The Boy Who Cried ‘Epstein!’ (Hour 3)

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

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

Well, hey there, Wisconsin.

Good morning.

It is 6 0 6 on a Thursday morning, July 17 2025.

It is truly another beautiful morning to have you here up north live from Lake Basota from wherever you're listening and spending your mornings across the civic media radio network or watching us on social media catching us by podcast.

However you got here, we're glad you got here.

I got a question for you.

I've asked this one before.

Western Wisconsin, Central Wisconsin, are you are you fully embarrassed by your congressman yet?

I got the newest example coming up in just a bit of Derek Van Orden doing Derek Van Orden things coming up in Washington DC right in front of reporters.

Real classy guy.

My original question was whether you have a particular songbird in your area that starts off your mornings in the spring and summer.

I'm sure for a lot of people that's Robbins.

Maybe some of you only get crows or screeching blue jays around here in Chippewa.

We got Cardinals lots of Cardinals Chi Hai even calls their team the Cardinals for good reason I mean It's a pretty song and they love hanging around here up on the lake with the sunrise coming up and folks and in fact folks watching on Social media know that I put up a new bumper slide.

We call it today.

That's Lake Wissota this morning

with the steam kind of rising off it, upriver a little bit up against the trees by the golf course.

It is just a very pretty day and great to have you along on this Thursday.

Coming up, we're going to be talking to State Senator Jeff Smith about the state budget because of something that wasn't in it.

help for homeless veterans, and talk about what Republicans were thinking when they took the budget request from Governor Evers and put zero dollars in there.

A couple of facilities are facing closure.

We'll ask Senator Jeff Smith if that can be staved off.

We'll talk to child care provider Kareen Hendrickson of Nuglaris about something that is not in the state budget.

And that would be adequate help for the childcare industry.

And as a result, she finds herself at a bit of a professional crossroads and is going to tell us more about that.

In the latest example of the Trump administration being Watergate on steroids, the U.S.

Department of Justice is trying to meddle in state elections offices, including here in Wisconsin.

We will review some of the efforts to intimidate officials and get access to your private data.

Sherida Booker will review some of this weekend's big fairs, festivals and concerts.

There's one going on here in the Chippewa Valley right down the road to talk about.

The Jeffrey Epstein case.

That is a sad saga that has already taken far too long for those who deserve justice.

Unfortunately, it's a case of an infamous pedophile that has been caught up in politics for disgustingly partisan reasons.

Donald Trump and his allies made a cottage industry out of using the case for political gain.

And now the president's calling it all a hoax.

And his base is not happy about that.

We'll talk to Joseph Pecky about whether Trump has cried Wolf one too many times when he then tries to say that something is only a hoax.

Chad Holmes will be along from 98-9 WXCO.

about the stories he's following in Wausau.

Sean O'Malley has an update on your money and the markets.

Brittany Merlot has a forecast and so much more.

The 6am temperatures around Wisconsin, haven't talked about those in a while because it's been nice outside, but there's such a range to pass along.

64 degrees at Radio Park and other

Places in Wisconsin near the Illinois border.

Mid 60s there, but low 40s up north.

41 at Solon Springs in Douglas County.

It's 43 in Hayward.

59 in Richland Center.

52 degrees here on Lake Wissota.

Brittany Merlo's state forecast calls for calm and cool behind the storms and what storms they were.

More chances for rain pop up on the weekend and next week right now she says looks wet.

So for today, partly sunny, less humid, highs around 70 up north, 75 south with a north wind at 10 to 15 miles an hour.

For tonight, mostly clear chilly even, lows around 50 up north, 55 south with a light southeasterly wind.

That was some nasty weather.

as we turn things over to Parker Olson, who is producing this shindig from Madison Studio A2.

Stormy, scary weather for folks in the southern, what, third of Wisconsin, including young Parker Olson, who was, thankfully, we put him there in that broom closet that we call A2, and he is completely safe from pretty much anything in the interior of that secure building right near the state Capitol.

Yeah, pretty much.

I think that you could have...

All of the windows blow out in this building and I would be perfectly fine where I am Yes,

I

am nowhere near any windows.

Thankfully yesterday when I left it was not

mmm

It wasn't awful.

It was just kind of like For maybe 20 seconds or so it would absolutely downpour And then it was pretty much fine like I left While that was happening which might not have been the best decision.

I got a lot of water

At

one point

but it was all right.

Yeah, I mean we're we're talking like maybe

a dozen areas of where there were either tornadoes or suspected tornadoes.

There were touchdowns in sock and dodge counties for sure.

Thankfully, you know, no deaths reported.

I've not even seen any reports here of serious injuries, but there were concerns about flash flooding and more.

It did, you know, I was looking at the radar as it was coming across and I know I checked in with you at one point during the day and

You kind of had that look out the corner of your eye going, ah, what's this coming?

The radar was a little worrying.

When you see colors that you didn't know were on a radar

spectrum, it's a little worrying.

I liked what somebody said.

It looked like the finish line of a color run.

All those colored powders around it.

That's really good.

Yeah.

So again, things are a lot calmer here and Brittany Merleau will be along right after the seven o'clock news to tell us more.

Here's a little update on something that was supposed to happen last night.

We talked to state Democratic Party chair Devin Remaker about a town hall that was scheduled.

The stormy weather yesterday led to its postponement until tonight to let residents around La Crosse and the rest of the third congressional district weigh in on that Trump mega bill that was supported by Congressman Derek Van Orden.

It's the bill that's going to make life harder for tens of thousands of his own constituents just to lower taxes for millionaires.

That town hall will now be held this evening at 6 p.m.

Had to mobilize

dot us mobilize dot us and search for lacrosse to register there's another thing going on this evening up in wasa i want to tell you about this is all under the the umbrella of civic engagement instead of uh just you know catarwaling about politics in the state of the world you could do things about it you can go to this town hall on lacrosse this evening and you know

help people understand that there are so many people unhappy with the direction this Congress is going in.

And then in Wausau this evening the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition will have a forum.

They started a statewide Fair Maps community hearing tour last night in Green Bay and it's in Wausau this evening to shape the future of redistricting.

They'll tell you that Wisconsin has Fair Maps right now and that's great but they are temporary.

without some lasting legislation ahead of the 2030 census, it is entirely possible that Wisconsin will slide back to a system where the politicians get to pick their voters and ignore the will of the majority.

So the Fair Maps Coalition has written a draft proposal and is looking for public input on a on their statewide tour.

It kicked off last night and you can watch what happened last night on YouTube.

for the channel of the League of Wisconsin voters of Greater Green Bay.

Again, the League of, I'm sorry, the League of Women Voters, the League of Women Voters of Greater Green Bay.

They have a presentation there from last night on Fair Maps in Wisconsin, an outline of a proposal for an independent redistricting commission.

Doesn't that sound nice?

an independent redistricting commission.

And there will be time for some Q&A as well.

Tonight's forum is in Wausau at the Public Library, 301st Street, from 6 to 8 this evening.

If you want to register, go to fairmapswi.com, fairmapswi.com to register or to learn more.

Then the group has a forum scheduled for next Wednesday in Waukesha and others are being set up for Madison, Milwaukee, and more.

So again, not enough can be said about the difference that was made when the rigged maps that date back to 2011 were finally changed in part because voters helped overturn the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

That sent a message.

But

If, for some reason, Republicans hold the majority, even build on their majority in the legislature next year and win the governor's race, you can guarantee that they will monkey around with the maps yet again and try to lock gerrymandered maps in place for at least another decade.

Alicia writes on YouTube that you can also call your state legislators when it comes to helping homeless veterans

and ask them to support a funding bill that was introduced yesterday by Senator Jamie Wall and Repsa Ryan Spaud and also Representative Rivera-Wagner, Ahmad Rivera-Wagner.

Yes, call your legislators, whoever they are, and tell them, look, I don't know how this happened, how you ended up with zero dollars in the state budget, but you can fix this.

So go fix this.

And again, we will talk to State Senator Jeff Smith around 7.30 on that topic.

Uh, Karine Hendrickson at about 7.10 talking about the state budget and the lack of support for childcare.

All right, real quick.

You say, uh, we asked you, we talked about the Derrick Van Orden Town Hall tonight in La Crosse.

I asked if you were embarrassed enough here.

He is.

Coming past Congressman Mark Pocan, standing outside the U.S.

Capitol as part of a press gaggle.

Pocan's talking to reporters.

Van Orden comes riding by on his Harley, revs it as he's going past the cameras because that's what any jerk would do.

And then after parking his bike, these two congressmen mix it up in front of reporters and it was all captured on camera last a minute or so.

Give a listen.

Hey there classy as always man.

We love it.

Thank you People read this

I

saw you're drunk and tweet at 1 30 in the morning last night.

No, I got down

here Why don't you debate me?

Why are you so afraid to debate anyone here?

We could do this the media.

Why don't you want to debate

so

big?

Beautiful

bill.

Why are you afraid to have a debate

on the bill?

I've owned a small business for 37 years.

Tony, you

own a small business.

That's a little work, isn't it?

And he fundals over $500,000 a year of his campaign money to buy signs from his company.

Okay.

Look that up.

Oh my God.

Are you drinking right now, Derek?

That's the real question.

All

right.

Again, Derek Van Orden walking up to Mark Bocani was talking to reporters hurling personal insults and making claims that, you know, he can't justify throwing out tired old talking points, saying to someone who's had a small business for forever that he's never held a real job.

That is Derek Van Orden in a nutshell.

And again, you can see why people will be showing up in La Crosse this evening to

Talk more about the bill that he supported and what other damage he's done so far as a member of Congress.

Again, mobilized.us search for lacrosse to learn more.

We have much more to cover in terms of the headlines on the day's news, all on the way.

By the way, Charlotte Scott from Spectrum News.

We want to make sure we get proper credit for that clip that we just shared.

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.

Welcome back a reminder that if you can't catch us live you can always pod this program We'd love to have you as a subscriber just head over to Spotify or Apple or wherever you get your podcasts and Subscribe follow us like us maybe put a comment in there if you're subscribing through Apple rate us and Take us along with you again our

first preference is that you're listening on live local radio, but there are all kinds of platforms out there as evidenced by all the comments that we get on Facebook and YouTube and certainly the podcast subscriptions as well.

And while you're subscribing to our podcast, subscribe to our newsletters, head to UpNorthNewsWI.com and click subscribe in the top banner.

and get connected to our newsletters including the one that I do on Sunday mornings.

The Sunday morning one includes a question of the week which this week is garnering a lot of response about the direction of the Democratic Party.

There are folks who feel it being pulled to the left or

That sounds like it's against people's will.

There are people who very forcefully want the party to be more to the left.

There are others that say this is alarming.

It will turn off moderates.

There are others who say, hey, this is a big tent.

It depends on where you're living.

You know, an AOC can get elected in the Bronx, but not necessarily say the 7th congressional district in northern Wisconsin.

But what about the party itself?

Which way should it be going?

And that's our question of the week getting a lot of responses You can weigh in as well by email head to radio at upnorthnewswi.com Send us an email with your thoughts on that as well From the text line here Jim in Brookfield says good morning Pat and Parker here in Brookfield in Waukesha County We also have cardinals.

I currently hear several

as I'm sipping my coffee while sitting out on the patio, not unexpected since we live on Cardinal Crest Drive.

Says Jim.

Well, Jim, thank you for the info on that.

Yes, I mean, Cardinals can even find them all over Wisconsin, but I know when I moved here from, you know, having lived in some larger cities, it was a very refreshing thing to have such a beautiful singing, especially around sunrise and again at sunset.

You know, I'm here in this nice comfortable home studio in Lake Wasoda, but some of my other friends over at the Civic Media Radio Network, they are on the road.

They're waking up in unfamiliar locations and getting ready to have some fun.

Again, today, that, of course, will be Todd Alba, Jane McNair, Greg Bach.

They are road tripping this week.

They were in Oshkosh yesterday, and they are waking up somewhere in the butternut.

Park Falls area, they're going to be broadcasting from up north today.

Matt and Aaron are begins at nine right after this fine program.

Kelly Meredith, the owner of Fanatical Fish Art Gallery, will be joining Jane and Greg just after nine o'clock and of course you can catch Todd's show from two to four.

Now it's going to be an interesting Maggie Dawn show coming up today from four to six slated to appear state attorney general Josh Call.

Just after four o'clock we'll be discussing

One of his many lawsuits, this one against freezing education funds.

The Trump administration is trying to put the U.S.

Department of Education out of business, freezing money that's designed to go to educate children in Wisconsin, and Josh Call and other state attorneys general are suing.

This is one of 24 different lawsuits that

Josh Call has been involved in some of them already successful in trying to keep Donald Trump from acting like a monarch when it comes to deciding what happens with our tax dollars.

Maggie Dawn also talks to Mia Ivy Rubly from the Center for American Progress at 430 discussing the impacts of the Trump mega bill on the disabled.

So again that all coming up on the Maggie Dawn show where

You could say a little bit of news was made on the show yesterday when she was talking to state Senator Chris Larson about things that include the 2026 elections.

And I know that at some point Senator Chris Larson said something on the Maggie Dawn show that raised a couple of eyebrows about Governor Tony Evers and running for a third term or not.

Parker, is that a little snippet of audio that we have here, or is that something that we can catch on the news later on?

Do you have it there?

Yeah, I've got it right now.

All right.

Let's give a listen to what state Senator Chris Larson of Milwaukee had to say.

A bit of a kerfuffle over the last hour or so about whether or not Governor Evers is running for reelection.

Some sources saying he's going to announce that he's not running for a third term.

And his spokesperson then responding on X within the last, I don't know,

that's not an actual thing.

Your reactions to all the hubbub, sir.

Yeah, I people have been talking about this for quite a while, but yeah, I mean, I guess we'll find out whenever they make an announcement.

For our part, I would hope that Tony Evers does read the room and is ready to pass the baton to the next generation so people can make sure that we actually have people we're ready to fight for our state.

So there you go.

There's State Senator Chris Larson from Milwaukee saying that he believes reading the room, the room indicates that Governor Evers should not run for a third term.

Needless to say, there are other Democrats who say that is not the temperature of the room at all.

Would Senator Chris Larson be one of those candidates for governor if Evers decides not to run for a third term?

Certainly can't rule that out.

But again, it's an announcement the governor is going to make on his own schedule.

And you heard Maggie Dawn alluding to the rumor mill yesterday.

And it's not really based on anything that is properly sourced, shall we say.

You don't know if it's based on knowledgeable information or if somebody is projecting their wishful thinking.

It really is just a...

a matter of keeping it tuned right here and when there is official news coming from the governor's office, we will let you know.

All right.

Well, the Brewers are going to get set to get back in action.

They are heading out to the West Coast, back to Los Angeles for a series with the Dodgers.

And that weekend series begins tomorrow.

So we've got some late night West Coast baseball on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Pregame coverage tomorrow for the Brewers and Dodgers begins at 8.35.

So 8.35 on a Friday night.

Get your baseball fix as the Brewers take on the Dodgers there.

Coming up next, we're going to hear from

our social media manager at Up North News, Sharita Booker, some great events that you can take part in this weekend all around Wisconsin.

We've mentioned some of the fairs and festivals.

She's got a few more.

That's all coming up right after the Midwest Farm Report here on the Civic Media Radio Network.

I'm Pat Crichtlow.

more about things that you can do across Wisconsin this weekend.

Every summer weekend is a great one to see something new in Wisconsin.

So maybe put one of these on your calendar.

You'll hear about them from Sharita Booker, our social media manager.

Sharita, how are you?

Good, Pat.

How are you?

I'm good.

Thanks.

There's just so many great options out here that we're going to do.

Let's see.

The three we're picking today will take us to Northwest Wisconsin, Western Wisconsin, and then down to Southeast Wisconsin.

Let's start with the one that got going yesterday, and that, of course, would be the Lumberjack World Championships up in Hayward.

Yep, and that'll run through Saturday.

and athletes from around the world will compete in 24 events over the three days to claim the world champion title.

Now, some of those competitions include sawing, chopping, speed climbing, log rolling, boom running, a standing block chop, and more.

The festival will also feature vendors, food trucks, the swinging axed beer garden and live music.

General admission tickets start at $24 for adults and $19 for children, five through 12.

And for tickets and more info on that,

visit lumberjackworldchampionships.com.

I would like to call attention to one thing you said there that I did not think would ever happen in my lifetime.

What did you call it, the Swinging Axe Beer Garden?

Yes.

Okay.

For most of my life, I associated swinging an ax around beer with Lizzie Borden.

And now we're encouraging it.

Have you ever been to one of those bars where they have ax throwing as a game and would you take part in it?

i've i've heard of them and i would i would try it

out see how good i am okay

i have been to like the chuckie cheese version of one where you know the dartboard is all plastic and it's a like a rubber mallet or whatever but i have not been to one of uh you know the ones with the real the sharp implements uh you know why because they're real sharp instruments around people with alcohol uh but hey uh more power to the folks that that

do it, enjoy it, and come out with all their digits still attached.

So lots of fun to be experienced up in Hayward this weekend.

Now, meanwhile, in the Chippewa Valley, it is country jam time, and I know it's been a little while now.

But I always feel like saying again, Country Jam is in a new location because maybe people don't go every year.

It was along the river down on the south side of Eau Claire for the longest time, and now it's got brand new digs up in the northwest corner right off of Highway 29.

What are folks going to see at Country Jam this weekend?

So it'll kick off with the lineup that includes Bailey Zimmerman, Chase Rice, David Lee Murphy, Josh Ross, and Kaylee Bell.

Friday's lineup will include Cole, Swindle, Dylan Scott, Sarah Evans, Mark Chestnut, and Casey Ashton.

And Saturday's lineup will feature Sam Hunt, Jake Owen, Craig Morgan, Dylan Marlowe, and Tiger Lily Gold.

There will also be boo trucks, craft beer, whiskey bars, and more.

And one-day general admission ticket start at $119, and a three-day general admission ticket starts at $179.

So to grab your tickets and get more info, head to countryjamwi.com.

Yep, this is all at the new Eau Claire events center where there are plenty of other things that go on there as well.

Lots of room for camping and more.

So a lot of folks come into the Chippewa Valley this weekend for that.

Let's go down to the southeast corner of the state.

Another one of the big festivals that takes place in the Milwaukee area.

It is time for Bastille days.

Yep, best still days is kicking off today and that festival is one of North America's largest outdoor French festival, which also is free and attracts over 250,000 visitors each year.

There will be live music, an international marketplace, French and Cajun cuisine, and a signature 43-foot Eiffel Tower replica with hourly light shows.

The annual storm, the Bastille Day's 5K Walker Run, starts tonight also at 9 p.m.

and will wind through downtown Milwaukee's historic Third Ward.

Registration for that is still available and it's $40 for a ticket and you can just head to easttown.com slash Bastille dash days slash to get your registration ticket.

And there you go.

And again, as somebody who was just down there for summer fest, I can tell you that there's so many other festivals besides that in that area.

And Bastille Days is without a doubt one of the biggest and one that is most enjoyed.

So that on top of all the county fairs and other things that we've been talking about this week.

So you got no excuse to sit on the couch this weekend.

Sharita Booker, thank you so much for running those down.

We'll talk to you later.

Talk to you later, Pat.

And by the way, so many fairs and festivals, including Barron County Fair up in Rice Lake, the Dane County Fair, get started today at the Alliant Energy Center, County Fairs for Fond du Lac, County Green County, St.

Croix County, Trepolo County, Waukesha County, the La Crosse Interstate Fair, all happening today, you got no reason to be a couch potato.

Well, from the Washington Post yesterday comes evidence that

As a lot of us suspected, President Trump, having gained the reins of power once again, is setting things in motion that could enable him to hijack the 2028 presidential election.

The U.S.

Department of Justice, according to the Washington Post, has hit states, including Wisconsin, with broad requests for voter rolls, election data, and more.

Election clerks from both parties.

that have already been facing harassment and lawsuits over Trump's lies about the 2020 election are worried about efforts to examine voting machines and more.

Now keep in mind the U.S.

Department of Justice has always been a quasi-independent entity.

It's now being used in a way that our founders always feared could happen, which is why you had that bit of independence.

being used by the president of the United States for political harassment.

And the U.S.

Department of Justice has now taken the unusual step of asking at least nine states for copies of their voter rolls.

They went to a mix of Republican and Democratic-controlled states, and Jacobs, chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, told The Washington Post she worries the federal government, through Trump,

could try to use the information to justify new rules that would make it harder to cast ballots.

She notes that the sloppy use of this data could result in inaccurate matches that would give election skeptics a reason to tout exaggerated claims, or shall we say lies, about ineligible voters appearing on the rolls.

She says that voters deserve answers.

About why the administration wants this information and what they plan to do with it She says is this a backdoor way to get access to data that the statutes have said they're not entitled to have The administration's efforts fueled by Trump's ongoing claims that the 2020 election was somehow stolen have been rattling officials from both parties They feared that the administration could try to build a national file

that includes personal information about voters or that they could impose rules that would boot eligible voters from the rolls and make it harder to cast a ballot.

That's happening right now in the Trump administration in the United States of America.

Here's something else that President Trump is doing that has an impact on Wisconsin There is going to be an opening on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals as Diane Sykes moves to senior status But from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Lawrence Andrea and Dan Bice say that Unlike most of the time when Wisconsin's two senators or Republican Ron Johnson and Democrat Tammy Baldwin Worked together to provide a list of potential nominees to the White House.

The White House has moved off on its own

and has already been conducting interviews for that seat on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sources tell the Journal Sentinel they've interviewed a handful of conservative candidates on their own before Johnson and Baldwin's offices could vet, interview, and submit names to the White House.

At least five have traveled to Washington D.C.

to sit down for interviews with White House staff in mid-May, according to multiple sources.

Here's what a White House spokesperson had to say.

We welcome the feedback from outside groups, but the final determination is from the president after consultation with senior staff.

We welcome the feedback of outside groups.

You know, like Congress, like the United States Senate, to them is now just an outside group.

Now, should we read anything into any of these candidates?

Well, one of them.

is currently representing former Dane County Judge Jim Trupas.

Where have you heard that name before?

Oh yeah, he's facing state charges in the fake elector scheme from Donald Trump back in 2020.

And by the way, the Trump administration did not review and interview any currently sitting judges.

Oh, but wait, there's more.

This one from Wisconsin Public Radio.

Do you remember

the superior refinery explosion from seven years ago.

Well, the next Trump budget is coming and it proposes to eliminate the agency that investigates things like the refinery explosion and superior.

And yes, we are talking about a new budget bill.

The thing that passed a couple of weeks back was a budget reconciliation bill for the current year.

But a new federal budget is required for the next fiscal year, the one that starts on October 1st.

And so one of the first items being reported about Trump's new budget plan is the elimination of the U.S.

Chemical Safety Board.

That's the panel that investigated the explosion at the Husky Superior Refinery in 2018.

It's not the first time, Wisconsin Public Radio notes that Trump has proposed getting rid of the agency, but Superior Mayor Jim Payne

told WPR, that would be a mistake.

He said that if the Chemical Safety Board had been better funded 10 to 15 years ago, they might have been better able to educate the refinery and superior about how to prevent the explosion that ended up happening.

Had that been prevented, not only would people not have been hurt, the refinery could have saved millions of dollars in the rebuild.

These agencies are good for the industry.

The WPR report says that in the last five years, nearly 500 serious chemical incidents have occurred in 43 states.

Eliminating the chemical safety board would save less than $15 million.

And of course, it wouldn't actually save money.

That money would just go into tax cuts for billionaires.

You'll recall that during a visit to Superior three years ago to celebrate passage of the bipartisan infrastructure law, President Joe Biden cited the refinery incident when he was announcing funding to replace the aging Platonic Bridge that connects Superior to Duluth.

He said, you know, when the Husky Oil refinery exploded back in 2018, that bridge was one that many of you took to get your families to safety so you know it matters.

Yes, it does matter.

I just told you a lot of that over the past, what, three, three, four minutes.

I think it would be enough just to say President Trump is eliminating getting rid of the US Chemical Safety Board.

It's not exactly something that the industry is seeking, at least not the good actors in the industry are seeking, but that's where we're at.

One more.

President Trump really stepped in it yesterday, giving fresh material to those who think the 79-year-old is starting to make Joe Biden's mental missteps look like baby steps.

The president was raging against Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve Chair, during an Oval Office press gaggle on Wednesday, complaining he's been complaining for months about the head of the central bank not cutting interest rates as quickly as he wants them to.

Trump said, he's a terrible Fed chair.

I was surprised he was appointed.

I was surprised, frankly, that Biden put him in and extended him.

However, as the Daily Beast notes in its article here, it was Trump who appointed Powell to lead the Federal Reserve during his first term.

And in his November 2017 announcement, the President praised Powell's leadership, judgment, and expertise.

Only the best people, until he's used them up, until they stop being yes men for whatever he wants.

Which is exactly what an authoritarian strongman would want, and not the way a democracy works best.

Today's history lesson is next, as we always do.

Mornings powered by Up North News, live from Lake Wissota on the Civic Media Radio Network.

You're always going to know a Vince Garaldi tune when you hear it.

The jazz pianist was born this day in 1928.

That, of course, one of his signature tunes, Linus and Lucy, and so many other tunes that he composed for the Peanuts cartoon series, all the specials, especially a Charlie Brown Christmas and more.

Vince Garaldi was born Vince Delagio in San Francisco.

and passed away far too soon back in 1976 at the age of 47.

Here's a big birthday today, and I can't even surprise Parker, because he sees the list ahead of time when I say, do you know whose birthday this is?

I actually have not looked yet.

You've not looked?

How would you get the music?

Well, I didn't

read through all the stuff.

Oh!

I hold up my Roy Kent coffee mug normally on Fridays used today because actor Brett Goldstein, 45 years old today.

Did Greg Buck leave that button for you on Brett Goldstein as Roy Kent blowing his whistle?

No, I don't think so.

Okay.

Okay.

I'll have to look into that.

Brett Goldstein and Roy Kent did not want to have a whistle when he was coaching the team.

So he just shouted.

Whistle!

Whistle!

Whistle!

He is also in the Apple TV series Shrinking and I talked about it yesterday for its Emmy nominations.

He's really good in it.

He is nothing like the Roy Kent character.

It's a serious role and he's good.

Shrinking is good.

Highly recommended.

All right, let's move on to more birthdays born this day in 1939 was Spencer Davis of the conveniently named Spencer Davis Group.

Now, this is one of those cases where, you know, much like Carlos Santana, his name's on the label, but somebody else is doing the singing.

Stevie Winwood sings, give me some lovin' in this one, but Spencer Davis was born in Wales this day in 1939, passed away in 2020 at the age of 81.

Look, got a royal birthday here.

Queen Camilla turns 78 years old today in the UK.

On this day in 1975, Bob Marley and the Whalers played a historic concert in London that featured a version of No Woman, No Cry that became an instant classic.

Born this day in 1952, the late Nicolette Larson, who had a couple of hits in the 70s.

Nicolette Larson again gone far too soon in 1997 at the age of 45 The Hoff is 73 years old today David Hasselhoff means nothing to you right because I mean the the big Baywatch years It's just a name.

Yeah, it's just a name, but you know the the Hoff is Getting older, but you know, I'm sure he's still willing to wear that Speedo out on the beach if you ask him to David Hasselhoff 73

Yeah.

The Disneyland, the original opened in Anaheim on this day in 1955, opened with a live broadcast on ABC, which was a big deal for back in the mid fifties.

Finally, a birthday of somebody who's still with us.

Happy birthday to singer Regina Bell.

She is 62 years old today.

On this day in 1984, the national drinking age in the US was changed to 21.

This really annoyed a whole lot of people who were caught in the middle.

They were looking forward to turning 18, and then it was raised to 19.

And then just as they were about to turn 19, it was raised to 21.

Yeah, that was my uncle.

I'm sure he's never stopped talking about it.

Nope.

has, has not.

Uh, one more birthday here and that would be country singer Luke Bryan is 49 years old

today.

All

right, here's, here's where I get in trouble.

Uh, Luke Bryan is extremely popular.

I get that, but I mean,

His voice is almost a parody of country music to me.

It just is.

It's just so... I don't know.

I just think it's one of those that you're going to look back on and go, oh yeah, that was a style that you were only going to hear during that time.

That was the country boy.

That was a country boy back then.

Luke Bryan, 49 years old today.

On this day in 1968, the Beatles fourth film, Yellow Submarine, debuted.

And the movie Endless Love debuted in 1981, starring Brooke Shields.

Nobody remembers the movie at all.

It was just a complete dud.

But the theme song to it was a duet by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross.

And it spent nine weeks at number one and earned Lionel Richie an Academy Award for best song.

All right, we've got a melancholy one to pass along and we were first told about it by Roger on Facebook saying a very sad to hear of the passing of Connie Francis She recently had an album cut called pretty little baby that went viral on tiktok and so pulling up the the New York Times story from

Late yesterday, Connie Francis, whose ballads dominated 60s pop music, died at the age of 87.

did not cite a cause of death according to her publicist.

She had, according to the New York Times, a petite, pretty easy and fluid vocal style, a powerful set of lungs in a natural way with a wide variety of material.

She had three number one hits, including Everybody's Somebody's Fool.

My heart has a mind of its own, and don't break the heart that loves you.

Again, Connie Francis, passing away at the age of 87.

In the next hour, here live from Lake Wissota on the Civic Media Radio Network, we're going to be talking to Karine Hedrickson, she's a daycare provider from the New Glarus area who is at a professional crossroads.

because of what was and what was not in the state budget when it came to dealing with the crisis of affordable child care in this country.

That's right after the news and then later in our next hour, State Senator Jeff Smith, all about the lack of funding for homeless veterans in the new state budget.

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

Hey, good morning.

It is 706.

Welcome back.

Nice to have you here up north on this Thursday morning, July 17th, 2025.

It's a busy weekend.

I mean, last hour we talked about, you know, Country Jam here in Eau Claire Bastille days in the Milwaukee area, the Hayward Lumberjack Festival.

I listed all the various county fairs that are going on as well, and we're still not done.

Robin Tigerton reminds us that Pulaski Polkadays is starting.

Roger on Facebook tells us the Portage County Fair begins today.

Alicia says it's paper fest this weekend in Kimberley.

So there's just a lot to do here.

Rob goes on to say good morning from Tigerton.

It's cloudy and 54, got 9 tenths of an inch of rain.

Severe weather was mostly south of me.

Watoma had more than three and a half inches.

Highway 21 was flooded on the east side.

He says I have an eye appointment today in Wittenberg, probably a candidate to wear glasses and then three yards to mow in the Tigerton area this afternoon.

He says, I think the meteorologist like Brittany and all in the media did an excellent job with severe weather coverage.

It brings back memories of tracking storms on my roadmaps when I was a kid.

Let's see.

And he goes on to talk about Nicolette Larson being an awesome singer, also with the nitty gritty dirt band.

And he says, have a fun time, Brittany at EAA.

I hope and pray you have nice weather there.

And that takes me over to, oh, wait a minute.

We've got Alicia saying.

My oldest and I are going to EAA schedule last night, planning our day's air venture is almost here.

And on the text line, Jim and Brookfield, have a great time at EAA next week, Brittany.

I hope the weather cooperates.

I remember flying there from the Waukesha Airport in a four-seater piper.

With all the spotters on the ground communicating with us along our flight path We never had to say a word on the radio until we landed This is this is contagious stuff the way that people feel about air venture and count Brittany among them

I am definitely one of those.

I had no idea what it was the first year that I went, and all it took was one day, and I was hooked, honestly.

I'll suggest if you want to go on a day, and you're wondering which one, because there's just so many.

Wednesday and Saturday, they have a night air show, and it is one of the biggest that I have ever seen, and they've got the drones doing their things.

They have a special ending with some explosions.

It's amazing.

The

good

kind.

Yes,

yes, the good kind, the plans

kind.

So it is just a super fun time.

Lots of people, good people, you'll learn so much.

The technology that goes on with these airplanes is outrageous and it goes beyond that too.

So I'm so excited.

Camping is gonna be so much fun.

Just the fact that I have no...

power, though, is going to be very, very interesting.

This

is dry camping.

You truly rough it.

You really rough it for this.

Every single one of us.

There's only a few power sites.

So we're all, we're out there for the good.

So Brittany will be off tomorrow getting ready for that.

Hopefully, hopefully we'll be able to hear from you at a couple of points along the way next week as you enjoy it all.

And before we get into today's weather, just letting folks know that Korean Hendrickson is standing by.

We'll talk to her in just a couple of moments.

State Senator Jeff Smith at the bottom of the hour.

But as mentioned by Robin Tigerton, you y'all were busy yesterday tracking something like what, 10 or 12 different possible tornadic systems out there.

What's the report by the time we get to this morning looking back at yesterday?

Yeah, yesterday was.

wild.

It started earlier than we had thought.

Right around noon in Dodgeville, we saw a funnel cloud and a tornado touchdown that continued into Sock City, Fall River, Beaver Dam, Fox Lake area into Fond du Lac, even funnel clouds being reported.

That was around 3 30 in the afternoon, also into Hustisford, Lemon Wire.

many, many places dealing with possible tornado that touched down there.

Lots of video, lots of pictures out there of proof.

Also winds clocked 50 to 60 miles per hour, knocking down trees scattered throughout the southern half of the state, and then flooding towards the Fox Valley.

On Alaska, got 1.63 inches in one hour, just one hour.

So from La Crosse to the Fox Valley, about two and a half to three and a half inches were reported there.

Madison area about an inch to an inch and a half, but with Tomah,

Cars were reported stalled with water over the hoods.

Highway 21 was impassable between Kaloma and Watoma, and also Nina.

Creaks were overflowing, water going into backyards and basements.

Same thing into Oshkosh.

The EAA grounds are flooded, but they have really good draining systems, but Fond du Lac, Stockbridge, Manitouac, all flooding situations there.

We're drying things out today.

Thank goodness.

We need it.

Fog still in places like Hayward and Ashland.

It's about 41 degrees up north, 64 degrees into Racine.

It feels like fall.

That's going to be the case today.

Very crisp, upper 60s to low 70s, lots of sunshine.

And we are looking at tall waves on Lake Michigan.

So a beach hazard statement out there.

Be careful of rip currents.

Otherwise tomorrow, another little system wants to start bringing rain possible far, far north tomorrow afternoon.

And then that line could build.

and swing south through the state as we go through the late afternoon.

Otherwise, a little bit of rain chance does linger, maybe mostly south on Saturday.

Sunday, we are looking at a little bit of rain possible south, but northern parts of the state.

We're dry all weekend and we're a little bit warmer, upper 70s to low 80s.

All right.

Well, Brittany, have a great early start to the weekend.

Wonderful time setting up at EAA.

Thank you.

Hopefully we'll get a chance to check in with you a couple of times here.

I can't wait.

Talk

to you guys then.

All right, sounds good.

Let's visit now with Karine Hendrickson.

We've talked to her several times before about the crisis of affordable childcare in Wisconsin.

Governor Tony Evers tried to, well, he first did use a lot of federal pandemic relief funding to help keep the childcare industry from collapsing.

He also proposed something in the state budget, but the resulting deal between Evers and Republicans in the legislature fell short.

in some areas, for example, childcare.

And in our next half hour, we'll talk to State Senator Jeff Smith about where the budget fell short in terms of homeless care for veterans.

But let's stick to childcare now and bring Karine in right now because Karine says she finds herself at a professional crossroads, essentially, as a result of what is and what is not in the final state budget.

Karine Hendrickson, good morning.

How are you?

Good morning.

I'm all right.

I'm enjoying the cooler weather.

Yes, there's definitely a big relief compared to, you know, feeling like the mid 90s or triple digits or anything like that, especially if you're watching a bunch of kiddos all day.

Yeah, we're outside.

We're at the park for swimming lessons and it's been hot.

So today now those poor kids are going to freeze.

Yes.

Well, look, it's it is mostly thankless work.

Thankfully, there there are enough other parents and folks in the public who are becoming increasingly aware of

you know, the value of this industry and how it is in real crisis right now.

But you talked to us, you know, last week about the state budget bill and, you know, how it only provides one year of partial relief compared to the governor's original proposal.

So now you've had a chance to evaluate things further.

And so you were nice enough to come back after having thoroughly reviewed things to tell us what you think it all means for, you know, childcare on the whole in Wisconsin and what it means for you personally.

Yeah, so thanks for having me on.

What what it means for all of us in child care and the families that we care for and educate and their employers who have those parents employed is it's still going to be a disaster.

Cindy, who's up in Green Bay is one of our weekend members and they're calling this program a bridge.

First off, it's a bridge to where to nowhere.

But she actually said it's a plank in a pond payment because it's not a bridge.

It's just one lonely board floating in uncertainty.

And that really hit because

It's not what Governor Evers is saying.

He keeps saying in these press releases that, you know, this is going to make childcare more affordable.

It's not.

We are raising our rates.

I sat down and did my math.

And in order for me not to take a $15,000 pay cut due to ages and the loss of 20% a month.

I had to raise my rate $60 a week, which would be $350 for children under two and $320 for two and up.

And in New Guarist, it's not tenable.

I've lost three children so far due to rates.

Two of them were on subsidy.

And so last year I struggled to fill my three spots and it was September.

I was starting to think I might have to close and I couldn't do it again.

So I talked to my parents this last week, let them know that I'm not going to be able to, I will not be able to morally try to open it.

stay open and try to...

fill three spots with parents that I'm like, yeah, if I'm still open, you can have a spot.

How do I do that to them?

How do I do that to their employers?

They think they have a spot, but they're not sure they're going to keep looking as they should.

And so I made the difficult decision that August 29th is my last day.

I was able to get the kids that I have here into another group center because at that time that's when they have turnover and that's when they have openings.

So my four kids are probably going to stay together and they're going to be able to go there.

But I am now trying to figure out

what I'm going to do.

One of my kids on Monday, she looked at me, she was green.

Why don't you get to be a teacher anymore?

And that just about broke my heart because that's what I do.

And then another parent asked me, they're like, oh, we're all going to the same place.

And then they're like, what are you going to do?

And I said, you know what, I haven't figured that out yet.

So that's the way that all of us in this field work.

We think about the children and families and then we think about ourselves.

And so now I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do next.

I my heart is breaking for you and for these kids and for these families and it's not it's not just you you're not the only provider who's looking at this and making a rather difficult decision and look even even if there's follow-up legislation because we talked about how the funding is really only there for one year but as you've mentioned before that's a lack of security that

You can no longer live with, and who knows how many more are only going to be in business for one more year.

Right, and that's the other thing is all the providers I'm talking to across the state, they're looking at raising their rates $10, $15 a week, maybe more now to try and keep the teachers they have or the family child care providers.

They're looking for second jobs so they can stay open.

That is not okay.

We work 50 hours with kids already.

And then we're supposed to go and work somewhere else so the parents can afford us.

This is not OK.

And our state should not be making these decisions if they actually cared about kids.

They wouldn't do that.

And so yes, we are still fighting.

And I'm not leaving the advocacy world.

I actually will have more time.

So that could get fun.

But we're working on there's standalone legislation, SB 222 and AB 317.

It's the standalone for $480 million to make us whole again.

Had we gotten that whole $480 million,

I wouldn't have had to raise my rates at all because it would have covered all of that.

And so we're still fighting for that.

We're still saying it.

And now what we want is our providers, our parents, and our employers to call Governor Evers and call their Dem in Republican representatives and tell them every time, my rates just went up 20 bucks.

I just lost an employee because their rates went up because that's what it's going to take is.

until they see it and feel it, they don't understand and they don't have the empathy and they don't have the imagination and that's not okay either.

So that's where I'm

at.

You've been asked, you know, to consider, I mean, you're already way out there visible on this issue.

But to consider, you know, ramping things up further.

And I know I've seen this happen with people all the time.

You're an advocate for something and people say you should keep being an advocate maybe on, you know, even an elected level.

Is that one of the options?

Yeah, actually, I am one of the now, I think we're down to four potential Senate candidates in SD 17, which is Mark Lines District.

I am thinking about it.

I am pursuing a potential run and I participated in a forum last week and will be participating in more forums throughout this area of the state that the counties are putting on.

And I'm excited that real people are interested in running because we do need real people who actually have conversations, meaningful conversations and relationships

with actual people instead of staying in their bubble and listening to what all the experts are saying that is what we need and what we want.

And that's how you end up with what we got.

There was no transparency.

None of us were at the table to say these policies are terrible.

They're awful.

And do not harm the children.

Do not do this to the children.

Don't put us in these situations.

And for what?

A plank and a pond?

You can't run a business that way.

And on top of everything that's happening at the federal level, this is only going to just

continue to make us descend into despair almost.

And part of what I like is the hope of working towards something else.

And that's, I don't doubt you'll do that in some way, shape, or form.

And please keep in touch on what those plans would be.

Kareen Hendrickson, child care provider, soon to be former child care provider in Nouglaris.

Kareen, thank you.

Hope you have a good day.

Thanks.

We appreciate your time so very much.

A local update is coming up next for some of you.

And then coming up at the bottom of the hour, State Senator Jeff Smith about something else missing from the state budget bill.

That's all coming up live from Lake WSOTA on the Civic Media Radio Network.

I'm Pac Wright Long.

One more day until the Major League Baseball schedule is back operating at full steam including the Milwaukee Brewers.

They will be in Los Angeles taking on the Dodgers for a weekend series.

So we got a couple of nights of late night West Coast baseball starting at 8.35 tomorrow.

Pre-game coverage begins on several civic media stations for the Brewers and Dodgers series and getting that second half of the season rolling.

You may have heard us talking to new state Democratic Party chair Devin Remaker about a town hall event scheduled for last night in La Crosse.

Because of the bad weather, it was postponed for a night.

It will now be held tonight.

It's a town hall designed to let residents in La Crosse and frankly all over the third congressional district weigh in on what's going to happen because of that Trump mega bill supported by Congressman Derrick Van Orden.

who we heard from in the last hour having quite the verbal altercation outside the US Capitol with Congressman Mark Pocan as Derek Van Orden was doing Derek Van Orden things.

I doubt that he's gonna be at the town hall tonight.

but several other officials will be there, including Tara Johnson, State Senator Brad Paff, and others.

And so if you want to learn more about it, head to mobilize.us.

That's mobilize, M-O-B-I-L-I-Z-E, mobilize.us, search for lacrosse in order to learn more and to register.

Meanwhile,

Up in the Wausau area, the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition is going to hold a forum tonight.

They held one last night in Green Bay.

You can see it on YouTube.

Look up the League of Women Voters of Greater Green Bay and find out what the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition is doing with this statewide tour.

Green Bay last night, Wausau this evening.

Because here's the thing, they will give a presentation on Fair Maps, but they also have an outline for a proposal for an independent redistricting commission.

taking it out of the hands of partisan politicians.

Because if that doesn't happen, it is quite possible that the fairer maps that we have now will simply be a temporary and distant memory, unless something is put into legislation ahead of the 2030 census.

That's actually not that much time to act.

And otherwise, we go back to a system where the politicians pick their voters.

instead of voters picking their representatives.

So this will all be at the public library in Wausau tonight, 300 First Street from six to eight.

If you want to learn more, go to fairmapswi.com, fairmapswi.com to register or learn more.

The group is also scheduling a forum for next Wednesday in Waukesha.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel from this morning,

a story here that says the Wisconsin legislature has now spent $26 million in taxpayer money on private attorneys since 2017.

Because we've got a Democratic governor and a Democratic state attorney general, Republican legislators have often sought outside counsel at your expense to represent the legislature

And what they describe as a wide range of high profile legal battles, including redistricting, you know, fair maps, you had to pay, you had to pay for the lawyers for the legislature to defend their gerrymandered maps.

There were the laws that were passed during the 2018 lame duck session, things where they took away powers from the governor after Tony Evers beat Scott Walker.

Again, just a partisan power grab you paid for their private lawyers to defend that kind of conduct And of course Michael Gabelman the former state Supreme Court Justice his failed quote-unquote investigation into the 2020 election again legislative Republicans hired private attorneys and you paid for them to defend that kind of conduct a lot of the spending

came after Tony Evers and Josh Call won their races in November of 2018, defeating former Governor Scott Walker and then Attorney General Brad Schimmel.

And again, it's involved all of these various court cases because as Assembly Speaker Robin Voss says, they feel like they don't trust that Attorney General Call a Democrat will defend Republican-backed laws that were passed before Evers took office.

Well, yeah, maybe because there were constitutional questions about it.

Evers has spent about $1.7 million on legal fees, a much smaller amount because he is able to rely on the US Department of Justice to represent him in office.

So again, there's something to be said about divided government in terms of checks and balances.

We are definitely not overwhelmingly blue.

We are not overwhelmingly red.

The legislature was overwhelmingly read, but only because of the aforementioned gerrymandered maps, that again, they've had to defend in court year after year, and you've paid for that.

And one way to avoid having that happen in the future would be different election results, of course, in 2026, but also to insist that whoever's in charge, Democrats or Republicans, put an independent redistricting commission into place.

And I say that as a former legislator and I contended during my time in the legislature that you know We should elect good people to office and good fair-minded people can write fair maps That's what used to happen in the state.

You had a Republican Congressman Tom Petra and a Democrat Congressman Dave Obey They would work together with folks from either side of the aisle to come up with maps that were fair

and competitive because they respected the voters.

The Republicans in 2011 and beyond who designed these maps that they're making you pay for that made the legislature overwhelmingly Republican when we are not an overwhelmingly Republican state do not respect the voters.

They do not respect the taxpayers of Wisconsin.

It's anything for power.

And now this latest tally shows that you have spent $26 million helping Republicans defend these actions that they would not have to do if they had more respect for the voters and if they were better stewards of the Wisconsin tax dollar.

Republicans also put no money into the state budget for helping homeless veterans.

We're going to talk to State Senator Jeff Smith about that coming up.

Live from Lake Wissota here on the Civic Media Radio Network, I'm Pat Rightlow.

Don't forget you can sign up for our newsletters.

Plural.

Yes, we've got weekday newsletters.

We've got a Sunday morning newsletter I put together all about Wisconsin politics.

Sign up for it over at UpNorthNewsWI.com to learn more.

Hit subscribe up in the top banner.

We'd love to have you as a subscriber there and as a podcast as well.

Head to Spotify and follow the show.

Alright, we've had a lot to say about the state budget.

A lot of it about what's in it.

a lot about what's not in it.

You heard from Kareen Hendrickson in our last half hour that what's not in it is enough childcare relief to keep her in business and probably a lot of other folks as well.

There's something else not in the budget that caught a lot of people off guard and that was help for homeless veterans.

Seems like rather a slam dunk for Republican lawmakers who are all the time wrapping themselves in the flag but took Governor Evers request and turned it to zero dollars and never

Did anything else about it?

Did they forget?

Was it just out of partisan spite?

Can this be fixed?

Let's find out by checking in with State Senator Jeff Smith from the Eau Claire County Town of Brunswick, where he joins us now.

Senator Smith, good morning.

How are you?

Thank you, Senator Kratlow.

It's good to see you today.

I love the fact that now that you're in the Senate instead of the Assembly, that you use the courtesy titles because you understand Senateude.

You know, it's really actually very,

very rare.

But for you, I know how

important it is.

Yeah.

So very important.

It's more important for me to be a, you know, a captain of the pontoon than it is any other title here.

Jeff, I don't know how to start on this because I can ask you all the background about how this got missed from the budget.

But maybe maybe we'd better start with explaining what it is that we're talking about here.

What is the program or what

was the program that was helping homeless veterans.

So it's the Veterans Housing and Recovery Program.

I got a couple things here just to read what their goal is to help veterans achieve stability, increase their skill levels and or income, and obtain greater self-determination to reintegrate back to the community.

As we know when veterans

Um, struggle with, uh, whatever they've been through, whether it be overseas or in battle or whatever fatigue, um, you know, we, we owe them, um, whatever we can to, uh, help them re reintegrate back into society and have, uh, a comfortable life just like anyone else.

And so what had been, what had the governor proposed?

What had been going on, you know, up until this state budget?

Right,

so we have three facilities

in the state right now I believe one is Mount Horab the others are Green Bay and Chippa Falls and in Chippa Falls actually the facility actually is the largest and and and actually What do I want to say they they?

have 70% of the population of those three facilities are in Chippewa Falls and that and Green Bay are the ones that will be closing because of the Lack of oversight by the Republican Joint Finance Committee

So the governor proposed how much to to put in the state

budget?

Oh, he I'm sorry Yeah, he he proposed 1.9 million to be in the budget to keep those facilities going at full speed

and they zeroed that out like they did so many things and I don't want to you know I don't want to be too harsh maybe they overlooked it maybe they didn't realize when they were just zeroing everything out that that was going to but we gave them an opportunity on the floor I introduced an amendment on the floor to bring that amount back but I still think that they were

In this, uh, giddy, well, we're, we're, we're doing this to the governor and we're taking everything out and I don't, we, they weren't really listening.

I guess I don't know.

They, they totally dismissed that one.

But you get, there was like once, one Republican Senator who voted for your amendment to fund the homeless veterans.

And that's right.

That's Andre Jacques because it affected his district as well in Green Bay.

Okay.

But every other Republican voted against it.

That's right.

And.

if there was, the reason I come at it like this is that, look, this is out of spite, and for no other reason, this is why they zero out the things that Governor Evers proposes, and then they have come back in and either put a lower amount in, or they've reconfigured things.

Like the childcare funding is a classic example.

They just did not want to put...

anything into childcare counts because that was Governor Evers' baby.

So they and the governor eventually agreed on some other funding mechanism and they put the funding in there.

It wouldn't seem like this needed that.

So yeah, it was either an oversight or it was just, I mean...

They just blatantly did not feel like these homeless veterans deserve care anymore.

Have you heard any kind of feedback first hand, second hand from your Republican colleagues?

Or is this a big old, oops, and they're going to rush to support some kind of a trailer bill with

funding?

It's actually kind of pathetic.

We have heard from our colleagues on the other side of the aisle that claiming that, well, you know, there was a 15% increase to the

DVA, the Department of Veterans.

And, you know, that was their 15% increase for the agency as a whole.

That was not for that program.

But that's what they're using as well.

We increased by 15%.

And then someone, at least one of the talking points that I heard was, this was just part of a wish list by the governor.

I think that is so pathetic and so embarrassing that they would consider what we want to do to help veterans as a wish list.

Well, and especially here's the thing that that gives it away that that that that's not that's not true.

They say, oh, we put 15% over on the budget.

The record is clear that they love to they live to micromanage and

They will get right down into the line items and say you can do this, but you can't do that We've seen it in the literacy programs and so many other things and it sure sounds rather Convenient that they can say well in this instance.

We actually didn't want to micromanage We just gave you a big pile of money and you do whatever you want with it said no Republican ever in the budget process until this Got caught That's a good point.

Yeah, it's it's

excuses making excuses that which I think is on which is dumb because in a sense they're saying oh yeah we knew about it but we thought this 15% was going to cover it that's basically what they're saying instead of saying oops that 1.9 million was overshadowed by the negotiations we that took place with our

Our Senate leader Diane Hesselbein and the governor's office that brought back funding for our universities, brought back half the money we needed for our childcare facilities and brought back or actually raised the special education funding, which was desperately needed for our public schools.

We didn't get everything we wanted, but we got that, but that all overshadowed 1.9 million.

that they seem to want to ignore now

and make excuses for it seems so you you've alluded to this the fact that they needed democratic votes to pass a budget and so there was this agreement made but as no doubt you are hearing well you heard from the very beginning some of your colleagues you know voted no saying look

There's just there's not enough there and now of course we're hearing pushback from the child care sector from the education sector from from everything else Now that you've looked at it all and you've taken in all of the reaction Looking at your minority status and what the governor is dealing with with Republican leadership in the legislature Was this the best that could be hoped for when you have a bipartisan vote on a budget?

This was

the best we could hope for just just to Matt.

Just think about this

They came to us finally, kind of an 11th hour, as we know, because with the Trump bill looming overhead that he was going to sign and remove any chance for us to capture a billion dollars more in Medicaid funding, we were in a bind that which they put us in.

The Republicans put us in, certainly.

But with the chance to come to the table, because this is what I need to imagine, and I know, Pat, you can.

that they were going to make it even worse, to satisfy the worst of their caucus.

There were five members of their caucus, which they often call the terrorists, were holding them hostage and saying they wanted even more cuts.

They were going to cut $87 million from the university system already, which would have closed campuses.

That was already in the works of closing campuses, if that happened.

They zeroed out childcare.

They were not going to increase special ed funding for public schools, even though they were paying 90% to voucher schools.

Those are the biggies that we came to the table with, along with more.

We asked for more than that, but there was negotiations, as you know, and compromise in politics these days is rare.

But it happened.

And we got that compromise and the deal was if we can get certain things and make this better instead of worse, we can find five votes in our Senate caucus and help you pass this bill.

We made that arrangement.

The leader, Diane Hessebein and myself, assistant leader, were two of the five votes and then we had to find three more.

And I feel very confident that it was the right thing to do because it would have been much, much worse if they would have had to go the other route and make it.

get all their Republican votes.

Coming back to the micromanaging that Republicans were doing in the last budget, it included $15 million to help the Chippewa Valley after two hospitals and several clinics closed abruptly, and yet the Joint Finance Committee refused to release the money, having a temper tantrum about some of Governor Evers' line-up in vetoes.

Was that $15 million put into this new budget, or is it now gone forever?

That is like a puff of smoke.

Pat is just gone.

They refused.

I was another amendment on the floor that I introduced.

I even lowered it to 10 million.

I said, you know, I even, you know, on the floor said, hey, I'm trying to negotiate right here on the floor with you, you know, but we've got to have some help.

And they just weren't interested.

Every Republican chose not to support that.

State Senator Jeff Smith is with us from the Eau Claire County town of Brunswick.

So with the state budget behind us Obviously, there's still a fall session.

There'll be some in the spring as well next year before everybody goes back to campaign What kind of priorities do you have when the legislature gets back in action?

Well, right now, the Klein Hall and the Green Bay facility have taken a high level of a priority because they will close at the end of September, apparently, if we don't get the funding.

So I've introduced a bill as of yesterday to bring that money back and give us another chance to do this, to do the right thing.

So hopefully that'll.

be pushed through fast if we get we're right now in the process of gathering sponsorships and hopefully we get sponsorships in both sides of the aisle.

So that's that is an immediate urgent issue right now and we'll come back and hopefully be able to do something right away on that.

Otherwise it's back to trying to make sure that we support our Chippewa Valley hospitals and medical facilities here and also to

because of what happened in Washington, we're going to have real threats of other rural hospitals closing across the state.

Now, as we warned after the Chippewa Valley crisis that that could happen.

And so we're all going to, I think we all got to pull together on both sides.

I'll cross the state to ensure that people are able to access healthcare.

State Senator Jeff Smith from the Eau Claire town of Brunswick.

Thank you, Jeff.

Good to talk to you as always.

All right, good one.

Yep, we'll catch you later.

One quick note on our website up north news wi.com.

A lot of new feature stories get put up there.

One I want to tell you about 10 Wisconsin breweries making a difference.

Little breweries that start their own grant programs host fundraising events.

They place an emphasis on sustainability, reduce their carbon footprints, even giving to groups that help abandon pets and annual animal sanctuaries.

Imagine drinking beer to do good works.

10 breweries that make a difference.

Look for that on our website upnorthnewswi.com.

A local update next for some of you.

The rest come back here live from Lake Wissota on the Civic Media Radio Network.

I love this part.

This is the part where Todd goes on the road and finds all those things that makes Wisconsin great and he's brought a hostage.

Jane McNair is along as well and allegedly Greg Bach.

Is Greg Bach, did he make the trip?

Greg did make the trip.

He's

saying hello to the friendly faces here in Butternut, Wisconsin.

Jane doesn't have a mic, but

for

those watching on the stream, you can see her.

She is thrilled.

This was on Jane's bucket list.

Last year it was Amory.

This year it was Butternut.

And my goal for the entire year for my job is complete because I have made Jane's dreams come true.

I wish we could hear it through the airpods there, but she's...

Unfortunately, all you can hear is my voice, but you can see Jane.

She's thrilled, she said.

She's thrilled to be here, very, very happy.

And she's

already got a postcard that said to her husband back in Milwaukee.

That's awesome.

It's really great.

Butternut is just a northwest there of Park Falls where we have a fine civic media station, the one in Hayward is not far away.

And you're going to be talking about those great civic media stations today between your two shows.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, Jane and Greg start to across the network at 9 o'clock until until 11.

They're going to be talking to it's the fanatical fish.

But now a fanatical fish art gallery here is absolutely beautiful.

They're going to have a proprietor on their show just after 9 o'clock in their first hour.

They're going to do later on their audio Sorbet, which lightens things up.

And of course, they end it with this shouldn't be a thing.

And let me tell you, after hanging out with me for a couple of days, Jane and Greg.

say Todd should travel with Todd, should not

be a thing.

No, no, no, no, no.

You are the travel agent that gets this all done.

How did things go in Oshkosh yesterday?

It was great meeting Jane and Greg interview people at the EAA Air Museum.

They could not have been better hosts, nicer people.

And thanks to Todd Michaels and Geoluke Mathers, able to get a lot of guests on both of our shows, talking about so many things I think that we didn't know, at least I didn't.

The education program they have is not just going and watching planes, which is cool enough, but they have programs to bring youth into it.

If you want to learn to be a pilot, you can bring people that will come on for

You know, that not necessarily like free the scholarships to learn how to fly.

So that's fantastic as well.

All right.

And then tomorrow is Hayward, right?

And tomorrow is Hayward.

We're going back to Hayward, of course, home of the Birkenbeiner.

And during the summer, it's home to the World Championship Lumberjack Festival.

I've learned one thing, Greg can kick my posterior when it comes to picking up large logs.

So that'll be a lot of fun.

And the American powwow going on, you can join Jane and Greg at 9 to 11, me for two to four, at a place called The Lot.

Not big lots, but the lot.

The lot.

We're along with Big G. So we got the lot with Big G tomorrow in Hayward, right across the Muskie 101, our sister music station here in Northern Wisconsin.

Yes, and WBZH is up there, the newest Milwaukee Brewers affiliate.

And that's where you'll catch the Dodger series over the weekend here.

And then what do you get to?

I know I heard Jane say the other day during a staff meeting, she said,

We're not coming back because

they were not coming back.

We

may have heard you say the staff meeting.

We're not coming back.

No, we're never.

Never coming home.

We're gonna, we may well just set up camp here down there butternut or maybe just start doing our shows and lead us.

Yeah, lead us the proprietor.

There's, there's Lake Wasota right here.

You can start, you can bring next week's shows down here, you know?

Well, Greg said, but we just divert over to, uh, to pass as we're going, as we're crossing highway 29 going further north.

I don't know why you wouldn't.

You, you're, you guys are very welcome to come down this way and do that.

So,

uh,

look, there, there's so, so.

much that's in the news, a lot of heavy stuff that we've had to get into and we will.

But one of the things I really appreciated about your show being at the Northern Wisconsin State Fair is that there was so much more to talk about so much about community and the festivals and everything.

I know we took a break to talk to Josh Schoeman, candidate for governor who happened to be at the Northern Wisconsin State Fair.

But by and large, you know, it really is

We talk about balance all the time.

You can't be all politics all the time, but you also can't avoid politics 100%.

That's not a responsible thing either.

You guys are truly bringing balance to the things that we can talk about on the radio day after day.

Yeah, funny you say that.

That's how we ended our show yesterday with Jane and Greg, and I just have that same conversation.

And I think we were talking, Jane and Greg touched on little politics at the start of their show, at least current events, maybe it's a fair way to say it.

But then the majority of the show was just talking about all the great things happening at the EAA.

And you're exactly right, Pat.

We've had that discussion with three of us as we've been traveling around.

And yeah, we can't ignore the news, the important things, but there are these great

undercold or untold stories of our small entrepreneurs, like the one we're here at the Fanatical Fish Art Gallery, the events like the EAA.

And those are the things, I know our friend Trigme Olsen says this all the time, but it's true.

People in these kind of events, they don't care whether you wear a red hat or a blue hat, it's about wearing a green and gold hat.

And Jane and I got the munchies only because we were hungry and had anything to eat all day.

And

so he's turned, so what was the place called, Jane?

Captain Nemo's drill and bar and they served it.

So whatever it was, 10 o'clock, 10, 30 last night and we really appreciated that.

So a shout out to Nemo's and the sandwiches were great.

It was fat.

Yeah, it was really, really good.

So you find good people up here as you do all over Wisconsin.

We started in Racine and the studios down there went to Oshkosh.

Now we're up here in the North Woods and there are so many things that.

to bind us and weave us together as Wisconsinites.

Oh, yeah.

And look, I'm not saying that there shouldn't be, you know, chains, chain restaurants, chain hotels, all that.

I'm not saying they shouldn't be there.

The fact that there are still locally run places, coffee shops, diners, taverns, you know, other attractions.

I think we have that here unlike in many other states.

And I'm just glad you got to go out and see it.

So we'll see this all again coming up.

Well, she's just over an hour away.

Jane looks like she's getting ready.

I hope

Greg wakes up in time for the show too.

He's

away.

He's helping set up the set.

We have nine to 11 Matt there on air that we're there two to four here at Fanatical Fish Art Gallery.

Beautiful butternut.

Yes, not buying seeds.

We have coffee from Wonder State.

We got cringles from O and H and Racine and just good people as well.

All right.

Have a lot of fun.

It looks great.

You guys look great.

Travel safe and we'll look forward to hearing from you today.

On behalf of Jane and Greg, this is Todd, so we'll see you on the road, as Charles Karol used to say.

Charles Karol, not a good example to cite.

Oh, come on.

We bought a station over in Ely, Minnesota for goodness sake.

But with one wife for the other wife.

Anyway, we're going to take a break for the news back after this on 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, for my Lake Basota studio, here is the founding editor of Up North News, Pat Craiglow.

at 806 in the morning on this Thursday, July 17th.

Welcome back.

Nice to have you here up north.

We've got Parker Olson producing this fine program out of Madison Studio 2A.

Is it A2?

It's A2.

Yeah,

A2.

A1 and A2.

Don't say 2A.

There

we go.

And then, of course, we'll talk to Chad Holmes from 98.9, WXCO in Warsaw, and meteorologist Brittany Merleau.

All coming up at first, I've got to give an update in the middle of the night.

Shortly before waking up, I heard a clatter.

And I was fearful of like, I don't know, home invasion or, you know, the ice was coming to get me, whatever the case may be.

It took a while, but I finally discovered what it was, Parker.

Yeah.

These lights above the shelf.

What do you mean

those lights?

These.

They fell again.

They're like these four little lamps, and IKEA sends them, because, you know, I only go for the best IKEA.

They send them along with either adhesive, a little piece of tape, or these little tiny screws.

I don't know how these big old Scandinavians with their lumberjack hands have these teeny tiny screws, but I thought, I don't want to monkey with the little tiny

screws.