La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds in studio discussing pickleball and beer — which is sort of on the council agenda — bringing developers into the city — as all those vacant box stores are filling up — and approving accessory dwelling units.

We began the show, however, asking Reynolds who he thinks the most popular athlete in the U.S. is right now, a few days from the Super Bowl.

After that (5:30), we got into some city council stuff, just touching the pickleball conversation for a bit, before discussing accessory dwelling units (ADUs or granny flats or in-law suites — basically converting your garage that isn’t attached into a living space. And, for some reason, we also worked in chicken coupe regulations into that conversation.

Then we started to get into vacant buildings in La Crosse (14:20). There used to be three vacant Shopkos, a vacant K-Mart and vacant box stores in the Valley View Mall. But then an argument about how to zone areas to better attract developers to the city. 

The second half of the show (22:20), we got into the conversation about pickleball, and a company converting the Bridgeview Plaza Shopko into a pickleball facility and wants a liquor license — but a city committee last week couldn't approve it.

Quickly, we discussed the probability that the school district would have vacant buildings and if the city would want one of them. 

Lastly, we talked about Wisconsin Gov. Tony Every state of the state address and one of those workforce topics being childcare, and how the city continues to see that as a need, though the conversation in the state legislature has died down.