Doctors didn't know what they were doing, but now I got proof now because if you've been watching TV lately, you have certainly noticed that every other commercial on TV is one of those prescription drug ads.
Right?
Apparently, we're supposed to tell our doctors what to prescribe for us.
Like that previsit commercial, they're like, ask your doctor about previsit.
Now, shouldn't your doctor know about previsit?
Isn't that the guy's job?
It's like, yeah, there's nothing we can do for you.
What about previsit?
You know, you're right.
That's a good point.
I hadn't thought of that.
How many milligrams is good?
Did it say in the commercial?
I didn't say the commercial.
Good morning.
It's 709 WRJ and radio cloudy today with a chance of showers and thunder bumpers and a high near 60.
That's nice.
We did put our snow shovel away.
We won't take any chances the other day showers and thunderstorms tonight lows around 55 becoming sunny tomorrow.
Beautiful day with a high near 55 and Saturday and Sunday sunny with a hundred and 62 both days right now.
It's sunny and 52 degrees.
This is a beautiful morning.
I was coming down the lakefront this morning on Main Street.
I never stopped when I'm coming to work.
But I pulled on to 14th Street, turned the car around, faced toward the lake and took a bunch of pictures.
They never look as good on your cell phone as they do in real life, for some reason, I don't know.
But I took some pictures.
So Sandy, why do my pictures I took this morning?
Let's see here.
This was one of them.
Absolutely beautiful.
And I took that one, which is the lake in the
background.
I love it when the sun comes up and the sky's got the red in it.
Beautiful.
Yeah, but it looks better in person.
Some of it doesn't translate well to the camera for some reason.
When I turn the car around and people are driving, what's he looking at?
Was there a motor going on here?
What's he taking pictures of?
Anyway, so I did and it was nice.
And by the way, the brewers not playing today.
They will be in Chicago to take on the cubbies 1245 p.m.
Each day Friday, Saturday and Sunday here at WRJ and radio.
I'm Don Rosen.
I want to thank you for joining me.
My guest is six district alderman, Sandy Weidner, who is here.
And before we get into you and everything else, I want to know the sixth district where people that don't know where that is.
That's kind of a Northwestern type of district, right?
Am I right?
Well, I can describe it for you, Don.
Hey, give me the streets, the...
Well, first of all, I wanted to say thank you for inviting me on my program, on your program.
That's quite an honor to be here.
As far as the sixth district, I would say that the sixth district looks like Italy, and I live in the toll area, which
is in the McKinley
School area.
The 6th District just has added two more wards, so it actually goes up Rupert, up to Shelley and Harvey Drive, and then it goes all the way almost to Horlick High School, and then beyond that to where you see the dam.
That's your 6th, the green,
right?
Correct.
Yep.
It doesn't have any streets on it, but that's what it looks like.
It does look like Italy.
You're right.
And you're in the boot.
All right.
It does look like that.
Okay.
So this is Northwestern District.
And before we get into all the issues here, I want a little background on you.
People like to know who you're talking to, where they came from.
Um, you born in Racine?
Born and raised in Racine, as a matter of fact, I live probably within two miles of where I grew up.
I have moved very far.
A local
yokel, look at that.
Local yokel been here, all except for a short four-year period when I lived in Mount Pleasant, which was quite a surprise
to me.
Whoa, all the way down there!
It must have been a change of life for you down there.
Well, it was actually a surprise, and it realized I was in Mount Pleasant until I got the tax bill, because I was on the other side of the street from the city of Racine.
That must have been a shock to go from Racine to Mount Pleasant.
I can't imagine what was going through your head at that point.
Where'd you go to school?
I graduated from Horlick High School in 1970, which kind of dates me.
So Horlick High School, matter of fact, back then we had the work study programs and half my high school credits came from car hopping at Dog and Suds.
Okay.
So
yeah.
Notice I didn't ask her her age.
Notice I didn't say that to what year.
She supplied it without any coercing.
I didn't ask her.
She just said she graduated in 1970.
That would make you 70.
72.
72.
You got me by two years.
All right.
So just like with my kids and my grandparents,
kids.
I enjoy every age that they have.
I enjoyed every age that I've had.
So your family live in the area?
All three of my children live real close by.
You know, you can leave the Racine area if you want to, just so you know
that.
I go on little trips.
More than a week and I have to come back home.
Racine is my home.
What kind of jobs have you had?
Oh, many, many.
Well, like I told you, I car hopped in high school and that led into, I waitress on and off for most of my adult life.
I finally stopped at 52.
Last place I worked was at Yard Arm.
I've worked at Massey Ferguson before they left town.
I worked for Racine County.
I retired from Racine County in 2012.
Um, but did not really care for retirement.
So a year and a half later, I went to work at UWM.
So I've been at UW Milwaukee since 2014.
Hard to believe 10 years already.
I've been there.
So I work at UWM.
I was in HR and now I work for the master of human resources and labor relations program.
So you tell me off the air before we got started here with UWM yesterday.
That's a university of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Protest on campus there too?
We have a protest on campus.
It's on kind of the outskirts of the campus, but it is on campus properties.
Matter of fact, it's taking place right along the pathway that I walk to get from.
I park at the lakefront and then I walk to campus and then to get to the office building that I work in.
I go down this one pathway and that's where the tents are set up in those little structures, those shade structures
are
set up.
with people with water for the students in the shawls and all the other gear that they're using.
You said some guy was screaming in a bullhorn in your ear.
My
goodness, yeah.
So Monday is the day that they first started setting up, and there were just a couple of tents strewn around.
By Wednesday, when I went in, that encampment expanded greatly.
And what also expanded was the folks that are there.
Rather than just being students, we're seeing a lot, a lot of people from other groups that have kind of converged upon the encampment.
So UW Milwaukee, it's just about every campus now in the country.
Every time we turn on the TV or listen on the radio, there's another university.
And they concentrate on the big ones like UCLA and boredom in the Bronx and Columbia, CCNY and New York.
But they're all over the place and Madison yesterday had a heavy-duty one you diversity Wisconsin Madison they were
yes, they did kind of like 1968 all
over again We were talking before I you when I went to college in the early 70s the university and there's it was a protest for everything I was telling you they were protesting the lunchroom because the New York Jets use that as a training camp and the students weren't allowed to use the cafeteria while the Jets were using the training a training camp and
And so they barricaded themselves in there until the Dean said, okay, you can have lunch in here when the Jets are on the field.
But that's the kind of, everybody was griping about everything.
Let's get to some of the thing now.
How long have you been in Alderman for?
Well, I just got reelected in 2024 in April.
But prior to that, I had served as sixth district Alderman from 2000 to 2020.
So I had served 10 terms prior than I did not seek reelection in 2000.
and then came back four years later.
I was listening to a detective show, and they were trying to figure out how the guy got murdered.
They said, did people like him?
He was reelected five times.
They must have liked him.
You don't get reelected when they don't like you.
Well, I have a philosophy.
I learned a long time ago that I better make a friend every day, because you aren't sure I'm going to make an enemy.
That's right.
Very good.
You know, my mother once said to me, I was a little kid, because I was upset with the kids in the neighborhood.
They were mad at me for something.
Who knows, you know, kids?
And she said, 50% of the people in this world aren't going to like you for some reason.
And there's nothing you could do about it.
They're just not going to like your face.
They're not going to like your attitude.
They're not going to like your hair.
They're not going to like something about you.
You just have to live with the 50% that are going to like you.
Because you're not going to change the other 50%.
And I learned something interesting, too, that people are going to say things behind your back.
But it's really not your business, what they're saying.
So you just kind of learn to let that stuff go.
Okay.
We had a break coming up, but I want to talk about some of the hot topics you wanted to talk about here.
Let's talk about hot.
government, HOT and acronym for?
Honest,
open, and transparent government.
That is a loose organization of individuals that are concerned about honest, open, and transparent government.
They formed in around 2018-19 as a result of the writ of mandamus, the case that I had against the city of Racine for open records when I requested copies of my own emails and was denied that.
So that caused a
court case that went on for six years.
So back in the very beginning of that case, a group of individuals got together and formed this government watch group called Hot Government.
And we've been involved in a lot of topics since then.
So the case you were involved in was what now?
Sandy Weidner versus City of Racine.
That was in regards to a PowerPoint presentation regarding my emails.
that I requested a copy of from the city attorney and was denied.
So I filed what's called a writ of mandamus.
That's a request for a judge to intervene and either grant or deny my request.
And what happened is the judge that was signed to the case, not only gagged me, but he closed my case to the public.
But it
was later resolved in your favor though.
Correct.
Okay.
Oh, correct.
It was six year battle,
though.
I know it takes a little justice does not move quickly.
No, it doesn't.
And I had to go back to the appeals court two times and
it was
a learning.
Sandy Widers, my guess, he's there.
Six district, six, I can't say sixth for an announcer.
That's not good.
Sixth district Alderman and she is our guest this hour.
719 WRTN radio, a hometown radio refresh to civic media stations.
There we are.
Way down here
721 at WRJN Radio.
My guest is 6th District Alderman.
And you prefer the term Alderman?
I do, absolutely.
Is that an Alder, Alder person, Alder woman, Alder thing?
You like Alder, Alderman?
I
prefer Alderman.
It keeps it simple.
If you look up the definition of Alder, it's a tree and not a very nice tree.
So I prefer not to be called Alder, although I don't correct people.
Well, I just want people to know that when I call you Alderman, what did you call her Alderman for?
That was rude because she prefers that.
And whatever my guests prefer.
I
appreciate that.
Thank you.
Let's talk about the TIDs, those text districts things, the city of Racine neighborhood TIDs.
Well, there are several TID districts in the city of Racine.
In my district, in the sixth district, there are two, 27 and 28, and right now we have applications open for projects in the city of Racine.
For example, we have two, we have the repair and enhancement program, and we have just the enhancement program.
One is 100% or almost 100% grant, so you don't have to pay it back.
The enhancement program is totally a grant.
What I would recommend to people is that they contact the city of Racine, or they go to HTTPS, www.buildupracine.org, homeowner TID, to apply for those grants to improve their homes.
Now, TID is an acronym for Tax with the Incremental
District.
Tax
Incremental
District.
Incremental District.
And there's two different kinds.
We've always had TIDs, but usually they are for commercial
build-ups.
Racine is new in the state of Wisconsin as far as creating these neighborhood tids where they're actually using a part of the property tax that you pay to create a fund in which to provide these grants, grants slash loans.
So rather than it be CDBG money, it's now coming strictly from the property taxes that you pay in your TID district.
It's kind of confusing to people they hear that and they say, oh, what is he talking about?
Oh, just take my taxes and leave me alone.
But it's important.
It is important because you're actually getting a rebate on your taxes if you qualify for this.
Now granted, you have to be a homeowner, a single family home or a duplex, but you have to live in one of the
the
units of
the, one of the units of that property.
So landlords do not qualify for these properties unless of course they live in one of, one of the units in that property.
Let's talk about the Civic Center.
Now, we just had recently on the air with us, 5K, the people who now manage the Civic Center and Memorial Hall.
Let's talk about the Civic Center.
so excited about the change in management there.
We suffered through venue works for a long, long time and I don't know why we kind of put on the back burner on negotiating a better contract with them or holding their feet to the fire.
One of the things I noticed with the Civic Center is the Civic Center Commission has not met with, met since 2019.
So there really is not a lot of city oversight to the Civic Center and I'm hoping that
that that is something that will change so that we can be involved and help the new contractor with improving the property and improving the kinds of events that take place there.
We have to partner better with the contractor than we have in the past.
They were just sitting here about two weeks ago.
We had all three members of 5K who were running it.
And I didn't know it at the time until they mentioned it.
But the prom night is not there anymore.
They hold it in Union Grove now.
I didn't know that because we used to watch it on TV all the time and say, oh, look at those.
Oh, they look so cute.
Look at that girl.
She look at and now they don't hold it here anymore.
Well, if you think about it, COVID has changed so much.
And I think the city of Ursin had stricter restrictions on it than any other community.
So I think at the time, it was moved out to the county fairgrounds for that and how sad that is because, you know, the Civic Center, especially Festival Hall, well, both buildings are just absolutely gorgeous.
And the taxpayers of the city were seen have invested a lot, a lot of money into both of those facilities and you want to see them utilize to their full potential.
So I understand that there might be some discussions regarding
the prom coming back to, to festival hall.
Well, that's what I'm hoping will happen.
Now this, you mentioned Memorial Hall there for a second.
There's something a lot of people don't know.
Our very first broadcast, December 6th, 1926 for WRJN was at Memorial Hall.
No kidding.
They had a live orchestra.
They didn't have records then.
They had a live orchestra on stage and that was the beginning of the broadcast at December 6th, 1926 at WRJN.
That is amazing.
I think Memorial Hall was only open two years at that point.
It is a beautiful building.
There's been some renovations done in there, and it's a perfect site if you have small meetings that you want to, or small events there.
So 5K, I'm behind them 100% and hoping that the city will better partner with them so that they can be an absolute 1000% success.
And Salmonorama coming back to the area.
Not that it was that far away, it was just one block away, but now it's back to, and the party's coming back, the big festival part of it.
That's awesome.
Yeah, it's gonna be curious to see how that's gonna work because remember back in the day Sam Maramble was like a two-week event and every day there were all those vendors down there and
I know we were broadcasting every day.
Whoa, there you go.
We'll fix that microphone up there fell down
there we
go
We'll have like 30 engineers in this building any minute now, and they could fix the microphone.
There you go.
I
think I got to fix it myself.
Yeah, you did it.
I remember the engineers union.
Did you have touch that?
Anyway, so we used to broadcast in there every day at Salmonorama.
And it was like you do your regular shift.
You're like, oh, I gotta go out to Salmonorama now at night.
It was like every night we had to be there.
But it was fun.
I mean, you had the brats, you had, I'm not a beer drinker, but for people that had beer, it was there.
The cheese curds.
Cheese curds.
You know, when I mentioned that to visitors, when they used to come to visit me, she's turds.
What'd you say?
I'd say curds, curds, curds.
She's curds.
You have to know that if you live in Wisconsin.
And, you know, nobody's cheese curds match salmon or ramas.
You know
what?
There's something special about
their
cheese
curds.
I will tell you, when I go to the county fair in Union Grove, you got to have the oil from like three years worth.
It's got to be old oil.
You can't put fresh oil.
It's got to have like
So the oil they use this year should be from like 2000, 2001, 2021.
Yeah.
Cause you're going to get the old oil in there.
There was an old married with children bit on TV where Al Bundy used to leave the ashes in his grill from last year.
He said, you need last year's ashes for this year's burgers.
It's got to have the flavor of those ashes from last year.
And people say, really?
That's how it is.
I said, wow.
All right, so we're going to be talking more with Sandy Weidner in just a moment here.
Council service.
We're going to talk about the changes.
We're going to talk about, oh, no Mo May.
I want to talk about that because today's day two of no Mo May.
Although I think we started no Mo May in April at my house because we have like hundreds and hundreds of butterflies all over our backyard now.
and they're all going down to the dandelions.
We have bees back there.
I told my wife, don't go near the bee.
He'll thank you by stinging you.
I mean, what that?
Sixth District Alderman, Sandy Weidner is here.
More coming up with her in just a moment.
Looking for a cloudy day today.
Chance of showers and thunderstorms.
Highs near 60.
Showers and thunder bumpers.
Maybe tonight, lows around 55.
Becoming sunny and beautiful tomorrow with a high near 55 and sunny Saturday and Sunday with a high near 62.
Just gorgeous.
Sunny at 52 degrees right now.
and hometown radio refreshed at Civic Media Station, 99.9 FM, 98.1 FM, and the legendary AM Frequency of
1400.
to share.
I do.
I
just want to give a plug to 4th Fest because it's such a wonderful group of people that work hard all year long and I don't think
that people that enjoy the parade realize how much work it takes to put on that parade and how expensive it is.
You know, over the years, so many of our corporate sponsors have left Racine, which has left big gaps in our budget as far as funding the bands and whatnot that we have.
So part of the explanation for why you see fewer bands in the parade is because they're very expensive.
to bring in to the parade.
So I would just encourage people at the parade, you'll see the folks going around with their barrels collecting money, just throwing a buck or two.
We do,
we do.
They come right by my, I'm right there in front of the parade in my house.
We always throw money in there.
We appreciate that very,
very much.
I don't, I don't chase the guy.
I don't have a guy that hard of hearing whatever I'm running.
Hey, stop, stop!
I mean, to you, I know it's loud and people you've...
Probably put your plugs in sometimes.
Well, I don't know how he could miss your voice.
Because it was loud.
You get those motorcycles coming by and the fire engines and the police cars with ears hurt after a while.
OK, so fourth fast fourth July this year on a Thursday, I think.
Is it Tuesday?
No, Wednesday.
I don't
know.
I don't hear
Wednesday.
No.
I heard somebody talking.
Yeah, somebody over there.
All right.
Maybe I should shut the door.
Okay, so always love 4th Fest.
Has it ever, I know, I can't remember in all the years if it rained on 4th Fest.
Oh, it
has.
It has.
They say it has, but I don't remember it.
I just remember the good times.
Well, that's the best part.
Remember the good times.
And we're going to be in the parade this year.
Lurigani has a convertible for us.
He has classic cars.
Excellent.
And we're going to be in one of his classic cars.
We'll probably make us take our shoes off.
You know, people are about their classic cars.
Take your shoes off.
No drink.
No food.
Nothing's allowed in here.
Don't breathe.
Don't touch anything.
You know, they are about classic cars.
Oh, I do.
all right um political evolution what do you mean by that you put that on your list here
uh well i did put that on my list because i i think that we have a great divide right now in our society and i see it even in racine where people want to know are you democrat are you republican and it's hard for people to believe or accept that you might be somewhere in the middle and i was
Up until 2000, I was a registered Democrat.
And that changed when I was first elected to council because the seat of council and the mayor are nonpartisan.
And it was so, it's so important to me that those positions remain nonpartisan because you don't want people to think that they won't be represented because of a party affiliation.
So you want to represent everyone the same.
So that's why you stay away from party affiliation.
But I've seen over the last 20 years that the council has become much more partisan.
And it really, it's kind of sad.
And I think it, it makes it difficult for, for council to work together because that divide is felt on the council as well.
Yes.
You can never tell, could you give me a favor?
Could you just close that door?
I usually work with all the doors open, but we're having major renovations in our building.
And there's people out there.
I just want to make sure I hear every word you have to say.
Perfect.
Look at that.
You're now a member of the radio station.
You can now close doors, build things.
Joy the union.
Love you.
You have working over there on some of the equipment before the night's over.
That's the thing you never know who's a Democrat or Republican on the council.
Now I could, you could tell sometimes by, you know, you know, their activities, but.
You know, you guys never list it even on when you make the election.
You don't know who's who.
Well, that's why we have spring elections.
So the spring elections aren't the nonpartisan ones.
So the judges are up for election in the spring and then the fall election, that's the partisan elections.
So that's what the difference is.
It's like the Hatfields and McCoy's and it's really become divided.
And I have never noticed the divide as much as I do these days because it used to be back
In the sixties and seventies, you had the radical left in the house in the Senate.
I mean, they were real.
Now it's the radical right in the house and the Senate.
And I'm talking about the Marjorie Taylor Greene's, who just are, you know, I lived in Georgia for a number of years and I know her district is north, northwest Georgia.
And I know, you know, it was up there and she's elected with like 89% of the vote every time.
I mean, they just, they just love her, but you got to get things done.
And every time you're.
your house leader doesn't do something you like, you don't vote them out.
I've never seen so many house leaders come and go in that place.
I mean, it's like every month we got somebody else up there.
They keep rolling them through because every time they do something, she's up there, you got to get them out.
Well, you're not going to win every time.
You know, my parents told me.
That is correct.
But there's radicals on both sides of the
aisle.
I know, but I'm looking at the Marjorie Taylor Greene's and the, who's that guy?
Goss.
I can't think of his name.
All these names go right through my head after a while.
And they're just so, and you know, this guy was a Mike Johnson who's running it now, the house, nice guy.
You know, he's got his partisan politics and you expect that, but he's not a lunatic.
I mean, he knows what's right and what's wrong.
But I mean, every time you do something wrong, that Marley Marjorie Taylor Green went out, you know, and she was, and you know what I noticed too in the last decade used to be,
When they did the State of the Union address, there was a decorum in that place.
Now they scream, you're a liar, you're all good, get out.
I mean, what happened to decorum?
Even people running for president, what happened?
They used to be people you looked up to and they used to be honorable.
They used to speak nicely of their opponent.
Now they're, you know, as soon as I get in the office again, I'm arrested.
I mean, what happened to decorum?
But that didn't happen, did it?
No, but it's now you hear the guy running for president soon as I get in I'm gonna have him arrested.
We're gonna have all those people are red We're gonna we're gonna take back this country.
It's gonna be retribution.
That's my number one thing a day one I'm gonna be a dictator.
What happened?
What what happened to this country when in politics?
I mean they used to be there friendly you lost your life.
Okay, I wish him the best They don't have that anymore.
Nobody wishes anybody the best anymore It's like if I can't be president then the hell with you
I mean, that's, that's the attitude I'm hearing.
And it's kind of scary.
You know, I don't know how many years I have left on this planet, but I hope it gets a little
better.
I think I have a little different perspective, especially at the local level.
I don't know if you
remember local level is different.
Local level is different.
I'm talking about national,
but it's really not different at the local level.
So, you know, I ran for mayor in 2017, then as a writing candidate in 2019 against the current mayor.
and the current mayor is all about retribution.
So three years in a row, I asked them to not appoint me to a particular standing committee and asked to be appointed to different committees that serve the city of Racine.
And whichever committee I asked not to be on, that's the one that I get assigned to out of all the committees that could be selected.
So there's the same kind of
retribution that takes place at the local level and it's sad to see because that's the evolution that I see as well.
So I've served on City Council with four different mayors going from Jim Smith to Gary Beckards and John Dickard and now the current current mayor and I've never seen it like it is.
now.
And in part that's why I left council in 2020 is because what I, we went from being a strong council week mayor form of government, the council agreed to changes requested by the mayor changing our ordinance that gave all the authority to the mayor and absolved the council really of their responsibilities and their authority.
And what I see now on the council is a willingness of many of the council members, some new and some that were gone and have come back, that want to go back to the way it was before.
So
what did you switch from Democrat to Republican?
I didn't switch from Democrat to Republican.
You said you were Democrat in 2000 when you came to the council.
You didn't say you're right.
You didn't say you switched to Republican, but you were a Democrat.
I was a Democrat.
And when you used the past tense.
So what happened?
Well, if what the statistics are, 30% of the population identifies as Democrat, 30% as Republican.
And you're in the
middle.
I'm in the middle.
I'm in the middle.
I
voted for Democrats and I voted for Republicans.
It depends on what the issues are.
And I have two.
You know, I voted on both sides.
I always liked Paul Ryan.
I think he had a chance to make a big, big difference in Washington as leader of the house.
And he kind of copped out and instead of making the change and standing up to stuff, he kind of resigned and went about his way.
And I still have a lot of respect for him, but he kind of lost a little bit something with me there.
I wish he would have, you know, hung in there a little longer and made a difference because I think he could have, he's that kind of leader.
who can get things done.
Anything he copped out and quit.
And I don't mind.
So I think the last campaign I worked on as a Democrat was Peter Barker's back in 92.
And he's running for Congress.
He's running again, yep.
He's running against a Brian style.
Yep.
Well, you think it's just like Paul Ryan,
huh?
I do.
Or his demeanor,
his aura.
Maybe it is Paul Ryan.
Maybe.
Maybe.
The skies.
Maybe.
OK, we have about a minute here before the break.
What about the police contract you wanted to talk about?
Oh, so there's this belief out there that the police contract has been settled.
Well, it has been settled, but it has not been signed by the parties.
So there's some interesting language that was removed from the police union's contract that has really not gotten a lot of attention.
And I don't intend to speak about that today, but people need to understand how important our police and fire are.
The people that I talk to in my district and all over the city, the first thing they expect from their government is public safety.
And I've seen over the last few years a demoralization of our police officers where so many of our seasoned officers are either retiring or they're going to different municipalities or going from the city we're seeing to the county or to Kenosha or Pleasant Prairie because of
the demoralization that they have felt, that they don't feel like the city has their back.
And that's something that I would like to see change, because to me, there's nothing more important than our public
safety.
There isn't enough money in this world to get me to be a police officer.
I couldn't put up with what they put up with.
I just couldn't do it.
It's not the danger part.
It's dealing with the public and these idiots, especially the drunken idiots, the people who fight them, the shoplifters.
I couldn't deal with that.
I'd last nine seconds of that job.
I'd be tasing everybody.
Come here a second.
Tase him.
I'd be spraying pepper spray in their face.
I would, nine seconds, I'd be fired.
I just couldn't deal with it.
All right, hold in there.
We got a little time left with the sixth district alderman, Sandy Weidner.
She is here discussing anything and no Mo May.
We're going to get to that because we have a text message about no Mo May.
We'll talk about that.
The only thing I like about No Mo May is I don't have to mow the backyard.
The bad thing is, it's going to be like a jungle hunt back there.
The time it gets mowed, I get a pith helmet, I get a guide to get me back there.
749 WRJNs.
It's getting to the point
where I
I am sorry Sometimes it hurts So badly I must cry out loud I am lonely I am yours You are mine You are what
you are
yourself away from me now you are free and I am crying this does not mean I don't love you I do that's forever
WRJN's Sweet Judy Blue Eyes, Grospey Stills Nash, Mayette Young, Grospey Stills Nash and Young, then they got rid of Young, and it was back to Grospey Stills Nash, and they got all the history there together.
Six District Aldermen, Sandy Weidner is here, and we've got a few minutes left, and what do you want to talk about?
You want to talk about No Mo May.
No Mo May, I keep forgetting, yes, No Mo May.
No Mo May is something the city put together where you don't mow your lawn so the honeybees can have at it and pollinate.
Now, we've got tons of butterflies in our backyard.
They're not the monarch butterflies, but they are black and orange.
They're smaller.
They look like moths, but they're butterflies.
And they're all over the lawn, pollinating, doing what they do.
And, you know, I'm getting in the way.
They land on you.
They were my wife's hair the other day.
And I said, you said, I hope they didn't lay eggs laying in my hair.
But yeah, no more may.
Now, everybody's questioning this $25 yard sign.
I spoke to the mayor's office and the way I understand it is, get me if I'm wrong, tell me if I'm wrong, $25 gets you on a registry and you get a sign so nobody hassles you.
If you live next door to Gladys Kravitz, who's always peering out the window and reporting on you, this puts you on the list.
So if they see your address being reported for not mowing, they'll say, well, they're on the list.
They're okay.
And you get the yard sign says no, Mo May.
Now you don't have to pay $25.
But if you get the nosy neighbor next to her complaining about your yard and complaining about your lawn, well, then you have a little bit of difficulty, but you don't have to pay.
That is correct.
I got it right.
That is
correct.
Yeah.
Participation is strictly voluntary and you can choose to register and get the sign or you can choose not to.
And then you just take a chance.
But the chances of your grass, especially in the front yard, growing to nine inches.
in the month of May is pretty slim, I think.
Yeah, well, mine, we do the back yard, went into the front yard.
The back yard, because there's a little white dandelions and everything back there for them now.
And the yard's all fenced in, so people can't, you know, come in and spy on me.
But, you know, my wife's big on these honeybees.
We went to the State Fair, this is years and years ago, and this is the first time she heard that the honeybees are disappearing.
See, there was a honey bee exhibit there, and the guys said they are disappearing.
Nobody knows why, but they are.
That's what I understand.
I'm so glad that the public is being educated on the importance of having honey bees in our ecosystem.
So I'm glad for that.
Everything's related.
I mean, they say, well, I'll get rid of these mosquitoes.
Well, you don't want to get rid of the mosquitoes because there are animals that eat those mosquitoes, and that's how they survive.
You can't get this.
Everything's connected.
There's an old saying, if you move one grain of sand in the Sahara Desert, one grain of sand, you change the world forever because that grain of sand has to be there in that particular spot.
And you move it, you change the world.
Same thing.
Well, we should get rid of all bugs.
Well, you can't get rid of all bugs because they do stuff for us.
They pollinate.
That's right.
The bees pollinate.
They say, we'll put those bumblebees, they just, they sting you.
Well, if you don't bother them, they're not going to sting you.
They're not on a mission to sting you.
They sting you when you're just getting their way and start hassling them.
So, yeah, so.
I just don't know where the wasps fit in.
They fit in somewhere.
Somewhere,
I'm sure they do.
They're in the ecosystem and you start getting rid of stuff, you know, they learned in the Amazon, start cutting down all those trees.
Well, I know I've never been threatened by a bumblebee, but I have been threatened by wasps.
I was, I'll tell you the quick story here.
I was walking, when I lived in the condo by myself between marriages, I had a little Pomeranian.
And once you wanted to go out, sometimes it was like an odd hour.
I didn't feel like getting dressed, so I opened the door and I let her on a leash and I held my hand outside the door with a leash and let her do her business.
And one day I'm looking and a wasp, a yellow jacket lands on my hand and I can't let go with a leash because she'll run and she was near busy traffic.
It was by Wood, Wood, Wood Avenue, Wood Street or wherever, Wood Avenue.
And I couldn't let go and I watched him as he meant over and stung me and immediately I got this red circle on my hand and I couldn't let go.
And I said, I'll find him.
I don't know where he is, but I've been on the hunt.
It's been about 17, 18 years, and I'm going to find him.
You're going to find him.
I'm
sure he's still here.
And he's going to pay for that.
Let me tell you.
And how about the mosquitoes that live 24 hours?
Those bugs that live.
And they sure do a lot of damage in 24 hours.
And they say some of these bugs can smell miles and miles and miles away.
So a bug who's down in the other side of the interstate can smell something here.
That's amazing.
I don't know how we know that, but that's amazing that they can do that kind of stuff.
Because humans have to be the dumbest species on the planet.
I'll tell you, these other animals are so smart.
They have a memory.
I can tell you that.
There are Canadian geese that fly from wherever down south during the winter.
And there's two that land in my pond.
I have a little fish pond in my backyard, probably about 12 by six feet.
And every spring and every fall, I get the same two geese that will land in my pond.
So this year, I bought some plastic swans to put in my pond to hopefully discourage those geese from landing in the pond because... Look at that stupid
human.
They think that's going to deter
us.
No kidding.
I'm trying to save my fish.
Stupid.
Person that's why the humans are gonna be extinct one day because they do dumb things like that.
You know, I just had recently the other day had Jay Christie we used to run the zoo and now has safari Lake, Janine.
We talked about the animals
Oh,
and how smart they are.
They're not stupid.
You know, they they are smart They've been around a lot longer than we have and you know
All right.
You are welcome back any time.
I appreciate you inviting me on.
Thank you so much, Don.
And next time you come, you'll be in our brand new state of the art studio.
Well, I'm excited about that.
Brand new.
It's going to be state of the art.
We're all going to sound a little smarter.
They put smart stuff in there to make us sound smarter.
And because I adjusted this microphone and shut the door, do I get to join the
union?
The engineers union.
Yep.
Thank you, Sandy.
Sandy Weidner, Six District Alderman.
And so you're just elected.
You're just all set now for how many years?
Two years?
Two years.
Two years.
All right, then.
Starts all over again.
I'm Don Rosen.
I'll catch you tomorrow morning, 6 a.m.
Right in early.
We're talking movies, sports, and pancakes tomorrow morning at 6 a.m.
You'll be here, right?