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From Lake Superior to Lake Michigan, this is Wisconsin's Morning Conversation.
Daybreak with Brian and Jamie.
Good morning.
Thank you so much for joining us today on the Civic Media Network.
It is six minutes after seven right now.
My name is Jamie Martinson.
And
good morning.
I'm Brian Newton.
I'm
Brian Newton.
8-5-5-7-5 Civic is how you get ahold of us, but right now, you have to get your Civic Media app fired.
Yes, yes, yes,
yes.
Turn
your crank phone and get to open up that app because it's time for...
our Accelerate Your Summer Text-to-Win Multi-State Contest.
This is your first word of the day and your first chance at our daily prize of $100 and a Wisconsin Dells Prize Package.
Plus, every time you enter, you are put into our grand prize drawing and you could win $250 in gas and $250 in groceries.
Jamie?
I'm going to take Umbridge.
This word might be too hard to spell for people.
I'm
going to let you handle it.
This is an interesting word.
Let me be clear.
We don't come up with these words.
These words are handed to us to give to you.
Oh yeah, you and I
don't come up with
them.
No, no, no.
We don't come up with these words.
But this hour's word is Fridge.
Fridge.
F-R-I-D-G-E.
Fridge is the word that you need to text.
I'm going to spell it one more time.
Please.
F-R-I-D-G-E.
That is the word that you need to text us right now using your app so that you can qualify for all of the prizes.
And of course, a little bit of cash in there as well.
And we could all use a little gas and groceries right now.
But Fridge.
Fridge.
F-R-I-D-G-E.
I'm going to spell it again just because it is one of those interesting words that you
can.
You hear it and you don't know when the G is at a G. And you know,
are we running
out of money?
Is that
what we're throwing in hard
words now?
After
four
days, it's like, oh man, people are winning this cash.
We
got to pull back.
We like to trick you up.
That's what we like to do.
But people
are spelling it correctly.
Good.
All right.
Smarty pants.
You guys are awesome this morning.
I love that.
I love it.
You're awesome.
So
Fridge, F-R-I-D-G-E, you'll have that
word to
eight o'clock and we'll remind you up until then.
But you can
Listen all day the words change throughout the
day
and your chances to win continue So you needed to know that but there is other you need to know It's a wake-up call in more ways than one time for some you need to know Is that Joe Buck doing that voice doesn't
it sound like Joe
Buck?
Every day every day.
I'm like, how did we get Joe Buck to do our as you need to know segment?
I know we don't have that kind of budget
That's true
All right, oh, this is, this is, well,
good news.
We're about
to reach our $41 trillion debt ceiling.
Not Jamie and I, but the country.
A new forecast says the federal government could reach its $41.1 trillion debt limit sometime between late winter and mid-summer of 2027, requiring action from Congress and the White House to avoid a default.
Donald Trump very good at defaulting on loans and bankruptcy, so.
I'm sure this won't be a problem, right?
Once the debt ceiling is reached, the Treasury Department can use temporary measures to keep paying bills for several months, but those options eventually run out.
Economists warn that a U.S.
debt default could disrupt financial markets, increase borrowing costs, and damage the economy.
Why start now?
Federal debt is continuing to grow, with the government expected to spend about $2 trillion more than it collects in revenue this fiscal year.
The debt ceiling is expected to be a major issue for lawmakers as concerns grow about both rising government debt and the need to keep the government meeting its financial obligations.
Weren't we promised...
in the last campaign, more fiscal, yeah, we're
gonna get rid of the
debt, we're gonna lower that debt.
Fiscally responsible
is what we were told.
It was gonna be Kamala Harris who was gonna spend all of your money.
Jamie, she would be
taxing and spending and going crazy and our kids would go to war and
it was
all gonna be bleak.
Yeah,
thankfully we are on the bright side of of that to coin with
is this the bright side is this what it feels like this is
what paradise
feels like on a Friday
Yikes, I don't know if I like it here.
But in other stuff you need to know this morning, we're going to bring it closer to home.
It's a great understatement.
We're going to bring it closer to home.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mandela Barnes has unveiled a farm policy plan ahead of President Trump's visit to Chippewa County, which is going to take place today.
We'll talk about that in more depth in just a moment here.
But Barnes' plan focuses on family farms and rural communities.
Barnes says that he would
target agricultural monopolies, expand local meat processing options, and support a right to repair law, allowing farmers to fix their own equipment.
His plan also, right, this is something I learned, they can't actually do that.
Wow, all right,
that's, I didn't realize that.
I didn't either, so I learned a little bit.
Farmers enlighten
us.
I learned a little bit from Mandela Barnes on this, and yeah, if you're a farmer this morning, please tell us how this works.
1-855-752-4842-185575 Civic.
At any rate, Barnes' plan would also include limiting foreign and out-of-state investment ownership of Wisconsin farmland and create programs to help new farmers buy land and keep farms in the family.
He's also proposing efforts to expand markets for Wisconsin farm products, encourage state agencies to buy Wisconsin-grown food, and increase agricultural
education.
Farming, trade tariffs and rural economic issues are expected to be key topics.
in Wisconsin in 2026 as we go through this governor's race.
It's a plan.
You can go read it over on his website if you're interested to find out more.
He was in the Chippewa County area yesterday talking about this plan and it is more than just holding speeches and rallies and showing up and talking to farmers.
He actually has an idea of what he would like to see the agricultural industry look like in the state of Wisconsin.
make it better for our farming community.
Yeah, it's going to be... I like anybody who has a plan.
Come and tell me what you... I might not agree with your plan, or I might have issues with one or two points on it, but at least you're coming to the table with something rather
than,
and no, this is not signaling any politician, a lot of empty talk.
We always get the empty talk.
I want... Hey,
here's where we're going to
start.
Here,
this
is what I'm coming to the table with.
Now, let's, oh, dirty word.
Let's negotiate.
Let's figure this out.
Let's find
a way to make it work because the end goal is something everybody agrees on.
All right, another piece of you need to know.
I know you've been thinking to yourselves, man.
When is UW-Madison going to get a Chancellor?
This is crazy.
We
can't live without a Chancellor.
Well, UW-Madison has officially launched its search for a new Chancellor after Jennifer Nukin left to become President of Columbia University.
Officials hope to make a selection by the end of the year.
The next Chancellor will lead Wisconsin's flagship university, overseeing more than 51,000 students, 28,000 faculty and staff, and a nearly $5 billion budget.
Public listening sessions will be held this month to gather input on what students, employees, alumni, and community members want in the university's next leader.
Campus groups say they want a chancellor who supports employees and students while addressing issues such as worker pay, international student concerns, and campus engagement.
The next chapter will also help UW Madison guide
UW Madison through major changes in college athletics, including athlete compensation, the transfer portal, which I will never understand, and revenue sharing.
Finalists are expected to visit campus this fall before the Board of Regents makes a final decision.
That
is not an easy job.
No, it's not.
Especially when you're talking about an infrastructure as big as UW.
So I love that they're getting community support.
I love that they're talking to the students and people who have been there so that they have an idea of what people want in somebody who's going to be leading that infrastructure.
We're going to talk about this big story though, Brian, because
the
president is coming to Wisconsin today.
In fact, he's going to be in the Chippewa Falls area.
It's his first trip to the state since beginning his second term and of course we are gearing up for that gubernatorial race and he is coming in to promote his front-runner Tom Tiffany and also Derek Van Orden who is going to be front and center with him at today.
Yes.
What a threesome.
What a
triple header coming
to the Chippewa
Valley.
I'm not sure.
I don't know if Tom Tiffany is going to be there but I know for sure that Derek Van Orden is going to be there and obviously they are going to
talk a little bit about Wisconsin farmers and the rural communities.
Van Orden has been already in the Chippewa Falls area.
That's his district.
He was up there with RFK.
They were on a dairy farm last week.
And Derek Van Orden says that this administration has prioritized rural America through trade agreements, tax policies, and investments aimed at helping farmers and small businesses.
Here's what he has to say.
Donald Trump has been able to drive exports by having new trade agreements on average about one a month.
These are significant statistically significant things for our farmers and all of rural America.
You mean by importing Venezuelan beef and putting tariffs on things and then stopping
the
flow of fertilizer and things through the Strait of Hormuz?
And I don't
mean to
speak for farmers because I am not one.
it doesn't seem to an outsider that he is fulfilling those promises.
It doesn't, it doesn't seem right.
But again, 855-755-CIVIC, 855-755-248-42.
If you are in the agricultural community, if you are a farmer and he is doing this, then let us know.
So we're educated.
Now, in case anybody's wondering, through the Rural Health Infrastructure Fund, Wisconsin is expected to get about $200 million this year.
Obviously, that will help support and strengthen health care in a lot of those rural communities.
This has been a priority of Derek Van Ordens over the last few months.
Whether you agree with how he votes or not, because it hasn't always,
haven't always aligned with some of the things he said about his district and rural health care.
He has been very vocal about it and at least making sure that there's access or at least saying he would like there to be more access.
So obviously that's going to be a sticking point over the next few months as we watch how this gubernatorial race plays out.
We talked about it yesterday if you were able to join us on the show and if you weren't, please go check out Spotify and C-Pass.
episodes and listen to past episodes here.
But this is going to be a very crowded gubernatorial race for the Democrats.
There are currently seven Democrats in the vying for that top spot.
This is, I think, a prime opportunity for the Republicans to at least get their message out through Tom Tiffany, Derek Van Orden, and new polling came out this week.
Granted the president's approval rating according to Marquette is dropping across the state and the nation
like
however it However, that's among independence.
He still has very very strong support
Among the Republican voters, so I think the fact that he is going to be here I think excites that that that voting base I think it makes them happy to see the president and you know We've talked about it on the show the the Republicans are trying to build a much stronger ground game going into this particular election So I think these are all things that they're hoping President Trump being in the state can bolster for them going forward.
I
As much as I don't want to listen to what he has to say, I can't wait to hear what he has to say because
I'm
guessing help for the farmers will take up 0.3% of the speech and how he was agreed, the grievances he has with Wisconsin voters and Wisconsin for the stolen elections and how he'll give
quick mouth service to DVO and
I
don't
mean that's not a euphemism Parker that's just you know he's gonna he's gonna pay him a little he'll give him the old
yes
he won't shake his hand though
I want to ignore him like at the State of the Union.
Parker, do
me a favor, get me a polymarket vote on will Donald Trump shake DVO's hand and
see what the
odds are and then we'll put down, you know, $7,000.
What I do think is interesting is that this campaign chose to start in Western Wisconsin, which is a majority of the rural votes.
It's a majority, a place that has been kind of demolished as far as rural health care, the farming community.
So I mean,
And there's somewhat of a strategy, I think, there.
So it will be fascinating to see if he actually talks about rural issues or if it goes on to some sort of, you know.
You know it's going to be a
swerve.
We'll find out.
It will.
But swipe or stay next time the Civic Media Network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Stay up to date on the latest news and information for your local community and Wisconsin by signing up for our free email newsletter.
Visit civicmedia.us slash email to get started.
722 right now.
Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
It is time for swipe or stay.
We're going to leave the politics aside for just a moment.
Our senior producer, Frank, is going to join us.
No banana ball talk this time around.
We're going to get to the real pop culture events.
And do we have some good stuff coming up today, Frank?
Let me put it this way, Jamie.
When I opened up one of my websites that I like to see for entertainment news,
Yeah,
there was a one of the headline stories was Sarah Jessica Parker's son and his gym transformation.
So that's how great the stories are.
Oh, all right.
Today.
All right.
So what you're telling me is to keep my expectations low, like, you know, my husband remembering a mic stand.
That's what you're telling me.
Expect the worst in hope for the best.
All right, I'm ready.
That's the best.
Yeah, that's the best way to go
through
low expectations.
All
right.
All right, Frank, don't wallish.
Let's do it.
If this is the first time you've tuned in, I'm going to play swipe or stay.
I'm going to read some pop culture headlines.
Brian and Jamie have to decide whether to stay in here more or to swipe on to the next one.
Parker can be the tiebreaker if need be.
Story number one, star wide receiver is wanted by the police.
Oh,
stay.
Have you guys heard this story?
San Francisco star Brandon Ayuk is currently wanted for a misdemeanor charge of exhibition of speeding.
Oh,
exhibition of speeding.
Yeah, I'm going to get to that.
All right.
The warrant is in reference to a video Ayuk posted to YouTube in December in which he appears to tape himself from the other driver's seat going well over the posted 40 miles per hour speed
limit.
Wow.
On a road that runs past Levi Sadium.
OK.
Oh.
Yeah.
So there is a warrant out for his arrest right now.
Also.
So you don't have to
catch anybody red-handed anymore?
Not
if you rat yourself out and there's video evidence.
I mean, I know it's stupid to post it, but
I didn't know you could go retroactively.
We're gonna find you guilty.
And
it's
speeding.
It's speeding at a 40.
How fast was he going, does it say?
No, he was going 40 over.
Oh, 40 over.
Oh, okay.
I think that's where their issue is.
He was going 5 over.
You know, if he's driving by a park or through a...
a park, then yeah,
OK.
If there's anybody in law enforcement listening, please correct me.
But I think it's, what, anything over 25 and it's reckless driving?
I believe that is correct.
But yes, please
correct us if we're wrong, 1-855-752-4842.
I'll throw the number in there.
It's also important to note that he has not played a snap since tearing his ACL and MCL in October of 2024.
Which
explains his need for speed.
Yes.
And the Niners have said they're very much open to training him.
It's not looking good, right?
And he could be there quick.
He could be.
Hey, yo.
Good ball.
Number two.
Queen of Pop holds pop-up concert in New York.
Who's the Queen of Pop?
You guys know the Queen of Pop?
Taylor
lives in New York.
Is it Beyonce?
I'll stay.
Well, now that I've given myself a quandary, I'll stay.
Technically, Madonna is the queen of pop.
I was
wondering if it was Madonna.
It is Madonna, that is her title.
She's the fossil of pop.
Well, now she is, but she was at one point the queen of pop, and it's still her name.
She's like Queen Elizabeth, she's there till she's dead, she's queen
till she's
dead.
Okay, just checking.
So she held a pop-up concert yesterday in Times Square in the middle of the day.
This was a collaboration with Grindr for a special Pride Month concert celebrating the upcoming release of her
album.
Just reading the facts here people.
She's
the queen of pop.
You don't need to do these things anymore.
Like, you know, like you had
a career.
It does when your albums have not been great.
The half-hour performance featured her Sabrina Carpenter collaboration, Bring Your Love, the song hung up.
There was
no Sabrina.
She was not there.
That doesn't make it very exciting.
She's like a stat.
She's just going to go on to youth to keep her life alive.
No, the exciting part was it was in Times Square.
Yeah, I mean,
that's fine.
With screens flashing and you've got tourists walking and being like, is that Madonna?
Wow.
And
every
New Yorker going
shut up,
get
out of the
way.
She looks so different
than what she used to because the plastic surgery, you think it's like a Madonna impersonator, honestly.
Yeah, that's a really good point.
It could be pride month drag show.
Do we know it's really not a drag performer?
Yeah.
All possibilities.
All
right.
All
right.
Number three.
Beloved children's character was roasted online for a tweet.
Oh,
I know Elmo.
I
know Elmo tweets and I love following Elmo.
So I will stay.
Almost the best online.
Elmo is currently under attack.
All
right.
Oh, no.
We are attacking Elmo.
I'm
leaving this world.
This is
not how it was.
Okay, what did Elmo do?
Elmo is an op.
He's an
op.
Oh, for what?
For what?
For New York.
Okay.
All right, please tell me more, because now I'm entrenched.
He kind of deserves it.
Stop.
Here's what I'm gonna say.
I, listen.
Elmo tweeted out the other day before tip-off of game one between the New York.
Excuse me, New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs.
Elmo hopes both teams have fun.
Oh.
Well,
both teams
have fun.
He didn't say, you know.
He didn't pick a winner.
He's Elmo.
He
didn't pick a winner.
Right,
of course not.
He's so, I've got some.
And that made the Knicks
fans mad, didn't it?
He is one of their own.
Elmo is from Astoria Queens.
I know that.
Here are some of the tweets Elmo got.
I can't do it.
I can't imagine.
Oh boy.
This isn't the time for sportsmanship, Elmo.
These streets ain't sesame.
All right.
One person said, pick a side, Coward.
Whoa.
Slow your roll there, Jack.
Another one said, Elmo, that's honestly weak AF.
Pick a side.
Oh.
Wow.
Another person said, Elmo, you're
You're out here getting cussed out.
Elmo did backtrack and followed up with a tweet saying, Nick, Nick's that last message.
Elmo didn't mean to spur you on.
Oh, look at that.
That's I would have expected
nothing less from Elmo.
Elmo is all about
good vibes and
friends.
And he's a tiny child monster.
He's
a little bit
of a monster.
He wants everybody to have fun.
Elmo
is the ultimate
participation trophy.
Look, man, you got to ride or die with your teams.
That's what I per se.
What about all those kids in San Antonio?
It's the daybreak of the civic community.
Now back to more of Daybreak with Brian and Jamie.
Good morning, 735 right now.
Thank you so much for joining us.
Parker just sharing that why I'm in a motel room in Iowa City.
It's a little rainy in downtown Madison this morning, so that's fun.
I
haven't
even opened the blinds to see what it's doing in Iowa City.
It was hot and humid when we pulled in last night about 10 o'clock.
Oh my gosh.
It was really warm, which is kind of what we're gonna see in the area over the next few days in Wisconsin as well, is some very warm, humid weather coming in.
Yeah, and there's a lot of
crazy storm systems that are popping
up and
moving across.
So just keep it here and pay attention.
But Jamie,
we
must remind people because it's 7.35.
That
means
they have 25 more minutes to get in this text word of the day because our Accelerate Your Summer Text to Win multi-state contest is going on right
now.
We are in the middle of the first hour.
And again, you know, and if you don't know, get the app, the Civic Media app.
be ready because today just today you could win a hundred dollars in a wisconsin del's prize package and then because you entered even if you didn't win today you're still in the drawing and have a chance at our grand prize
which
is two hundred and fifty dollars in gas and another two hundred and fifty dollars in groceries but you don't just get it you have to actually text something
You do.
We have a word that you need to text and let me remind you quickly too before I give you that word that you can enter multiple times.
If you enter now, you can still enter every time throughout today and there's no limit on how much you can enter this contest.
That's the good news so you have plenty of opportunity to win those prizes.
Voter fraud, but it's not
fraud.
We have rules here.
Without further ado, your word for this hour or at least until eight o'clock is
Fridge, F-R-I-D-G-E.
Fridge is your word for this hour.
One more time, F-R-I-D-G-E.
Fridge is the word that you need to text us before eight o'clock using your app so you can qualify for all of those cash and prizes.
F-R-I-D-G-E.
Fridge is your word.
Good luck.
Our listeners are awesome.
They know how to spell.
We don't need to...
Tell us.
All right.
Well, we spelled out the easy.
We spelled out sun on Monday and they
yes.
Fridge is the word.
F R I G G E. I'll spell that one more time for you.
There we go.
Fridge.
So fridge.
Okay.
Well, good luck.
It's very exciting.
I mean, we've done it.
We'll do it all next week, Monday through Friday.
So if you don't win, if you don't win a daily prize this week, you have a chance to win the daily prize again next week.
And you're still entered for the grand prize.
And I
I also want to say, next week, next week, we've got a little special surprise here on Daybreak.
You're going to be back in studio, or are you going to be in another mystery location?
No, no, no.
I'll be back in studio.
But we're going to have some fun with Circus.
That's all we're going to say right now.
So that's all we're going to say.
Man, that's all we're saying.
That's right.
We'll give you more details next week.
Parker is going to dress
like a clown all next week.
That's right.
That's why he shaved.
That's why he shaved.
That's why he shaved because he's got to get
that clown makeup on.
We're going to have a little circus fun on daybreak, so be ready for that.
I'm going to bend Parker into
contortionist poses.
It's going
to be great.
Lots of fun.
What's not fun is contaminated water.
How'd you like that, Segway partner?
Oh,
that was a
big one.
Yes.
The contamination linked to Tycho is considered the largest known PFOS contamination site in Wisconsin.
Well, they have settled.
Yes, it has affected hundreds.
of private wells.
It raised concern about the long-term health impacts for residents.
The state was preparing for a three-week jury trial and then Tycho looked at everything and they decided they would settle the case.
Now just a reminder that the lawsuit alleges or alleged it's gone now that the company failed to stop PFAS from spreading into the environment even after testing showed extremely high contamination levels.
Some of those far far above what was considered
yeah
safe for drinking water hundreds of thousands of parts per trillion wow so uh
Tyco said, we can't fight.
We don't want to fight this.
A lot
of times it's not that they're even agreeing they did something wrong.
They're just going, you know what?
We don't want to draw it out and pay.
Yeah.
And this really affects residents in the Marinette and Prestigo areas because they have spent years hoping for some sort of accountability with this.
They've wanted some sort of cleanup effort.
And of course, you know, who they all want safe drinking water.
Who doesn't want that?
They want that for their well.
So they've been trying very, very hard.
Now, in case you don't
I don't know, Tyco is actually, it's Tyco Fire Products.
And this is a company that's a major manufacturer of firefighting equipment.
And that includes things like your sprinkler systems for buildings, the suppression technology valves, and firefighting foam used all around the world.
They actually operate more than 190 countries and is part of the Fire Protection Division of Johnson Controls, which is a global building technology.
safety company.
And most of the Tyco products are used in commercial buildings, industry, industrial facilities, airports, military installations, really any location that needs fire protection systems.
So as you can imagine, when you're dealing with those foams and those sprays
to put
out water, it's not like they're just, you know,
water in there or, you know, natural chemicals to stop
those
fires.
We're talking about some chemicals.
I can't pronounce them.
I would love to be able to pronounce the chemicals that are in these foams.
I'm not even going to try it this morning.
I could call my
future son-in-law.
He's a chemist.
There we go.
Doctor of chemistry.
If I can't pronounce it, it probably isn't something that I want my drinking water.
Let's be honest.
It's like those old commercials where Johnny was eating cereal and reading the ingredients and he had polysorbate 80.
I'll never,
I don't know what polysorbate 80 is, but I'll never forget that commercial because he was like you going, he was struggling to pronounce
it and they went
polysorbate 80 Johnny.
I could do polysorbate.
I'm not going to try some of these like multi, like some of these are, yeah, no, I'm not going to go
there.
Just know they shouldn't be in your water.
No.
And so state officials are saying that the agreement is going to help ensure that taxpayers are not left paying for the cost of cleaning up pollution, which is good, because they did it, they should clean it up.
The officials also continue to encourage residents with concerns about your well water to seek testing and learn about available filtration and remediation programs.
So
don't
just trust if you're in, again, and as Jamie said, Marinette and Pestigo, those are the big, the big focuses of this.
If you're in those areas and you're on well water
Yeah.
Take the
precautions.
Yeah.
Yeah, we had well water at our previous home and we had it tested about once a year.
We'd have somebody come out and do a little testing of it because we lived in an area that had a lot of runoff.
And is that just
natural seepage that gets into the wells
or is the runoff just
running right into the well?
No, I think it was just natural seepage from what I understand.
Sometimes I didn't want to ask too many questions, at least until I got my test back because
I wanted to know exactly what I was drinking, but for anybody in that area to be clear, this settlement doesn't actually stop the cleanup efforts.
The monitoring, the testing, the filtration, the groundwater treatment, those are all expected to continue for years.
And this Taiko case was very important to Marinette Prashtigo, but at the same time, there are a lot of other communities across the state that are dealing with PFAS and the concerns, French Island, Stella, Rhinelander, here it matters.
Madison, Eau Claire, Wausau, they have also dealt with concerns.
So this is why Tony Evers actually signed that bill about PFAS contaminations and who's responsible just a couple of months ago towards the end of that legislative session, because this is a major problem throughout
the
entire state.
And it goes back to the same thing that we've said before, Brian, having this conversation.
Why is safe drinking water up for political debate?
Because that PFAS bill sat in the Wisconsin legislature for years before it finally made it to Tony Evers desk.
I think we know the answer and it's money.
Yes.
You look at corporations like Tycho Fire Products, 190 countries.
This company is making a ton of money.
And if it comes to, well, do we want the taxpayers to pay for it or do we want to pay for it as a company?
I think you know the answer to that.
And
so we're going back and forth and we talk about lobbying and you are always one of your biggest gripes is
money and politics and you're not
alone on that.
But we look at that and for whatever reason, politicians who are voted in by the people don't seem to mind putting people in jeopardy.
and in order to preserve their jobs and to get the money that's coming into their campaigns and their packs.
So it's infuriating because on a very baseline level, at least people should have clean water.
Yes.
That you can argue if you want I don't know why you would but you could argue about health care You could argue about snap better you you could argue about all kinds of things that are necessities that people should just have but water really you're gonna risk contaminating water in Well, it's only Marinette and Peshtigo
the rest of the state, that's pretty good.
So all right, what do you just want to cut them out and send them a drift in Lake Michigan?
It doesn't make any sense.
No,
it doesn't make any sense.
And then when you couple this on top of the fact that there are so many communities in the state that also have lead pipe issues, right, that we're
still
trying to mitigate in this state, and you couple all of that on top of each other, it's no wonder that
people are not always at their optimum health, right?
And why people have to go to resorts like maybe bottled water on a daily basis, or they have these filtration systems in their home because
Who wants to drink that?
Nobody wants to drink whatever is in that water.
And there are thousands of products that contain these PFAS.
It includes the nonstick cookware, the stain resistant fabrics, food packaging, waterproofing materials.
I have all those things in my
house.
Right, what we're talking about here with Tycho, the firefighting phone.
I mean, it's all of those products and a lot of those products are manufactured right here in the state of Wisconsin, especially in the rural areas where there's a lot of land to build factories, right?
And
these
companies can spread out.
And then all of a sudden we're talking about these contaminants in the water.
And then we have a whole subset of our, you know, our political parties saying, yeah, it's fine.
No big deal.
Everything for corporate.
Really?
Okay.
All right.
Sure.
We'll go with that today.
I'm sure there's thinking of, well, you know, how long have we been talking about PFAS?
For a little while because I know
water bottles.
A long time.
And
especially like when with baby dishes, we used to microwave
the
plastic baby dishes.
They're
like, oh,
your baby's going to grow a third head.
I was like, I don't want that.
So I better get rid of that.
So we've been talking about it and talking about it.
But there's still people who go, well,
Really?
We need
to get cancer from anything.
What do you gotta worry about?
A little foam in your water?
These PFAs are forever chemicals, meaning that they basically don't break down in the environment, so they can remain for decades.
Yeah, it's right in the name.
Yeah.
Forever.
Forever.
Yeah.
Which is, it sounds weird though that we actually, you actually have to point that out to certain people because it is essentially they are forever chemicals.
And I mean, anytime that we can- You keep
saying forever.
We're not around to see if that's true.
We won't see that play out.
No, we won't, but hopefully generations after us are still going to be dealing with the ramifications of PFAS if we don't do something with it now.
Do you
think some of these politicians care about generations down the road?
No.
They barely care about the generations now.
I was going to say, look at the president.
He didn't even go to his kids' wedding.
So
they don't
care about what's happening now or down the road.
It's like, I got mine.
Maybe I'll make sure my kids get some of it.
Maybe not.
Who cares?
I won't be around.
I think what worries me the most is we look at, especially like a gubernatorial race coming up.
And we're looking at complete leadership change from top to bottom at the Wisconsin Capitol.
Tony Evers has gone above and beyond.
Democrats have worked really hard to make sure that some of these environmental concerns, especially for the rural communities, have been taken care of under their watch.
Now we're looking at a time where there might be leadership change from the top to the bottom.
And what bothers me, I think, is will we see some of the things that they have done like this PFAS bill?
will we see a backslide in that?
Because if Republicans are in control, especially Tom Tiffany, will he just say, eh, doesn't really matter.
We've got these corporate donors, they're bringing money into the state, let them do what they want, especially when we are starting to make a little progress.
And let's be real, we can all do a lot more.
Our governments can do a lot more.
But every little bit of progress, especially in a fight against something like PFAS, where we're talking about clean drinking water is important.
We're going to talk to the founder of the working majority next about a tour
that's going around the state.
It's Daybreak on the Civic
Media.
It's Dayburring with Brian and Jamie.
752 right now.
Thank you for joining us this morning.
Very, very quickly.
So we don't leave our guests waiting.
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You have about eight minutes to get that word in for cash and of course, grand prizes of $250 in gas, another $250 in groceries.
Brian, the word this hour that they need to get in before eight o'clock is fridge.
F-R-I-D-G-E.
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F-R-I-D-G-E.
Get that.
word in before eight o'clock so you can.
win some daily prizes as well as those grand prizes.
There we go.
We got it in quickly.
Good.
Good luck.
Get them in.
All right.
Well, across Wisconsin and really across the rest of the country, working class and middle class Americans don't feel like our voices are being heard by elected officials.
Well, that feeling led to the creation of the working majority.
It's a group founded on the premise that middle and working class Americans from both parties agree on a lot when it comes to economic issues.
They're hosting a What's Open Wisconsin Summer Tour?
And here to tell us about it is the founder of the Working Majority, Pete Subkoviak.
Pete, welcome.
Glad you're here.
Give everybody a background.
What is the Working Majority?
Yeah.
Working Majority is a new interest group that is essentially trying to represent and bring together the working and middle class folks around the state.
around one big tent Knowing that that most of us when it comes to economic issues agree on a lot more than what the the current political system is reflecting and We want to build something that gives people back power and Allows us to to push the political system the economic system and
all the parties out there to prioritize the needs of working in middle-class folks again.
So you talk about this coalition that you're trying to build and obviously there's a lot of people who are frustrated with both political parties right now.
So how do you as an organization, we'll get into a little bit about what's OPE Wisconsin, how though do you plan to reach these people who have really just checked out of politics altogether because of the division right now?
Right.
Yeah.
I think it starts with meat raffles, really.
Yes.
Lovely good meat raffles.
Cheese curds, too.
Yeah, we'll circle back to that.
But I think you really got to meet people where they're at.
And you got to give them power and trust first, which is what we're trying to do with this organization.
Um, the, the people, the, the folks who choose to join the organization are the ones that would be making all of the decisions in terms of, uh, the agenda, right?
So the, the, the, the issues that should be prioritized by the organization and the solutions that we'll take would be, would be built by the, the members themselves, not by me, not by any staff, board members, donors, or anything like that.
Um, so I think you, if you got to give, give power and give trust to get.
power and trust.
And so that's one of the big ways we hope we can bring people into the fold.
Well, talking about meeting people where they are, I mentioned you are hosting a working majority, which workingmajority.org is the website if you want to learn more.
The What's OPE Wisconsin Summer Tour.
What is the What's OPE Wisconsin Summer Tour?
It sounds fun.
Yeah, yeah, it's great.
We're kicking off next week, June 10th in Baroque, and then June 11th will be in Beloit, and then we've got a whole host of other...
Cities were coming to throughout the month of June and folks can go to workingmajority.org To learn more and to RSVP But yeah the the what's up tour we're co-hosting at co partnering with folks like Main Street Alliance The Wisconsin Farmers Union civic media's is supporter as well and the whisko project and We are you know, we're holding them at we're holding them at bars
breweries and coffee houses and that is where
people are
that is where people are right and and starting with food and conversation and Really these these are just events where we're we're listening right and we're trying to hear how people are feeling and what they think should be done about it We're not
Proposing them to do any, you know, we're not saying here's here's what we think should happen in terms of policies or anything But we you know, I think the our call to action will be Join us and and be a part of this we want to build something and and build it together
And you're gonna be doing this across the state for several weeks, correct?
Yep.
Yep throughout throughout June
Okay, workimmajority.org.
Pete Sikovac is our guest this morning.
When you're talking about farmers and business owners and union workers and service workers, all of these groups have different challenges.
And I
know we're starting to run out of time.
Two minutes there.
Thank you, Parker.
But are you finding common ground among these groups?
And what are those similarities that they're all sharing when you talk to them?
Yeah.
There is a lot of commonalities, especially when you think about
the cost pressures everyone is facing, whether you're a small business owner, whether you're a farmer, whether you're a worker and just a consumer trying to get groceries.
So people are really feeling that.
I think everybody's getting pretty fed up with the high cost of health care, how hard it is to access.
And I think the overall feeling that the system
really has not been delivering for them for a long time.
And maybe delivering for other people and other special interests.
And so that really cuts through.
And the hope is that when people see and feel that there really is a shared experience here, that we can do something powerful with that.
Very nice.
Well, Pete Coveyac is once again the founder of the Working Majority to find out more about the What's Hope Wisconsin summer tour and get all the information on the Working Majority.
Go to workingmajority.org.
Pete, thanks for being here.
Have a great weekend.
We will talk to you soon.
Cheers.
Thanks guys.
Take care.
All right.
When we come back, we're talking about small businesses.
We are going to talk to Lena Motola.
She is the owner of Lena's Northern Pines Resort in the Northwoods and
Was Memorial Day good for business owners up there or a harbinger of doom?
Oh, that's a tease.
We will be back with more.
I'm Brian Noonan.
This is Daybreak.
I'm Jamie Martinson.
7.59 right now.
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