La Crosse Talk PM WIZM

Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Steve Doyle in studio on the Legislature’s earliest adjournment in history, his priorities in this last month of work for 2026, the state’s $4 billion surplus, and a package of bills on elderly care he hopes will pass.

We began the show with Republicans, who control the Legislature, hoping to be done legislating for 2026 on Feb. 19 — which Doyle points out is the earliest it’s e...

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, in studio talking the big names headed to La Crosse as campaign season begins, when is it OK not to tip, the La Crosse mayor trying to sway the council on the city administrator plan, and what Wisconsin's state Legislature is attempting to cram into the two months it's going to work this year.

We began the show with comments made this week on WIZM by La Crosse Mayor S...

Dr. Carolyn Colleen joins to discuss Viterbo's 21st annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day community celebration coming up Monday. Not only do we dive into the event, highlighted by keynote speaker Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, and events running from morning until night, but Colleen also discusses the happenings on Tuesday, when 1,000 seventh graders descend on the university to learn. The conversation explores how these events aim to ...

A month away from a vote on a city administrator, La Crosse’s mayor doesn’t support the specific plan currently on the table. Shaundel Washington-Spivey stopped in studio Thursday for La Crosse Talk PM and discussed why he’s not for this iteration of a city administrator.

We also talked about the Wisconsin DOT’s new design for bike lanes and a roundabout on 3rd and 4th streets downtown, the mayor’s tri...

Ahead of his visit to the city Saturday, Brewers manager Pat Murphy joined to discuss coaching — football and basketball — Bob Uecker and, of course, pocket pancakes. Murphy will be the La Crosse Loggers special guest Saturday for their winter BBQ at the La Crosse Center, appropriately themed “An Evening with Pat Murphy.” On the show, we dove deep on pocket pancakes, if he'd rather coach the Packers or Brewe...

Wisconsin State Rep. Jill Billings in studio to discuss how Republicans in control of the Legislature aim to wrap up their work for the year by the end of February.

Billings also addressed the recent funding loss for WisconsinEye — a state version of C-SPAN — which has left only the media as the source of video for committee and floor sessions. This comes as the GOP begins enforcing an old rule barring the public from r...

A roundabout and bike lanes in downtown La Crosse, ending “prayer” before council meetings, and cutting judges’ terms to save tax money. Those are the big topics we discussed with Mac Kiel on Monday’s La Crosse Talk PM.

Ending council invocations

After that, we talked about the council voting 9-4 to end &ld...

From governments holding invocations — like prayers before meetings — to the best and worst first-date topics, we covered it all with University of Wisconsin-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky.

The conversation comes as the La Crosse City Council voted Thursday to end invocations before meetings. WIZM’s Brad Williams helped open the show with his own rendition of an invocation, before bre...

Seven-time log rolling world champion, Livi Pappadopoulos, stopped in studio to talk about how ending up alone balancing on a log in the water can be an amazing third space.

All week, La Crosse Talk PM has focused on third spaces — so not home, not work, but that third space where you can be social or feel part of the community.

As the director of Coulee Region Log Rolling, Pappadopoulos talked about her start in the sport be...

Amanda Worman Holmgaard stopped in studio to talk about how The Good Fight Community Center in La Crosse is a third space for kids.

La Crosse Talk PM has focused this first week of the new year on third spaces — so not home, not work, but that third space where you can be social or feel part of the community.

Worman Holmgaard, the executive director at The Good Fight, tells us how the center isn’t simply boxing. It&rsqu...

Jennifer Hyer, co-owner of Root Down Yoga, joined to talk about her business as a third space.

The first week of the new year, with the weather the way it is and people looking toward their resolutions, La Crosse Talk PM focused on third spaces — so not home, not work, but a place you go for community, to be social. 

So Hyer talks about the different ways Root Down, and yoga in general, can be that third space.

Hyer said...

Kylie Wiltgen, the senior fitness and wellness director, joined to talk about the the La Crosse Area YMCAs as a third space.

La Crosse Talk PM has focused the first week of the new year on third spaces — so not home, not work, but that place you go for community, to be social. 

Wiltgen notes that the YMCA is for everyone and almost literally has every age covered from infants to a 99-year-old member.

She talks about what...

Wisconsin governor candidate and state Sen. Kelda Roys stopped in studio, and we got into discussions on minimum wage, the GOP argument over Tony Evers 400-year "property tax increase "vs. public school funding, and what to do with AI data centers.

Before that, however, since we're doing shows all week about third spaces, that's where I began. For those who don't know, a third space would be — not home, not work, but where el...

Protein chips, fiber-fortified popcorn, the Midwest "meat and potatoes" trap — those are just some of the topics we discussed with Laura Birkel, a registered dietitian at Emplify Health.

Birkel is also 23 weeks pregnant, so we had to ask her what a dietitian does with those weird food cravings.

Other topics discussed on the show included a rapid-f...

Third spaces are an ever-growing need for communities, and Jake Erickson leads an organization that’s providing these spaces for kids across La Crosse County.

Erickson, the CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater La Crosse, stopped in studio to talk about how their facilities serve as these unique social hubs — but also how they prepare youth for their "second spaces," like school and future careers.

We recap the most popular genres at the La Crosse Library in 2025, the most checked out books, whether paper can keep up with eBooks and more with the library's Lindsay Schmitt and Bill Ives.

While thrillers remain the most popular genre overall because they are "fast and satisfying," Schmitt said, the single most checked-out book — for the second consecutive year — was ...

Small business owner Adam Murphy joins to discuss issues surrounding A.I. that often go overlooked, what to expect from the Wisconsin state legislature in 2026 and how YouTube has replaced traditional mentors.

The conversation began with the rise of A.I. "slop" videos, plus the technology's potential benefits for healthcare — as well as manual labor jobs like plumber or electr...

Mac Kiel is back in studio to preview committee and council week in La Crosse.

The holidays pack all the big meetings into one week, highlighted by discussions on deregulating little free food pantries, asking for new proposals for a downtown bike lane and parking plan, and tackling homelessness as the community marks the two-year anniversary of Pathways Home.

Kiel talks about her experience working with the homeless, as both La Cr...

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky in studio with his Top 5 Wisconsin politics topics of 2025. 

From the governor’s race to controversy around judges to the state budget and the government shutdown, Chergosky dissects what he saw as the biggest stories in Wisconsin politics.

Along with that, we also talk about whether or not people believe Santa Claus is a Republican or Democrat and at what a...