Democrats Doing the Defending (Hour 2)

Across Wisconsin on Civic Media, you're listening to Mornings with Pat Craiglow powered by UpMorth News.

Now, for my Lake WSOTA studio, here is the founding editor of UpMorth News, Pat Craiglow.

Well, hey there, Wisconsin.

Good morning.

It is 6.06 on this Monday morning, June 9th, 2025.

It's another beautiful morning to have here up north, despite the rain.

Live from Lake WSOTA, from wherever you're spending your mornings, listening across the Civic Media radio network,

Listening to us on the app watching us on YouTube or Facebook or catching us later by podcast Thanks for starting your day and your week right here.

I got a question for you Was it a good weekend?

Was it a productive weekend?

Or is it one of those rare times where the weekend just didn't

go quite right and you're actually like, okay, let's start over again.

It's Monday.

Get a new routine going.

However it was, it's nice to have you along here.

We've got a busy show today.

We've got a lot of folks we're going to be stopping in at one point or another to talk about a host of different topics.

We will, of course, update the intentional conflict being set up in California by President Trump over immigration arrests coming increasingly closer to

the martial law police state situation of his own making, you know, the thing that authoritarians do best.

Also, Dr. Kristen Lierly will be here.

It is men's health week, so we'll talk about how we guys can take better care of ourselves.

But we've also got a story about women's health and the terrible track record on women's health in so-called pro-life states.

In our second hour, we'll visit with Up North News reporter Selina Heller.

We'll get a check on weekend sports with Jimmy Koska.

And we'll visit with State Senator Chris Larson, talking about how Democrats in the legislature have introduced several new packages of bills.

There's one about gun safety.

There's one meant to affirm the rights of people in the LGBTQ community.

Another designed to help defend the state against some of those Trump policies that can hurt residents and the economy.

In our third hour, we'll talk to somebody with the Building Trades Council about the ongoing popularity of apprenticeships in the construction trades and how the state legislature can continue providing the kind of support that addresses the state's labor shortage.

And then we'll have Jane Andorra-Greg in, Jane McNair, Greg Bach to preview their show that comes up right after this one starting at nine o'clock all across the Civic Media Radio Network on this rainy Monday.

As things get going here, I know that we will eventually get a full check on the weather.

Hopefully we'll get Brittany Merlot in here to tell us much more.

I can tell you it's going to be a rainy one for a lot of us today and all day rain.

Tomorrow is supposed to be warm and dry for many, but then an unsettled pattern moves in for all the rest of the week with chances of showers or thunderstorms from Wednesday onwards.

So if you were going to plan anything outdoors, Tuesday just...

might be the way to do it.

So let's see.

Tony says we did it perfectly.

He writes on YouTube.

I finished mowing just as it started to rain Saturday and then went to Duluth on Sunday to stock up on food.

I had the same experience yesterday with the yard work and getting it done just ahead of the rain.

In fact, that was my Facebook post.

yesterday afternoon was a kind of a split image of the weather radar with a little blob of heavy rain just as it was about to move into Chippewa and then the other half of the photo is my feet in a hammock because we got all the yard work done we went through all the landscaping Sherry did a lot of the weeding I did some trimming mowing you name it could see that the weather was going to change and so my plan was to spend a good hour or so in the hammock yesterday that didn't happen

But we got all the work done.

So I took the obligatory picture of me and the hammock for all of about 30 seconds, Parker Olson.

But sometimes that's all you need is just just that moment of victory to say, we got it all done.

The first drops of rain start to hit my face and I go, all right, hammock time is over.

That's it.

That's all right.

I made it.

I made it.

How was your weekend?

It was pretty good.

Did a little bit of work with Madison Mallard shooting a couple of games.

It had a, well, supposed to be a surprise party for my dad, but you know how surprise parties are when you're trying to trick somebody.

That doesn't usually go too hot.

So he figured that out like the day before, his birthday is today.

He figured out the surprise party?

Yeah, too many people were asking him to do stuff at 2.30 on Saturday.

Ah, yeah, you gotta coordinate that better, the diversions.

He just kept saying, no, we couldn't get him.

pieced it together.

Why does Gar want to play golf with me?

Why did Nick and Parker want to take me out for a beer?

What is happening?

I think he caught on really early.

That's just how good passive aggressive people deal with these things.

So that's my guess.

Oh, well, I'm sure that he still managed to have a good time.

Oh

yeah, he was happy with it.

even without the surprise.

So that's good.

And the Madison Mallard games, are those, you had a couple of games this weekend?

Yeah,

couple of games.

Good crowd.

Saturday, Sunday, pretty good crowds of both in the crowd on Saturday was our very own Luke Mathers.

Our own Luke Mathers?

Yeah, got him on the

video board

even.

He

got him out of Sun Prairie.

It's a big deal.

Usually he just works and sleeps.

It's nice to see you can find some time for recreation.

It was weird to see him in the wild.

Yeah, I did not

expect that.

Luke Mathers in the wild.

Yes, if you have any sightings of Luke Mathers in the wild, text us 855-75-CIVIC or use that Civic Media app to reach out to us as well.

You can also leave a voice note.

We've played those on the show before.

And so, yeah, you can use the voice note feature.

And of course, the comment section where...

all kinds of our friends hang out to wish us a happy Monday, and we appreciate that very much as well.

And if you're going to listen to the show later by podcast, may I recommend Spotify as a way to go to that app and subscribe to us.

And if you can't spell Crightlow, that's understandable.

Just honestly, Spotify, look up Wisconsin politics, and up will come our show because we talk so much about Wisconsin news and politics.

This was a very interesting theater week for me, Mr. Olson.

I have not, I've never been in a play.

I can't say I've been to a ton of plays and yet there, we did watch some of the Tony Awards last night in part because I loved Hamilton

so

much.

I can't believe that's been 10 years now.

And so they

had this

10th anniversary where, well, they said they were going to have a 10th anniversary with the original cast.

And you know how this goes on the award shows, which started at seven o'clock.

And they're like, coming up reunion of the original cast of Hamilton.

And then the next commercial break coming up the original cast of Hamilton.

At some point we realized what they should have said is coming up in the next three and a half hours.

Yeah.

So long asleep by then.

So it didn't get to see that.

But there was another Broadway play that I watched and a lot of other people watched without being on Broadway.

And that was Saturday evening when CNN provided a live televised appearance of one of the last runs of Good Night and Good Luck with George Clooney playing Edward R. Murrow.

And I have never seen a Broadway play televised live like that before.

And it was incredible.

And I liked the original movie, Good Night and Good Luck, where George Clooney wasn't playing Merle.

He was playing Fred Friendly, CBS News president.

But again, that was 20 years ago.

And I just wasn't sure if I would like the player or not.

And it was tremendous.

And I have no idea if you can go stream that now or, you know, if it's available somewhere.

But if it is, and if you have any interest in that.

I would highly recommend watching Good Night and Good Luck.

Not just because it's a good story about Edward R. Murrow and CBS News and the Red Scare with Joseph McCarthy, the junior senator from Wisconsin.

But I mean, it is downright chilling, the parallels to today, where again, you have people in high places trying to intimidate people in the media, and you have people in the media backing down.

You know, you have Paramount, parent company of CBS, trying to reach a deal right now, which would make CBS News look bad, even though they did nothing wrong, and yet ABC News settling.

So, if you know nothing about Edward R. Murrow, CBS News, and McCarthyism, that's fine.

Watch it, get a sense for what happened then, and tell me you don't notice the parallels to today either, and it was just good entertainment.

Interesting.

I'll have to check that out.

I have not heard of it.

I am a musical person, so I will have to look that

out.

Oh, you like doing musical shows?

Yeah, yeah.

I was in three musicals when I was in high school.

Oh, okay.

Like leading roles or supporting roles.

I mean, are you known for belting out a particular song?

Not particularly, no.

I did have a lead-ish role.

What year was that?

My sophomore year.

Okay.

Yeah.

I was the

mayor.

I was Mr. Mayor of Whoville.

Of Whoville.

Yeah.

Oh, very nice.

Okay.

Alicia puts on YouTube here.

I was stage manager for a musical in college.

Yes.

Tony's asking about the handsome and capable Luke Mathers at the Mallard game and he asks, did something go wrong behind the scenes at the Mallards game and Luke solved it?

Capably?

No.

No.

No.

But the things he could have.

Oh, he could have.

If he wanted to solve a problem.

For how janky the setup is at Northwoods League for those live streams.

He definitely could have solved something.

But, but you guys made it work.

And that's, that's, that's wonderful.

All right.

Hey, I want to call your attention to Dan Schaffer's work, political editor of Civic Media, and of course, founder of the Recombobulation area.

He is going to be guest hosting the Maggie Dawn show on Tuesday, along with Angela Lang from Block.

And it's at that point shortly before the show that Dan is going to publish a column.

that's going to have a lot of people talking.

And so, you know, Dan will preview it for us tomorrow morning, and then you'll want to catch him on the Maggie Dawn show coming up on Tuesday afternoon to learn more about a very important column that he's going to be publishing this week.

Wisconsin Democrats will have their state convention coming up this next weekend in Wisconsin Dells.

They will be selecting a new chair for the state party, also other executive officers and resolutions, all the other usual business, and of course all the usual speculation about whether Governor Tony Evers will say anything about running for a third term.

Now he has said previously he won't decide anything until after the budget process is all done.

needless to say, there will be a lot of delegates there, you know, with their fingers crossed, hoping that he changes his mind.

And, you know, they're the first ones to hear any kind of an announcement, you know, up or down a third term campaign.

So I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about a week from today after that convention.

Also, in our daily newsletter at UpNorth News, which you can sign up for over at UpNorthNewsWI.com, we've got, I did mention before, the, you know, so called

pro-life states and their high infant mortality and child poverty rates.

So we've got that there.

But also for National Dairy Month, there's little trivia in there about Wisconsin and daring.

Parker, let me bounce one or two of these off you before we go to break here.

Wisconsin produces what percentage of all the cheese in America?

Oh

boy,

it's got to be a big number.

Give

me, necessarily.

I mean, it's one, it's only

one state out of 50.

I mean, yeah, but it's handsome.

Come on.

Give me

65%.

No, 25.

One quarter of all the cheese in America is made there.

How many different varieties of cheese?

If I said, give me a number between 250 and 1000.

Oh, 400.

600?

Not bad.

Not bad at all.

Let's see, give you another one.

90% of Wisconsin milk is made into cheese.

I bet a lot of people didn't know that.

Wow.

90% of Wisconsin milk is made into cheese, because again, there are enough other dairies, farms, cows around the country that, you know, it's not that our milk gets shipped out, but so much of it gets made into cheese.

And later on, maybe I'll share the trivia about why do fresh cheese curds squeak?

There is an actual reason that explains it.

And we'll tell you all about that at some point, or you can sign up for our newsletter and learn more up north news wi.com.

From the heart of America is up north live from Lake Wissota.

Thanks for making this the place to spend part of your mornings.

I'm Pat Crite low.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

Welcome back just about 623.

I'm Pat Critello, founding editor of UpNorth News.

UpNorth News is a separate entity from civic media, but we so appreciate this partnership that we do five mornings a week from six to nine.

And then you can follow what I do the rest of the day over at UpNorthNewsWI.com.

Up North News belongs to Courier Newsroom, a pro-democracy news network, and you can find what all is happening on our side of the fence over at CourierNewsroom.com.

That includes all kinds of videos, columns, newsletters.

let's see what there's there's video series that are on there as well and a couple that I wanted to tell you about here of course we've got our friend Mark Jacob that you hear on Friday mornings and he has a newsletter called Stop the Presses which you can get at stopthepresses.news or couriernewsroom.com and his most recent column says you defeat Trump by concentrating on consequences.

He writes, as the Trump regime tries to bum rush our democracy with one outrageous move after another, the media scramble to cover them all.

Too often, the developments get reported piecemeal, a cancer study canceled here, a false statement about autism there, and the public feels overwhelmed.

And criticism that focuses on Trump's persona simply doesn't work.

Trump's biggest supporters are never going to be turned off by his crude behavior, Mark writes, or his rampant dishonesty.

He makes his base of mostly white, mostly male voters feel good about themselves by sending a message that they own this country while women and people of color are just renting.

So instead of making the coverage about Trump, keep the focus on the consequences of his ideas.

More food poisoning because of a lack of restaurant inspections.

More cases of measles because of vaccination cutbacks.

More lung cancer deaths because of the cancellation of programs that get people to quit smoking.

Supporters of Trump may not understand what it means to fire inspectors general.

They may not care whether children in Africa starve to death because of the trashing of foreign aid.

But the MAGA crowd does notice when prices go up or the government services they like get cut.

That's an excerpt from Mark Jacobs.

Get the full column over at couriernewsroom.com or set up a subscription that comes to your inbox.

Go to stopthepresses.news to get more from Mark Jacobs.

And again, so many other columns, podcasts out there that we'll tell you about from time to time in the coming days.

But as far as Trump goes, obviously the flash point right now is in California where

You have a president that is intentionally, even though he said he was going after, you know, the criminals and terrorists has decided to just go trolling in Home Depot parking lots and roundup brown-skinned people who have been working, paying taxes, supporting families, helping keep our economy alive.

But again, when your policy is based on race rather than actual reality of solving problems, you could see where this would happen.

And so an analysis piece in The New York Times by Tyler Pager says, it is the fight President Trump has been waiting for, a showdown with a top political rival in a deep blue state over an issue core to his political agenda.

In bypassing the authority of Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom to call in the National Guard to quell anti-ice protests in Los Angeles, Trump is now pushing the boundaries of presidential authority and stoking criticism that he is inflaming the situation for political gain.

Well, no kidding.

I mean, again, this line, he's pushing the boundaries of presidential authority.

No, he's on a collision course with martial law, and that's what he wants.

He wants his administration to get things done at the end of a barrel of a gun if need be That's who he is.

He's been trying to tell you this from day one The sad part isn't that he's doing it the sad part is that there are people that cheer him on for that and who want to see this

Fortunately for us, there are still some checks and balances left and one of the checks and balances is the First Amendment and the freedom to protest and to show other people that this is not something that is right, it doesn't sit well.

But again, coming back to Mark Jacobs' point, it's a waste of our resources.

We have never had a more important time for immigration reform to keep this economy going.

We already know what the worker shortages are like and yet,

Trump blew up a bipartisan agreement that could have fixed all of this.

He's been wasting our resources, bringing the military into Los Angeles in order to pick up people off the street at a Home Depot parking lot.

Is that where your tax dollars should be going instead of the things that actually benefit you, your life and your economy?

This guy's wasting your money on a big old military parade that's going to be coming up next week.

He's got a bill right now that would put another three trillion dollars into the national debt.

There's nothing fiscal conservative about this guy.

It's a guy who is part of a group that would love to see the country continue to be divided by skin color, by gender, by sexual preference, and of course by political differences.

He has seen what people in other countries do about political differences.

Closing down other political parties or at least rigging the game so that his opponents can't get further into power.

Or at least provide some checks and balances.

This is who he is.

So when you watch this this week as things continue to unfold and hopefully unfold peacefully.

But remember that this is not some kind of chicken and egg thing where it's like, I don't know, did this start with the protesters?

Did this start?

No, this has always been Donald Trump's intent to have a showdown like this that would lead if need be to armed conflict.

Because again, the things that we're bringing back into this country that we never thought we'd see again is just stunning.

Things that are worse than Watergate.

things that are more corrupt, things that may be more deadly.

We remember Kent State, I don't know that he does, maybe he does and a lot of people go, well, that was a good starting point.

Keep all this in mind as you watch what he does with your resources, your time and our national reputation and our Bill of Rights and more in the coming days.

Kristen Lirely is on the way.

Thanks for spending some time here as part of your mornings powered by Up North News.

More live from Chip Will Falls after the Midwest Farm Report here on the Civic Media Radio Network.

A Manny Machado home run was all that took for the San Diego Padres to beat the Brewers yesterday and take two out of three.

The bats have just gone quiet again.

Well not entirely, just with runners in scoring position.

The Brewers have certainly found a way to get on base, but in key situations haven't been able to score.

some very low-scoring games this weekend.

We'll see if that can't change with a new series.

Still at American Family Field, but now it's Atlanta that comes to town.

The pregame will get started at 6.05 this evening on several Civic Media stations.

Head to civicmedia.us to learn more.

Let's see, the NHL Stanley Cup Finals return tonight with game three in Miami.

Edmonton and Florida are tied at one game apiece.

Oklahoma City beat the Indiana Pacers last night in the NBA finals.

That series is tied at one game apiece.

The game three will be played Wednesday in Indiana.

And also, let's see, Jimmy Costco will be on just over an hour from now, and we will be talking about the weekend in sports.

Very busy for postseason action in high school sports, baseball, softball, track and field, women's soccer, boys golf, boys tennis.

There's a lot going on out there, and Jimmy will have much more about it, like I said, sometime in our next hour.

But let's bring in Dr. Kristen Lyrely, host of the Dr. Kristen Lyrely show.

I believe that happened this weekend.

It did.

We talked about pride.

It was so much fun.

That's wonderful.

And let's see, then you, you went to, you were in Chicago is seeing a concert, right?

Yeah.

We went to go see Kendrick Lamar and SZA at Soldier Field, which was really great because Soldier Field usually doesn't have a lot of entertainment.

So this was something new.

Yes.

Nice that they found that good use for it.

Very productive that way.

I love the Bears as great opponents to the Packers.

Yes.

Greatest rivalry in NFL history.

That much is true.

Yes.

And you brought one of the boys down?

Yeah, my youngest.

It was his first concert and he was so excited.

It was a great concert.

It was very artistic.

The choreography was unbelievable.

What we saw up on screen was it was so different than going to like a Springsteen concert.

You know, it was yeah, incredible.

Oh, that's great.

Yeah, there was a over.

by Cadot here on the Rockfest Country Festgrounds.

I know that they have new names now.

I haven't learned them yet.

But there was some other music festival there this weekend, like all about EDM music.

Oh,

you didn't go?

I didn't go.

No.

And I definitely got differing versions of it, depending on who you talk to.

There were a lot of folks that said the crowd was peaceful and maybe peaceful for, you know,

chemically induced reasons.

But that they weren't nearly as rowdy as, you know, some of the other music festivals that are up there.

We had, we had discussions this week about the difference between deadheads and parrot heads.

I mean, there's just a whole culture out there about, you know, live music.

And I was talking about watching, you know, Broadway shows in the last segment here.

What was it about this particular concert that you wanted to go down to in Chicago?

It was him.

It was my son's Christmas.

It was my son's Christmas present.

Oh, OK.

Yeah.

OK.

Yeah.

But there's music everywhere, Pat.

I mean, in the Valley, in the Fox Valley, we've got Myle of Music.

It's a big three day long music festival that features young up and coming artists.

There is a big Friday night series in downtown Green Bay on the city deck.

Everywhere you go in Wisconsin in the summer, there is music and so many great local folks.

I'll just give a shout out to one of my faves, Pat McCurdy.

Oh, sure.

Love that.

Yes.

Good.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, we've got, I want to get to, because you had a post about men's health week or men's health month the other day, I believe.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it's men's health month.

Yeah.

And just again, provide that reminder to guys not to, I mean, it even showed up in my dreams last night.

I

was in your dreams last night.

You know,

somebody was hectoring me in my dreams last night about

Uh, following up on the sleep apnea thing.

I'm like, the bad dream is now invaded.

My dreams is

where it's

come.

You're welcome.

Yes.

Exactly.

Men are much less likely to seek care.

for problems.

This is documented.

So that's why it's important that we've got men's health month.

And if I can leave you with one really important thing to remember, things like diabetes and blood pressure problems and cancer, those are things that often sneak up on you that are preventable.

And if you can prevent them at an early stage, you tend to do much better in the long run.

So that's why every single year it's so important to go to your healthcare provider, get your blood pressure checked.

to do all the routine things just to make sure that there's nothing brewing.

Very true.

And so, yes, I have that doctor appointment in two weeks here.

So, we'll get the update.

You're a good man, Pat

Crichtlow.

Oh, okay, fine.

In the daily newsletter today, Christina Laurie included a story about

States that you know claim to be quote-unquote, you know pro-life, but how pro-life is it if along with the abortion bans you have in place You're also among the top ten states for the highest infant mortality rates the highest child poverty rates and the least affordable health care now spoiler alert as Christina notes all of those states are run by

Republicans.

She talks about Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, South Dakota.

They lead the country in infant deaths, Kristen, and the numbers for infant deaths, maternal mortality and more are just downright alarming.

In maternal mortality, we know that moms who live in states with abortion bans are three times more likely to die as a result of their pregnancies.

We know that these babies are more likely to die.

So

when Republicans say that they are the pro-life party, it demonstrates to me where that life is.

We're not seeing it in the stats.

It is not there.

Because, and I've said it over and over again, and I'll say it always, abortion is healthcare.

It's complicated.

These are complex issues.

You can't directly connect the dots.

They are hard to talk about.

They involve so many different.

emotions and feelings and values and ideologies, all of that.

And that's why nobody can make your personal health care decisions except for you.

Right.

And the thing is the, you know, the source for this article was actually a report in the BBC.

Because again, other countries are looking at, allies are looking at us and going, what are you guys doing over here?

You know, with with women's health and with family health, not to mention personal liberties and everything else that we've already talked about this morning.

And I don't have an easy answer because we know the answers.

The answers are better health care, you know, freedom of health choices for women, better resources that go to these things.

And it's not that shocking when you don't do those things that we have reports like this one.

Maternal mortality, moms dying related to their pregnancies.

That was bad.

Long before all of the current badness even when abortion was more accessible in this country Just but base basically because we don't have access to fundamental health care women don't have access to Contraception they don't have access to safe birth in many cases There are so many different places where we can make a difference especially in rural communities I mean 50% of pregnancies in rural communities are managed by here are covered by

Medicaid.

And if we're cutting back on Medicaid because we are trying to give tax breaks to rich people, who will suffer?

It's women and children and families in rural communities.

And I can't say that enough because it's so, like I said, it's so hard to connect those dots directly.

But the proof is in the pudding and it's been there for years and years and it keeps getting worse.

Over at Courier Newsroom, there is another column I would point people to, a newsletter by Nina Burley called American Freak Show.

It's a weekly newsletter that keeps an eye on MAGA extremism and its absurdity.

And Nina's column, the latest one, the headline is Ladies.

Please step out in the parking lot to die.

A story of Texas chainsaw misogyny.

She writes, the Trump administration is really sticking it to women.

And since so many of the abuses emerged from the test kitchen of women hating, that is the Lone Star State, I call this Texas Chainsaw Misogyny.

Texas is always trailblazing new territory and using state power to control women's bodies.

They've had on the books for years a sick bounty law that grants $10,000 to any citizen who reports a woman who gets an abortion.

Anyone who provides their aids in a medicine one or provides medical abortion drugs, the state even allows men to sue their partners who receive an abortion as well as any friends who help them do so in court.

After the Dobbs ruling, the Biden administration instructed hospitals they had to continue treating bleeding and otherwise endangered pregnant women under the federal emergency medical treatment and labor actor M. Tala.

Last week, a Trump edict repealed the Biden guidance.

The meaning is explicit.

American women.

are on their own and the Trump government would rather they bleed out in a parking lot or face a lifetime without working reproductive organs rather than have a health care worker help them.

And I bring in an obstetrician gynecologist for a little affirmation on this in case those there are people aren't going oh that sounds rather alarmist and extreme.

Don't think that this isn't happening because it is.

It's just not happening to you right now.

And that's, that's the problem until it becomes personal, whether we're talking about the economy or abortion or getting a cancer diagnosis, it doesn't mean nearly as much to you until it happens to you.

So I can guarantee you that this is happening in Texas.

It's happening in Idaho.

It's happening in Wisconsin.

There's a lot of fear.

There is a lot of division over this issue and people are suffering and frankly, they're dying as a result of it.

It has to stop at some point, but I don't know where the bottom is, Pat.

Like, at what point do we, as a society, say, you know what?

This is a difficult situation.

But we need to provide health care to people who can get pregnant.

I wish I knew the answer to that as well.

But we don't.

And I keep becoming amazed at the ways that we go backwards.

I spoke in the last segment about Watergate, for example, about Kent State.

And now I'm going to go back.

even further.

Over the weekend was the 60th anniversary of the Griswold decision.

The Griswold decision was a case called Griswold v Connecticut.

The U.S.

Supreme Court decided in 1965 that states could no longer criminalize the use of contraception by married couples.

Let me say that again for the younger folks out there who go, what?

They did what?

Yeah.

This Supreme Court decision finally stopped states from criminalizing the use of contraception by married couples.

And then, Kristen, it was eventually expanded so that, you know, any women, you didn't just have to be married to be able to get birth control pills.

That's where we were in this country only 60 years ago.

I've met women who had to get permission from their husbands.

in order to get contraception.

How crazy is that?

But it was not that long ago, and for single women it was even less, it was in my lifetime.

It's really hard to believe that

It has only been that short period of time, and that this is still continuing to happen.

But this is happening even now.

We're seeing restrictions on access to contraception, to pregnancy-related care, certainly to abortion care.

Again, there is no...

Bottom here, we are backsliding in the wrong direction, and it is so incredibly important for us as people to stand up and say, we're not going to do this anymore.

We demand health care.

We demand pregnancy-related care because we're dying without it.

And by the way, for anybody going, well, we wouldn't backtrack that far.

First off, Roe v. Wade is gone.

It's gone.

And

when it went away,

Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and I'm sure Brett Kavanaugh and some others, but especially Clarence Thomas, specifically cited other cases.

They said, well, see, we just got rid of Roe v. Wade.

Here's some other cases we need to get rid of.

The Griswold case was one of those that was specifically mentioned, along with the case that, you know, guaranteed same-sex marriage.

We are very much on a path toward, once again, criminalizing

not just abortion, but contraception.

That's what this government that's in power right now would like to do unless there are some checks and balances.

Today's history lesson is coming up next, as we always do, mornings up north and live here on the Civic Media Radio Network.

This is the anniversary of Jackie Wilson's

birth.

Jackie Wilson was born in Detroit this day in 1934.

Gone way too early back in 1984.

We got a lot of birthdays to report today on this, what is it, June 9th?

Michael J. Fox, little Michael J. Fox, 64 years old today.

So is Aaron Sorkin, they were born on the same day.

Oh wow.

Yeah, 64 today.

Johnny Depp, happy birthday, 62 years old today.

I remember Johnny Depp, I remember 21 Jump Street,

he

was

like

the hot new actor on the scene, you know?

Natalie Portman is 44 years old today.

Born this day in 1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, a key developer of the electric guitar, won Les Paul.

Folks in the 40s 50s Had no idea guitar could do this Imagine if he could jam today with you know some of the greats that we've had since then you know you're Eddie Van Halen's and others But a lot of it really started with Walker Shaw's own Les Paul born this day in 1915 on this day in 1973 secretariat won the Triple Crown and Again, you don't have to be a big horse racing fan

But if you want, go on YouTube and look up Secretariat winning the Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes.

And this horse won by, I forget how many lengths now, was it 50 lengths?

So

many, it's ridiculous.

It really was.

Let's see another birthday for today, born this day in 1954, that makes him 71 years old today.

Pete Byrne, the English lead singer of the new wave band Naked Eyes.

I don't really love that all these

80s people are in their 60s and 70s right

now.

That's gonna be a complex.

Yeah, something not right about that.

Tony on YouTube, Michael J. Fox tried to tell them about rock and roll, but they just weren't ready.

That's right.

Yep.

See, Cole Porter was born this day in 1891 in Indiana.

Classic songs like Night and Day.

It's the lovely Anything Goes and so much more.

What a transition I'm making from Cole Porter's Night and Day.

to how in this day in 1990, MC Hammer's Please Hammer Don't Hurt'em became just the second rap album to reach number one.

Can't touch this.

Can't touch

this.

Do you still have your MC Hammer pants, Pat?

I never did.

Sure.

By the way, Please Hammer Don't Hurt'em, I said the second rap album to reach number one.

The first was, Kristen, any idea?

What group had the first

one?

That's a good guess, but no, it was the Beastie Boys.

Licensed to ill.

So MC Hammer here had the number one album this week in 1990.

The number one single this week in 1990 was Wilson Phillips with Hold On.

And finally, on this day in 2007, the number one song was from a relatively new singer, Rihanna.

So I guess she just recently announced that she's pregnant.

Again,

which

is perfectly fine.

Love it.

But I love the way that it's presented on like the entertainment shows because people have been waiting for years for her to come up with a new album.

And then she was pregnant.

And then, okay, a couple years later, they thought, here comes the album.

Nope, here comes the next pregnancy.

And so again, people were like, okay, it's time for Rihanna to drop that album.

Nope, she's dropping another baby.

Remember when she performed the Super Bowl halftime?

Pregnant?

And was it like a

big reveal?

She's been a

prolific hitmaker.

Oh, I know.

And again, like any of these folks, at any point, you can say, no, I'm done.

It's a lot of work to either write these songs, perform them, go on tour, everything else.

Just date a child in your womb.

Also a lot of work.

Yeah, yeah.

Put it here, yeah.

Cassandra on YouTube.

All I see when I hear umbrella is Tom Holland dancing in the rain in a maids outfit.

Oh my gosh, Cassandra.

Yes.

If you have not seen that video, please look it up.

I

don't know.

Maybe I

have.

It was on what?

Oh, I have a

lip sync battle.

Oh, OK.

I don't remember the maid outfit, but I do remember Tom Holland.

Yes.

I definitely have to look that one up.

Let's see.

This is, we mentioned men's health week.

This is auto service professionals day.

So thanks to all those folks who can keep our cars going because they're no longer, you can't just get under your car, open the hood and fix something anymore.

You need to have a PhD in computer technology.

Did you used to do that?

Everybody used to do that.

I used to be, even I could fix things in my car once upon a time.

Even I could do it.

There's nothing I can do there now that doesn't involve having an MIT grad pulling that hood up.

And finally, this is National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day.

Yes.

No.

Is that what we needed?

I'm going to do

that.

Yeah.

It's a weed.

What are you doing?

It's a

weed.

Rhubarb, I love rhubarb.

Well, somebody had to, right?

I just put a lot of sugar on it.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think that's the point I'm trying to make if it needs that much sugar on it.

But hey, if the sugar and the strawberries and everything else get her done, okay, fine.

Let's see, see, on the one, Tony's right, he's got you, just you right there.

And one follow up from Cassandra and Tom Holland, that man is so comfortable in his skin and he decided to be sober because he knew what it was doing to him.

which, again, kind of related to men's health, you know, alcohol intake and other things that are bad from you.

If you can avoid those, you really should.

Coming up in our next hour, we will be talking to State Senator Chris Larson.

about various bills that have been introduced by Democratic legislators not going to pass with the Republican majority, but they send a message about who's out there fighting for you.

Two more hours to go as we get rolling on another one of those Monday mornings powered by Up North News.

I'm Pat Crightlow.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

Live, across Wisconsin on Civic Media, you're listening to Mornings with Pat Craiglow powered by Up North News.

Now, from our Lake Mesota studio, here is the founding editor of Up North News, Pat Craiglow.

Hey, good morning.

It's 706.

It's nice to have it back here up north on this Monday morning, June 9th, 2025.

Dr. Kristen Learley is here.

Urologist Brittany Merlot is on the way.

We'll talk to State Senator Chris Larson a little later on this hour as well.

But first off, it is time once again for the Scotty Summer Text-to-Win Contest.

done statewide around the network four times a day you can either win a hundred dollars cash or a pair of brewers tickets club level great seats and every time you enter it puts you in the drawing for one of the grand prizes a little vacation getaway in wisconsin dels or indoor county some gas money to get you there as well

Each time we do this, there's a different keyword that you need to text us through the Civic Media app before the end of the hour.

So get that Civic Media app, places like Apple and Google, go to one of the stations on the app and use the text button to send us the keyword.

So here we go.

For this hour, the prize is $100 cash and the keyword is lawn.

L-A-W-N.

Lawn.

L-A-W-N.

You have until the end of the hour to text that.

Then you'll have new chances to play with new keywords at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and 4 p.m.

part of the Scone Summer Text-to-Win Contest.

And again, this hour's keyword is Lawn.

$100 is the prize.

But that pales in comparison to the prize we have here with the return of meteorologist Brittany Merleau to give us the forecast for this week.

Hey.

Welcome back.

How are you?

I'm good.

Much, much better this week.

How are you guys doing?

I missed you.

Well, great.

We missed you too, very much.

Um, but we, we welcome you back on, on a rainy day over here in the Chippewa Valley.

And I guess, I guess we're not going to be talking drought this week at all.

No.

Um, you

know, I mean, if anything, maybe for a day tomorrow, but, uh, otherwise it's, uh, what's the word I used on Friday?

Uh, unstable.

unstable.

Yeah, kind of has that because you just didn't know.

Is it going to rain here?

Is it going to rain there?

And that is that kind of what we're facing here for a little while?

Unfortunately, yeah, we're going to try to figure out when we can get that lawn cut in between all of these chances for rain this week.

So we've got a roller coaster of temperatures as well.

Sponsor sunshine, chances for thunderstorms.

So here's what's happening this morning.

Right now it is 48 degrees in Phillips.

It is 59 degrees in West Bend.

So we're in those upper 40s

to low to mid fifties all across the state.

There is sun shining in far southeast parts of the area.

Clouds far northwest and it is raining right now into central Wisconsin here in Owasa as well with a low pressure system overhead draping a cold front through the state.

So it's going to be a damp and dreary day today with on and off light rain chances for a good chunk of the state this morning.

Then it sparks back up and some small storms are possible later this afternoon and they could still continue into this evening as well.

So

And on and off damp and dreary day, mid 50s far north to mid 60s far south.

So still stuck in that cooler air.

And as we go through tomorrow and Wednesday, a high pressure system starts to settle in.

So we will start to dry things out.

We will warm things up to the mid 60s, far East tomorrow, mid 70s, far West.

And then we're going to continue that warm up to near 80 degrees on Wednesday before another low pressure system brings more wet weather for the rest of the week.

Basically we we've

We've set the table for amazing growth of things.

All

the, all the things that Kristen planted this year and all the landscaping is, is just going to grow like, well I was going to say grow like weeds, but I spent

the

day weeding the landscaping.

So no, the weeds don't get to grow, but everything else.

And I like the way you put it about the lawns.

Cause that's always one of those things, you know, you have weeks like that where you're like, can I go now?

Can I go now?

Can I go, you know?

Can I squeeze this in before it rains again?

Will I make it?

Is

the grass dry enough before the next round comes in?

Yeah.

Exactly.

Yeah.

That's going to be the problem this week.

So Tuesday, Wednesday, otherwise wait till Sunday.

Okay.

Kristen, are the boys taking care of the landscaping in the lawn adequately while you're, you know, working during the week?

I sure hope

so.

We've

developed a strategy where I've asked them to send me a picture and then I make a judgment.

instead of just relying on their judgment.

We'll see how this

works.

On the lawn?

Is there, did you put like a ruler in the ground or something?

So you can say, well, it's three and a quarter inches.

It's go time to the mower.

Can't you just tell, like, you know, you look at it, you see,

you have a

pattern.

It's like

looking at the ballpark.

You've got the pattern.

If you start to lose the pattern,

it's

time to mow.

Right, Rob?

I know Rob's listening.

Rob is listening.

Yes, he is.

He says, good morning from Tiger 10.

It's cloudy in 53 with rain just west of me.

Saturday, I had two yards to mow.

Then my niece, Elvie's grad,

party and birthday Sunday.

Uh Tigerton had a half inch of rain and when I went to church, my car Molly got a car wash while I was

in

church.

Uh he goes on to say that this weekend I watered the flowers for Tigerton Main Street.

He also says unfortunately in my area over the weekend, we had a rash of mailboxes and road signs being knocked down and stolen, especially stop signs.

It cost the county and township money to replace these things.

Yeah, don't do that.

Don't be a jerk.

Um

Rob says, it was great to see Brittany again.

She is a Wisconsin legend.

And so is Pat and Kristen.

All three of you gave some wonderful birthday wishes.

That was the highlight of my birthday.

Oh, Rob.

How nice is that?

So thank you very much.

And he says it's starting to rain again in the Tigerton area.

So again, that's the theme this week.

You know, we'll just be dodging these things in and out and do all right.

So do you have much

Brittany, for, you know, flowers or landscaping or any, any green thumb activities?

I love to do that.

I have a ton of plants inside, but I don't have a lot of green space outside to do so.

So not this year, unfortunately, but I'm huge into trying to grow some veggies, the pretty flowers, anything.

I love it.

Are you, Kristen, are you flowers or like veggies as well?

Carrots and things?

Tomatoes?

Right now, I just have a small garden box, but I'm actually a master gardener, so I've grown it all.

Wow.

She's a master gardener, folks.

Wow.

I didn't know you were big time like that.

Sheepers.

All right.

Gotta make a note.

Start the garden segment with master gardener, Dr. Kristen Lyrie.

Garden talk with Pat Crichtlow.

Oh, boy.

What makes Sherry a happy camper, though, is that they're on our back deck is basil and there's mint because that girl loves a mint julep and when you got, you know, when you're growing the mint yourself.

That's wonderful.

And is oregano easy to grow?

Because I don't like basil so much as I like oregano.

And like, I would add that to foods.

I mean, try it.

My mom has.

That's your master gardener recommendation.

I mean, try it.

It's not hard to grow.

It's just, you know, are you good at growing things?

I

don't know.

Maybe ask Sherry to grow it for you.

Well, I

could.

Yeah.

That's kind of where I was going with that.

She could put it next to the mint.

Yeah.

Brittany, I've got a story here on the Up North News website about summer camp.

Were you, did you ever do summer camps as a

kid?

Oh yeah, absolutely.

I was a Girl Scout and then I also did the horse camps all the time.

I loved horse pack riding.

So they'd send me away for the summer to a horse camp.

When you say send you away for the summer, how long would you be gone?

I felt like the whole summer was probably just a couple of weeks to be

honest.

Kristen, were you a camper?

I

mean, we'd go camping.

No, no, no.

I mean, the summer camp thing.

Yeah, you didn't do that.

Okay.

Barker.

Yeah, I did for a couple of summers, I was doing a tennis camp that was actually in Whitewater.

A tennis game.

So athletics.

Yeah.

So okay.

So we got themed camps as well.

Okay.

Just wondering about all those.

I'm going to tell folks about the web store in a minute here.

But Brittany, thank you

so very

much.

Nice to see you again.

Have a great

day.

We'll see

you again next hour for a little update on that forecast.

So get your small sticks ready because summer camps are kicking off and they're not just for kids anymore.

Whether you're looking for a day trip, a cozy cabin weekend getaway, a full on wilderness retreat, there is a camp somewhere that'll let you unplug or try something new or just relive the best parts of growing up in Wisconsin.

Some camps offer a more traditional summer camp experience with fire pits, archery targets, time on the water.

Others let you tap into your creative side with arts and crafts.

And so on our website.

There are six summer camps for adults that you can check out.

And again, the cost varies on this, so we're just gonna give you the description only here.

Let's see, there's Camp Wandawega in Elkhorn, which has Airbnb cabin rentals with camp-like amenities, fire pits, private beach, fishing pier, tennis courts, archery.

There's the Aldo Leopold Nature Center in Monona, a one-day adult camp with games, crafts, and friendly competitions.

There's the Woodland Dunes Nature Center and Preserve in Two Rivers, hosting three afternoon camps this summer, each with a different theme, ranging from arts and crafts to outdoor hikes.

Let's pick one more here.

We'll do, let's say, the Clearing Folk School in Ellison Bay, week-long camps for grown-ups with opportunities to learn quilting, wood carving, or painting while living on site, meals included.

Kristen, I'd ask if any of these appealed to you, but you do like just

Camping camping you and Craig just take you still got the pop-up, right?

Yes, we do Okay,

I

just like to be in the wilderness, but if I could just put a plug in for Camp Wanda we got apparently it is lost in time I have friends who go there every summer and It is this place where you get it.

They want to set your expectations low.

There's no technology There's no none of the fancy bells and whistles you go there and you are just camping and it is delightful

Oh,

that actually sounds really nice.

I don't know that I can really unplug like that, but

maybe

you should.

Yeah, it would help.

Tony, Tony says no one else went to church camp.

Is that more of an Ohio thing?

Oh, no, you know, Luther, Luther Park is a big one up here.

There are many religious theme camps up in northern Wisconsin, Jewish, Christian, otherwise.

But Rob and Tigerton says my summers were working on the farm as a kid.

And that's why when I met Sherri and she had no interest in camping and still doesn't, she says you have to remember on a farm, your goal was to get

indoors at the end of the day.

Yes.

Not to sleep outdoors.

Let's see, Alicia says, Dr. Kratlow's welcome to harvest the mint someone planted in my garden before I bought my house.

So she's got extra mint to share.

And finally back to Tony, who says, I like camp sit on my couch.

That's a good one.

It's a fine one from time to time, like when a brewer's game is on or something like that.

Speaking of which, again, I had to work to find the brewer's games over the weekend.

The Saturday Night One turned out to be the national game on Fox, which was fine.

But, you know, you first go to the FanDuel network and you see they're doing, you know, a show about baseball trading cards or something.

They're like, where's the game?

And then yesterday's game.

I looked on Fox, it wasn't there, not on FanDuel, didn't see it anywhere in my TV guide.

I'm like, I know this is on TV someplace.

And finally I looked it up, the Roku channel.

I just can't do this.

All of the jumping around and searching things, I just like, it's just too much, it's too much effort.

It's not fun.

They didn't make it as easy as it could have

been.

Uh, no,

not even close, but, uh, let's see what else.

Oh, I've got from Alice and cut a hay on the text line.

I have an oregano plant that is at least 18 years old.

Um, it's a perennial.

No care needed.

Easy peasy.

Alice writes.

So there we

go.

Yes.

So maybe, maybe that's where I got to go from here.

It's a perennial.

If you put it in the ground, it'll keep coming back.

I know that's low maintenance.

That's what you like.

I do like low maintenance.

There's enough high maintenance things in my life right now.

So I would be just

like sports.

Yeah, there is that just trying to find the game.

And so of course, to do that, I had to watch a game that ended with a one nothing score.

A Manny Machado home run for the Padre.

Why?

Why Manny Machado?

If anybody's going to beat you.

But of course it was.

And so

the

Padres take two out of three.

The

Atlanta Braves come to town now for a three game series tonight, tomorrow evening and Wednesday afternoon.

And coverage begins at 6 0 5 on several civic media stations across the network and tune in to civicmedia.us to learn more from the heart of America's up north live from Lake Wissota.

Thanks for making this the place to spend part of your mornings and pack right low.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

Just about 723 right now and a reminder that you can get our daily newsletter over at up front news wi.com and I was just calling that up because We were doing some dairy month trivia.

There we go.

Let's see we I did promise the answer this question and Maybe I'll bounce this off a doctor here.

Dr. Lyrely.

Yeah, can you explain why fresh cheese curds squeak when you eat them?

Because.

Okay, that's good.

Yeah.

They do.

They just do.

Try it.

Wow.

That's her med school answer right there.

No, fresh cheese curds squeak because the elastic protein strands in the cheese rub up against the enamel of your teeth and that makes the squeak.

Why does it only happen when they're fresh?

That was my

question.

When

they're warm, you put them in the microwave.

The protein strands become either less, they lose their elasticity.

Are you

making this up right now?

I'm hypothesizing.

That's a very

scientific thing that we do here.

I believe it.

On radio.

It's got to be like if they're softer.

Because if they're cold, you put them in the fridge, there's no squeak.

They have to be soft.

They have to be, yeah, but well.

The the the squeak that comes when they're fresh off the line like when we pick them up at Nacinville that little yellow Shack by Curtis, you know just before you get to

that.

Oh

Love love that squeak and it's always fun when you've got visitors

And you give them a cheese curd for the first time.

And they think, I'm not going to like this.

This is like the curdles up from the milk.

Just try it.

They try it.

It squeaks.

It's got that little kind of salty, you know, taste to it.

And it's just fun to watch them go, oh, this is cool.

Like, yeah, right.

And then the Canadians managed to improve it and turned it into poutine.

What the heck,

you know?

I know.

Add gravy and french fries and you're good to go.

Oh, yeah.

Robin Tigerton says, I get fresh cheese curds from the DuPont Cheese Factory near Marion.

I get mine from Skray Hill.

Okay.

Leisha also says she keeps oregano in a pot so she has to replant every year as we were talking about where to get, where to get your herbs and spices, you know.

We've started with Mint and Basil, who knows where it's going to grow from here.

So the State Democratic Convention is going to be coming up this coming weekend in Wisconsin Dells.

Of course, the big thing there will be the race for chair.

You've got Joseph Peckie.

You've got William Garcia.

And you've got Devin Remacher, who is endorsed by the outgoing chair, Ben Wickler.

And I've, you know, stated on this program many times that I will be very happy with any of those three.

They're all very capable, good folks.

And I've been very...

grateful that all three have come on the show multiple times to talk about their vision for the State Democratic Party.

Kristen, have you have you publicly expressed a favorite candidate in the

race?

I have and I agree with you.

I think they all are a great choice, but

Joseph Heckey is my guy, and I've been with Joe from the beginning.

And the reason is that Joe was with me from the beginning when I launched my campaign for Congress.

Joe and his wife, Melissa Baldov, who is a longtime advisor to Governor Evers, and she's been around Wisconsin politics forever, as well as Joe, who I've worked with, with Protect Our Care, so on some health care initiatives.

They have been right there with me by my side, cheerleaders, and that has meant so much to me.

If you're a listener of the show, you know who Joseph Heckey is.

You know that he breaks things down, he communicates.

He's able to help bridge a lot of the gaps that I think a lot of people are feeling in the Democratic Party right now.

People are feeling like communication is a priority that hasn't been achieved, and it needs to be more emphasized further than it has been with past leaders.

I think Joe's our guy.