A giant mix of politics and holidays on Friday’s La Crosse Talk PM with UW-L political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, that included why the mayor isn’t running for reelection, ending the tradition of buying Christmas presents and politicians, off the last nine months, telling workers to return to the office.

Began the show, though, on Donald Trump winning the Time Person of the Year — a list that didn’t include Joe Biden. Plus, how Trump runs on prices are too high and in the very same Person of the Year article, Trump said of grocery prices, “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up.”

We then weaved that into why La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds isn’t seeking reelection. And, as there are still only three on the list, could he get back in the race?

We bring that up, too, in discussing how anyone running for the spring election needs to announce now. The deadline is Jan. 7, but the window to get your name out there could close Feb. 20 — the last day of primary voting.

After that, speaking of running for reelection, does Rebecca Cooke need to get into the 2026 race for US House in the 3rd District against Derrick Van Orden now?

About halfway through the show, we completely changed gears and talked about if families should stop buying Christmas presents for each other, because it becomes just a “tell the other what to get” exchange.

We then highlighted the past two Yesterday In La Crosse articles, featuring when the Valley View Mall was essentially downtown La Crosse and how much Mt. La Crosse cost in 1959 — as it is the ski hill’s 65th year.

Ended the show with a bit about the cold and walking through La Crosse’s Rotary Lights in Riverside Park and capped it all off on how Wisconsin state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says workers need to return to the office. And that’s coming from a guy who hasn’t worked since March, as the Wisconsin state Legislature is out of session for the last nine months of 2024.

La Crosse Talk PM airs weekdays at 5:06 p.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk PM wherever you get your podcasts.