A couple of ideas we've been talking about for years on WIZM are now being put into action at La Crosse City Hall.

Jenna Dinkel, an associate city planner, joined to discuss La Crosse bringing back the iconic "Hatched Baby" or blue baby, as well as a the reimagining of Pearl Street in downtown La Crosse. 

Hatched Baby was vandalized years ago and the city had to take it down. But artists have now restored the 9-foot-tall artwork and we are brainstorming the best places in La Crosse to place it.

After that, Dinkel talks about the reimagining of Pearl Street downtown into, what we've been saying is La Crosse version of Madison's State Street — a pedestrian-only street. The city has three concept plans for how it could change Pearl Street ahead of possible construction in 2029.

A couple of ideas we've been talking about for years on WIZM are now being put into action at La Crosse City Hall.
Jenna Dinkel, an associate city planner, joined to discuss La Crosse bringing back the iconic "Hatched Baby" or blue baby, as well as a the reimagining of Pearl Street in downtown La Crosse.&nbsp;
Hatched Baby was vandalized years ago and the city had to take it down. But artists have now restored the 9-foot-tall artwork and we are brainstorming the best places in La Crosse to place it.
After that, Dinkel talks about the reimagining of Pearl Street downtown into, what we've been saying is La Crosse version of Madison's State Street &mdash; a pedestrian-only street. The city has three concept plans for how it could change Pearl Street ahead of possible construction in 2029.

Listener conversations about the days events in and around the La Crosse area.  Weekdays from 5-6pm on WIZM 1410AM and 92.3FM

La Crosse Talk PM WIZM

Rick Solem talks about the days events in and around the La Crosse area. Weekdays from 5:07-6pm on 1410 WIZM

Rick Solem talks about the days events in and around the La Crosse area. Weekdays from 5:07-6pm on 1410 WIZM

WIZM - La Crosse

Blue Baby set to return and the reimagining of Pearl Street in La Crosse

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, in studio discussing how Wisconsin's US House members use the F bomb more than anyone, taxpayers are now paying for Badgers players and have state Republicans lost their "muscle."

We started the show with the Brewers "city" Wisco jerseys, which led to how our state Legislature will do anything to use taxpayer money on sports. From the $500 million Brewers stadium funding deal a few years ago to the state signing into law this week using $14.6 million to pay Badgers players.

Chergosky offered an interesting theory: lawmakers are just giant Badger fans who are terrified of losing ground to Indiana and Michigan — the National Champions in football and men's basketball. 

Next, we recapped the spring election fallout on the GOP side. With a 20-point blowout in the Supreme Court race, we discussed the "lazy GOP" theory, put forth by Bill McCoshen, a prominent Republican strategist and former top advisor to Tommy Thompson. It's the idea that years of favorable maps left the party organizationally "out of shape" and unable to scrap for votes now that the playing field has leveled.

Lastly, we get to analysis of who in Congress uses the F word the most, and it turns out two of the top three are US House members from Wisconsin. And the list is bipartisan — Republican Derrick Van Orden and Democrat Mark Pocan. 

Lastly, we get to analysis of who in Congress uses the F word the most, and it turns out two of the top three are US House members from Wisconsin. And the list is bipartisan — Republican Derrick Van Orden and Democrat Mark Pocan.

That, though, led to a discussion about the Third Congressional District race and Van Orden's recent social media push for a debate. Chergosky noted that Van Orden seems ready to bypass the primary entirely to take on Rebecca Cooke, who still has to defeat Emily Berge in August. Van Orden hasn't debated in either of his past two races. The last time he debated was before a 2020 loss to Ron Kind.

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, in studio discussing how Wisconsin's US House members use the F bomb more than anyone, taxpayers are now paying for Badgers players and have state Republicans lost their "muscle."
We started the show with the Brewers "city" Wisco jerseys, which led to how our state Legislature will do anything to use taxpayer money on sports. From the $500 million Brewers stadium funding deal a few years ago to the state signing into law this week using $14.6 million to pay Badgers players.
Chergosky offered an interesting theory: lawmakers are just giant Badger fans who are terrified of losing ground to Indiana and Michigan &mdash; the National Champions in football and men's basketball.&nbsp;
Next, we recapped the spring election fallout on the GOP side. With a 20-point blowout in the Supreme Court race, we discussed the "lazy GOP" theory, put forth by Bill McCoshen, a prominent Republican strategist and former top advisor to Tommy Thompson. It's the idea that years of favorable maps left the party organizationally "out of shape" and unable to scrap for votes now that the playing field has leveled.
Lastly, we get to analysis of who in Congress uses the F word the most, and it turns out two of the top three are US House members from Wisconsin. And the list is bipartisan &mdash; Republican Derrick Van Orden and Democrat Mark Pocan.&nbsp;
Lastly, we get to analysis of who in Congress uses the F word the most, and it turns out two of the top three are US House members from Wisconsin. And the list is bipartisan &mdash; Republican Derrick Van Orden and Democrat Mark Pocan.
That, though, led to a discussion about the Third Congressional District race and Van Orden's recent social media push for a debate. Chergosky noted that Van Orden seems ready to bypass the primary entirely to take on Rebecca Cooke, who still has to defeat Emily Berge in August. Van Orden hasn't debated in either of his past two races. The last time he debated was before a 2020 loss to Ron Kind.

UW-L's Chergosky on Wisconsin leading Congress is dropping F bombs, lawmakers again using taxpayer money on funding sports and spring election fallout

Mandela Barnes is back on the campaign trail, this time running for governor, and he stopped in studio leaning heavily into a "working class vs. corporate greed" narrative.

Throughout the show, Barnes hit on his priorities, giving a Top 10 of what he’d like to get done that included expanding BadgerCare, fully funding public schools, and increasing the minimum wage. He also detailed plans to freeze utility rates, tax billionaires, and implement universal childcare, arguing that Wisconsin has "backslid" while neighboring states have pulled ahead.

We didn't just talk about his "wish list," though. We also threw Barnes a bit of  a conspiracy theory that Republicans in the Legislature — including retiring leadership — might be trying to "set the state up to fail," by draining the budget surplus before a potential Democratic takeover. 

Barnes also took aim at US House Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate for governor, calling his support of certain federal policies a "dereliction of duty" that has left Wisconsin family farms and small businesses footing the bill.

The conversation wrapped with skepticism about AI data centers in the state. Barnes joined the pushback against the "secrecy deals" and non-disclosure agreements that often surround these projects, arguing that if big tech wants to use Wisconsin’s water and energy, they shouldn't be doing it behind closed doors — or at the expense of local ratepayers.

Mandela Barnes is back on the campaign trail, this time running for governor, and he stopped in studio leaning heavily into a "working class vs. corporate greed" narrative.
Throughout the show, Barnes hit on his priorities, giving a Top 10 of what he&rsquo;d like to get done that included expanding BadgerCare, fully funding public schools, and increasing the minimum wage. He also detailed plans to freeze utility rates, tax billionaires, and implement universal childcare, arguing that Wisconsin has "backslid" while neighboring states have pulled ahead.
We didn't just talk about his "wish list," though. We also threw Barnes a bit of &nbsp;a conspiracy theory that Republicans in the Legislature &mdash; including retiring leadership &mdash; might be trying to "set the state up to fail," by draining the budget surplus before a potential Democratic takeover.&nbsp;
Barnes also took aim at US House Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate for governor, calling his support of certain federal policies a "dereliction of duty" that has left Wisconsin family farms and small businesses footing the bill.
The conversation wrapped with skepticism about AI data centers in the state. Barnes joined the pushback against the "secrecy deals" and non-disclosure agreements that often surround these projects, arguing that if big tech wants to use Wisconsin&rsquo;s water and energy, they shouldn't be doing it behind closed doors &mdash; or at the expense of local ratepayers.

From utility caps to universal childcare: Mandela Barnes on his "Day 1" plan for Wisconsin

Adam Murphy on the environmental suck of AI data centers and Wisconsin's Supreme Court race

He's what we like to call our political blowhard — politics and economics expert Adam Murphy recently joined the show to discuss the cost of AI data centers, the cost of gasoline vs. EVs and whether gender might play a role in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.

We start with the physical infrastructure of AI and why RAM prices are exploding as data centers transition from simple storage to massive processing hubs.

That led into the "resource sucking" reality of these data centers in Wisconsin and across the world —as I again compare them to what happens in the movie Oblivion — and whether the state should mandate that tech giants over-produce for the local power grid to keep electricity costs down for everyone else.

We then moved on to the Wisconsin Supreme Court race and why the candidates' gender might be a bigger variable for Republican voters than Democrats in the upcoming Chris Taylor vs. Maria Lazar matchup.

We finished off the show breaking down the EV math and why charging at home is essentially paying $1.64 a gallon (last week), which makes "range anxiety" for people like Adam’s 72-year-old mother mostly a myth.

Adam Murphy on the environmental suck of AI data centers and Wisconsin's Supreme Court race
He's what we like to call our political blowhard &mdash; politics and economics expert Adam Murphy recently joined the show to discuss the cost of AI data centers, the cost of gasoline vs. EVs and whether gender might play a role in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
We start with the physical infrastructure of AI and why RAM prices are exploding as data centers transition from simple storage to massive processing hubs.
That led into the "resource sucking" reality of these data centers in Wisconsin and across the world &mdash;as I again compare them to what happens in the movie Oblivion &mdash; and whether the state should mandate that tech giants over-produce for the local power grid to keep electricity costs down for everyone else.
We then moved on to the Wisconsin Supreme Court race and why the candidates' gender might be a bigger variable for Republican voters than Democrats in the upcoming Chris Taylor vs. Maria Lazar matchup.
We finished off the show breaking down the EV math and why charging at home is essentially paying $1.64 a gallon (last week), which makes "range anxiety" for people like Adam&rsquo;s 72-year-old mother mostly a myth.

Blue Baby set to return and the reimagining of Pearl Street in La Crosse

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