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Now, for my Lake Minnesota studio, here is the founding editor of UpNorth News, Pat Crichtlow.
And good morning, 8.06.
Nice to have you back here UpNorth on this Wednesday morning, June 4th.
Parker Olson is at Madison Studio 2A, and Earl Ingram will join us in just a sec here as well on another day that is still a little smoky, a little hazy, but...
More sunshine, thankfully, upper 70s for by and large today across the state.
And hopefully we'll get to check in tomorrow with meteorologist Brittany Merleau and learn more about the forecast.
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Always nice here now on these Wednesday mornings at this point to welcome in Earl Ingram to the program and check in on some of the stories that he's following in the southeastern part of the state.
We'll talk to James Kelly later about stories he's following in the northwestern part of the state.
Earl, good morning.
How are you?
I'm doing fine.
How are you, Pat?
I'm great thanks I was talking to Todd all the last segment and then we were talking during the news break and we were explaining to young Parker Olson here how radio stations used to work back in the day and we got to talking about carts and you know which we were talking about eight track players and Parker yesterday didn't
didn't really know what an A-track player was.
We had to explain it to him.
And, you know, we had the commercial carts that were like that.
And Earl, your radio career, like mine, stretches back to ancient times.
And was there, was there either a piece of equipment or something that you did back when you first started that you look back now and you go, I can't believe we had to do that back in the day?
Well, I have to tell you, Pat,
I'm kind of a recent guy to radio.
Yes, you are.
Yes.
I've only been in
radio about, yeah, about 18 years.
And by the time I got into radio, the carts were, they were long gone.
And I'm glad they were.
I mean, I, you know, see vestiges.
I saw vestiges of them in the studio over in the corner.
And, but it looked like that used to be a lot of work.
It was a lot of work, but you, but you do remember eight tracks.
Oh, absolutely.
But I also tell you that there used to be a lot of bodies that worked in radio stations.
Yes.
And you know, that, that has been erased.
Uh, and the people who've been around a long time, uh, would tell me about the stories about how many different people worked in radio and just in one studio.
And by the time I got there, most of that had been erased.
Oh, yeah, it was it was such a different era.
And I love reading up about it on some of the old legacy stations and what all was involved in.
And, you know, from our station down in Racine, I mean, that is your classic old timey radio studio.
You can completely tell how there were people that worked in this room, this control room versus this room versus that room.
They used to have to have the heavy curtains there to dampen the sound because there might be live bands inside.
And I
I really get a kick out of that.
It don't get me wrong.
It's great that I'm doing this from my home office.
You're probably doing this from your home as well.
That technology is great, but there's definitely something missed back when it was much more of a collaborative effort.
So I
always... I would say to you that I concur, because I mean, I remember again when I first got into it, Willie Davis, the former Green Bay Packer Hall of Famer, was the guy who owned the radio stations.
And just to...
the activities being around all those people, uh, like a different family.
Uh, I kind of grew up used to that and you kind of miss that.
Yes.
Oh, the, the camaraderie of a radio station and a newsroom, there's just, uh, really there, there is nothing else like it.
Hey, I wanted to ask you about some stories that you're following and one of them is, is especially.
troubling quite frankly.
And it is the the ongoing rash of fires in apartment buildings in your area, you know, multifamily housing.
And it it brings back memories of my time in the legislature again going back but that just tells you how long we've been talking about this.
This whole notion of these older buildings not being required to retrofit
with sprinkler systems, something that you would need now.
But I know from being inside that building in Madison that there's all kinds of pressure all the time not to make these old buildings as safe as they could be.
You know, you get I get frustrated because we're supposedly in a representative government, which means we can't petition the government individually, but we have to elect people who will
Carry our burdens and do the things necessary to protect the people But I you know at 70 years of age I know that that's not the case and it didn't just get to be that way and so when you have people who you elect Who are supposed to look out to the well-being of you and your loved ones and they're more concerned about the lobbyists and the people Who have the money?
And this all came to a head on Mother's Day here in Milwaukee when 125 family unit caught fire.
Some say it was somebody set it a fire.
But five people died in that unit, 125 family unit with no sprinklers.
And they were waved because the building was old.
There have since been several other fires in 25 family units and above, no sprinklers.
So the chief of police, Aaron Lipsky, is really beside himself and he's demanding change.
That change can only come in Madison.
And this is not a Milwaukee problem.
This is a problem across the state and probably across the nation.
where older buildings don't have to meet those codes.
And I would say if you own those buildings, you should figure out a way to pay for having those sprinklers put into your buildings.
You're not a pauper if you own buildings that have 125 families in them.
No, absolutely not.
In a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article from Gina Lee Castro, the headline says we need not just affordable housing, we need survivable housing as Milwaukee reconsiders sprinkling requirements after a fatal fire.
Her story says, presently buildings built before 1974, no matter how many units they have,
aren't required to have a sprinkler system.
And so folks might be saying, well, wait a minute, isn't there some degree of local control?
Can't a local government take care of this?
No, because the story goes on to say that a state law signed by Governor Scott Walker 12 years ago, Act 270, it's called, prevents Milwaukee from requiring sprinklers in older buildings.
The law stripped Milwaukee and all local governments of their ability
to adopt municipal ordinances that are more restrictive than state law, according to city attorney Evan Goyke, who also served in the legislature.
And Earl, if there's one thing we know about the Wisconsin legislature, not just the Republican control over these past 14 years, but there are a lot of landlords amongst those legislators who did things like this law that Scott Walker signed that removed local control.
You know the the hypocrisy in it is we talk about democracy We talk about what it is and and the importance of it But the longer I live the more I look into it the more I really shake my head Because when you look you know when you look underneath the garment You're gonna find something that is really not appealing and appetizing and I think that part of this
is that if the American people, especially living in Milwaukee is all my life and being from Wisconsin and knowing these things and these arrows that have been shot at my community, it's more than frustrating.
And to be honest with you Pat, I don't see an end to it.
But again, this is not an issue that's a Milwaukee issue.
It's an issue across the state and probably across the nation where elected officials have chosen to support
those with money, and the lives of those who basically are the average citizens come
second.
clicking through some links in the story here, and it takes us to a 2019 story about the number of legislators who double as landlords and pass bills that undermine renters' rights.
It notes, and again, this is from 2019, it noted that assembly speaker Robin Voss is a college town landlord with 23 properties.
back then worth nearly four million dollars and has done things like speed up the eviction process, eliminate some tenant legal defenses, limit the power of cities to police landlords, and cap fees that are tied to building code violations.
None of these things will ever come up
during legislative campaigns, because they're always on the bigger issues, you know, healthcare, crime, whatever.
You don't see ads about, you know, a legislature of landlords.
And as a result, you see these terrible tragedies about buildings that aren't retrofitted with sprinklers.
But it seems to me, after all these years, this might actually be an issue that's going to resonate with more people, again, not just in Milwaukee, but in any town that has old apartment buildings going, wait a minute, I don't think these guys are looking out for me.
Well, for the most part, I would say that people who live in apartment buildings that don't have sprinkler systems aren't exactly well off economically and financially.
And so, who speaks for them?
My argument has always been, a vote is a vote is a vote.
And whether or not you're a person who struggles economically or whether or not you're a wealthy person, the representation should be the same.
But you just pointed out a prime example why it's not the same.
And we've got to do everything within our power to educate people, to understand what the real issues are in these campaigns.
We really should.
And I want to go back to the original article and note that that there is an alderman there.
Peter is at Burgilis, who is suggesting a way to circumvent the current state law.
And that would be requiring landlords to disclose to tenants ahead of signing a lease that an apartment doesn't have a sprinkler system.
And Goeke said that he supports the idea and is going to do some research to see if Act 270 could restrict that.
So
Again, it's not the same as requiring a retrofit, but I mean, it's a positive step at least to notify somebody that, hey, you're about to sign a lease of a place that's old and does not have sprinklers.
I guess I would say if you talk to the families of the five people who lost their lives on Mother's Day and all of those in the past who also lost their lives, they would look at this in a much more urgent manner than those of us who have not suffered that.
that consequence.
Yeah, there there are definitely baby steps would not get it done at this point.
Earl Ingram is with us here on these mornings across the Civic Media Radio Network where it's a Wednesday morning.
It's June 4.
Let me take a moment to give you an update on sports here, especially anybody that might be hoping to wake up and find out that the Brewers had extended that eight game winning streak.
They did not.
They had a chance, they had a runner on and Jake Bowers was a pinch hitter at the plate, had a chance to hit the tying home run in the ninth inning, but T.J.
Friedl of the Cincinnati Reds made a leaping catch for the final out, the Reds hang on, they beat the Brewers 4-2 and snapped that eight game winning streak on Tuesday night.
Kenosha native Gavin Lux drove in the go ahead run for the Reds with a sack fly in the seventh inning.
Now that Cincinnati series wraps up.
this morning.
Pre-game begins at 11.05 on several Civic Media stations and then the first pitch is around 11.35.
The Brewers are then off tomorrow traveling back home to take on the San Diego Padres at American Family Field.
From the heart of America's Up North, live from Lake Wissota, thanks for making this the place to spend part of your mornings.
I'm Pat Quitelow.
This is the Civic Media Radio Network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Stay up to date on the latest news and information for your local community and Wisconsin by signing up for our free email newsletter.
Visit civicmedia.us slash email to get started.
Coming up in 30 minutes.
We'll talk to James Kelly who's following news for civic media in the Northwestern part of the state right now We're talking to Earl Ingram who follows matters in the southeastern part of the state and this time around in this segment We want to talk about the big beautiful budget bill which What did Elon Musk call it a disgusting abomination or something like that?
You can already see the split in Republicans who some of whom are now claiming they didn't know what was in the bill I don't know that I necessarily
Believe that Earl because I think that all along they might have said they didn't know about this provision or that provision But they certainly knew about the pain and you're talking to people you know down there in your neck of the woods who are going to experience some real pain trying to raise a family
Well, you know It's unfortunate.
We live in a time and in a society.
I've been married for 43 years My parents were married for 66 years
There was a time in the society when marriage was the order of the day.
It's not as much anymore.
And so women find themselves raising children alone.
And so the burden on them raising children alone is tremendous.
And so we had a society that used to be concerned about that and would do things to help and make sure that children.
were number one fed and clothed, and that was the order of the day.
But with Donald Trump and Republicans' policies that are coming down the pike, cutting programs that were there and safety nets that were there to make sure that American children got a fair shot in life,
those things are being wiped away as quickly as you wipe away a tear.
And so it's not just again in our community.
This is happening all over this nation.
And people in communities are trying to figure out how are we going to possibly support women who are working, who have children, and the cost of daycare.
when my children were young, they're in their mid to late 40s, my children.
And my wife and I, you know, daycare was affordable.
It's not affordable anymore.
And so even if you're middle class and you've got two children, you can almost look past $2,000 a month costs for daycare.
And so it's not affordable.
So how do we...
How do we, what do we do?
Do we just then tell women they stop working, take care of the children?
Then the question becomes, how can they house?
Who's going to house them?
How, how are they going to be able to become independent?
So this, this is coming down the pike.
It's fast track.
We know it and it's alarming.
The state itself can't, can't carry the cost of that.
Neither can the city.
It's always been something that the federal government knew.
was the price to pay for being a, you know, in a society.
And with Donald Trump, you know, and these laws that Republicans are putting in place, they're wiping that away.
Well, and we we've always known, you know, the ounce of prevention is better than the pound of cure.
And that includes good daycare, what it does for young children and their education, or investing in education as opposed to prisons, or investing in health care coverage, rather than waiting for them to get very sick and needing more expensive care, or job training, as opposed to paying, you know, unemployment benefits.
None of this is new.
and yet you still have at the state level people like Robin Voss describing these these kinds of benefits for child care and health care as welfare and at the congressional level you have people like Derek Van Orden and others who are just straight up accusing people of lying if they describe what's happening here as a cut
to benefits, which is nothing more than gaslighting, Earl.
There's not $800 million worth of Medicaid fraud that they keep saying is going to be cut.
So of course it's going to affect real people in your communities in mind.
I would ask the question.
Robin Valls, Derek Van Orden and people of that ilk continue to get elected.
And so they would not be in the positions to do the harm that they're doing if people didn't vote for them.
So the only solution to this is you're not going to change the hearts of Robin Voss and Derek van Orden and people of that ilk You're gonna have to replace them with people who are concerned and people who have the best interests of the citizens and of the state of Wisconsin And so I appeal to people in the state Look at the people you're electing and don't go by what they say
take a look at what they've been doing, and then maybe we can start bringing an end to this monstrositous way of treating people in this society.
Honestly, if people only focused in politics on moms, and we love to talk about motherhood and that we want to take care of our moms, well, then if you do, you would expand Medicaid coverage for new moms from 60 days postpartum to a year.
You would help moms if you made
daycare affordable.
You would help moms if you made it so that they could send their kids to safe schools.
You would help moms if they could get the job training they need to join the economy rather than depending on assistance to stay home.
Not that there's anything wrong with you or me, Earl.
We're good dads.
We're good guys.
But honestly, if they just put the focus on the moms, I think we'd all be in a better place.
Well, I guess that's it, his last thing quickly.
The only way we can make that happen is to elect people who see it that way.
Right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just focus on the moms, boys and girls, if nothing else.
Earl Ingram, always love these conversations.
Thank you.
I hope you have a great day and I'll look forward to chatting with you next week.
You as well.
All right.
Thank you, sir.
Coming up next, we're going to talk to Melissa Boldoff, our weekly climate check.
And the things that were done to improve job creation under the Biden administration have
mostly benefited Republican-led districts.
So no surprise that a lot of those clean energy jobs that Trump is talking about cutting.
Some Republicans are getting a little nervous about that.
We'll discuss that coming up next.
You're up north.
From the text line, where's Brittany Merlot?
Very simple answer.
She's under the weather, no pun intended, hoping to have her back tomorrow to give us a forecast for the rest of the week.
It's a Wednesday morning, it's June 4th.
All right, time to visit with Melissa Baldoff as we talk climate issues.
And Melissa, nice to have you here.
Thank you, first off, for spending another one of your mornings with us here.
But I don't
know where
else to start except this headline.
Acting FEMA chief told staff he didn't know about U.S.
hurricane seasons.
What?
You're with FEMA?
What?
Let's look at the article here.
The acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency told employees on Monday that he did not know the United States has a hurricane season according to two people who heard the remarks and said it was unclear if he was serious.
The agency later said he was only joking.
Anybody, I don't see anybody raising their hands if they believe that.
Nope, it appears not.
This Melissa is the least surprising news I could share with you to start the day, but it's still worth sharing anyway.
See, you're speechless too.
I love it,
we're all just sitting here like, what?
What?
And yes, the official David Richardson served in the Marines.
He's worked in the Department of Homeland Security, countering weapons of mass destruction office.
After he joined FEMA in May, some FEMA workers expressed concern about his lack of experience in emergency management.
And so now we're not sure if he actually knows that FEMA needs
to be ramped up for hurricane season, which recently started, but since the start of the Trump administration, FEMA has lost about a quarter of its full-time staff, including one-fifth of the coordinating officers who manage responses to large-scale disasters, to which Parker will again repeat his reaction, which when something like this... I'm sorry, what?
That's it.
That's exactly the correct reaction, Melissa.
Yeah, it is.
I mean, this is...
I just, I don't even know what to say to this.
I mean, it's, it's, if it is a joke and I don't know that it is, it's not a funny one.
I mean, this is about to be, I mean, it's, we, the hurricane season has started.
I just started, you know, and I, we know that with the way that,
Climate change has impacted our weather and it's gotten more extreme.
We've seen more deadly, more dangerous hurricanes.
So we have every reason to expect it will be a bad hurricane season this year.
It's wild to go into the start of the season like this.
That yeah, this is just this is nuts.
I believe Tony says it best on YouTube I'm sorry what needs to be a button on the board that we just push every so often
although I think
Parker's right here to say it all to us to have that Have that reaction.
It's it's worth noting more from a New York Times article that Richardson's predecessor at FEMA was Cameron Hamilton
who was pushed out in early May a day after telling members of Congress that FEMA was vital to communities in their greatest times of need and should not be eliminated.
The comment appeared to be in conflict with President Trump who has suggested that FEMA be eliminated and so it was Cameron Hamilton.
who was eliminated.
And so in comes Mr. Richardson on his first full day as acting administrator told the HTC employees that if any of them tried to obstruct his agenda, quote, I will run right over you.
Seems like just the guy who should be handling our disaster response.
And that's where we are.
In the meantime.
Because what else can you say to react to that?
Let's come back to how we started the day here at Melissa.
We have been talking about this budget bill, the big beautiful bill that, you know, Elon Musk now calls an abomination.
We've been talking about this for weeks, about the things that are in there, the cuts that would hurt, including job creation in new energy industries.
And yet the lead story nationally today,
is about the number of Republicans in Congress who are now saying they didn't realize what they were voting for.
They didn't realize everything that was in the bill.
And that may be true, Melissa, but they certainly realized that they were cutting off their nose despite their face when it comes to creating jobs in their own districts from President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.
Well, you'll excuse me for...
not being very sympathetic to the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene for not doing her homework on what she voted on.
But I'm not surprised to learn that a number of these Republican members of Congress had no idea what they voted for because we know that
what's most important to them is just going right along with the Trump agenda.
They aren't thinking for themselves.
They aren't thinking about what's best for their constituents and what's happening back home in their districts.
They are thinking about what is going to make them the most likable and the most, you know, make them appear to be the most loyal.
soldiers for Donald Trump and his agenda.
So, you know, it's not surprising to hear that they weren't very concerned with what was actually in the bill.
So, you know, that's, yeah, not surprising, but it is good to see that there is some accountability here that they are, you know, getting called out and that they are acknowledging
Finally, and I believe that is due in large part to the advocacy of folks all around the country.
And I know some great work by folks in Wisconsin to highlight what the impact of this legislation would be and how this would
cut jobs, how this would increase energy costs and how this would really be devastating to our economy and how this would hurt real people in our community.
So I think that it's something that these legislators
are going to find harder and harder to ignore what the consequences are.
I don't have the latest Wisconsin facts and figures at my fingertips here, but I am seeing some examples out of Tennessee where the Inflation Reduction Act, which by the way features, you know, more than $300 billion worth of clean energy initiatives.
But in Tennessee, electric vehicle manufacturing facilities and the companies that make components and batteries for EVs have been benefiting from loans, grants, tax credits,
And it says here in the Tennessee lookout from states newsroom, the electric vehicle industry has taken root in Tennessee and other southern states, other red states over the last few years, promising to create thousands of jobs.
And there are, as we've talked about, some House Republicans that are advocating that these clean energy tax credits be spared from the budget chopping block.
But
I don't know, Melissa.
There's still a lot of Ron Johnson's out there that are saying, well, you're not cutting enough.
So I think these House Republicans who want to save some of these clean energy jobs may not be successful and may put themselves in political peril as a result.
Absolutely.
I think that there is real risk for a lot of these folks.
because of their votes and they are at risk of actually being held accountable.
And yeah, there's definitely a lot of risk because people are aware of what's happening.
And I think that the, like I said, I think that the advocacy has been incredible here in terms of how we're holding
holding folks accountable for what they for what they're
doing.
We I know we did talk about the Wisconsin impact sometime back and I recall now a Wisconsin public radio story that talked about how the inflation reduction act could boost clean energy jobs up to the level of 73,000.
And that Wisconsin added more than 2000 clean energy jobs in just the last year.
So
you know, there, there is already a measurable impact of improvement in terms of jobs that could be created here.
It's momentum that should frankly be moving forward.
And, and yet Melissa, when you look at the size of Trump's budget bill, these, these credits, these things that are proven to create jobs are
such a small part of the overall bill, in large part because, you know, three trillion of it is additional deficit that Republicans are adding to the national debt.
But it sure seems to me that, you know, these cuts aren't, you're not getting anything out of them, except for money that's going to go turn into tax breaks for the very wealthy.
Exactly.
They're not getting anything out of these.
And
You know, the thing is too, you know, the cuts that they're making and the, you know, the decisions they're making, you know, we're not talking about modeling or projections anymore with the Inflation Reduction Act and the, you know, the tax credits that are a part of that and all of these programs.
We're talking about real investments, real savings and real jobs.
in these communities.
And I can give you an example, a couple examples around the state.
If you look at just the third congressional district in Wisconsin, there are federal tax credits supporting more than four and a half billion dollars in private investments in clean energy investment.
Thirty one energy projects that are benefiting from clean energy production.
or investment tax credits, including five school projects benefiting from direct pay.
So this is real investment.
This is not theoretical.
You know, this is not, oh, maybe someone's going to do something someday.
These are projects that are happening, and these are people that are real people working in these jobs.
And this is an actual impact in communities.
And when they make these cuts,
when they are taking these programs away, that is getting devastating for these communities.
Like Tony puts up on YouTube.
It's back to the FEMA manager.
It's like being a football coach and then saying, wait, we have a football season?
I thought we just practiced.
It's exactly the kind of sentiment that we're seeing here.
So let's talk generally about this.
When Elon Musk made his comments yesterday and, you know,
really just had this full on separation from the Trump administration.
Obviously, a lot of people are seeing that as as kind of a political earthquake.
And I mean, I really can't disagree.
I mean, Elon Musk and Trump seem to be besties there for the longest time.
And I do wonder if this is going to be a moment that either leads to significant changes in the Senate
Or scuttles the whole thing and we end up with with no budget come October 1st
Yeah, you know, I think Accused these guys of I Knowing knowing what they're doing out there.
Um, so I think anything is possible when it comes to How this
how this budget continues to play out.
I think, I think that's where we leave it, you know, because it's, I don't want to call it entertainment, but you certainly never know what the next twist that's coming.
Melissa Baldoff, thank you so much.
As always appreciate
it.
I'm packed
right
now.
Live from Lake Wasota, this is the Civic Media Radio Network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.
All right, it's 8.52 now.
We're joined by James Kelly, Civic Media reporter up in Chippewa Falls.
And James, how are you?
Oh, I was going to say good morning, but I don't know if I can quite say that if the air quality isn't.
Listed as good.
It
is just it is it is really something all this smoke that we're dealing with out here I was a little delayed here because I see a note here from Tony up on YouTube I hope you guys talked about James's story about Congressman Pokan being at the Pablo Center in Eau Claire Derek van Orden commented on that story on the Facebook page for our Chippewa Falls station 93 five the tap Oh boy, and sure enough
Yes, there's Derek Van Orden on Facebook commenting on Congressman Pokan being in Eau Claire talking about the Trump budget cuts, which again, I'm not going to rehash all of yesterday's rant.
Feel free to go check it out whether.
Congressman Van Orden maybe needs somebody to take away his password.
But yes, James, you did do a story about the Congressman coming to Eau Claire to do a town hall because Congressman Van Orden won't.
Yeah, now I'm wondering if I've joined the Kick Rocks Club with you and Dan.
Maybe.
I'm going to peruse his comments while you tell us more about the event.
Yeah.
No, it was a it was a Saturday morning.
A lot of people shared up about 100.
Most of the same comments that you would expect as we've seen in town halls in recent months, especially with the potential cuts to Medicaid on the table.
Obviously, you've covered those, but a lot of people are scared.
And I think one of the big things that I took away from this is that these people, the state representative, Jody Emerson, Christian Phelps, Jeff Smith, and Congressman Pokhanna have been trying to get people to call.
Derek Van Orden's office, other Republican offices, Ron Johnson's office to try to get this bill taken down.
And I think there's maybe a bit of a disconnect because the people who attended this town hall came on a Saturday morning at 10 o'clock.
They're the ones who are currently calling and writing letters.
And I think the real challenge is reaching across to those people who may be a little more apathetic and maybe not paying quite as close attention.
And that's where the real pressure might come from.
Oh, without a doubt.
And now,
because of our main topic this morning, I think new pressure about whether Congressman Van Orden and others knew what was in the bill, you know, before they voted for it.
Now, again, Congressman Van Orden has said that anybody who says Medicaid benefits are being cut is a liar when, again, he has the burden of proof to show that there's that much waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid.
But what else?
Does he not know it was in the bill that he voted on as we're hearing from Marjorie Taylor Greene and from others?
And so we will continue to follow what the what the good Congressman has to say and and Congressman Polkhan if he has to keep coming into Congressman Van Orden's district just to hold a town hall.
Let's move over to New Richmond.
You're working on a story about projects there that are getting some new grant funding.
Yeah, this is an interesting project.
It's the community library redevelopment project.
They received a grant from the state for idle sites.
Basically, the state Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation will give you some grant funding to take large sites in your area and redevelop them because they're being underutilized or they're entirely abandoned.
What's interesting about this project is in addition to the community library is there's also a housing element to it.
Above the library, there's going to be 69 market rate
Presidential units and then a nine-unit townhome building next door with some usual amenities playground fireplace tables So kind of an interesting mixed-use project and that's one of these creative ways that I think municipalities around the state are looking to solve those housing issues where if you have a project like this that you want to work on to benefit the community a community library Just add housing do it because that's a persistent problem for every community in the state right now
That makes perfect sense.
I mean, you know, more bang for your buck.
Let me come back to the budget cuts for a moment because we've got a story of Doge, the Elon Musk group, saying that there is an office lease in Rice Lake that's going to be terminated and why some folks are unhappy about that.
Yeah, so that is the US Geological Survey office.
It's based out in Minnesota, but they have a Rice Lake office here, which focuses on stream gauges, kind of monitoring water quality and water flow.
Pat, we've talked a lot about how conservation-minded Wisconsin is generally, whether it's Democrat, Republican, everyone seems to care about conservation issues.
This is one of those...
things where these people test water quality and water flow and they identify problems and they do maintenance on these things.
Now, the staffers from the office say this work will continue, but it will be a little less efficient and more difficult to do.
And there could be things that maybe fly under the radar because they won't have that office located here when the lease ends in July next year.
Again, just so penny wise and pound foolish.
And then finally, a story that we mentioned on Monday morning as well that
some folks who have wake boards or wake boats rather, these big powerful boats are suing a Burnett County town over a potential ban on a lake.
Yeah, and we've seen these ordinances pop up across the state.
I believe this is the first actual legal action that was filed against the ordinances.
It is based from residents who live in Florida and Texas, but they do have properties along this Lake Birch Island Lake up in the town of Scott.
And it's
In interesting case, you know, there's a real debate to be had between personal freedoms.
Can you use this wakeboat and are we causing too much damage to this lake?
Are we kicking up sediment that's going to cause algae blooms or change the composition of the lake or maybe even allow invasive species to continue to spread?
Exactly.
And that's why we talked about the need for the legislature to get involved so that you don't have a checkerboard of rules all over the state or a legislature that should let.
you know, local control stand and let each locality decide what is best for their lake.
So that is a debate that needs to be had in Madison.
James Kelly, reporter for Civic Media in Chippewa Falls.
Thank you, sir.
Appreciate it.
Thanks, Pat.
Mr. Olson, we'll see you tomorrow morning as well.
You have a great day over there.
Let's thank you.
Yeah, you're welcome.
Tomorrow on the program, Congressman Mark Pocan, along with Joseph Peckie, Chad Holmes, Sean O'Malley talking about money and the markets.
Coming up next is Matt Nair on air here across the Civic Media Radio Network.
And remember, later on today, more keywords, more chances to win in the Eskani Summer Text to Win giveaway.
I'm Pat Critewell, founding editor of Up North News, the Wisconsin Home for Courier Newsroom.
a pro-democracy newsroom building a more informed, engaged, and representative America.
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