When We All Work Together (Hour 2)

Good, good morning.

Welcome.

Welcome back to matinee on air.

My name is Greg box sitting in for Jane matinee who is currently vacating, resting, relaxing, deservedly.

She misses you.

She loves you and she'll be back before you know it.

I'm here today with my good buddy, my sweet Calbee.

He's on the boards.

How are you doing today, my friend?

I'm doing okay, Greg.

You know, the weekend kind of blanked and you missed it, but

I'm hanging in there.

Absolutely.

I, you know, we were talking just before the show got started with Pat on morning with Pat Crite low and he said, did you have a relaxing weekend?

And I said, no, I had a very, it wasn't a bad weekend.

It wasn't a bad weekend.

And folks, let me know how your weekend went too.

I'd love to hear from you.

You can always get in touch eight, five, five, seven, five, two, four, eight, four, two, eight, five, five, seven, five.

So that you can leave a comment on the live stream too.

We're currently on Facebook, YouTube and the platform we still call Twitter.

But yeah, it was a weekend, Calvin.

That was just, I got home on Friday.

I relaxed for a little bit.

I got an invitation to go to dinner and I said, no, thank you.

I'm going to stay home with the dog.

And then Saturday and Sunday, we're just very busy.

They weren't bad.

It was so celebrating my mother-in-law's 80th birthday and she's, you know, lovely lady.

I love her death.

You know, I, Calvin, I struck gold, the lottery a thousand times over when it comes to my in-laws, like.

My family is great.

I love my family, but you can't always guarantee that with the in-laws and with my in-laws.

They're all wonderful.

So we were celebrating with them.

And then before I knew it, Calvin, it was 7.30 on a Sunday night.

I'm like, wait, what happened?

Did you have something similar?

Did you do a lot or was it just the, you just lost in the pages of a comic

book?

Well, so Friday night I got home from work and I was really sleepy.

And so I put on Superman.

with the intention of falling asleep during it.

And I did the plan achieved.

I slept most of my Friday night away.

Saturday, I played video games for more than six hours.

And then Sunday, I kind of just twiddled my thumbs and watched football.

There you go.

Well, we're going to talk.

I'm glad you brought that up because at 935, Civic Media's very own sports reporter and just good guy in general, Jimmy Koska is going to be here to talk about the Packer game.

He's going to be talking about Badgers.

He'll be talking about.

local sports as well and any other sports stuff and things he's working on as well.

The man is constantly moving, constantly working, constantly around, but I'm very excited to have Mr. Jimmy Koska on at 935 this morning.

And then at 1006, Thomas Gulke will be our guest.

He'll be here with some other individuals from their group, Ground Swell Collective.

They're going to be talking to us about a whole host of things that are going on, including, but not limited to,

a movement that helped get more hours added to the bus ridership in Woolworth County.

And it's been very, very popular.

And this is about the power of people and the power of organizing.

So you want to get here at 1006 a.m.

You want to stick around because we're going to be here talking about it.

It's going to be a great conversation.

Very excited about the show today.

And then, of course, we are going to be rounding it out with this shouldn't be a thing at 1052.

Today it is the brick by brick edition.

Make sure you're wearing your shoes, folks.

because this story is going to hurt a little.

But before we get started with this, actually, here's what I want to do it.

I want to talk about this story that was in the news.

It just was released from the journal Sentinel Jesse O'Poyne with a byline that says, entertaining is last year in office.

Tony Evers names three areas lasting change can be achieved.

And before I get into those things, I would like to know in the last year or maybe, you know, before 2026 is over, I want to hear from you folks.

What are the things in Wisconsin that you want to see achieved?

Do you want to see a stronger voice in Madison?

Do you want to see monies be released?

Do you want to see funding?

Do you want to see something that's in your community specifically or something statewide?

It doesn't have to be one thing.

It can be a couple of things.

But let me know.

855-752-4842.

855-757.

It gives the number.

You can call or you can text it.

Leave a comment on the live stream.

We're looking at it all the time.

We want to hear from you, but I want to know from you folks.

In Tony Evers last year, what would you love to see happen for Wisconsin that would change the community, change the way we do things?

I think I already have an idea of a couple of things I'm gonna hear about, but I wanna hear from you specifically.

And if you want, also call and text on the Civic Media app, it's free.

That's how you get in touch with us as well.

Get that Civic Media app on your device and you can get in touch with us.

But entering his last year in office, Tony Evers names three areas lasting change can be achieved.

And the first one they talk about, he says, quote, can do better with corrections and youth facilities.

And he's talking about, I think we can get something done.

He had a plan to propose $500 million to finance a series of changes to the state correction systems that would close the maximum security prison in Green Bay by 2029 and spend $245 million to rebuild the living quarters of the state prison in Wapan.

Both facilities, I didn't know this were built in the 1800s.

He says human beings shouldn't be in Green Bay or Wapan and the facilities added that changes aren't made by the end of his term.

It should be a priority for the next governor.

So he apparently looking at this through the budget, he proposed in the budget that they made these changes to the facilities that would affect both the adult prisoners and young people who are in youth facilities.

And this seems like, you know, something.

I do not, Calvin, for my money, do not see this current Madison legislative branch doing simply because we know how, you know, the GOP controls Madison and the GOP loves prisons.

They're building them at a mock one speed right now around the country.

So I do not see, personally, if the Republicans are going to get on board to make anything better for

for the correction centers as well, youth facilities here in Wisconsin.

Calvin, you have any thoughts on this one?

Well, I mean, the state of our prisons across the entire country is deplorable, to say the least.

There's that prison in Wisconsin that is currently facing the issues with staffing, and I think they had an inmate pass away from...

lack of attention and just the fact, yeah, we need to fund our prisons.

We also need to do a better job of not imprisoning so many people.

We need to work on rehabilitation and whatnot.

So yeah, you're right that I don't see this Robin Voss's legislature taking care of this.

It's a, it said the Republican lawmakers have delayed funding various portions of the plan to replace the schools with regional facilities and have questioned, oh, here he, he proposed that it could not be unless troubled schools, uh, Lincoln, his school for boys and Copper Lake school for girls, stop accepting teen offenders with in four years.

And there is, there is bulking from the Republicans.

that say that the plan to replace the schools with regional facilities, it doesn't make sense to them because they don't know how to manage the behavior of the teens who are incarcerated there.

I mean, I think what you said is correct, Calvin, is that while these are fixes that could possibly be done in the coming year, we as a society have to look at how we do the prison system here in this country.

I feel there's a very large part of the voting population, or I would say Madison has a lot of people who vote, who would say just throw them away.

They coordinated a crime, Calvin.

They have to be guilty of something.

So just get rid of them.

And we don't have to worry about them anymore because they're no good, which is not true at all.

I mean, other countries show that, you know, they rehabilitate, they make sure that recidivism is a factor of taking care of...

them, making sure they have the ability to get out of prison and not be, you know, tarnished with an image of being in prison, which does not make them look good to employers and just communities and whatnot.

But yeah, that is a bigger fix.

And I don't know.

if that is possible in one year's time.

I mean, this is just for the prisoners.

We're not talking about redoing the entire way of how we imprison people in one year, but this is just a small piece of what he's talking about.

And Jean is on the line from Eau Claire Jean.

How are you doing this morning?

What would you like to see happen in the next year before Tony Evers leaves office?

I would like to see all the GOP out of office for guardian of the predators.

and pedophiles.

I

am so sick of these people.

These people, the Department of War, the war on everybody in our country has got to stop.

And we all have to come together and see what these people are for what they are, and they're not pretty.

And we have to get them out of office before we can get things done right.

But I praise Tony Evers for doing all he can.

But God darn it, the criminals are running the country and we've really got to do something about it.

Thank you.

I just had to get that off my chest today because this is so alarming to me and the Department of War and going into the cities with their mask army and that sicko.

I mean, it is illness, mental illness that has perpetrated our country and we need to see it for what it is.

and get these people out of office, and get things done in the right path, because it's not pretty, guys.

I

didn't mean to go on and on, but God darn it, I've been watching all weekend, and it just makes me sick, and I had to get it out.

Thank

you very much.

You guys have a good day.

You too, Gene.

We appreciate your calling and getting in touch.

Well, that brings me to a great point, though, and that talks about the elections.

That talks about next year.

We've got elections coming up next year.

If you want to find out more information about your elections,

about who represents you, about when we do have the ballots available, go to myvote.wi.gov, put in your information.

It will give you everything from the president down to the dog catcher.

If you still vote for them, it will let you know who represents you.

You can then use that to contact them via mail or via the phone or email and let them know how you feel.

If you're feeling as fired up as Jeanine Eau Claire, let them know.

And one of the things too, with regard to a voting that we want to talk about too, that's on Tony Evers' list, is the nonpartisan redistricting, which we know that there is a plan in Wisconsin moving forward.

There are people coming together talking about a nonpartisan redistricting.

That is hard to say, Calvin, redistricting.

So we don't face these problems with gerrymandering.

Wisconsin finally got...

more fair maps.

I don't know if we got the fairest maps, but I think we got far fairer maps than we had the past, you know, 10 years, 12 years.

We don't want to see it go backwards.

And as we said on the show, we don't want to see either party being able to gerrymander to fit their needs.

But what we want to see are fair, truly fair maps, and we want to move towards nonpartisan redistricting.

Tony Evers feels like this is something that we can do.

And I feel like that's something that we need to do.

My only concern, Calvin, is the fact that now we have these states saying, we're just going to redistrict now.

We got to redistrict to favor the Republicans.

And now California says we got to redistrict to favor the Democrats.

And it just feels like we're going to be reacting and the people are still going to be up a creek.

I don't know what you think about this, Calvin.

We're going to talk more about this on the other side because there's one other thing that Tony Evers had on his list.

Let us know what you're thinking.

Let us know what you'd love to see happen in the last year of Tony Evers.

being in office in 2026, 855-752-484-2855-75 Civic.

Leave a comment on the live stream.

We are on Facebook, YouTube, and the platform we still call Twitter.

Let us know.

What do you want to see happen in your community, in your city, in your state?

Give us a call.

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You're watching if you're in the live stream, but you're listening to Matt and Air on air on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Stay tuned.

Stay close.

Good morning.

Welcome.

Welcome back to Matt and air on air.

My name is Greg box sitting in for Jane Matt and air who's currently on vacation, resting, relaxing, deservedly.

She loves you.

She misses you and she'll be back before you know it.

And I am here along with the board lord, Calvinator, sweet Calvi, all the nicknames.

And we are here talking to you today on the civic media radio network.

We're here for it with you until 11 at 9 35 has Jimmy Cusco stopping by with sports Packers victory.

Everyone Packers victory, a solid victory to Calvin.

I would say not, not a blowout, but not by the skin of your teeth.

It was solid, good scoring Packers season is starting.

We'll be talking to more, but talking more about that with Jimmy Cusco coming up at nine 35 after the news.

And then at 1006, we welcome Thomas Galky and groundswell collective to just give us

a great update, a great story on the power of people, the power of organizing and why when we come together and speak together, we get things done.

That's going to be a 1006 after the top of the hour news as well.

So don't go anywhere.

We've got a lot of great stuff.

Of course, this shouldn't be a thing at 1055, 1052.

And it is the brick by brick edition.

So you don't want to go anywhere as well.

We were talking about the new article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel by Jesse O'Poyne.

entitled entering his last year in office.

Tony Evers names three areas lasting change can be achieved.

And I wanted to hear from you.

Call or text 855-752-4842-855-75 civic.

You can leave a comment on the live stream.

We are currently on Facebook, YouTube and the platform.

We still call Twitter.

You can also get in touch with us via the civic media app.

If you don't have that app, download it directly to your device.

Text us, call us, leave us a voice.

No, participate in text to win contest through there.

There's a great app, absolutely free.

Get it on your device and give us a call, give us a text.

We want to hear from you.

We want to know what do you want to see in the last year of Tony Evers governorship?

What would you like to see happen for your community, for your city, for your state in this last year and some change that we have Tony Evers in office?

Give us a call 855-752-4842.

Jim from Brookfield is on the phone.

He's been very patient.

Jim, good morning.

What would you like to see happen in your community, in your state, my friend?

Good morning Greg and Calvinator.

I am sitting here with the journal Sentinel reading the article you're referencing Greg I'm still one of the old school people who get a paper My morning my morning coffee.

Yeah, I would love to see in my state and One of the three items in the article and referencing going back to what you said right before the break

the redistricting.

And you're absolutely spot on, Greg.

Yes, we do have better maps now.

They may not be totally fair, as you said.

I think they're still slanted toward Republicans.

That's our beloved governor.

He did a great job.

He's doing a great job.

But I think he could have held the line a little better on those maps, but they're much, much better.

Obviously, it was much more balanced after this last election.

However, the key point is exactly what you said.

We can't go back.

Right now, the system is still in place that as soon as there's a political change in power, they will quickly go back and redistrict the maps.

Okay, so there's a small paragraph in there that said a permanent solution to that.

And that would be what was discussed earlier on the morning show at Pat Crite Law, is to set up an independent, totally independent commission similar to Iowa's not.

completely I was because that's really old now and kind of outdated, but an independent commission that oversees the redistricting and have that permanently put in place that neither party can come in and just say, guess what?

We're going to throw this out and we're going to redistrict our maps again.

So I would think it'd be a great legacy for Tony Evers if he can work, you know, with both sides of the aisle and get some sort of permanent solution, which would be a commission, independent commission that has total oversight.

over redistricting, get that in place so we don't have this back and forth, you know, what we see like in Texas and things like that.

So I really, really hope the governor can propose and uses bully pulpit and lobby and whatnot to get some sort of permanent picture to this redistricting in place.

Well, and thank you so much, Jim, for calling.

I appreciate that.

I mean, I don't disagree with you at all.

And I know that Dan Schaefer has been on the show

here and other places talking about the movement Wisconsin is making towards getting this done.

And yeah, it's going to be, it will be an uphill battle.

I mean, we have to, uh, you have to somehow convince some of these Republicans and maybe some Democrats too.

I mean, like that's the thing is we see the, this is the gerrymandering thing around the country right now is something that's really kind of.

I don't like what Texas is doing.

I don't, I can't, I understand why California is doing, but then there's another state that's going to do it.

And then, then who, and then who, and then who, and the plan then becomes everybody just gerrymanders their map whenever they want, then we won't have real actual representation of the people.

And I think if Tony Evers can do this gym and move us towards a better solution that just works for everyone, not Democrats,

not Republicans, but everyone.

I think that is something that would be a huge and lasting legacy for him as well.

And thank you so much, Jim.

I appreciate you calling.

It's something I mean, I think we all think about because, because when we talk about what we want to see happen, when it comes to the gerrymandering, when it comes to who is being represented and how hard do politicians have to work to keep their jobs?

That's something that does affect all of us.

That does affect regardless of who you vote for.

And I think, you know, especially in this last election for state Supreme court, we actually saw a fair amount of Wisconsin.

I'd say the way of, in my opinion, cheating the way of pushing things towards a more just like, you know, spending a hundred, a hundred million dollars to buy a candidate to and, and giving away money to get people to vote for you, that Wisconsin doesn't go for that.

We were David, they were Goliath, and we said no.

We don't want that in Wisconsin.

And I think to permanently have a better solution, we have to have better maps and better redistricting solutions and better ways of figuring out how to represent the people.

So no matter who you vote for, you are represented properly, not just...

because someone decided to get crazy with a pencil in a map room one day.

But we're going to keep the conversation going about sports now.

Sports is coming up because the Packers, the Badgers, the Brewers, local sports, all that can be covered with Jimmy Cusco talking to us after the bottom of the hour news.

So don't go anywhere.

Stay close.

Stay tuned.

You're listening to Matt and air on air on the civic media radio network.

Good, good morning.

Welcome back to Matt and they're on air.

My name is Greg Fox sitting in for Jane, Matt and they're who will be who will be back before you know it.

You can always call or text, get ahold of us on the live stream.

The number to talk call or text is 8557 5248 4285575 civic.

If you want to call, uh, leave a comment on the live stream, Facebook.

YouTube and the platform.

We still call Twitter still to come at 1006 Thomas Galky and groundswell collective talking about the power of people, the power of organizing and what they're getting done in Walworth County to help all those around them.

That is at 1006.

And then of course at 1050 52 is this shouldn't be a thing brick by brick edition.

It's gonna be a very fun way to round up the show.

If you ever want to get in touch with us and send us an article on something that should not be, you can send it to Calvin, Jane and me at Jane says at civicmedia.us, J-A-N-E-S-A-Y-S at civicmedia.us.

Let us know your thoughts.

But to give us his thoughts on everything sports is Civic Media Sports Director Jimmy Koska, Jimmy.

Welcome to the show.

It's been a while since we've talked to you and By gum lots of sports this weekend

It's the first weekend where we have the Packers the Badgers

and high school sports all kind of happening at the same time, now that the Packers are into the regular season.

So we are into September.

And yesterday was kind of that first go round for people who like to do the split screen with like four games going on at the same time, the Red Soat Channel, going to the sidetrack in your fantasy football rosters.

I mean, this is stuff you look forward to all year if you're a football fan.

Getting to this day, the opening week of the NFL, Packers football, all of that.

So today,

or this week, you know, is really the first big football week.

And I think it's got people pretty excited.

And the Brewers too are coming off.

I think they're sixth or seventh sweep in the past few months.

I mean, they're still the hottest team in baseball.

They've lost a little momentum.

They had some injuries, but we'll talk about that more in a minute.

I want to get to the Packers though.

The Packers, as I was saying to Calvin earlier,

It was a solid win.

It wasn't a nail biter from what I see in the scoring.

I wasn't able to watch because I was out doing stuff with family, but by the looks of the score, it was, it was a solid victory, not a nail biter, but also not a blowout of the, of the lines, which we didn't expect because while the lions are maybe having some problems here and there, they're still a very, very good team and look to be high up in the, in the standings for going forward in the season.

Yeah, they're the defending divisional champions and for the Packers now they've matched their division win total from last year and it's week one So this is a comfortable win as how I described it.

It was a comfortable win Packers fans got to see a little bit of everything that maybe they've been checking their boxes in the offseason about what needed to be fixed or updated or upgraded the secondary holding up

decently getting the interception.

I think the big thing though for Packers fans was seeing, what can Micah Parsons bring to the defense?

And on the sack where he chased down the Lions quarterback, I saw.

a few posts likening it to one of those nature specials where the cheetah's chasing the antelope.

And you know that the poor antelope is doomed, right?

So that's how people were liking it.

And I thought that was a great way to look at it, because he had impacts beyond that play.

And it brings a whole different dynamic to this Packers defense.

So you get to see the offense click right from the opening drive with the touchdown.

You get to see Parsons and the defense hold up pretty good.

And special teams are great, too.

Perfect on field goals, PATs.

and as a special teams coach in high school football, I always appreciate a 55 yard punting average.

So it was, I think, like I said, a comfortable win for the Packers in week one.

And now Packers fans or, you know, if you're a Lions fan, I guess too, the Bears and Vikings play tonight.

I'm on a night football.

So even more football for those of you so inclined.

I guess the question, the question I have is, I mean, you don't have to, but you're watching a Bears Vikings game.

Like who do you want to win?

Do you want, I mean, and you can't say neither.

Someone's going to win.

Do you say it's the bears?

Do you say the Vikings?

Who, who do you quote root for in a game like this?

Well, Asteroid is number one

Asteroid

Asteroid is number one, but you got it.

You've got to pick one.

It's I think I think that for Packers fans or Lions fans You generally perceive the bears to be the lesser threat The Vikings would be the team that makes their way to standings the Vikings have a lot of offensive pieces and and they've got you know one of the

best players in all of the NFL and Justin Jefferson.

So

I think if you're a fan, you're rooting for the Bears to take one from the Vikings to muddy up those standings a bit going in the rest of the way.

But in the NFL, the margin between being good and not good, there's a lot of parity.

That margin is not that great, as great as you would think.

Between being 11 and 6 and 6 and 11, it's the difference of maybe a couple of players.

Well, and that's something too, I want to look at.

I think that with regard to the bears, I don't know.

I feel like every time I see every, every time the season's over and the bears are done, a few ones go by wounds are licked and then bears fans come back with, Oh, this is our year.

We got the thing.

I don't know what that thing is.

A new quarterback, new head coach, a reprieve from the asteroid, but regardless, they always come back with.

It's our year and I always every year think to myself could it be their year and then within two weeks.

I'm like, oh, it's not

Well, I was just at my family reunion and half of my my mom's side of the family's from Chicago Got to got to spend a lot of time amongst bears fancy, you know, we're all very happy to tell me the bears are undefeated right now

The optimism is high season has been one.

And now we are on a real football.

And I'm sure when I check in with them around Thanksgiving, I will see we'll see if anything's changed.

But well, right now, everybody's feeling good because we haven't played any actual real

games yet.

I do.

I do enjoy the optimism of Bears fans because it does.

I feel like it mirrors the optimism of Bruce fans.

You're like always want the best.

But inside, inside your stomach, you're like, I know this can go away at any second now.

If you're just joining us, we are talking to civic media.

is a sports director, our friend, Jimmy Cusca, discussing the Packers victory from this past week.

And as you put it, a comfortable, a comfortable victory.

I mean, as much as it can be, do you feel like it's a statement from the Packers on where they want to go?

I mean, they want to win, of course, but I feel like everything you're describing was just all things were happening.

All things were firing on, on, on the cylinders and

There was energy beforehand because, you know, people still have a lot of love, no pun intended, a lot of love for Jordan love.

But with the Micah Parsons trade, there was, I feel like it was the same energy that happened when Damien Lillard was announced for the bucks.

Like this whole, like this boom in the Packers fandom and people were like, Oh gosh, it's on.

What are you feeling?

What were you feeling when you found out about Micah Parsons?

And do you feel like this is just going to click them even further into gear?

The fact that the Packers get, you know, one of the best players in the NFL, I know people look at the cost of a really good lineman and Kenny Clark and a couple of first round picks, but you look at the history of fighting these transformative defensive players in the NFL.

There isn't a very long list of these guys and the Packers just got one.

So when I saw it,

I had seen the rumors, heard the rumors.

Mike Clems and I were actually both on assignment that day.

So neither one of us actually got to cover the breaking news.

That honor went to Luke Mathers here at Civic Media to do the breaking sports update that day.

But what I found out, I really think I

I think a lot of us have the same thought.

Packers make that deal 100 times out of 100 to bring Parsons in.

And again, you saw the impacts right away.

Just the ability to create pressure, collapse the pocket, get after the quarterback, and limited run with his back injury.

He was able to still do some great things already in week one.

And I think for the Packers, I personally have always said this about football season.

You don't put a lot of stock into week one.

You've had a whole off season to prepare.

And a lot of week one is just laying it out and seeing what happens.

And then you would

Justin go from there.

The biggest gains for, especially for like high school and college programs happens week one to week two.

In the NFL, those gains tend to happen over a longer period of time, usually the first three or four weeks.

So the good news is that the Packers won their first game, which is generally a coin flip when you look at the history of great teams who went deep in the playoffs.

But for Green Bay, I think what you definitely enjoyed in this is that if there is a glaring weakness on the team, it wasn't

you know, exposed to the point that the Packers lost a football game.

Uh, they in fact showed that they had taken care of a lot of the offseason issues.

And again, look pretty comfortable in beating the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

You hear that folks?

Our sports director says, don't let week one.

Sully your good time in case there's a loss.

There's more football.

It's not a, it's not a harbinger of darkness for things come, but they won.

So.

Of course we're going to win the Superbowl.

That just goes without saying.

All right, we're moving on.

Now let's move on to the, the Badgers really quick.

They, they had a very decisive victory this weekend and everyone pretty much was on board to say, yeah, I don't think middle Tennessee is going to be a big obstacle for them, but they're two, they're two and Oh now for the season.

And that's good because the Badgers have been rickety for the past couple of years, especially due to injuries to their quarterbacks being taken out before the start of the season.

But this is a, you know,

I'm not, I'm not going to say that, that Miami of Ohio is a, is a, is a world-class caliber team, but two in a row ain't bad.

Well, here's the reality check for badgers.

First of all, if you're on social media at four o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday, I think you were, you were among the many who were panicking when the badgers were leading 14 to 10 on directional Tennessee state.

So, uh, people were very, very concerned.

Probably the mildest term I can use for it on Saturday.

People are frustrated with the Badgers program because they went outside the box and hiring Luke Vickle thinking this would elevate the program to national relevance.

And instead, what happens is they miss their first bowl game.

And since I was in high school and on top of that, going into this year, the expectations aren't very high because yeah, the Badgers have two wins.

The two wins that people expected them to have.

But here's the reality check.

You get Alabama coming up.

You've got in October.

If you look at the October schedule, I mean, just, you know, cover your eyes because the reality

check is coming.

Let's see real quick.

I'm going to look at here.

We got, what do we got?

What do we got?

We got Oregon.

We got Washington.

We got Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota.

Oh, that's, that's the rest of the year actually.

Wait a minute.

What are they playing in Alabama?

They're playing Alabama a week from Saturday.

Oh, that's,

I

see.

I was looking at, yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

Well, I mean,

Unfortunately, they can't play all the easy teams.

So we'll see where it's going for this season.

I mean, that's, I

mean, you're talking about, you know, Oregon and Ohio state, Michigan and Iowa.

It's, it's a brutal month.

So.

The reality check is coming for Badgers fans, for the Badgers.

But for now, yeah, 2-0.

You got 2 in the bag.

You had to get 4 more to get back to a bowl game.

I think that's about the best you can hope for at the moment.

You really hope to see some of the positive things they've built on.

They're fighting some playmakers on defense.

The offensive line is looking a little better than last year.

These are marks of progress, and they need those things to progress, because down to a backup quarterback and not having the explosiveness they've had in.

you know, recent vintage, uh, you know, especially at the running back position, these are all going to be very important things for the badgers.

I don't really follow college sports that much.

Jimmy, I won't lie.

I've made it very clear on the show that I don't, but here's how I know that was shocking for the badgers.

When I found out they didn't go to a bowl game, I said, Oh, Oh no.

That's how like that's how used to a bowl game in the badgers life.

I'm used to where I was like, Oh no, they're really not good.

So, but Hey, I'm going to hold optimism.

I'm going to hold optimism in my heart that they crush every team that they come up against.

And if they don't, then I don't know what to tell you.

I'm not, I can't, I, I have no access to asteroids.

There you go.

And we're going to keep it positive.

Cause we're going to keep talking, but we're going to move on to the, to the local stuff, the high school stuff.

Cause that's actually what I really love listening to you and chat homes talk about when you talk about those local sports teams.

And we're going to keep that conversation going on the other side.

We're going to get some snacks.

We're going to get some water, stay hydrated.

You're listening to Matt and air on air.

We're talking to civic media sports director, Jimmy Casca.

And if you have any questions about sports, let us know.

Give us some comments.

I just saw a text in the text line come through.

We'll read that when we come back.

But don't go anywhere.

Stay close.

Stay tuned.

You listen to Matt Nair and I air on the Civic Media Radio Network.

When I feel that you

smell that fresh cut grass.

I'm back in my helmet, cleats and shoulder pads.

Good morning.

Welcome back to Matt and they're on air.

My name is Greg box sitting in for Jane Matt and they're who is currently on vacation and she misses you.

She loves you and she'll be back before you know it, but you could always get in touch with us.

Talk to us.

I'm Greg Bach.

That's Calvin Butenhof.

Sweet Calbee.

We're talking to Jimmy Cusco, who Civic Media Sports Director, and you can always get in touch with us at 855-752-484-2855-755 Civic.

Leave a comment on the live stream.

We're currently on Facebook, YouTube, and the site.

We still call Twitter.

Before we went to the break, we were talking about Packers.

We were talking about Badgers.

And Jim from Appleton, listening to WISS, said, I was quite happy to see the way Justin Fields

played for the Eagles.

He seems to be one quarterback that the bears didn't wreck.

I mean, that's fair.

That's fair.

Congratulations to Mr. Justin Fields.

We're happy for you, Calvin.

But before I should have asked you, what are your thoughts on thoughts on anything going on football wise?

I know you're a big back Packers fan, but

well, I just

I agree with everything Jim, you said about the Packers.

I

will say just a small correction to Jim Justin Fields plays for the Jets now, but otherwise I agree with him and it was nice to see him play.

Well, I wish he could have beat Aaron Rodgers, but escaped with a 60 yard

field goal.

Do you know, do you know what's funny?

Is that up until you said that name?

I can believe you forgot Aaron Rodgers still played football.

Unfortunately,

that's why it just, it feels right.

It was a team in green, you know, so you're close.

It's all green over there playing whatever, but go whoever's playing against Aaron Rogers.

That's all I'll say.

Go, go that.

It could be a, it could be a teammate up of my high school bullies.

I'd be like, you know what Tony can run.

Go for it.

I believe in you.

I believe in your efforts.

We're talking to Jimmy Koska about all things sports and we were talking about the Packers as well as the Badgers, but now I want to switch focus to local high school.

That's something you really, I mean, you are very, very impassioned about and you talk about a lot on patch show and what, what's going on with local football?

Who are we looking out for?

Tell me how my CMH crusaders are going to do this year because that's my alma mater.

Go CMH 96.

You are our raw CMH.

So we are, we just wrapped up our first week of conference play.

We are one third of the way through the regular season in high school football.

So high school football in Wisconsin is nine games in the regular season and then a five week playoff.

So we are just into conference play now.

And in first week of conference always has a number of interesting matchups because the first two games that on conference games are typically rivalry type games where the teams might have been moved out of conferences together and realignment.

Or, you know, in some cases just teams.

looking to pick up a game because of some cancellations, especially at the small school level.

We've already had over a half dozen teams in Wisconsin fold because of low enrollment or numbers in the program.

not be able to field football teams.

And this has been a little more common since COVID, where this has become more of a normal occurrence.

It used to be pretty rare before that.

It really wasn't.

It may be a couple of teams a year.

But now this year, several small school teams have called it a year.

So there's been some interesting matchups that have happened along the way.

I'm a coach in a small school in Southwestern Wisconsin.

So we were treated to some pretty amazing matchups down in my part of the state.

I know for WRCO listeners, for example,

and Richland Center, a big, big exciting game.

Richland Center defeating Lancaster for the first time in almost 20 years, which is huge.

And Richland Center is off to a great start this season.

But you look elsewhere in the state, and there's some great things that are happening pretty much across the board.

You've got your traditional powers.

You've got your water keys and arrowheads of the world that are still rolling, right?

But boy, you look at some of the small schools, you see Edgar still dominating.

Baldwin and Woodville off to a...

an amazing start this year again for our friends listening at WSCO or WSEM, excuse me, in Western Wisconsin.

There's some really, really good football being played.

I think three weeks into the season, you start to see who really emerges as your top contenders, because they've already faced now a conference opponent, a couple of non-cons, and you start to really see some of those better schools emerge, especially with the large schools, because the large schools, for whatever it's worth,

division one night, they all kind of just, it's kind of a round robin.

And then you go to the playoffs and you do it all over again.

Where are we just here?

Yeah, we were, you bring up arrowhead arrowhead.

I mean, once again, like I went to, I went to high school in the nineties and then I went to Catholic Memorial, 96 go, go crusaders and arrowhead was all, I mean, we were serious about football and, and see a mage back in the day.

And I don't know where they're at.

No, I think, I think they're still have, they still have game.

They're still good.

But we were a state

champion.

They're doing well.

They're only losses to a really, a division one powerhouse in Franklin.

And that was a three point loss a week long.

They're, they're a division three division four size school.

Uh, and they've, uh, they, there are two in one.

They beat Waukesha North and Sunfrey West back to back now.

But Arrowhead, they have, I mean, I know this is, this is, this sounds weird to say, but their locker room is like an NFL team.

It is very, very.

Cool looking

but also I'm like

where did you get all this money?

Well, in the press box too, it's better than a lot of the division three schools in the state that aren't in the WIAC.

The press box is incredible.

It's really top notch.

And, you know, it's one of the handful of schools in Wisconsin where if I'm assigned to do a game, I'm like, yeah, I know I'm getting a good, I'm getting a good vantage point here.

I'm spoiled because I broadcast college football for UW-Platteville, but, you know, getting to do a high school game when I get to go to Milwaukee or Madison, it's so much fun because some of those venues, and not even, you know, it's not even so much the aesthetic.

the, you know, the jacuzzi in the media suite kind of thing.

Not that anybody has that.

Although if you do, I'm coming to do your game next.

It's the history at some of these fields, you know, going to Mansfield Stadium in Madison and getting to call games there was, it was such a treat for the decade I worked there.

You know, a lot of the school, you know, I'm from Northwestern, Wisconsin.

So a lot of those fields.

In fact, I'm going up to do a game at my alma mater Flambeau for Park Falls later this month.

So I get to, you know, getting to see some of these venues in Northwestern, Wisconsin, there's so much history at these fields.

and in these communities and here at Civic Media with a dozen stations covering games right now.

It's really fun to be part of.

Well, we're going to have you back sooner than later to talk about the wrap-up of the high school sports.

I want to hear about this wonderful press box you're going to be going to.

And we'll talk to you more about that in the coming weeks.

Jimmy Koska is the Civic Media Sports Director.

Thank you so much for being here today with us, Jimmy.

Really appreciate your time.

Thank you guys.

And when we come back after the news, we're going to be speaking with Thomas Gulke and groundswell collective about the power of people, the power of organizing and what we can get done when we work together.

You're listening to Matt and Aaron air on the civic media radio network.

Stay close.

Stay tuned.

Good morning.

Welcome.

Welcome back to Matt and air and air.

My name is Greg box sitting in for Jane Matt and air who is currently out.

Vacating resting, relaxing, deservingly, and we are here to welcome you back to the show on the civic media radio network.

We got a lot coming up here today at 10 52.

We have this shouldn't be a thing.

which we are going to be featuring the Brick by Brick edition today, so you don't want to go anywhere.

If you want to get in touch with us, call or text 855-752-484-2855-75CIVIC.

And you can also leave a comment on the livestream.

We are currently on Facebook, YouTube, and the platform in this house.

We still call Twitter.

Very, very excited to have our next guests here.

They are from the group Groundswell Collective, and they got in touch.

We saw...

a press release come through by way of them about bus services in Walworth County.

And then when I kept reading and we kept talking about it, there's so much they're working with.

Groundswell Collective is here today.

Our guests are Jeremiah Gomez.

That's correct.

And Marilyn Hayden.

Hayden.

Hayden, my mistake, ma'am, my mistake.

They are here today to talk about the work that that Groundswell does as well as.

all the initiatives they're working on, as well as just, as I said earlier, the power of people and the power of organizing, coming together to make change.

Welcome to this show.

So happy to have you both here today.

Oh, we're thrilled.

Thank you.

Now, before we get started with the bus service discussion, as well as all the other things you're working on, tell us about Groundswell Collective.

What do you do?

Who do you service and what is your ultimate goal?

Well groundswell I think in a nutshell is really just a group of people who have a shared desire to see the people of Walworth County thrive Yeah, and and so it's a it's a group of people from many different ages stages and backgrounds Who have found this shared affinity to say what does it look like for us to pursue the thriving of our community together?

Especially those who may be underserved or or kind

of forgotten

Yeah.

And that's something that, you know, especially in today's day and age, and we need to come together even more so as communities, as we're seeing various programs, funding's being cut.

It's important to look around and say, all right, how do I involve myself with the people around me?

And that's something that looking at what you're doing is exactly the plan is saying, all right, let's take care of each other because we might be all that we have.

And I don't want to say you can't rely upon

government, but it shouldn't be a... In situations like this, it's where we say, we have to step forward and do the work first.

And and and take and take the bull by the horn

sure and I think I can't speak from Maryland But I think you know for me I was entering into a space where there's a lot of anxiety.

There's a lot of concern I'm seeing that among the people I love and serve and I've got to say by connecting with people like her and the others in our network It's given me a renewed sense of hope and peace as we say there is an opportunity to lean forward and to see the very best as yet to come as we come together And that's been that's been really fun to see

Marilyn, as far as the group goes, what are you involved with?

What are you working on?

What do you do for groundswell collective?

Well, right now, I'm interested in the transportation.

I'm

visually impaired, legally blind, and I don't drive.

So that put me in that category of people who are grounded because we have no way to get places.

And that's something that I've been part of the conversation with for so long.

I used to work for city government here in Racine.

And one of the big, we saw the bus services being cut because of cuts from the state.

We saw the state saying, no, thank you to a plan that we were, it was very much in the infancy.

There was no real blueprint, but we just said, how about we take some of this money that you're putting towards

rebuilding our roads and widening our freeways.

How about we bring a metro line up to Racine?

So people from Racine could possibly have transportation to Chicago to

get

jobs.

Like that was, transportation was always something that was very high up on the mayor who I worked for on his list.

And it consistently has slapped down.

I feel like transportation, especially in busing situations for folks like yourself, Marilyn, who you need that, you need that access.

A lot of times our leaders don't truly understand how important it is because I don't think it, it doesn't affect them to a certain point.

And the lobbying that comes from them don't have the money that say, you know, a gun lobby or a Rhodes lobby has.

So it's up to folks like yourself to come together.

organize and speak on behalf of folks like yourself, Marilyn, who need this transportation.

And that's what you did.

And that's what you did in Woolworth.

And I don't want to give away the whole story, but it came together and it worked in stunning fashion.

Can you tell the story of what you all did to get more bus?

to get more hours on the buses than Walworth County.

Yeah, I mean, while it started with an awareness that Walworth County was the only county within its kind of status that didn't have a Sunday transportation option for people.

Wait, none?

It did not have a public Sunday transportation option.

Right.

I figured I just think okay.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, so this is this is moving from something that wasn't available I can't remember quite what the numbers are Marilyn, but I think it was you know in January when it finally kicked off I think it was around do we say 20 riders and then in June up to 200 in round figures Just so that shows that there's a real need there

How that happened were folks like Marilyn showing up at those county board meetings budget meetings But it took really connecting with her and friends that she had and friends that we had and saying we want our leaders to know this is a real felt need That there are real faces and stories who are connected to this need

and

they were responsive

and that I think is the most impressive I shouldn't be impressed by that, but I'm impressed by

leaders who listen nowadays.

When you hear elected officials, whether they are local, state, or federal, listening to the people and saying, all right, Marilyn, you have a need.

How do we meet that need?

And I wanna read the numbers, because I have it in the press release here.

In January, in Walworth County, when this program started, because as you said, there was no Sunday ridership whatsoever, which to me is mind-blowing, because I guess they just expected you to stay home.

It was...

40 trips that month in January, by June of this year, it was 229.

In less than a half a year, it went up by 472.5%.

That shows one, to me, the power of organizing, doing exactly what you did.

The leaders listening and implementing and it becoming a return on investment because, you know, like,

You have to pay for the buses, the servicing, but obviously with 472.5% increase, that is a net benefit for everyone, whether you're riding or you're repairing the bus.

Or you have an employee who needs to be able to get to work, or you're somebody who's looking to go to church and can't connect into the community in that way.

So we really have seen it be a beautiful thing.

I mean, what are you hearing from?

Are there, as far as the Sunday services?

Cause, you know, as I said before, in my experience watching, especially like evening hours being cut because though, you know, they look at what are the easiest days, what are the easiest hours?

And they don't want to do midday.

They don't want to do weekdays, but evening hours, weekends, it's easy to cut.

Do you see yourself expanding to, are there other needs for the bus services that are in Wellworth County that is needed besides Sunday?

Or is this like, all right, we've got this done.

Let's move on to the next thing.

I think there's a desire to see those

services expand.

I think Maryland would be better positioned to speak to that as a user.

I've been using the bus service for subtype because we have had it.

And originally it was, I probably think maybe 15 or 20 years that I've been familiar with it.

It really started out as transportation for handicapped people and seniors.

just a doctor's appointments and that type of thing.

So it has expanded over time.

And it's gotten better all the time,

but it's

still, I was really pleased to, when it expanded to other people that maybe just didn't have a car or whatever and had other reasons to get from place to place.

And that was, so that was very good in that, but there was still a weekdays.

And then they expanded it to Saturdays and over the last few years.

And then Sundays when we found out that it needed a little bit of a push.

So we're really glad that they expanded it to Sundays.

And Sundays is not just for

from church services, but other activities

as well.

Absolutely, yeah.

And that is, for me personally, that makes me feel very good that it's something where you, as a user of the bus system, are seeing it grow and expand and service the community and beyond just its original group, but to...

for everybody who needs it or everybody who just wants it too.

I mean, some people want to take the bus.

Some people are like, I don't need a car.

I have a close family member who is perfectly able to drive.

But she's like, I'd rather take the bus.

I'd rather take the train.

She also lives in a city that has wonderful and high tech transportation.

Mass Transit is a whole other discussion point we can get to when it comes to Wisconsin.

But if you're just joining us on Matt and Aaron here, we're speaking to Jeremiah Gomez and Marilyn Hayden from Groundswell Collective.

And they're talking about all the work they're doing.

And really we're talking about the power of organizing, the power of people coming together and working towards a goal and the goal of getting Sunday service in Walworth County, which the fact that there was nothing blows my mind.

I mean, it just like, to me,

A county saying we're not going to be able to take people around on Sunday is I want to say borderline offensive because I feel like it puts aside a whole group of individuals who need that access to me.

Mass transit, local transit, bus services are something that is vital in the community and.

you came together with 472.5% increase to show for us.

And that's just wonderful to listen to.

It's wonderful to read.

I'm so happy you all could be here today.

Well, thank you

for having us.

Yeah.

There are other things that you are all working on.

It is not just about busing.

It is about a whole host of other, you basically have a whole platter of things you're discussing.

And we're gonna keep that conversation going.

If you have any questions for Groundswell Collective, because if you live in areas around Wisconsin,

And you want to know more, but this is, this is about organizing and ask your questions.

We want to hear from you, eight, five, five, seven, five, two, four, eight, four, two, eight, five, five, seven, five, civic.

Leave a comment on the live stream.

We are on Facebook, YouTube or the platform.

We still call Twitter.

And when we, how really quick, I don't think I asked how long has groundswell collective been around as a group?

I mean, it really launched.

organically out of this Sunday transportation thing.

And so I could look back and see when we started formally, but it's not that long.

I think we've been connecting probably for about a year.

That's

great.

That's really what we've been

doing.

I mean, when you think about that too, in the world of organizing to get together over the past year, year and a half, and you've already achieved this, that shows the community that you mean business and you can get things done by working together.

And if you want to find out more, you can go to their Facebook page.

They are on Facebook, Groundswell Collective.

And you can follow them.

You can find out what's going on.

If you live in Walworth County.

You can absolutely get in touch with them, get in touch with us, find out more.

But we are talking to Groundswell Collective right now.

We're going to come back and discuss, I believe, there's going to be a child care summit coming up, and then a call for a day of action for care.

And we will be talking more about that with Jeremiah Gomez and Marilyn Hyden.

And you are listening to Matt Nair on air.

on the Civic Media Radio Network.

And if you want to call or text, give us a call 855-752-4842-855-75Civic.

Don't go far.

Stay close.

Stay tuned.

You're listening to us on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Good good morning.

Welcome back to matinee on air.

My name is Greg box, sitting in for Jane matinee who's currently vacating and we'll be back before you know what she misses you.

She loves you.

And if you want to get in contact with us, the number is 855-752-4842-855-75 civic.

Leave a comment on the live stream.

We are on the platforms that of Facebook, YouTube and what we still call Twitter in this house still upcoming is at 1052.

We have this shouldn't be a thing brick by brick edition of right now.

We are talking to two new friends from groundswell collective in Woolworth County.

I'm speaking to Jeremiah Gomez as well as Marilyn Hayden.

They are both members of this organizing group, grassroots, working for the people.

And before we went to break, we were talking about the amazing, amazing work you did to get ridership in, in Woolworth County on Sunday with.

400, I'm gonna keep saying that number, 472.5% increase on ridership in six months.

That's amazing work.

And something that I wanna clarify though, because when I think of, when I saw this and I think of ridership, I think of the bus.

We're not talking about the public bus.

We're talking about a program that gets you ridership on Sunday because you, as you said, there's no bus.

That's correct.

So,

That adds another level to the conversation that kind of makes me like put you mean you don't have a bus.

That's for another day.

But it is a whole different system that you have as far as ridership goes.

Can you explain that really quickly to me and to the listeners so they can delineate?

Sure.

So Marilyn, when you're looking for a ride, how do

you get that set

up?

I call the VIP services in Elkhorn.

schedule me for my time, whatever I want.

And then the, it's a van, mostly they had different kinds of vans all the way from, from a SUV type to where they could carry a wheelchair.

And now scheduled me for my ride to come and pick me up, take me to my place, pick me up and take me home if I wish.

And it's at a very reasonable price for anywhere in Walworth

County.

Okay.

Cause that, yeah, like I said, I apologize.

I thought, I thought we were just talking about Sunday bus service.

And that alone, I'm like, why don't you have a bus ball worth County?

But I'm, but that just makes me even happier than that.

You now have the access to that and that it is affordable.

Cause you know, nowadays we see prices going up on everything.

The fact that you can afford to get a ride to where you need to go is important.

There's also another thing too in the press release that you and then Marilyn off air we you mentioned you wanted to talk about too and and it's a very big problem.

It's This service also have helps people combat isolation Loneliness because I mean that's not a new thing in this world, of course But the pandemic and I know from my experience watching people my family get older There's a tendency to isolate to not go out as much for for their reasons and I'm not gonna

Criticized nor get into it right now, but this is also not just about getting people where they need to be but getting them out in the world and talking to people Tell me more about that and the importance of it

Well at isolation is a deadly Disease almost in the country and people that are stuck at home.

They can't get out.

Yeah, don't maybe don't have a network of friends and family that can get them places and even you know shopping and

and two other more entertainment bases, like to the movies or something like that.

And they really need to have that option.

Absolutely.

And, you know, I imagine just groundswell collective too, when I think about it, you know, you are a collective, you are the people, even if it's just getting to a meeting.

It gets you out in the world.

It gets you talking to people.

It gets you connected over coffee or a meal or as you were doing a mission, you have a mission with your group.

And I think that's, you know, maybe an unthought of aspect that is a positive, which is to get people out there connecting because

it's

so, it's so easy to be at your computer.

It's so easy to be on your phone.

I can

contact all my quote friends on my phone, but really it's about, as you said, getting out in the world and connecting whether it's for a doctor's appointment or going to the movies.

So

I

think that's a fantastic aspect to discuss, especially when it comes to what you are doing at groundswell collective.

We're going to keep that conversation going to two big events, one taking place tonight and

one then

tomorrow, but

If you have any questions or comments, eight, five, five, seven, five, two, four, eight, four, two, eight, five, five, seven, five.

Civic is the number you can always call or comment.

The, you know, Jeremiah, like what is your, do you have, do you yourself have any experience in organizing before you got involved with this group?

No, I mean,

The reason I got connected is I'm a pastor in the county and I just

saw a

need and found some connection with

others

who were wanting to really pursue thriving.

And

how can we do that?

You mentioned...

you know, seeing people, getting together, life on life connection, that's so, so important.

One of the things that I've found is that, for whatever reason over the past year, I've been able to meet with civic leaders at the national level, at the state level, at the county level, at the local level.

And I haven't yet, in those in-person meetings, I haven't yet met somebody who isn't genuinely trying to serve the people.

And they may do that in a different way than I would, but it's been so good for me to have those connections.

And I celebrate that the people

in Walworth County, our leaders there are so open to conversations, to hearing from the people, maybe not on every issue.

You know, you get those things where people have their own perspective.

But one of the great things we've learned about with organizing is how to have conversations that invite a different perspective when somebody might seem entrenched in a different

perspective.

You know, it's easy to isolate ourselves off into our social media worlds, but when we sit in a room together and we talk about what we want and what we need, it usually cross paths.

It usually connects.

It really comes together in the general things we want in this world.

We agree with

yes,

and we want to talk about how we're going to be organizing more how you're going to be organizing more tonight and tomorrow with groundswell collective as our guest Jeremiah Gomez and Marilyn Hyden are here today talking about all the work they're doing in Walworth County and you can be a part of the conversation 8 5 5 7 5 2 4 8 4 2 8 5 5 7 5 civic leave a comment on the live stream We're gonna be right back.

Don't go far.

Stay hydrated.

Stay amazing.

You're awesome We're on civic media radio network.

You're listening to matinee on air

Good morning.

Welcome back to Matt and air on air.

My name is Greg box, sitting in for Jane Matt and air who is currently vacating and we'll be back before you know it.

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Speaking of connecting, I am connecting with two new friends here.

I'm talking to Jeremiah Gomez as well as Marilyn Hyden from groundswell collective talking about the amazing work they're doing as organizing for their community within the people, doing the good work, raising the voices, getting things done, like getting Sunday ridership in Walworth County for those who need it, telling great stories here and something that's happening tonight and tomorrow.

We've got ourselves

a child care summit as well as a call to action for tomorrow.

Can you both tell us about what's gonna be happening tonight?

Yeah, so tonight is a conversation.

It's a summit on child care.

We're inviting families, people who have young children in their lives who are...

wanting to connect again with other people and just share story, share an awareness of what are the needs that they're facing.

It's not news that childcare is affordable, ready, accessible childcare is a pretty persistent need

that we

hear.

And so tonight there's a conversation at

at 530 at the Spark Play Studio in Elkhorn.

It's going to run from 530 to 730.

And it's a community conversation where it's just kind of trying to discover.

What are the shared needs?

What are the ways and the stories that are being told?

And is that a space where we can invite people to, again, try to find a path forward toward that accessible childcare that's needed?

That's a conversation we've had a lot on this show.

We've spoken to Kareen Hendrickson, who is now a former childcare.

she had to close her business as of last month because of the budget was passed and it was a bipartisan budget, but unfortunately the childcare funding did not meet the needs of those who are in that industry.

And we're gonna see the closure, unfortunately, which means more need from folks in Walworth County, in all the counties around Wisconsin than as a conversation.

And we talked about this also on air, or I'm sorry, off air, that

This is always a top five Topic from Wisconsinites is childcare childcare access having to do with education and the fact that we need a serious investment from the state To really keep that accessible for those parents who need it and most parents do I mean if you have the ability to be in a one-income home and someone can stay home That's great if you can choose to do that but

we need to be able to have options and on the other side of that coin, those who run those childcare centers.

And I really feel like when we talk about this, we really should be saying early education, because I think a lot of times when we speak about childcare, we just think babysitting.

They're gonna drop them off, they're gonna play a little bit in the backyard and gonna give them some snacks and then I'm gonna pick them up at, you know, 2.30 or whatever.

But it's not, these are institutions, these are educational.

learning places where they're learning early developmental skills and those who run them need to have the resources to keep it going.

They need to be paid a certain amount.

They need to have the access to funding to have the right materials.

So this is, I'm interested to know what the site at this, at this sit down you're going to have tonight because I feel like everyone's going to be looking at each other saying, yeah, we need this.

We need partnership from the state as well.

Well, and I think you're right.

There's a there's a tremendous opportunity It's a developmental stage in the lives of families and kids where like we have an opportunity to invite them We're talking about thriving and flourishing, you know if you can position a child early on toward thriving and flourishing great education Man that changes everything and and I think part of the conversation tonight is an invitation to fresh imagination like if we could imagine something

new, different.

What would that look like?

One of the conversations we've had at groundswell is we know at our county nursing facility, there's a wing that is vacant and available and that they need to do something with.

And we've just started asking the question, what would it look like?

Is it possible to have some sort of intergenerational space there?

Something where you can meet a need for senior care and great effective quality intergenerational childcare?

What could that be?

And it's not to say that that's

that's going to happen, but it's inviting a different conversation.

And so tonight's conversation is that, what does fresh imagination look like, I guess you could say?

And then they're going to ask, what would you...

How would your life change with childcare?

If you could tell your county supervisor anything about childcare, what would it be?

You know,

what do

they need to know?

Because as we were saying before, sometimes our leaders, they just don't know what they don't know.

And I'm glad you brought that up.

And before we talk about tomorrow's call to action, I want to reiterate a point we discussed a while ago with a elected official.

and something that you brought up Marilyn off air as well.

You're bringing up all these amazing points.

We're off there.

You should be talking more and just telling us, give us all your nuggets of wisdom.

But no, we talk about this a great deal on the show and that is my vote.wi.gov.

If you want to find out who represents you, you go there, you put your information and it will tell you everyone from the president down to your dog catcher.

If you still vote for a dog catcher, but that way you can get in touch with your, you can get in touch with your,

your county board supervisors, you can get in touch with your city or village council members.

And as well as those higher up offices, but those local ones are important because as we were once told, they may be aware of what's going on, but they don't understand the importance until the real cause they, I mean, their lives are very busy.

They're doing a lot of things.

You know, if this is their only job, they're still, I mean, especially if they're a assembly member or a state senator, a lot going on.

until they know, they may never know.

And for you to sit down and have this conversation and find out what the people of Walworth County are looking for.

And then you take it to county board supervisors, city counselors, state elected officials.

That's when they might be like, Oh, I had no idea.

But, uh, so let's get working on this.

We have a call on the line, Charles from Hayward, Charles.

Do you have a question or a comment on the power of organizing or things you're looking for in your community?

What say you, my friend?

Yeah, so thanks for taking my call.

I think one of the things my wife and I have observed in our time living in Hayward here is we have a spattering of in-home daycares.

We have a couple of good small daycares.

And then on the LCO reservation here, they have an excellent large scale daycare center.

And we just see a greater need.

We see a need for a larger facility in Hayward that can handle more children.

And even though we're a small community here, we also have second and third shift workers.

And that's an area where we're really lacking, you know, people who work at Walmart overnight doing stocking and things like that.

So my wife and I are wondering, okay, how do we, how do we meet this need?

How do we do this?

What can we do with our entrepreneurial spirit?

I'm a trained pastor.

She's a trained nurse.

We have a passion for children.

We have a five-year-old of our own.

You know, what we've discovered is that it's quite expensive to start a daycare.

The resources that are available to guide you and coach you, get the training necessary, is actually somewhat lacking.

We have a couple organizations that will help you, but

you really have to be in the know before they can help you.

And so we're looking for help, you know, whether it's financial partners, whether it's other leaders in the community who would come alongside us.

I wonder if there's any resources that you could guide us to, or your guests could guide us to in terms of how do we go about this process to really serve the children and the families of this community.

Um, and I'm sorry, I'm sitting in the parking lot of our grocery store and I just witnessed an accident.

Oh no.

Oh no.

Oh no.

Well, I'll tell, I mean, Charlie, if you need to go do something, go do something.

You can always listen back.

We have the shows online.

You can listen for the answers or, you know, if you want to email us as some questions, Jane says at civicmedia.us and we can get back in touch with you.

If you got to go do your thing, we understand, but I appreciate your call, Charles on that.

And I guess like what I'm hearing from Charles is, you know, they have a great idea.

They have a great, you know, more childcare, more access, especially for those second and third shift workers, because, you know, that might be the first thing to go.

During the day, daycare is probably a lot easier to find than say, oh, I can take your kids from three o'clock until 11.

For sure.

So like, where do you move people?

on the needle towards the organization or the finding resources to find partnerships.

What would you say?

Well, I think,

you know, first, it's you probably have a network of some people who you're saying, hey, this is a shared story.

This is a

shared need.

And what I've really appreciated is, you know, there are people who they

know how to help organize community.

They know how to help activate these conversations.

And I know if he were to reach out to like our groundswell group,

we might

be able to connect him with somebody in the area

who's

got some awareness and ability to help rally people

in that

way.

But I think the thing that begins a great movement is a shared story and conversation.

And so to connect with people who are like-minded,

What I've experienced with groundswell is I think all of us come with our great idea of how we're going to solve the problem.

But the best ideas seem to come out of the room as you're having genuine, humble conversation with one another.