The La Crosse School District is getting some additional help with special education funding for the next two years now that the state budget was signed by Governor Evers late last week.

Speaking on La Crosse Talk on Monday morning, Superintendent Dr. Aaron Engel said that the district receives 42 percent the first year and 45 percent funding the second under the new budget, up from 30 percent in the current one.

"The state increases their reimbursement for that...that is the real benefit to our school district and every school district in the state. The federal government provides some funds for special education, but they are relatively limited. So any increase in reimbursement really makes a difference for every kid in our school district," said Engel. 

About ten percent of the district's budget is for special education.

He was also pleased that there was a revenue limit increase in the new budget. 

Dr. Engel expressed concern about that any gains from the state budget would be offset by losses with federal funding.

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Continuing our sports and tax conversations — this time about selling franchises and the weird world of vape tax — with Dr. Adam Hoffer, director of excise tax policy at the Tax Foundation.

We started the conversation about the Lakers selling for $10 billion but moved on from there to Hoffer trying to make sense of the various ways states tax vape products — where Minnesota is one of the leading taxers, while Wisconsin is barely doing anything.

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Although it's no longer held in Waupaca and boat rides with recovery beers are a thing of the past, the Waupaca Boatride Volleyball Tournament is celebrating its 41st year. Director Eddie Zelhofer joins to discuss how the competition that began in 1984 evolved into the largest volleyball tourney in the U.S.

Zelhofer delves into Boatride’s origins, journey — from Waupaca to Wisconsin Dells, and now Oshkosh — and how these moves transformed it from a modest doubles tournament into a five-day extravaganza that now features an AVP Tour stop.

Over 3,200 teams, 360 volleyball nets and somewhere around 80,000 players and spectators will embark on Brighton Acres just outside of Oshkosh with $80,000 in cash prizes.

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Two storylines for Thursday's La Crosse Talk with UW-L political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky — the all-nighter in Madison and the marathon vote in D.C., as a Wisconsin state budget gets signed and the US House continues to debate Donald Trump's big bill.

The NFL Network has the RedZone channel. Meanwhile, Chergosky was watching the politics version of that Wednesday night into Thursday morning. We're going to call it the "Red-Blue Zone," as Democrats and Republicans in Wisconsin’s Legislature come together and we see Gov. Tony Evers sign the two-year budget at 1:30 a.m. Thursday. 

Now, the Legislature has off until Sept. 1. 

Meanwhile, the US House continues to try and pass The One Big Beautiful Bill Act in what’s been the longest vote in U.S. history and was ongoing as we wrapped up the show.

Among Chergosky’s takeaways from Wisconsin’s budget passage: both the Assembly and Senate were debating simultaneously — the earlier drama over Evers’ veto pen, artificial intelligence writing the budget, and a lack of trust in the governor, ended up being much ado about nothing. Plus we learned the state had to approve the budget before the U.S. House did, or risk losing $1.2 billion in hospital funding.

Chergosky closed by noting the only big political headline we might get out of Madison before September — whether Gov. Evers announces a run for a third term.

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Fireworks are a weird thing in Wisconsin. They’re legal to buy, but likely illegal to light.

La Crosse Police Sgt. Danny Mandujano was in the WIZM studio Wednesday explaining how if it goes up or it blows up, it’s going to cost you $502 in the city.

Mandujano talks about what’s illegal and legal and some of the precautions people should take even with those driveway fireworks.

He said, every year, the emergency responders, the police and the fire department are at a home dealing with a fire or someone losing some fingers.

Mandujano also noted there’s a better way to get a firetruck at your home. The La Crosse Fire Department is running what’s called a bucket brigade campaign right now. If you take a picture of your spent fireworks in a bucket of water and tag the La Crosse F.D. on social media, you could win a visit from one of their fire trucks.

Lastly, the Sergeant talked about being courteous. With vets and others that have PTSD and children going to bed early, plus animals and wildlife that don’t react well at all to fireworks, he says to be courteous to neighbors, finish lighting fireworks early and, of course, if they go up or they blow up, don’t light those off at all.

 

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They’re the busiest wildlife rehab center in the U.S. — located smack in the middle of the Twin Cities — and on pace to treat over 22,000 animals this year.

Phil Jenni with the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota joins to explain how they do it, some of the big plans they have for the future and share a couple of the weirder rescues he’s experienced — including an amazing story about beavers in Minnehaha Falls.

On the first Monday of June this year, 200 people lined the door of the rehab with animals of varying sorts. That first week last month, they saw 1,400 animals. 

Jenni talks about how they manage that workload — which includes having multiple veterinarians on staff — and gives advice about what you should do if you come across what looks like an animal in distress. 

The Wildlife Rehab is an independent nonprofit that is totally donation run. Jenni discusses of how they’re trying to build a new, 22-acre facility out of town that will be a self sustainable rehab sanctuary and waterfowl nursery. 

He also talks about how people can get involved and finishes off the conversation with two great stories about wildlife rescues. 

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Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, joined in the WIZM studio for La Crosse Talk, discussing inflation, tariffs, interest rates, immigration, the housing crisis — and whether he ever gets to go into the vault.

Much of the conversation centered on housing and what role the Federal Reserve plays in addressing the crisis. Kashkari’s answer was simple: add supply.

We also talked about tariffs, the workforce, and artificial intelligence — and how those factors are affecting business, especially small ones.

On tariffs, Kashkari says his job is to speak plainly about their impact, noting that uncertainty around tariffs tends to drag the economy down.

As for the workforce, he emphasized that immigration is key, and noted that local elected officials agree: the U.S. needs a functioning legal immigration system.

Kashkari's stop at WIZM happened after both a roundtable discussion with large and small La Crosse area businesses and then a town hall at the Chamber of Commerce. 

There are 12 Federal Reserve Banks in the U.S., and Kashkari says this one — the Ninth District — is fairly diverse, calling it a “mini U.S.” that represents a little of everything.

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The old Kmart in La Crosse has, perhaps, never been more popular today than when it first opened back in 1965. The buzz now, though, is when will it get demolished? 

Jeremy Novak, vice president of development at Three Sixty Real Estate Solutions, joined WIZM's La Crosse Talk on Tuesday to give an update on the long-delayed redevelopment project, renamed Copper Rocks.

Novak explains why construction hasn’t begun, since the 18-month extension granted by the city council, which expired June 30.

During that time, Novak notes that Three Sixty received a $250,000 grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and began working on a TIF application — though the project will now need to go through rezoning again.

Back in January of 2022, Novak told WIZM demolition of the old Kmart was set for that summer. Tuesday, he again detailed the hurdles that have delayed the project. That was a similar timeline that Three Sixty owner Marvin Wanders told WIZM in May of 2021.

Before diving into the Kmart site, we touched on several other developments Three Sixty has underway in La Crosse — including the C&C Residences by the new Mayo hospital, the 48-unit Badger-West studio apartment complex near UW-La Crosse, and the mixed-use project at 7 Copeland Avenue in the River Point District.

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The La Crosse Skyrockers’ Sonya Mix and Bennett Norris in studio ahead of the big July 4 show at Riverfest on Friday.

Mix has been playing with fireworks for 35 years, while Norris has been with the Skyrockers for 12, and we discuss how this stuff has changed so much over that time.

We also discuss what it takes to put on a fireworks show, and maybe provide a spoiler or two for the Fourth. The Skyrockers will set up all day Friday in Pettibone Park and the show begins at 9:40 a.m. Mix did say the show will be catered to those people at Riverfest. 

Other topics we discussed included whether they like doing the Fourth of July show from Pettibone or the New Year’s Eve show from Grandad Bluff, the evolution of fireworks — last year they created a firework flag — and how drone shows are becoming more popular.

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UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, joined us in studio as we discussed what it would take to make Wisconsin a video game industry hub — including what a video game based on Wisconsin might look like — plus, whether Gov. Tony Evers should run for a third term.

That’s the big topic we got into first, as the newest Marquette Law School poll shows 42% of Wisconsin voters say they would like to see Evers run, while 55% say they don’t want him back after 2026. Chergosky has some theories as to whether a Wisconsin governor, in general, should run for a third term.

After that, we get into the idea of luring video game makers to Wisconsin, which is apparently already gaining popularity within the industry. We toy with the idea of what video game is already the most “Wisconsin,” and what a Wisconsin-based game might look like. Some of the ideas include dodging potholes or deer on the highway, and drinking beer.

Lastly, we look at other items from that Marquette poll, including Donald Trump’s and Tony Evers’ oddly similar favorability ratings, school cellphone bans, and legalizing marijuana. We also discuss how the “liberal” state Supreme Court sided with Republicans in its last two decisions.

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