La Crosse Talk PM WIZM

La Crosse’s household survival budget. The bare minimum it takes for a person, a family, to get by.

It’s called the ALICE report. It was just released by the Great Rivers United Way and executive director Mary Kay Wolf stopped in the WIZM studio for the Rick Solem Show to discuss it.

ALICE stands for (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed). It comes out every two years and looks at households that earn more t...

How much would it take for you to move to Fond du Lac?

That's one of the many topics discussed with Adam Murphy on Friday's The Rick Solem Show. Murphy is a small business owner, economist and — as we learn — handyman.

Before we get into moving to Fond du Lac and the political landscape of Wisconsin's governor's race — and whether they shou...

Brad Pitel in studio helping us preview the four-day July 4 celebration at Riverside Park.

Riverfest kicks off Thursday afternoon and ends with a firework show on the 4th of July.

Pitel, who is on the Riverfest board, talks about the wide array of acts from national country star Mitchell Tenpenny to the RCCW pro wrestling events, where they bring a ring to Riverside.

Pitel also talks about how Misty Lown's reign the Riverfest Commo...

Why are we so obsessed with algae in a D.C. wading pool, or a U.S. Senate candidate’s scandals in Maine of all places over what’s happening in our own backyard?

As we fixate on national sideshows like those, UW-Madison professor Dr. Mike Wagner joins to decipher why our focus shifts away from critical local decisions — like an upcoming La Crosse city budget public hearing. Wagner talks about how our media con...

If you've spent any time in local coffee shops or boutiques, you know that naming your business after "The Driftless" carries a certain amount of outdoorsy eco-prestige. 

But, according to UW-Madison geologist Dr. Eric Carson, if that business is across the river in Minnesota or Iowa — they are living a lie.

For the past 18 years, Dr. Carson has been mapping The Driftless. He joins ahead of his Badger Talk at 5:30 p.m. T...

The city of La Crosse has a lot going on right now — from transforming the now-closed library and tearing down the Kmart, to rezoning for housing by the old Shopko at Bridgeview Plaza and establishing new TIDs on the causeway and by Black River Beach.

To help explain all that, Mac Kiel joins, as we break down the process for what comes next with the old north library and recap her mayor district forum...

La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Sam Scinta on his “Lord of the Rings”-length meeting with the mayor, the business climate in the community right now, and that port initiative announced last week.

We began though with just a quick “What does the Chamber do?” as Scinta has been leading it now for the past nine months.

Next, we ta...

La Crosse County Democratic Party chair Wyatt Molling was in studio last week for the Rick Solem Show discussing the friction between the state and local party over reaching rural voters. We recapped the state convention and why everyday voters don't look like convention diehards, plus the split over Gov. Tony Evers' budget surplus deal. And, we closed with some rapid-fire over everything from data centers to Trump and the World Cu...

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, in studio to help weave a discussion about the La Crosse pool poll, the Democratic convention governor straw poll and the Packers fighting with one Wisconsin US House member.

We did start the show, though, talking quick about not being a sports fan but being excited about something like the World Cup — plus the L...

Wisconsin state Sen. Brad Pfaff in studio discussing A.I. data centers, the budget surplus deal and — with Alabama and Megadeath coming to La Crosse — ticket prices and third-party sellers.

Pfaff also came in hyped that June is dairy month and will be hosting a dairy breakfast from 6-11 a.m. at Creamery Creek Farms in Bangor.

When it comes to legislation, though, the state did nothing the last two years with data center...

The logrolling champion of the world, seven years running, La Crosse’s own Livi Pappadopoulos, in studio to hype up Saturday’s La Crosse Open and give us the inside scoop on how she dominates the sport.

Pappadopoulos owns Coulee Region Logrolling, and it’s hosting the 25th annual La Crosse Open, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Pettibone Lagoon.

She tells us what to expect during the event, who might give her fits on t...

What happens next now that the north side library is officially closed?

La Crosse Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey in studio Monday to break down the city's next steps, explaining the upcoming request for proposals (RFP) process and addressing the transparency questions surrounding the three groups that have already expressed interest in the building.

Before that, though, we discussed the narrative that the city is “on (the) ...

For the first time as the La Crosse School Board president, Trevor Sprague joins, and we take a look at the developments for a $33 million indoor aquatics center, technology in schools and the continuing plans of the district consolidation process.

With the pool, we talk about the city and the district creating a committee to come up with a plan, the survey that received about 3,500...

We discuss the culture and politics of gambling and drinking in La Crosse with UW-L political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, and WIZM’s Brad Williams, and then feature another woman-owned business "for no reason whatsoever" Friday on the Rick Solem Show.

The "sin taxes and vices" conversation went in a bunch of different directions, including a look back at when La Crosse residents voted twice by referendum, in 199...

We look at farming issues in Wisconsin, a week after President Donald Trump visited a Chippewa Falls farm last week and, after that, we continue what could be a series, “Hyping women-owned businesses for no reason whatsoever.”

But first, Brian Reisinger, joined to talk about fuel and fertilizer prices because of the Iran war and ways to better help the small farms — whether that’s the government or consumers...

Every election, politicians around Wisconsin gather signatures to get on the ballot. This can be an incredibly stressful time for politicians and the results give us interesting clues about the elections to come. From independent candidates to signature challenges in court to hints about what seats will be competitive in November, there is a lot to learn from the end results, if we just bother to look. And that's what we do here.

Se...

Hyping up women-owned businesses for no reason whatsoever Wednesday on the Rick Solem Show. 

We were joined in studio by Abram Dyke of Abe’s Raves. Our local foodie helped track down a bunch of awesome local businesses that we got on the show, including:

• Sam Sveum, who owns Nom Sips & Eats
• Mia Davis of the Mia’s Kitchen food truck
• Maria Norberg, owner of Grounded Coffee
• Ka Lia Vang...

An 18-month data center ban in La Crosse is on the docket for the county board. 

The moratorium legislation comes as a county study committee has its first meeting Wednesday.

Dillon Mader and Lia Manock stopped in studio to break down their reasonings for a moratorium, discuss the work the study committee will be doing, and why they feel a ban on data centers is necessary.

While there are multiple angles to consider when pausi...

Bringing down La Crosse’s Kmart, what ever happened to the green bubbler talk from last year and the potential selling of the north side library.

Those were some of the big topics we discussed with city council president Tamra Dickinson ahead of their monthly Thursday meeting.

We started with the north library, which is scheduled to close for good June 15. Dickinson walks us through the process of declaring it a surplus prope...