Kyte, while the second half will be a group discussion.

Participants do not have to attend each lecture.

Each lecture with its own subject:

• Sept. 8: Truth
• Sept. 22: The Good
• Oct. 6: Love
• Oct. 20: The Soul
• Nov. 3: Beauty
• Nov. 17: Justice
• Dec. 1: Nature

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School District of La Crosse superintendent, Dr. Aaron Engel, joined to discuss the potential collaboration with the city on an indoor pool and how the city will soon be down to one planetarium — at Central High School.

Last week, Engel met with the city about possibly building an indoor pool at the North Side Community Pool site. That pool needs about $1 million in renovations. Logan High has an indoor pool, but it is not up to competition standards.

Also, with UW-La Crosse decommissioning its planetarium and not bringing it back online in the new Prairie Springs Science Center building, that leaves Central with the only one in town. Engel talks about how that facility is utilized, not just for the district, but also the public. 

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Wisconsin state Sen. Brad Pfaff in the WIZM studio this week, discussing a couple of bills he wants to introduce as the Legislature gets back in session after two months off. We also discuss the Tank Creek Bridge rebuild, flooding and the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program stripped from the budget.

One of the bills Pfaff (D-Onalaska) discussed was about tariff transparency — essentially showing on your receipt how much you’re paying in tariffs for something. Another bill, called Bubba’s Law, would put AEDs in childcare centers. 

On the Tank Creek Bridge, Pfaff talks about the challenges for rebuilding, after an arsonist burned it down. The bridge was located on the Great River State Trail, about three miles east of Trempealeau.

The flooding conversation stems from Milwaukee experiencing a 1,000-year flood and how or if FEMA will be able to come through with any federal help.

Lastly, Pfaff discusses the need to reestablish the Knowles-Nelson land conservation program, which was talked about on La Crosse Talk last week with the Mississippi Valley Conservancy and Gathering Waters groups. He also brought up his tax holiday proposal for back to school shopping.

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