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You're listening to Mornings with Pat Craigloaf powered by Up North News.
Now, for my Lake Minnesota studio, here is the founding editor of Up North News, Pat Craigloaf.
Good morning, it's 8.06.
Nice to have you here up north on this Monday morning, July 14th.
2025.
Parker Olson produces this show in a standing by in Madison Studio A2.
John and Gordy joining us in a sec from Madison Studio A1.
And then from her private weather cave somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin is meteorologist Brittany Merleau, who's also going to educate us this hour about EAA air venture.
Big fan.
big
fan
of it, to which Alicia writes on YouTube, I need to find Brittany next week.
Big EAA fan.
So I've never been to it.
John and Gordy, I don't believe you guys have been there from
our man on station.
And Kristen, it's been a little while for you.
So we'll figure
that out.
You've been there though.
Yeah.
I grew up in the Fox Valley, so.
You
can't help
it.
Exactly.
Alicia also notes that July birthdays are the best, and she's no longer talking about mine 10 days ago, but now talking about John, whose birthday is today?
Happy birthday, Mr. Peter.
Well, thank you very much.
Yes.
Gordy's birthday was last week, Monday.
My wife's birthday is tomorrow, and we're going to go see the movie Superman.
Oh, that's her gift.
Okay, we're just talking about that in the last segment here.
Oh,
yeah.
So Brittany, we started last hour.
And I figure we started as well about the smoke because it was again so thick in parts of Wisconsin seems to have dissipated by and large.
But does that play any kind of a role as we get our weather week started?
Yeah, so a little bit still sticking around especially by those great lakes far north and far east air quality isn't the best it could spike a little bit this afternoon before it wants to leave and it's all because of the high pressure system it is taking the air way up high and sinking it down to the surface and
The winds aren't really moving too too much yet.
So as the front starts to move through later this week, that will all be gone and out of here and it is going to start to get a little bit better by tomorrow.
So highs today we're going to the mid 80s statewide.
All of us feeling that summer warmth, slightly sticky out there and of course a hazy sunshine.
It will be warm and throughout tomorrow to temperature still into those upper 80s before a front starts to sag through the state.
So tomorrow night we are looking at chances of showers and storms far north.
and of course it is going to be working its way for the rest of us into Wednesday and potentially Thursday too before we dry things out for Friday.
And actually we cool down behind that as well.
Overall not looking at too crazy of a week.
Just a little wet in the middle of it.
Okay, we'll talk about air venture more in just a sec But first let me remind folks that state representative a mod Rivera Wagner from the Green Bay area will be joining us later this hour and Dr. Kristen Lylee kind enough to stick around force Jane Matt and air is off today But she will be busy this week along with Greg Bach and with Todd Alba because it is road trip week You can go road tripping with Matt and air on air and the Todd Alba show with stops in Oshkosh
Butternut and Hayward.
You can join Jane and Todd and Greg on the road for all kinds of stories about what makes Wisconsin great.
And of course, we've given Todd a head start, given the couple of days that he spent up here at the Northern Wisconsin State Fair.
I don't believe we scarred him too much.
He's still willing to road trip for the rest of this week.
So tune into all of that across the Civic Media Radio Network.
Also coming up later today on the programs, you've got Matt Rothschild and Angela
Lang, who are guest co-hosting Matt Nair on air today.
And then later on the Todd Alba Show at 330, State Representative Jenna Jacobson will talk about her announcement for a state Senate seat in Southwest Wisconsin.
That and so much more throughout the day here on the Civic Media Radio Network.
So, Brittany, we count on you as our ambassador because we're now in the one week countdown to air venture.
And for those of us who
have not been or, you know, maybe don't consider ourselves big, plain enthusiasts.
Everybody's got the things that they like.
You love it.
What is it?
What is it about it that you love so much?
It's risky, right?
You
love
risk.
It's risky.
Yeah, the adventure.
Former wing
walker.
Yeah, something like that.
Yes.
No, I've always I grew up I've always wanted to be a pilot.
I think obviously aviation and meteorology go in hand in hand.
So I've always been closely tied to that community and
Um, just the things that you learn, honestly, I didn't know EAA was a thing until I moved to the Fox Valley.
So like, not Kristen Leierly was saying, it's just when you're in that atmosphere, it is, it's there.
You're gonna go, you're gonna see it.
But outside of that, you don't really know what it is.
I had no idea.
So it's basically where
airplanes were, you know, in a sense created.
So we have people coming from all across the world joining in tiny little Oshkosh.
And I say tiny because it is small when you have all of these pilots worldwide.
There's over 10,000 flights coming into Whitman Airport.
It's already starting right now.
So the weather is a huge thing, you know, obviously, as you have all these pilots flying in and it's pretty cool.
It's a big family because everyone in
The Fox Valley is volunteering.
We have volunteers all over.
That is how this event is ran, volunteer based.
So a lot of us Wisconsinites are busting our butt in that crazy hot stormy weather to
make
this event happen.
And even all around it, I mean, just so you know, heads up fast food places or restaurants around the area are going to be sold out.
They're going to be slammed.
So it brings in a lot of money to our area.
But overall, it is the coolest thing to me.
Because I love flying.
I love aerobatics.
You get to meet all these pilots.
You get to see the old planes, the pilots.
Aerobatics.
Oh my gosh.
You really,
maybe that's what you're going to get into, right?
You know it.
Aerobatic part of it.
All right.
A new risk.
She likes
risk.
All
right.
I want to know why.
Why is Alicia writing in Wing Walker in the Navy has a completely different meaning?
All right,
Alicia, apparently we've made a bunch of people in the Navy laugh right now without any idea why.
So maybe she will fill us in.
Are you going to be camping next week there like you were last year?
Yeah, so I will be there the entire week camping, no electricity, none of that.
So it is the real grind out there for the entire week trying to make it through.
And you think you're from...
When that thing dies, that phone dies really, really fast.
Well,
I was going to say, will you be in touch with us at all or?
Oh, I will.
I will.
Well, she can always
go to Osh Vegas, which is across the street.
I love that
sign.
Osh Vegas.
Osh Vegas is right across the street.
Is it
a gift shop now?
I think, I don't know.
It used to be a motel.
What is, I have no idea what you're talking about.
I'm not quite sure either.
Vegas?
Yeah,
it's across the street.
It's
like a store or a house or it's something.
I
think there's a big music festival there.
Oh yeah?
Yeah.
Oh,
that big field behind it.
Yeah.
All right.
Yeah.
Country music used to be and now they changed it to something else.
And I believe it's maybe a pub probably right there with a bunch of campers.
Isn't that a great name, Ash
Vegas?
It
works.
We are
going to learn a
lot about Yaskas
area next week.
Brittany,
thank you so much.
Have a great day.
You too.
All right, let's get back to John and Gordy, the birthday boys as well.
John, today, especially John, as you mentioned last week, you got yourself a little gift.
You are now an EV owner.
That's right.
I just love these EVs now.
I got in the car and it was just so gorgeous that I just fell in love immediately.
And my wife was not on that same page.
She wanted to build a garage and add value to our house.
I said, no, no, I have to get this frivolous gift for myself.
So the only reason I had to get this is because, as you know, Trump is getting rid of the rebates for EVs.
And I thought, I'm taking that $4,000 before they expire.
And that's all the reason I wanted to get the EV.
And I also read an article where used EVs are really inexpensive.
They're more, they're least expensive out of all the used cars, gasoline included.
So I found a great EV.
It's a Kia EV6.
It's called the Wind.
I should give it a name.
No, it
doesn't need the wind.
It needs a song.
Kristen, you turn on that radio.
What's the
first thing it plays for you?
She's like the wind.
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
Yeah.
You gotta name it Swayzee.
Swayzee?
Name it the Swayzee.
Swayzee, yeah.
I could.
I have to think of a name.
I know.
I got to think of something that you give us the wind
as a start.
Of course, I'm old enough.
I'd go with Mariah, but I'm sure there are other other
other.
I got you.
The thing is, we're talking about it on there this morning.
We're we're saying, geez, I finally made it into the Jetsons age.
Yes.
That's our reference point.
Yes.
That is that is your entry.
Congratulations.
You're there.
This is a tech vehicle.
It's called the tech package.
So it's got all this technical stuff in the car.
And to tell you what, you know, they have the quick guides, you know, how you like to look at the quick guide right away.
So you can get familiar with things very quickly.
There are about 300 pages.
These quick guides are not quick guides at all.
No.
it sounds I'll bet there's a bunch of lawyer talking there too about you know all the disclaimers and
because like the
terms and conditions you have to check the box no idea what you just checked and yet you're there and so that that's your your birthday gift to yourself of sorts Gordy
and the
family
Yeah, and okay, they have family too, I guess.
Gordy, you did art fair on the square, which is all around the Capitol Square.
I've been to it once or twice.
Just a
wonderful way to have art and other crafts on display.
So did you get yourself like a little statue for your house or a big six by six foot painting of something?
No, I didn't really make any purchases.
I did win a couple of prizes at one of the local TB stations.
had a big prize wheel, and I got a little duffel bag or something with their logo all over it.
No, I like to go just to see what's out there, because they bring artists in from all over the country for this thing.
It's been going on forever in Madison, and they have the art fair on the square, and then they have the art fair off the square.
They really kind of have blended the two together, but some more local.
stuff at the art fair off of the square, but just fantastic stuff.
I mean, I just admire all the work that all these artists can do, and a lot of imagination, a lot of very cool artwork, a lot of arts and crafts stuff too, and terrific food.
So it's a great day.
They have it every Saturday and Sunday, this time of year.
Yeah, I went to it yesterday because it's a little bit less people.
You know, the Saturday morning is really crowded, but I went yesterday afternoon.
It was really fun and great weather for it too, so just a fun day out.
That's great.
I'd go to it
myself, but I've got
the weirdest house, there's no place on the walls to put pictures.
It's not just pictures though, it's jewelry.
It's sculpture.
It's so many different things.
Archie means so many different things.
I just thought it
was coming up with an excuse.
So look, there's nothing on the walls.
Things just fall right off.
It's a special paint that we put on the walls.
It happens.
So you have a birthday on Bastille Day, John.
Which
is
interesting.
I mean, have you have you had like had French themed birthday parties or
anything like
that?
You spend
your birthday
like releasing prisoners or
anything?
Storming the gates.
Storming the gates.
I forgot all about the steel day.
And I guess the Kristen, you you brought the whole subject matter
up, right?
Christian
tortured somebody over Bastille Day.
Because we're here in Madison, right?
So yeah, when I lived in Oregon, my neighbor, Anne Weiland, shout out to Anne.
It is also Anne's birthday.
So we had a birthday party for Anne and at the time we also had an au pair from Germany who like many Germans has a little bit of rivalry with the French.
So we themed the entire birthday party French with French fries and French toast and all of the like silly French things and we told him that it was a Bastille Day party and he got so upset that he left.
We had to chase him out of the house and tell him that we were just kidding.
So happy birthday Anne.
Happy best deal day to all.
You punk your German guest with a best deal day party.
I mean, do you have like a Mexican housekeeper and then you have an ice theme party
for this person
next?
What's next with you?
We're
still friends.
I texted him this morning.
He said, I still do not understand the French work culture.
Happy best deal day.
There you go.
Hey, a local update is coming up next for some of you.
Others will continue this conversation here.
And when we're all back together in our next half hour, we will be talking to State Representative Ahmaud Rivera-Wagner about what's happening next in the legislature now that the state budget has been passed and is done.
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 Crightlow.
This is the Civic Media Radio Network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
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If you'd like to interact with the show several different ways to do that The newest one is off the civic media app where you can go to one of the stations where you're listening to this program and You can text us from that station But you can also send us a voice note send us a little short audio message through the civic media app And we may play that back on air and of course we can also have you comment on Facebook or YouTube We are on the up north news Facebook and YouTube pages and the civic media
Facebook and YouTube pages as well.
We're talking this morning with John and Gordy from our Civic Media Station in Madison.
Dr. Kristen Lierly is with us as well from the Green Bay area.
And guys, I'm sure on your show earlier this morning, you were talking about or at least thinking about that, that letter that some members of Congress sent from Wisconsin to Minnesota saying, Dear Canada, we know you're on fire, but it's really kind of an inconvenience to us.
Great
moments, great moments in diplomacy
coming from
What are they exactly talking about?
The fact in the letter they say with all the technology that we have at our disposal.
both in preventing and fighting wildfires.
You know, we have chainsaws.
That's what they're talking about.
Clear cut the forests.
Raking, raking.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Three quarters of Canada.
They don't have fires up there.
I mean, we had Oregon, Wyoming, Washington, California, Texas.
We have wildfires all over the country.
Why did we not use all the technology that we have at our disposal to stop them?
It's almost as if there's something changing about the climate.
Yeah, what is that?
Can't
quite put my finger on it.
But again,
I think given the source of the letters, Tom Tiffany and Glenn Grossman and the others, you know, the modern tools they're talking about involve a chainsaw and then a backhoe.
And then you turn the forest into a strip mine or a strip mall, as the case may be, because exactly, you can't have a forest fire if you don't have a forest.
Huh?
Yeah, I
mean, these guys know how.
to use all the modern tools and how to make us look like the worst neighbors ever.
Sorry, the house is
burning down, but could you stop bothering us with that, please?
They have a problem with the smoke.
I mean, don't they have enough problems in Canada to deal with this thing instead of listening to these congressmen make
something out of nothing.
They can't do it.
We have changed the wind blow and blowing into the US.
It's just the way it is, you know.
And I love that the the premier of Manitoba just, you know, fired right back at them, referred to them as ambulance chasers.
And, you
know, explain that, you know, there are plenty of Americans who actually have a bit of compassion and even send some firefighters up to fight these things.
And that's what you want.
But I think when you're instead chasing headlines, and when you're based
is built off of the people who don't like anything not American, even Canada.
And honestly, who could hate anything about Canada?
I know, what's that
about?
No matter what it is, they're gonna say we're sorry, you know, and then they'll try to do better and they'll offer you some poutine.
But
these guys,
they've got a base that's like, oh, as long as it's anything but America, we'll blame Canada for this.
And it's it's just ingenious.
And I know it doesn't do us any good whatsoever.
My son met some people up in Canada.
You know how kids nowadays they have all these distant friends on the internet.
So he went up and visited in Canada and his big thing.
Oh, he just loves Canada now because they have canned maple syrup.
We have jars here in this state.
But they've got canned maple syrup and he brought some cans back and he wants to order some more cans off the internet of
You know, Canadian maple syrup.
It's really good.
It's that dark, dark, deep, tasty maple syrup.
I love that
stuff.
I learned on our recent trip to Portugal, the way that you can have differences in syrup and in honey and in other things.
I always just kind of thought, well, don't they all just kind of taste the same?
And no, they
most
certainly did.
Kristen shake in her head like, no, you can you can tell the difference between a Wisconsin maple syrup and a maple syrup from Manitoba.
Yes,
you actually can.
Well, it depends on what your pollinators are.
Oh, yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yeah.
We're back to the pollinators.
What is that super?
I don't know, Megan, some kind of super honey now and super honey.
Yeah, super.
Yeah, some kind of super industrial straight honey.
Really?
And also making the honey.
Did
you see this in the
movie or something?
The hot
honeys.
Oh, the hot honeys are so in.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What's that all about?
Doesn't have something to do with what you do?
Oh, I didn't know that.
Bees and
benbalanating.
I actually did that with I grilled up some chicken last weekend and I made a little hot honey mixture.
Little
honey and
some spices and I brushed that on and again, if you don't overdo it, you know, again, there's there's hot for the sake of, you know, sweating and then there's hot for the sake of flavor.
And boy, if you, I love the latter.
If you get that right, if you get hot for the flavor of it, that is just so good.
But other people, they want to do like the, what is that hot wing show?
The one with the wing challenge and
all the
celebrities come on and they're like an Airdale hot ones.
Yeah.
And doing that, I don't know.
Are any of you, maybe you like the heat for the sake of heat, John Gordy?
I love those ghost
peppers.
Oh yeah, definitely.
I've got a tip for everybody though.
If you like egg rolls and you like sweet and sour dip for your egg rolls, use a pepper jam or jelly.
Pepper jam or jelly
is beautiful for egg rolls.
That is my
my wife's newest favorite thing is somebody gave us a thing of pepper jelly.
And again, my wife is a dairy farm girl from Manitowoc County.
She always jokes that milk is a spice in
her
world.
And
yet
she likes nothing spicy.
And yet she took to this pepper jelly.
First, she put some cream cheese on some some either a baguette or you know, cracker or whatever, and then a little pepper jelly on top of the cream cheese.
And she just she can't get
it.
That sounds great.
Yeah.
So yeah.
You're not alone on this, Kristen, spices.
I love spices, the hotter the better.
Yes.
And hot honey is so popular in my house that one of my many sons actually.
keeps the container in his bedroom so his brothers won't steal it.
Wow, that's
intense.
Are
they
Gen Z or?
Oh yeah, they're so Gen Z.
I mean, some of them, they kind of span.
There's 10,000 of these boys all
over the house
there.
They're always fighting.
They're like giant humans now and they're still wrestling.
I don't think they've put anything breakable out.
Wow.
Giant humans.
Catch
the
show on our Civic Media Station down in Madison Weekday morning.
Guys, thank you very much.
John, happy birthday again.
Enjoy.
Well,
thank you.
I appreciate
it.
All right.
We will thank you.
Thanks, Pat.
Yep.
We'll talk to you next week.
When we come back, we will talk to Green Bay Area State Representative Ahmad Rivera about the legislature, about the state budget that just passed and where he would like to go from here as a member of the Wisconsin Legislature.
That's all ahead here on the Civic Media Radio Network.
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In today's newsletter, a little story about sports broadcaster, Trinie Casey.
You may have remembered her as Trinie Kaznarik.
She recently completed her leg of MS Run the U.S.
a coast-to-coast relay where runners cover a section of the country to raise awareness and funds for those living with multiple sclerosis.
Trini had a leg that spanned 160 miles from Platteville to Wauwatosa, basically running six marathons and six days.
She raised tens of thousands of dollars for the cause and you can read more about it.
in our newsletter.
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Look for that on the website UpNorthNewsWI.com
Back now at 836, Dr. Kristen Lyrely is here and also joining us.
State Representative Ahmaud Rivera-Wagner from the Green Bay Area.
Nice to have you here, Representative.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for having me.
Go back
down.
There you go, exactly.
So the state budget is done and ultimately as it passed, you were a no vote on it.
It was quite the bipartisan
vote total with Republicans and Democrats voting no Republicans and Democrats voting yes and everybody in those groups you know has their reasons and so I wanted to hear from you what it was where in your mind the state budget bill fell short of your support for a vote.
Well, first and foremost, I just want to let you know, I also love honey.
And so it's one of my wonderful things.
And I usually put it with bacon wrapped dates with cheese and goat cheese on top.
So it's very, very good.
But you
see, you're in get in line here because Jenny's putting on YouTube pepper jelly is a great stir fry alternative true to.
So look, look at this.
So we are weird.
We are adding spice to this program like you never would.
Who'd have thought, you know, that a girl from Kakana and a boy from Chippewa Falls, neither one of which is going to be mistaken for spicy is going to be all about the spicy food and, you know, and more.
I
love it.
So now
it's time for that hot take on the
budget.
So one of the things I'm really excited about is that there was even a version of bipartisan compromise.
I mean, many of you already know this, that over the last 15 years, we have not really seen Republicans come to the table to negotiate on anything related to the budget.
We've seen a new process in which the governor puts out a budget, which I fully supported.
And the JFC, the Joint Finance Committee, which is 14 members are Republicans and four are Democrats, despite legislators that are much closer
in percentages usually throws out the entire budget.
And that's actually what happened this year except they, the most extreme members of the Senate.
could not vote for any budget and actually were contemplating not passing a budget for the first time in modern Wisconsin history.
And then they were looking for democratic votes literally at the last minute, coming down to the last hour of the budget cycle.
This is the most kind of unique budget cycle that we've ever seen probably in modern Wisconsin history.
And so a lot of things were missing.
And so I'm very proud of the governor in this broken system that we have attempted to bring some common census bills.
So he made a Republican bill, a budget bill better, but it really fell short.
And so I'm thankful for the governor for all the work that he did.
I'm glad that there are some elements that got improved.
And we saw some really good things in the budget, but here's the thing.
I came to Madison not to work just within broken systems, but to fix them.
And one of the most broken systems that we have is school funding.
And so the compromise was that our special education funding would be at 60%.
For those who may not know that we essentially have two tiers of education where we have voucher schools and traditional public schools.
Voucher schools get funded at 90% or higher for their special education expenses.
Public schools are at 30%.
The governor put it at 60%, which was the compromise, which we would love to be at 90, but it got 60.
People could live with that.
The Republicans responded by giving them 32%.
This budget put it at 45%.
And so what school districts told us, like here in Green Bay, was if we couldn't get to 60%, we'd end up at a referendum, putting that burden of funding our public schools
on property tax owners in the local community versus on the budget that has the ability to cover that cost.
And so it didn't pass.
I mean, the budget did pass and we are now looking for our school system is planning on going to referendum this next fall.
And so I could not support a budget that could not really cover the cost, the compromise funding for schools.
And to me, schools are the centerpiece of our community that's where
We judge how well we take care of our kids, where they meet some of the best people of their lives, where they are equipped for the next generation and the skills of the workforce.
And the fact that our schools are struggling at such a level just did not seem like something I could vote for.
I'm looking forward to supporting more school funding in this coming year, but it was really school funding that made the difference for me.
And when you talk about Green Bay Schools going to referendum, you mean referendum.
Again, because Republicans in the state have failed to provide adequate funding for public education for the past 15 years.
And before I ask you about childcare, because I really, really care about that, I just want to lift up something that you said.
For the past 15 years, Republicans in the state have refused to compromise.
And that's what the people of Wisconsin want.
They have refused to serve the people of Wisconsin
because they have had this stance that is uncompromising.
So let's talk about what that means for childcare now and for the future of childcare in this state.
Yeah.
And so there were several things that I think I would have loved to see more investment in child care was one of them.
This budget didn't actually have any specific allocations for housing.
As we know that there's a housing crisis here in Green Bay and it ultimately because of Republicans failed to expand badger care, which we know would actually bring about $1.7 billion to the state of Wisconsin, but specifically child care.
And the governor has made a great
effort to really make sure that we had some child care funding in this project.
And so there is funding, millions of dollars of funding for child care that the governor was able to add into this, the really exciting child care programs program that was a pandemic era program that sent direct funding to child care providers that allowed them to
higher folks pay people better and keep their prices low and accessible to working families.
The governor had been a champion for that work.
Republicans didn't like the name childcare accounts and didn't like the program.
So the compromise was to create a whole new program that works just like childcare accounts so that Republicans could have a win.
And so the upside is that we have childcare funding in the state budget.
The downside is that funding literally goes away after the first year.
And again,
I think that we have to remember that it's not really a compromise.
It was that Republicans wanted something.
They needed five Democratic votes, and they gave us the bare minimum to get those five votes in the Senate, and they did get some more in the Assembly.
And I think that is not a great process.
To me, what I hear when I talk to people in this community, Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, is that they want government to work.
They want government to be a force for good.
And there's a lot of incredible things that happen here in Wisconsin.
We're the birthplace of many civil rights, of social security, of environmentalism.
We know that we want to take care of each other.
And so they expect a budget that does that work.
And for me,
I'm really proud of the governor for even getting an improved budget.
But the truth of the matter is there's too many things that were left on the table.
Childcare is one of them.
We would have loved to see some further extensions.
And these are majoritarian policies.
These are not.
far right, far left.
Everybody wants a basic childcare program.
People want housing and building more housing.
They want something taken care of with the environment, and they want their healthcare to be more accessible.
And they want us to take funding from the federal government so that it's less of a burden on local taxpayers.
And unfortunately, we could not get there with this budget, but this is the first budget that we've ever seen Republicans have come to the table.
Unfortunately, it was, they came to the table the last 24 hours and expected
to make miracles.
And so I'm happy we got further than we were at, but there's still a lot that folks need in this moment.
First steps by partisan wise, but baby steps,
but first
steps,
but
baby steps.
So where do we go from here?
The budget bill is done.
We're talking to a state representative, a moderate vera Wagner from Green Bay, Dr. Kristen Lairley here as well.
And
So there are things that did not make the state budget bill that perhaps could come up as separate legislation, but again, it would need bipartisan support to move forward.
There are other bills that may not pass at all.
They've been brought up year after year after year.
And yet as a statement, you have to bring them up to show people what you're willing to fight for.
I think about the predecessor in that seat, you know, made a big deal about healthy meals for all and school meals.
You have taken that baton and you are running with it.
Absolutely.
So just for folks who may not know, former representative Christina Shelton, now Christina Sandar, led the effort to create a program called Healthy Meals for All, which basically says that
Every kid that goes to a school, a public school gets a lunch and a breakfast.
No means testing.
Everyone gets fed.
We know that a hungry kid cannot learn.
And so taking that concern off the table and allowing kids to have meals without accruing debt, something that we still do in the 21st century is that we make children and families actually accrue debt for meals at schools.
This bill would eliminate
that process and no means testing.
And we'd actually save money.
It cost the state and local municipalities money to actually implement a program that trust to regulate.
who gets and who pays for school funding, school food.
And Minnesota has already done this.
Many states have already done this.
And it's an exciting program that's common sense.
It actually saves taxpayer money.
And we see the improvement in kids' lives and learning outcomes and social outcomes.
And so I'm really excited to be a champion for this.
A lot of my other Democratic colleagues have signed onto this bill.
We are hoping to get this passed.
It was in the governor's budget.
But it was stripped out by the Joint Finance Committee.
But we are re-introducing that bill, hoping to get that support.
And when I actually talk to my Republican colleagues, there's a lot of support.
But we all know the difference between private conversations and the politics of the Assembly and the Senate.
And so my hope is that that common sense bill can see the light of day because it has
broad support, and it actually saves us money.
And so I just think feeding kids is something that's very simple.
And I'm always grateful that the governor put this in his budget and made it a priority.
Unfortunately, it did not survive the so-called compromise.
Which leads me to again say, how is this still a thing?
How are we still having this discussion about school lunch debt and not feeding all the kids in school?
We don't
charge bus fare on the school bus.
Why are we doing the same at the cafeteria?
And yet we are.
And State Representative Amadra Vera Wagner is one of the people fighting for healthy meals for all.
And there's still much more work to do in this legislative session.
There is crypto regulation.
There's a whole notion of not letting billionaires bribe, you know, bribe voters as we come into elections.
There are things to be done.
And in the midst of all that,
We're still waiting for the governor to decide if he's going to run for a third term or not.
I would guess you're probably looking at your phone every so often going, any news yet?
Any news yet?
Because, I mean, there's a lot that hinges on that.
So we'll continue this conversation for some of you with Representative Amon Rivera-Wagner.
Others will have a local break that's coming up in just a bit as well.
and a reminder that you can get our newsletter at uproarthnewswi.com.
First, a quick check of sports.
The Brewers have their best record ever at the All-Star break with 56 wins.
Heading into the break, they will resume action in Los Angeles against the Dodgers coming up on Friday.
Still one game behind the Cubs for the National League Central Division, but quite a sprint coming when the All-Star break is past us.
This is the Civic Media Radio Network.
I'm Pat Crite.
from Up North News, follow us at
UpNorthNewsWI.com.
We have got a busy program for you tomorrow here as well.
Green Bay Area State Senator Jamie Wall will be here, as will Hans Breitmoser, Dairy Farmer from Lincoln County.
Dan Hagen from WJFW News Watch 12 up in Rhinelander will be along.
We'll talk to Chad Holmes from 98.9 WXCO, back from his trip to Las Vegas playing some poker.
And of course, Dan Schaefer from the Recombobulation Area.
We'll talk about Wisconsin political news.
All that tomorrow.
here across the Civic Media Radio Network on these mornings, powered by Up North News.
We've got Dr. Kristen Lierly with us for this morning and Green Bay Area State Representative, Amadra Vera Wagner.
And as we start to wrap up today's visit, Kristen, you wanted to make sure.
Fine, we talked about the budget, budgets behind us.
Let's get back to the representative and the good trouble you two have been causing in and around the Fox Valley.
It's true, I mean, Amad and I go way back because he is the former chief of staff here for Mayor Eric Gennrich and he is Mr. Green Bay.
So Amad, tell us about your, this is the first Pat Krightlow show in Green Bay.
Tell us about your love for this wonderful city that we both love.
Well, one, it's absolutely joy to be on the show and obviously anytime that Dr. Chris and I are these around.
I'm excited.
I came to Green Bay because I fell in love with the son of dairy farmers.
We literally met over discussing Green Bay Packers and beer and this is before some of the
our all-star quarterbacks were problematic at the time.
So we fell in love over that what was supposed to be a date that lasted an hour, lasted three hours, and we were supposed to meet the next weekend.
We met the next day and then three years later, after meeting every single day after our first date, he proposed to me and we ended up here in Green Bay.
His family still owns a dairy farm.
dairy farm and cross plains, a bit right outside of Madison.
And so I had the distinct pleasure of coming to the city.
The mayor was just recently elected, introduced myself.
Next thing you know, I'm working for him and becoming his chief of staff.
And that's the incredible things in this community.
I think Green Bay is very special.
I usually lead with not only do I represent Green Bay, Green Bay is the number one place to live in the country, according to US News and World Report.
And so it's not
just that I know that we're special, it's that people can see it when they come here.
There's something about the way that we take care of each other, support one another.
It's one of the places that truly feels like home.
And that's why I so fiercely believe that we need to protect it, protect its institutions, protect its people, protect our values, because there's nothing more beautiful than a community that wants to take care of each other and take care of the next generation.
And so Kristen is one of the many people like this who just
embody the spirit in Green Bay.
And on top of that, we have an amazing sports team.
So imagine having all of that from an incredible NFL team to a wildlife sanctuary to one of the oldest amusement parks run by a city in the United States all the way to mixed income neighborhoods that are more affordable than most places in the country.
Really, Green Bay has it all.
So I know I'm a bit biased, but it's true.
No, as somebody who knows a thing or two about marrying into dairy farm families, I'm completely with you on there.
And one of your recent and more successful activities, the two of you, was the local
protest when Elon Musk appeared to be trying to buy his way into elections here in Wisconsin.
And so it's really no surprise representative that one of the issues that's near and dear to your heart is what I refer to as billionaire bribery and making sure that we toughen up the rules about how the very, very wealthy can have outsized advantages in Wisconsin elections.
Right.
And just a quick recap.
What happened when we saw in the Supreme Court race here in Green Bay and across Wisconsin is that Elon Musk decided to get himself involved.
And one of the ways he decided to get himself involved was to literally pay people $100 to sign petitions.
about the election, as well as create a million-dollar lottery if you had voted.
Now, after he realized that that was illegal, he said, just if you were interested in the Supreme Court race.
But he kept on offering $100 per signature for everyday people to vote in our Supreme Court election.
This is illegal generally.
But according to some, there was a loophole that said, because it was a petition and not a direct request for voting, that somehow that that was not illegal.
For every common sense person, we know that we do not want billionaires of any political persuasion feeling like they can buy an election or buy a Supreme Court seat.
The first thing we did is when he came to Green Bay, we let him know how we felt about this, which is we brought 1,000 people in the rain, very thankful to the help of SCIU and Dr. Kristin Lierly, who helped us bring 1,000 local people to the KI Center to let him know that we were not gonna let billionaires buy our election.
And the next week I introduced to Bill what reps on the grass that would make it illegal for you to offer
any amount of money to sign a petition that's election related.
So that's any kind of petition, especially during the election cycle.
And so I'm very excited about the bill.
I've yet to get a Republican co-sponsor.
But this is a common sense bill that everyone agrees with, but yet we haven't figured out how to pass it yet.
All right.
Then we'll wrap things up with a question that you don't have to answer yet.
But Tony asked on YouTube, is a mod considering a run if Governor Evers doesn't run again?
So
apparently you're making a good impression already on folks.
That's kind of going to say, I think the governor would do a great job.
He's done a great job as governor the last two terms.
Yes.
And besides, we are, we are already putting, if the governor decides not to run again, we pretty much have the bandwagon.
We just have to hitch, you know, the horse to Dr. Lyrely's wagon
and she'll be ready
to take off at that point.
We don't want to lose a modern Green Bay.
We need him here.
See, all these moving pieces that we're going to be.
tracking as we go along.
And later on a future visit, I want to get more into crypto regulation.
Lord knows that's needed.
And by the time you're here next, we will know a bit more about the race for governor.
And I had the opportunity to interview Washington County Executive Josh Schoeman at the Northern Wisconsin State Fair back on Friday.
I'm going to talk about that on the show tomorrow.
But there will be much to talk about we this is only the start of our to do list representative.
So thank you for taking part in it.
for us on this first show today.
Pat and Dr. Larley, thank you so much for having me.
It was a lot of fun.
Oh, thank you so much.
And Dr. Larley, thank you for sticking around as well for, you know, again, it's our 600th morning show.
But the first one in the Fox Valley.
And so thank you so much for being part of show number one and 600.
You're
the best.
I'm so excited that we're finally in Green Bay and the Fox Valley.
Woohoo!
It's good to have you all here.
Thank you again.
Have a great day all of you.
And again, tomorrow we'll have Green Bay Area State Senator Jamie Wall coming up next on Matt and Air on Air.
Both Matt Rothschild and Angela Lang will be guest co-hosting.
Up North News is part of Courier, a pro-democracy news network.
I'm Pat Quitelow.
Have a great Monday.
See you tomorrow morning.
Here, Up North.
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