A New Round of Meet the DPW Candidates (Hour 3)

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You're listening to Mornings with Pat Craiglow powered by Up North News.

Now, for my Lake Minnesota studio, here is the founding editor of Up North News, Pat Craiglow.

Hey, good morning.

It's 8.06.

It's nice to have you here up north on this Wednesday morning, May 21st, 2025.

Sam is on the board with friends.

I'll explain in just a moment.

But first, let me tell you that Devon Remaker is standing by.

He is a candidate for chair of the state Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

He will be joining the show today.

Another candidate for DPW chair Joseph Hecke will be here tomorrow.

William Garcia will be here on Friday.

So over the next three days in our eight o'clock hour, you'll get a second round of hearing from all three candidates who want to run the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

Once Ben Wickler steps down, Ben Wickler has made an endorsement in that race.

It's something I'm sure Devin will want to talk about in just a couple of moments.

But first, let's bring in meteorologist Brittany Merleau and what could only be described as a mob.

Down at the control room in Madison the Dom Sam Parker Luke experience for gentlemen what a

menagerie

I Know I mean they guys look like an album cover their debut album should be out soon Sam what's the sweatshirt say there buddy?

Make boys cry

Okay, yeah, yes Is

that

a reference?

I'm not getting I don't think it's

a reference to anything.

I just thought it was a funny sweatshirt

Okay.

All right.

Brittany is loving this.

It's okay.

No, that's great.

So for, for, for folks who missed it a couple hours ago when the show first started, we are welcoming Mr. Parker here to the, to the show.

We first met.

with Dom yesterday, Sam is getting set to move into much more credible employment circumstances.

Oh, I don't know

about that.

And Lucas keeping his distance from anything involving me and live radio because he's no dummy.

So that's how he got to be in the position where he is.

But he's having a great time with these great gentlemen, Dom and Sam and Parker, all working on making sure that all of these shows run a lot tighter than the host would otherwise let them.

So welcome guys to all of you.

And Brittany, let's let's welcome you back in reluctantly.

Because it's not you.

It's not you.

It's it's this whatever this is, which

I hear is eventually going to move out of here.

I mean, obviously it would anyway.

It's all in the word eventually, but when, when, when, when, when is the sun and the warmth come back?

It is taking its sweet time, but we're okay.

We've got this.

We're going to get through this.

I mean, we got two inches of rain that already accumulated into Janesville, Fonda Lac, and South areas across to Eau Claire, picking up a good inch to an inch and a half.

A lot of us getting doused with that rain, but it is starting to wind down far northwest.

You're starting to see that.

start to sweep south through the state as the system departs off to the east.

But again, it's going to take its time.

We're still looking at light rain expected throughout most of the day.

For most of us up north, that of course is going to be gone by the afternoon down south.

You could still see a few spotty sprinkles still lingering through early tomorrow morning.

Otherwise, the sunshine and the warmth are right behind it.

Now, I'm not talking about the warmth in the 80s.

Sorry, that's not coming our way this weekend, but we are looking a little bit more seasonal into those mid 60s to upper 60s as we go through Memorial Day weekend.

So we will hit 60 degrees for most of the state tomorrow, but today we still have to deal with upper 40s far south and upper 50s far north and those dreary skies still continuing.

areas of fog and then tonight another frost advisory is expected especially far north.

We're still under one right now and we've still got a beach hazard statement on Lake Michigan where those waves are rocking and rolling.

They were up to nine feet yesterday.

They're about six feet today.

Some

crummy weather all around but things are getting better just in time for the long weekend.

Yeah, Shiji writes on YouTube, this is lovely tea and writing weather.

And I think we talked about it being international tea day.

So yes, it's definitely if you're going to have a warm beverage a day for it like that.

Rob from Tigerton says, I like Brittany's sweatshirt.

We mentioned Sam's sweatshirt.

You've got one of the Great Lakes.

Yes, I

do.

Thank you.

I try to,

you know, bright yellow, bright in the day or something too.

There you go.

And Rob also mentioned things seem to be getting serious out there.

Colorado Weather States because of cuts to the National Weather Service with the speed and severe weather and hurricane system season rather that.

There are, the work is still getting done, but only because the people who haven't been fired yet are taking on extra shifts and, you know, working over nights and things that not a sustainable system for, you know, putting warnings down.

No, it's not.

A lot of the National Weather Service is getting tired.

I mean, they are covering for different regions, not just different local offices like they used to.

There are different regions.

And I know that the Hurricane Center is actually asking for employees internally to help them out because of the hiring phrase.

So they don't know what to do.

They're just scrambling, trying to pull from everywhere.

And eventually, I think...

We're going to hit burnout, and we're going to hit the results for us getting a little scary, too.

Yeah, and we don't want to see that happen anywhere, much less right here in our backyard, but it is a potential.

Last thing before you go, again, the picture on your screen there, the Dom Sam Parker Luke Experience.

Did you expect to see a frame like right before or after it that says, hey, please don't destroy video?

You know, from the guys on Saturday Night Live, doesn't it look like they're about to do one of those?

Yes, it

does.

Oh my gosh.

I think this, I think this is just the greatest thing.

I think we, we've opened up a new chapter here.

Thank you, Brittany.

Thank you.

All right, we will talk to you tomorrow.

Hey, this is National Bike Month.

Today is not a great day for a bicycle commute, but there are still plenty of days in Wisconsin where it would be nice to ride if, um, you know, we had proper trails and supportive employers and bike friendly businesses.

Well, there is a national group that rates all of these things and we have a link in today's Up North News daily newsletter all about Wisconsin's most bike-friendly hometowns and organizations.

Now, if instead you're one of those people that sits behind the wheel all the time, especially in our larger communities, have you ever wondered how much does it cost you quite literally to sit in traffic?

You can read about that expense in today's edition and also linked in our newsletter and new in our website, a guide to all the best

races in Wisconsin this summer, everything from a walk to a fun run to a 5k 10k half and full marathons.

All that you'll find at up north news wi.com 813 now.

And let's visit with Devin Remacher, who is a candidate for state party chair for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, one of three candidates will talk to the other candidates tomorrow and again on Friday.

Devin, welcome back to the program.

Nice to have you here today.

Great to be here

again.

Thanks for having me

back.

Uh, we are getting into that point.

You're heading to Memorial Day weekend and then the last weekend of the month.

And I know from working in a county party myself, uh, that it's in that middle part of the month where if you want to go talk to county democratic parties in this case, I mean, you got to be on the road ceaselessly and you certainly were along with other candidates hitting not just county parties, but congressional district level, uh, party meetings.

And so since you first got into the race, we talked to you.

Shortly after you announced, tell us more about the campaign.

You've picked up some very key endorsements and met a whole lot of people along the way.

Absolutely.

Well, picked up a lot of mileage, that's for sure.

I have traveled the state from Hayward to Kenosha and

to Chippewa Falls all over.

And I think my campaign now has hit 100 public endorsers, some folks who are also supporting me, but not ready to slap their name on the website yet.

But I'm really proud to have, you know, Chair Ben Wickler, former Chair Martha Lanning, former Chair Martha Love, former Chair Jeffrey Newbauer, and over 20 county party chairs from every corner of the state, along with a host of other party delegates, leaders.

joining my team.

And I think folks are really just ready and itching to get back in the fight as quickly as possible this year.

And are excited to support me as the candidate who can do that.

I don't know if the endorsement from Ben Wickler how much of it comes as a surprise to folks if they thought that the outgoing chair was was not going to endorse throughout this race or if it's something that

makes sense since, as he said, he's, you know, been working side by side with you for a big chunk of his time as chair here.

Would you would you say that Ben's endorsement was were you expecting him not to endorse throughout the entirety of this race for chair?

You know, I got into this race not

knowing if he would or would not endorse me.

But I'm very glad he did.

Obviously, Ben is someone that I have worked closely with for the past six years.

About half of his tenure, I was his executive director, so working as his right hand.

And honestly, I think that a lot of folks are just hoping that a lot of the great things that we have built together over those six years can continue and that we have the resources we need to compete, that we can keep running the best in class program and be the strongest state party in the country.

absolutely honored to have his endorsement and really excited about the reception Barbie got from having that out there in the world.

Does that how does how do you feel like that is going to translate because obviously Ben was well regarded in the state and one could certainly say very well regarded outside of the state of bringing so much attention to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin that wasn't there previously.

Do you feel, though, that that puts a little extra pressure on you to be following in Ben and keeping that national spotlight on Wisconsin?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

I think all of us candidates felt like, you know, there was some pretty big, big shoes to fill at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

And, you know, I think my unique strength is I just happen to know how big those shoes are better than anybody else having worked with them so closely.

But certainly it does add a little bit of pressure having his direct support to make sure I can rise to the occasion.

But I feel really confident, given my experiences, whether it was heading up to people being musk, the effort that not only helped Susan Croft

the Supreme Court race, but also, you know, sort of send Elon Musk packet from the White House.

And as we heard yesterday, maybe from politics in general, I think I have a pretty good track record of being able to excite people in the state and engage audiences nationally as well.

We're talking to Devin Remacher, a candidate for chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

That decision will be made by delegates to the State Democratic Party Convention in Wisconsin Dells next month.

I've asked before and I will ask all three candidates again to help break past any initial say

geographic assumptions about candidates that, you know, you'll be seen as the insider candidate slash the Madison candidate.

Joseph Pecky might be seen as the Milwaukee candidate or the the outside of the current party candidate.

William Garcia would be seen more as like the out state or the the rural candidate.

But in all cases, since we can't combine the best of all of you into a into a blender and get one, you know, super chair, we have to ask all of you, how do you break out of those?

perceived boxes.

What is it that people should know about you beyond, you know, what what makes up that initial feeling like, Well, you've been inside the DPW.

So if we vote for you, there won't be much to change.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, I mean, I think I sort of came to DPW from a bit of a different background.

I was born and raised in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

out in the country, as we called it, out on County Highway 42, which a lot of people know as they're driving up to Door County through two rivers.

And I was on an acre of land surrounded by farm fields that my great grandparents bought from a farmer.

We weren't farmers ourselves.

So, you know, definitely was was a very rural upbringing.

And

then I

went to school UW La Crosse.

I sort of was kind of like the outstate political operative for the first half of my career in politics, working for state presidency Doyle and then Congressman Ron kind after that over the sprawling third congressional decision.

So although I've certainly been at the party for a while, I think I do bring a somewhat unique perspective given my political experience on the ground.

And I've been really glad that I had that because it helped me figure out that, you know, we need to make sure county parties get more support all around this state.

That's something we did through the kind campaign, helping to support you around offices like the Portage County Democrats.

And it makes a huge difference for county parties to be able to have that home base and that presence in their community.

Devin Remaker is a candidate for a state party chair.

Again, that will be decided on at the State Democratic Party Convention in Wisconsin-Dells coming up a little later on this month.

Still ahead, we are going to be talking to Melissa Baldoff about our weekly climate check update.

First, a reminder you can sign up for our newsletters plural.

Head over to UpNorthNewsWI.com to do that.

And a reminder, there's some daytime baseball today.

Brewers versus the Orioles pregame starts at 11.35 on stations across the Civic meet.

Radio

Network.

Coming up in a half hour we'll talk to James Kelly about some of the stories he's working on for Civic Media Stations in western and northwest Wisconsin.

Tomorrow we'll talk to Joseph Pecky and on Friday William Garcia also candidates for state party chair and we will continue our conversation with Devin Remaker in just a sec.

Also tomorrow Michelle Velazquez of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin will join us.

And one more note here how'd you like to get some free tickets to see the Milwaukee Brewers play at American Family Field?

To do that, you just have to be listening to your favorite Civic Media shows on Fridays throughout the baseball season.

Listen for keywords throughout the day and then text in the keyword for a chance to win a four pack of Brewer's Tickets club level seats.

Complete contest rules can be found over at the Civic Media website.

Let's continue our conversation now with Devin Remacher, candidate for state party chair and

Well, I know Devin you've you've hit on a lot of these themes already I think Tony writing on YouTube gives me a good opportunity to let you kind of put these A lot of what I've asked you about in your own words in terms of one overarching view and it from Tony it says What is your vision?

Why should I be excited about Devin Remaker leading the Democratic Party of Wisconsin?

Great question Tony.

Thank you.

So ultimately my vision is

about how we evolve the party to its next.

iteration and I think each cycle we learn something.

It is a learning experience in wins and in losses and I sort of think about when I look at the long view of what the party's been able to do starting a lot of our work with year-round organizing under chair Lanning and built upon by chair Wickler really taking everything we do to new heights and we now have an organization that both organizes year-round supports candidates up and down the ballot no matter how tough their districts are.

we have to figure out how we sort of push to that next level.

And I think that the way that we're going to do that is by making sure that we are allocating our resources to expand our program and open new programmatic tracks.

That can really make a huge difference.

How do we sort of get 80% of the return

on

20% of the investment?

And when I look at sort of our county party structure and our party structure, I think that is a place where we have the most room to grow.

I think part of the reason why

as Democrats, we have sometimes struggled to reach people is that even if we're knocking on doors and we're doing it year round, there's something that just feels inherently a little transactional about someone kind of asking you questions, taking notes.

I think that we need to expand into more of a holistic community presence all around this state.

And quite frankly, we need to rebuild trust with voters that have lost faith in the Democratic Party.

And a lot of that comes down to sort of national trends and national campaigns that we don't have

full control over here in Wisconsin, but I think we all have to do our part and make sure that we are showing up.

listening to folks and that they can see themselves and believe in the Democratic Party again.

And I think this year is going to be a lot of putting in that work, rebuilding trust so that we can lock arms and march forward in 2026, because ultimately to me, this comes down to making sure that we can win a trifecta

and

actually deliver a real policy change for the people of Wisconsin that's going to improve their lives and put to bed the era of Republican obstruction that we have had for over a decade here in Wisconsin.

Yeah, so in terms of what are you building toward, I think that word trifecta probably captures it as well as anything else we could say, right?

Absolutely.

Yeah, I mean, that's really what it's about.

I mean, I think that winning is great.

I've helped to win a lot of elections in Wisconsin since 2018 and onward and even before that in my other roles.

But ultimately, winning isn't the measure of our work.

the measure of our work is being able to pass policies that improve people's lives.

That's why we're all in this fight, and that has to be our North Star.

Yeah, I mean, again, as somebody who was there the last time there was a trifecta, and it was only for two years, you know, 2009 and 2010, and then along came the Tea Party and everything else as a result of it, most importantly, the Great Recession.

which was the seeds were planted long before that.

So there was only so much a Democratic trifecta could do.

And yet we see from a national standpoint, the first two years of the Clinton administration, the first two years of the Obama administration, the first two years of the Biden administration, you see tremendous progress that can be made when Democrats are given that trifecta, whether in Washington or Madison.

So I mean,

party organization is nice finances are nice but it really does come back to that trifecta that that is kind of the metric for anybody running for DPW chair I guess is the way I'd put it.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

And that's why I'm honored to have the support of leaders New Bauer and leader Heselbein for my chair campaign because they believe I am the candidate that can help them win that trifecta.

And this is just I think, you know, finally having fair maps, finally having a political environment where it really feels like people are waking up to the Trump administration and what the Republican agenda has been for the working class in this country and in this state.

I really think this is a unique opportunity, but we don't have time to waste.

Just like you said, Pat, you know,

who knows what the future holds.

So if all we have is two years, we have to make the most of it and we have to take the shot while we have it.

And I think that's 2026.

We have to win big and send a message across this country, just like we did on April 1st by electing Susan Crawford to the Supreme Court.

We can be a beacon for the entire country.

And that was the last thing I wanted to close on was the note that appeals court judge Chris Taylor announced that she is going to be running for a state Supreme Court next year against far right justice Rebecca Bradley.

Again, it's a

nonpartisan election, but increasingly these are nonpartisan in name only Chris Taylor is a former Democratic legislator.

I would imagine and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but there are a whole lot of Democrats that are thrilled that Judge Taylor has announced for this race.

Count me as one of them.

You know, I haven't heard of any other progressive candidates looking to hop into this.

So looking forward to working hopefully with Chris Taylor, thanks to her to support her and her Supreme Court bid.

And I think that ultimately, you know, Rebecca Bradley far right is almost an understatement.

She is by far the most radical Supreme Court.

justice on the bench and for the conservatives.

And she is, you know, I think someone that we absolutely have to take down.

Democrats cannot rest on their laurels.

We have to expand that majority.

She is just, you know, completely toxic.

And so look for that big race with Chris Taylor and whether any other candidates get in still many months to go.

Devon Remaker, candidate for Wisdom's chair.

Devon, good to connect with you again.

Thank you so much.

Safe travels.

Thanks for having me on.

Appreciate it.

You bet.

All right, coming up next, Melissa Baldoff, first to remind you, sign up for our newsletters at UpNorthNewsWI.com, live from Lake Wasota.

What a great place to spend part of your mornings.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network, and I'm back right now.

Time to do our weekly climate check with Melissa Baldoff.

And this time around, we're going to talk about Donald Trump would love to call it his big, beautiful budget bill.

But as one energy newsletter put it, Trump's big oily bill, the anti-clean energy provisions in Trump's budget bill could raise household energy costs by as much as 7%.

Melissa Baldoff, hello.

How are you?

I'm doing OK.

I'd be...

A whole lot better if this is not what we were dealing with, but such is life that we've got this so-called big, beautiful bill that's going to cause, as Forbes is reporting, $1 trillion in economic damage from the House reconciliation bill.

And the funny thing is, and not funny, of course, but that it's so

Not necessary the way that climate has been politicized rather than you know an existential human crisis a crisis for the planet but also as an opportunity an opportunity to create all of these new jobs and all of these new industries and I'm still looking for

anything based in facts or science that would give rationale to what this Trump agenda looks like right now.

And I still don't have an answer other than if this is what big oil companies want, then I guess that's what we're going to do.

Yeah, I mean, that's, that's really the only answer here that this is just, you know, a blatant and corrupt giveaway to, you know,

billionaires and polluters.

It's great for them, right?

Good news for them, bad news for everyone else in this bill.

Because there's really no other explanation for it.

These are people who ran on a promise to lower costs for the American people.

on everything across the board, we are seeing much higher prices.

And when it comes to energy costs, this is just one example.

This plan to repeal clean energy tax credits is going to send energy prices through the roof.

According to analysis, this bill would raise electricity prices for American families by more than $110 a year.

This is going to put

about 400,000 good paying jobs at risk.

And most of those jobs are actually in Republican districts.

This is real people and real families, real households that are impacted by these decisions.

And quite frankly, these Republicans know it and the rank and file folks, they know how unpopular this is.

And, you know, I have to imagine that's part of why they're doing some of these things and making these votes in the middle of the night because they don't want the light of day on some of these decisions that they're making.

No, which is why we talk about them as often as we do.

And some of it is just flat out grifting.

You know, the bill would also allow gas pipeline developers to pay a $10 million fee to bypass the normal

permitting process.

It would allow fossil fuel companies to pay the Department of Energy a $1 million fee to determine that a proposed methane gas export facility is quote in the public interest or as written up by the climate group Evergreen Action.

This makes a farce of our permitting process and essentially legalizes corruption with a pay to play privilege for gas pipelines and that Americans will be severely impacted by gas pipelines being built

through their communities.

Again, it seems like such a gimme question, Melissa, but there's a reason why we have a, quote, normal permitting process for these kinds of things.

Exactly.

There's a reason why we have a process for things, and it is to ensure that there is fairness.

There is, you know, there are standards that are followed.

that there are quality controls, that communities that are impacted have an opportunity to, you know, to engage in the process.

But, you know, as with most things, we know that Trump and his administration, you know, they value...

They value influence and money more than any of those things so whether it's you know allowing polluters to you know, just buy in to You know a Pipeline facility or whether it's allowing people to just buy into our immigration system they

Don't want to follow normal rules when it comes to their friends and someone they think might be able to enrich them

It's a I mean Tony puts it up on YouTube so well finally Republicans can be corrupt and public and not have to hide it anymore I mean that again putting on your your political strategist hat here is just the

The the time I never thought we'd live in where well if you do your corruption right out there in the open people will say well It must not be corrupt if he's doing it right out there in the open, but it is still what it is.

It's still you know legalized bribery

Exactly.

Um, it's just I it really is stunning to watch every single day the things that are really being normalized by Trump and this

administration and it is all the more important that we continue to talk about it like we do here and like so many others are and talking about it because we cannot ever let it become normal.

We can't let it become the standard.

We can't let people believe that just because they are doing it out in the open that it is okay, that it is something that

is what we want this country to be and to be representative of who we are as Americans because it is counter to everything that this country was founded on and that we believe.

Let's bring things a little closer to home here because we are about to put up an op-ed on our website upnorthnewswi.com by John Iams, co-founder and director of the Wisconsin Environmental Initiative.

And it's all about

again, in this opinion column, saying the Wisconsin Public Service Commission should reject the proposal to build a new methane gas plant in Oak Creek near Milwaukee, and also in the Kenosha County town of Paris.

Melissa, this is something we've talked about previously, the debate over what you would call a transitional energy source where you're not

burning big piles of coal but you're also not moving all the way into solar, wind, battery storage and things like that and that in proposing instead a methane gas plant.

I think we talked not only about these earlier but also up in the Duluth Superior area where I mean these are real community debates about whether this is a proper transition getting away from coal or if you wait and go the rest of the way.

Yeah, these are definitely really important debates that people are having.

We know that the methane gas is still a pollutant and it is something that is harmful to the community and it is something that, you know, it is not going to be a clean source of energy.

But on the other hand, we also know that these are good-paying jobs.

So that's something that are created by these facilities.

So I think that's something that there is that debate in a lot of communities about, hey, we need energy and we need production.

We want it to be clean-er.

And we need these jobs.

So I know that there is that that conversation in a lot of communities, but you know, I'm the the the The thing I take a issue with is the the natural gas branding because you know, it is it is still a pollutant it is still an unhealthy Fuel source that is dangerous to our communities.

It might be a little clean err, but it is not a source of clean energy.

Yeah, we're really getting into the the

I don't say the definition of err, but that really is where this falls.

And like you said, complicating it.

And I think that's a fair word complicating is that you have unions and other groups that are pushing for the construction of these gas plants because they do create the construction jobs.

But again, it's a matter of what exactly are we

constructing.

What exactly are we building for these jobs?

And so that's why we're going to continue following what the Public Service Commission is doing on this.

And again, that particular op ed will be showing up on our website very soon here.

And along with that, Melissa is a note in the column and something else that we've talked about.

And that's

data centers and these massive data centers like Microsoft and Google and Meta and Microsoft has announced a data center in Mount Pleasant, but then they've already announced pausing the construction to reassess their energy needs.

Again, in terms of any debate about the climate and what we build and what those new jobs are for, has to keep in mind something that I know we've talked about before, but for folks that might not be aware.

When you talk about these data centers,

There's a reason they're always being built near large supplies of fresh water.

You need that for the cooling of these things.

And that's what leads to the debate about those, right?

Yes, absolutely.

We know that they are a big drain on resources.

And I would also just say that there's something else that I think that people should keep in mind when it comes to

the reports about, oh, there's all this need for these data centers.

We keep hearing about the need for all these data centers, but then we keep also hearing about these projects being abandoned.

And obviously we know we need more capacity in our grid.

We know we need

more.

But at the same time, we need, I think, to have a more comprehensive and strategic planning process in states across the country to know exactly what the right mix of our energy streams is and not be so reliant on the energy companies to tell us what that is.

Because they are going to be incentivized to say, hey,

Whatever is the most profitable for us and our shareholders is is the right mix So I think we need a very comprehensive planning process at the state level to be able to understand You know, what's the right mix?

What are the needs?

Because we know that the data centers are a huge drain on our natural resources and we also know that a number of these projects across the country continue to be you know scrapped and You know, that's just something to really keep in mind is as we approach any

a new large-scale energy project.

Who is this really benefiting and what is the right mix for the people of Wisconsin?

Because from my perspective, we need to really focus on Wisconsin-made energy so that more people and more communities are controlling their energy future and have that energy sovereignty.

Melissa Boldoff with our climate check.

As always, Melissa, thanks for catching up.

We'll do it again next week.

Sounds good.

All right.

Coming up tomorrow on the program, of course, we will be talking to Joseph Peckie, a candidate for a state Democratic Party chair.

And then on Friday, we will talk to William Garcia from the La Crosse area, also running for a state party chair, and also tomorrow, Michelle Velazquez of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin will be along.

And one more reminder, you've got Matt and a baseball today starting at 1135 on stations across the civic media radio network.

I'm packed quite low reminding you, it's about every

one of these words in our national promise, liberty and justice for all.

This is the Civic Media Radio

Network.

Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.

All right, a little bit earlier, we talked to Earl Ingram about some of the stories he's putting together for Civic Media stations in the southeastern part of the state.

Now we flip it over to the northwestern corner where James Kelly is hanging out at Civic Media's Chippewa Falls newsroom.

Tell us more about the stories he's working over here in western Wisconsin.

James, how are you?

I'm good now that you're back, Pat.

I missed you last

week.

Oh,

thank

you.

That was

very

nice of you.

Well, you took a little time off as well, right?

Yeah, visited Madison for the first time since I actually moved to Wisconsin.

I did stop by on my way out here just to pick up all the equipment and whatnot, but I didn't really get a chance to like really walk around the city.

It's nice.

I

like it.

Oh yeah, very much so.

Did you have a favorite place that either you saw or that you want to come back to and explore a bit more?

You know, the area right around the capital is actually...

a lot nicer than I thought it would be just because,

you

know, in New York, it's in Albany and

it's

not exactly in the nicest of neighborhoods.

Yeah.

So

it was nice to walk around the capital area here.

Yeah, I recall that from St.

Paul as well.

But this was many, many years ago.

But yeah, Madison, the capital square is just a gorgeous place to be.

So Memorial Day weekend, I know that

Todd Alba is talking about being up here doing a show from from Lake Wissota on Friday, if the weather, you know, would allow for it.

And if I get the pontoon in by then.

So don't let me forget, you know, that I'm going to need somebody else on the pontoon.

you know, come Friday to be Mr. Alba's assistant to make sure that there's always something in the can cozy.

So

oh yeah,

keep the

sunscreen rolling on my wrist.

I get it.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Our 60 degree sunshine.

It'll it'll burn you.

So hopefully we have we have good luck with the pontoon.

And we don't have the kind of boat luck that other people have had.

A lot of focus on that abandoned boat in Milwaukee that finally got towed away what about 10 days ago or so.

But it turns out there's also been an abandoned boat on the St.

Croix that's been there a lot longer.

And it's finally an eyesore no more.

Yeah, since July the sweet destiny of large yacht, I believe 54 feet It's been there since July.

I guess it got beached on Birkan Island And the owner of the boat has been working to kind of patch it up and just get it ready enough to be towed away

the county informed him that they might be levying some new fines for abandoning the boat starting I believe last week was when those new fines would have started so finally got it patched up finally got it off the water and now there's an eyesore off the river.

Yeah I mean again if something went wrong with with my boat I would like to think that I would take care of that in short order it just seems very alien to me that these folks in both these places have these

very large boats and didn't move with lightning speed, you know, to recoup their, you know, the value of this thing that they're losing day by day.

But eventually this is one of those things where you really have to bring down the law, I guess, to entice some people to clean up their mess.

Let's look at Douglas County up in the superior.

area where the governor is looking to designate Douglas County as a historically underutilized business zone.

What is that all about?

Yeah so the historically underutilized business zone or hub zone as it's called for short would essentially give businesses in the area the ability to bid on set aside contracts at a federal level kind of an effort to maybe open up some new economic opportunities and economic growth with the upcoming Blatnik bridge reconstruction project still planned that's going to be a significant project on a significant transportation corridor in the region so there's definitely going to be some economic hardships that local

businesses go through, even, you know, before this request for the designation as a hub zone from the U.S.

Small Business Administration, there are community groups up in Superior popping up saying, you know, if you're moving locations, if you, you know, find yourself with not as much foot traffic because of construction, like reach out to us, we'll make sure people know you're still open, you're still operating, just looking for ways to keep businesses in the area going.

Okay.

And in the Eau Claire area, Sojourner House,

comes up when we talk about affordable housing, homelessness, things like that.

And there'd been a funding scare for that facility.

How are things looking there right now?

Yeah, so the city of Eau Claire agreed to contribute $40,000 to keep that facility open through the summer this week.

Earlier this year, the Catholic Charities decided

We might have to maybe only operate this six months out of the year.

As you know, Pat, the homeless situation in Eau Claire has gotten significantly worse over the last couple of years, especially with more people from out of the area being brought in.

And quite frankly, there's not a whole lot you can do here besides build new housing because there's a pretty low vacancy rate already.

So there's not a lot of available housing units as it is.

You can't really just lower prices and expect people to be able to afford them if there's no housing to lower the price on.

Well, exactly.

And I would add parenthetically and editorially when you say people being brought into Eau Claire and contributing to the homeless population in cases they're being brought in by law enforcement in some of these other counties who are quite literally dumping them in Eau Claire.

And I know the attorney general has a lot of other things to work on.

But boy, that seems to me the kind of thing that should be getting more attention because folks in the city of Eau Claire understand this is not necessarily a problem of their making.

Yeah, that is something that the city did reach out to the Attorney General about and they kind of accused these other municipalities of bringing these people in without knowledge of where they were going or against their will.

Those law enforcement agencies denied that and said we knew where they were going and we knew that we did not have the resources to sustain.

you know, them here to support them.

So they agreed to go to Eau Claire, but even still, you know, that's it's a large problem that's only going to get worse as housing prices continue to increase year after year.

Yeah, exactly.

And then finally, quickly, Eau Claire got its first installment money of PFAS settlement money from 3M.

Yeah, so it's about $1.68 million of a total of $9.4 million.

And among other settlements, they're expecting to get about $12 million in total.

That doesn't quite cover the full cost of the PFAS removal facility that's being built at the water treatment plant right now.

But even still, any money is good money in this case.

We're still waiting on that $125 million.

I was going to say, especially if the legislature's still sitting on their hands on that one.

James Kelly, Civic Media Newsroom, up in Chippewa Falls.

Thank you, sir.

Talk to you a little later on.

All right, and tomorrow again on the program, Joseph Ecke and Michelle Velazquez from Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin.

My thanks to today's guest state representative, Christian Phelps, Devin Remaker, Melissa Kay, Melissa Baldoff, and to you for being here this morning.

I'm Pat Krightlow, founding editor of Up North News, the Wisconsin Digital Outlet for Courier, a pro-democracy news network.

Have a great Wednesday.

We'll see you tomorrow morning here up north.

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