You're listening to Civic Media.
You can tune into any of our live shows on any radio station across the state with the Civic Media app.
Find us in your phone's app store and listen anytime,
anywhere.
You're listening to Mornings with Pat Kratlow powered by Up North News.
Now, from our Lake Mesota studio, here is the founding editor of Up North News, Pat Kratlow.
Good morning.
Welcome back once again, 8.06 on this Wednesday morning, September 3rd.
Nice to have you here up North.
Parker Olsen is our producer down in Madison Studio A2.
meteorologist Brittany Merleau is standing by as is Earl Ingram.
We will also be talking to Melissa Baldoff with our climate check that and much more still ahead.
And of course, we're asking the question today, what would you do if you won tonight's Powerball jackpot and estimated $1.3 billion?
That's all coming up.
Brittany would have no use for the money because she
does,
she does whatever she wants right now.
She wants to go kayaking.
She's going to go kayaking.
She wants to camp at EAA.
She is a simple girl.
who just,
you know,
could take that billion dollars and maybe do a little something extra.
But, you know, by and large, you have all you need, right?
I do.
I don't know.
I guess I would just buy property all over the country and rent it out and stay in it when I wanted to and get to travel even more, right?
See?
Travel.
Yep.
Travel
is
always a good thing, right?
It's good business right there.
Yeah.
Yeah, all right.
Throughout the course of the show, we've been watching a line of showers and some thunderstorms making their way across the state there.
Pretty much getting into the southeastern third of the state at this point right now, Brittany, right?
Yeah, sure are.
Madison, Milwaukee, it's on your back doorstep.
It's starting to leave Green Bay right now, but parts of the Fox Valley like Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, you're still seeing some of that rainfall.
It's not too major, none are severe.
We've only seen 30 mile per hour wind gusts with this system and pea-sized hail in some places.
Otherwise, as it passes, the main rain event will slow down.
Scattered showers and some small storms could still spark later this afternoon and into this evening, especially north in the state because those winds are whipping.
They're out of the northwest now for the northern half of the state.
Polling in that cooler air mass where highs today far northeast are only going to hit the mid forties.
A lot of us throughout the state fifties to sixties will be our highs and we're hitting those right now.
We're going to stay steady throughout the afternoon and then crash tonight as the clouds clear.
So we are looking at temperatures far north hitting the low thirties to mid thirties.
So a frost advisory will probably go out later on this afternoon.
If you've got sensitive plants, vegetation, gardens, things like that.
You're going to want to make sure it's okay through the overnight.
And then as we go through tomorrow, still looking at a lot of sunshine to start the day, high temperatures in those low fifties to low sixties in the afternoon, breezy winds making it feel a little worse.
And then we've got another system, a blob of rain moving in tomorrow night, and it'll clear for Friday, leaving us Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Nice, dry and sunny.
but still below average hanging out in those low to mid sixties.
Okay, but again, you know, dry.
And so if
you've got
an event, I mean, you can you can put on another layer.
And
that
layer, that layer isn't a raincoat or a poncho.
Oh, that's nice to leave it at home after today.
Right.
And not even a parka yet, you know, we're in Wisconsin, and the hoodie is always nearby, just in case.
So it is.
All right, Brittany, have a great day.
Thanks so much.
All right, let's bring in Earl Ingram next year to talk about the what's going on podcast with Earl Ingram again head over to civicmedia.us To learn more get yourself every episode and we'll get into one of his latest episodes in just a sec But we've got some other news headlines to get to Earl.
How are you today?
I'm doing fine, Pat.
How are you?
I'm doing fine as well.
Although I was I was about to
Give a little promo for the courier newsroom camp Stevenson newsletter below the Beltway and it's all about what cam is covering up on Capitol Hill But I think it's a good transition into our discussion here because in today's newsletter below the Beltway he talks about how a court has ordered troops out of Los Angeles But the ruling won't apply to the National Guard in DC and of course we've heard the the president of the United States talking just yesterday
about sending troops into Chicago, again, for no real good reason.
Some great remarks from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker in response.
But we also know Milwaukee, like Minneapolis and others, they're on this list in Trump's head of places where he'd love to have troops.
And you even had the head of the Milwaukee Police Union saying he would welcome troops on the city streets of Milwaukee.
I'm sure that's got people talking, Earl.
Well, the mayor of the city of Milwaukee Karelia Johnson responded immediately to what JD Vance Basically before even having a conversation with the mayor he talked about well, this is what we're going to do and you know, we want to send a mayor I mean The National Guard into the city of Milwaukee and you know, do we have problems in the city of Milwaukee?
Yeah, we do.
I mean, clearly when you look at some things that are taking place across this nation, there are people who struggle in cities across this nation, both rural and urban, and it's been an ongoing problem in our nation for a long time.
Poverty is a horrible, horrible reality, and the wealthiest nation on earth should be able to
eradicate poverty if we wanted to we certainly could get it done and so what what comes along with poverty is hopelessness and I'm not making excuses for people who do horrendous things but you know I've never you know I was never hungry I was never homeless so I don't you know I don't understand you know how how again in the wealthiest nation on earth we allow that I said all that to say this
When you win the crimes that happen in cities, does the city of Milwaukee and Chicago and other places where this dynamic exists need support from a government?
Yes, absolutely.
But when the only answer is law enforcement, that's not going to get it done.
No, it's more of a police state and it strikes you as it strikes me as this is not about really helping with crime.
This is really it's not about partnership at all.
This is about control that we could either help provide resources that address crime.
or we could attempt to control you.
And so instead of substantive legislation that would address the epidemic of guns on our streets, we're going to put more guns on the streets in the form of armed uniformed soldiers and masked agents and things like that.
More guns plus thoughts and prayers equals no solution.
It's just all talk and in my mind it's all about control.
Well, it's about it's about control.
It's about politics because clearly Donald Trump has decided that this is the most important to one of the most important issues facing our nation today.
And I would argue that it's not if you're one who has been impacted and affected by violence and by crime.
I'm sure you really don't think it's a good thing.
But I'll tell you, it's not the number one issue.
And it certainly, you know, for the disciples who support Donald Trump, they can jump on this bandwagon and ride this with all the other things that are going on around us that I think are even more important.
This takes all the air out the room.
Yeah, we're talking to Earl Ingram and we'll talk about the what's going on with Earl Ingram podcast coming up in just a sec here, but as we Wrap up our conversation about troops and things like that coming back to what the Illinois governor JB Pritzker had to say yesterday I did want to note that one of the things he said is
based on the way things have gone so far.
In Washington DC, they were there basically picking up trash, not really addressing crime.
In LA, they weren't doing much there either.
And he said, you know, there seems to be this pattern where after about 30 days, after Trump got all the attention that he wants, the tropes are quietly, you know, they move on to the next thing.
And that's, you know, they're eventually going to move on to Chicago, maybe Milwaukee, other things.
And while
that's an interesting pattern that it's all a PR stunt for 30 days or so and then they're quietly withdrawn.
The point is still there that this is about looking at what can he get away with in terms of putting the military on the streets of the United States.
And it's not a great precedent we should be setting in Chicago, Milwaukee or anywhere.
Well, it hasn't historically I'm old enough that I remember back in 1968 when I was a
12-year-old young man, a young boy, watching the National Guard and the tanks roll down the city streets where I lived several blocks away.
I remember seeing the armed National Guard and all of those things, but that was because the city's over 300 cities went up in flames after the assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King.
So I've seen the National Guard
and armed troops standing on street corners in my lifetime and I don't think it's time to see that again.
No, it doesn't give any kind of a look of safety.
It's more about intimidation and, like I said, about power and control.
Over on the podcast, which again, you can find over at civicmedia.us and then click on shows.
And you address a problem.
Again, when you talk about those kids who are in dire straits and in desperate situations, often end up in foster care.
But then what happens is they age out of the foster care system and
It doesn't seem like there's a bunch of resources there for them.
And is that kind of what this episode is addressing?
So my wife and I are treating the foster parents and we have been for 22 years.
And so when I realized and talked with these young people.
about what they were faced with.
It's hard rendering.
It's heartbreaking because this happens all over this nation.
And with Donald Trump in office right now, there's conversations and talk about even cutting even more out of those programs.
But how does it make sense that young people who are trying to find their way and have had some tough struggles in their lives, they don't get to pick their parents, and now they've struggled and fought to try to rectify
their lives and turn them around, all of a sudden we pull a plug on them.
I think it's heartless.
I think it's short-sightedness.
And, you know, when if the one thing about our nation is we don't seem to value the lives of all children, then I think that's just a negative reality in this nation.
Well, it's about not valuing the children and their care and their safety.
For example, the mass shootings that go on in schools.
It's about education.
It's about jobs and job training.
In other words, there are all these things that our politicians could be doing.
There are
solutions.
There are ideas for solutions there.
And we're always hearing, well, we can't afford that.
We can't afford that.
And yet somehow we can afford troops and tanks and everything on the streets of American cities.
So I guess the point I'm trying to make is, yeah, there are potential ways to address this.
I'm just getting really tired of hearing we can't afford it when they're willing to spend their resources on other things like troops.
Well, the insanity in it is, you know, children grow up to be adults.
And we talk about
adults who are wayward and we build more and more prisons and we lock people up and we don't realize the simplest solution to that is nurture children when they're young doesn't matter you know what their family background is and if their families
can't do what's right by them.
We are in a better situation.
If we address it while they're young, while their children, it is cheaper, then it certainly makes things a lot better as they become adults.
What's going on with Earl Ingram?
The podcast is available at civicmedia.us.
Click on shows, get through all the episodes, a lot of great episodes in there that you can catch up on, many of them timeless and worth your time anytime that you can get subscribed to it.
Earl, thank you so much for your time today.
Hope you have a great day.
You as well.
All right.
Again, head over to civicmedia.us and click on shows to learn more.
Hey, remember, you can follow my team at Up North News all day.
Just head over to upnorthnewswi.com.
You can also subscribe to our newsletters, plural, and follow us on social media.
And of course, right here, mornings on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Tomorrow on the program, we will have Congressman Mark Polkhan joining us, as well as Sean O'Malley, Joseph Pecky, Todd Alba, and Chad Holmes, and more.
All a busy Thursday ahead tomorrow on these mornings with Pat Crichtlow, powered by Up North News, right here on the Civic Media Radio Network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Stay up to date on the latest news and information for your local community and Wisconsin by signing up for our free email newsletter.
Visit civicmedia.us slash email to get started.
Melissa Baldoff just around the corner here with our climate check, but first we've been talking about
How would you handle $1.3 billion if you were to happen to win the Powerball jackpot tonight?
Alicia puts up on YouTube.
I did the math.
I only need quote unquote $54 million for the rest of my life.
So the rest would be for other people.
Alicia, I've calculated my retirement savings and it's nowhere near 54 million.
So I don't know what it is you need over there besides, you know, buying a fleet of pontoons or something.
But I hope you get that 54 million and then be able to spend the rest of the $1 billion.
I know Melissa Balov might like to spend some of it on a generator because with all the thunderstorms rolling through, Melissa is without power right now, but joins us by phone.
How are you doing, Melissa?
But heck
way to start the school year with a power outage.
Perfect.
See, it's like, that's the nice part when they get the licenses, the usefulness.
that comes into
Exactly.
You know, you you fly all by and get yourself something nice from Tony on YouTube up in Ashland, our school lost power yesterday on the first day of school.
After a squirrel got zapped being someplace he shouldn't have been didn't have power all day long.
So it's not just the thunderstorms that can do this.
What about you 1.3 billion dollars if if you happen to win Powerball tonight, what kinds of things would you like to do if you were suddenly independently wealthy?
Well, of course, all of the things that everybody would do immediately, pay off our mortgage, make sure our kids and my nieces and nephews are all set up for college, all those practical things, travel more time with the extended family.
and then my do-gooder self would definitely start a super PAC.
I don't know where it would be focused though,
but I would
definitely make some significant investments maybe around clean energy investment and improving resilience and educating people about why this is important and reminding them who is responsible for
the greater effects that we're feeling for more outages like the one we're experiencing right now because the grids are overloading and we're not getting that support and investment from the federal government to take those steps that everybody knows we need to take to improve the grid, to improve our resilience, and to give people more stability as we face continued negative effects from climate change.
Well, I mean you know that and I know that and pretty much the entire science community knows that but the headline in the New York Times says Scientists denounced Trump administration climate report More than 85 scientists American and international have condemned a Trump report that calls the threat of climate change overblown Saying the analysis is riddled with errors misrepresentations and cherry-picked data in other words misinformation which is
is what they do best, Melissa.
Again, for a work of fiction, you don't see a lot of that coming out of places like the White House, but you sure are with a report this ridiculous.
It used to be that you didn't see works of fiction coming out of the White House, but that's...
pretty much all you see out of this one.
Let's start with the biggest work of fiction right now, which is that Donald Trump is just fine when everyone with any amount of eyes and ears can tell that he is not fine.
So the misinformation, the disinformation, the outright lies are par for the course in this administration.
you know, it really, I think is, it's disappointing though to see them just completely double down on this and it continues to make our country an absolute laughing stock globally.
When you know that the rest of the world is taking this seriously, they are
using every opportunity they have, they're pulling every lever at their disposal to take steps to mitigate these harmful effects.
And they are looking at it also at the same time as an opportunity to strengthen their economies, be set up for the future.
And we're just continuing to fall backwards.
on those, on those metrics, while also, you know, denying the science, denying the science around, around climate change, you know, denying science around vaccines, around any other, you know, health outcomes, right?
Whatever, whenever this administration is confronted with a set of facts that do not align with what their goals are to enrich themselves and
billionaires, you know, in some way, they will lie about what those facts are, ignore them completely, um, you know, or just make up an entirely new set of, you know, quote unquote, alternative facts.
Right.
So I
was going to say that's where we're going next is the alternative facts.
Um, pretty, pretty par for the course, which is why we don't work with people.
If you were expecting us to go through point by point.
No, it's just a classic work of fiction that we wanted to call attention to in this week's climate check report.
Melissa, I hope you get power again real soon.
Enjoy the coffee in the meantime.
Thank you.
All right.
Have a great day.
This is mornings with pack right low powered by up north news live from Lake Wissota.
We're here on the civic media radio network back in a bit.
We got you for just a sec there, didn't we?
Thinking this was Todd Alba time.
It's not.
As part of today's history lesson, which is at its new time of 6.35 on weekday mornings, we mentioned that on this day in 1990, George Michael released his Listen Without Prejudice album, his second solo album and Freedom 90.
The song there is the one that you hear with one Mr. Todd Alba.
on weekday afternoons from two to four across the Civic Media Radio Network.
Let's see, who's Todd got today on his show?
Ooh, Slim Pickens today.
Some has been named Pat Critello.
Host of warnings with Pat Critello will be on at 206.
Oh, wait, he redeems himself with Trigvie Olsen, senior advisor at the Lincoln Project, also at 206.
So catch me and Trigvie on Todd Albus' program coming up later this afternoon.
All right, looking at the Maggie Dawn Show from 4 to 6, State Senator Jody Habish-Sinneken will be joining Maggie at 4.30 today to talk about the new proposed legislation by Democrats to fund the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Program.
You'll recall that's the conservation program that many Republicans would like to kill or at least severely micromanage.
And it is a program that risks running out of funding unless some kind of action is taken.
There is a Republican proposal.
There's a Democratic bill as well.
And Senator Jody Habers-Sinneken will be talking about that with Maggie Dawn, coming up at 4.30.
Matt Nair on air follows this program here, starting at the top of the hour.
And there will be a discussion at 9.30.
So one hour from now about mail-in voting and voting machines with guest Sarah Gonski.
And then later at 10.05, you can hear from Darren Von Rudin, president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union, is going to be joining Jane Mattenair and Greg Bach for Mattenair on Air.
And of course, if you can't stick around for all of those things, you can catch us as a podcast.
Every one of these shows, head over to Spotify and subscribe to Mornings with Pat Kraitlo and all the other shows.
You can do it as Apple as well, or head over to the website, civicmedia.us to learn more.
In the history section today, a couple of other notes that we followed as we do every day, we talked about how it was on this day in 1929.
It was kind of the peak of the roaring 20s with the Dow Jones industrial average reaching an all time high in 1929 up to that point.
And the the Dow would not reach that level again for a very long time.
because the crash of 1929 happened the following month, ushering in the Great Depression.
And again, for all of these history notes, tune in at 635.
Although, I guess for me, Parker, the one that really stands out still is that Charlie Sheen turned 60 years old today.
I mean, yeah, man epitomizes the phrase ridden hard and put away wet.
But somehow, hey, good for
Well, and you know,
There's there's Willie Nelson.
There's Keith Richards.
There's this ongoing list of people that we really thought would be gone by now and Yet, you know, they're still with us.
There's still here.
At least they're there as well.
Yes today on the national day calendar as well.
This is national bowling league day.
Oh Yeah, okay
That is the sound of a man in Parker Olson, who I'm guessing has never been part of a bowling league.
Uh, you would be wrong.
I have not been part of a bowling league, though.
I suppose I, I, I do get what you're trying to say.
And yes, I do look old, but no, not to the point where I was on a bowling league.
I'm only now just starting to wear, you know, the bowling league shirts, you know, the kind like, like Charlie Sheen always
wore on two and a
half men, you know, kind of that retro Jetsons meets the Flintstones kind of look to it.
Uh, but no, not, not in a bowling league, although.
I would dare say I've done a lot more bowling than you know, your generation has done bowling is not the activity that it used to be.
No,
Well, and it leads me to this point, it got me thinking when I saw that this was bowling league day, and that people just don't participate in bowling leagues the way that they used to.
It reminded me of a book that I'd read a couple of years ago, that I wanted to share again.
And it's
It's such an interesting title.
It's called Bowling Alone.
And it's all about the collapse and the hopeful revival of the American community.
The book was written in 2000 by Robert Putnam.
And it surveys the decline of social capital in the United States since 1950.
Okay, social capital.
What do we mean by that?
According to the author, it's all the forms of in-person social intercourse.
upon which Americans used to create and educate and enrich the fabric of their social lives."
And he argues that this undermines what we're going through now, the active civic engagement that a strong democracy requires from its citizens.
And I know you're saying, wow, we're really connecting some dots here.
We're going from bowling and bowling leagues to whether democracy is threatened by the collapse of some of this so-called social capital.
And again, it was a fascinating book because he raises some great points about how we don't gather the way that we used to.
In terms of bowling leagues or look at a lot of these social clubs that are out there now Rotary and optimists and Lions clubs and that's not to say that the people that are in them now Aren't doing worthy things.
Of course.
They are they're great I loved my time in Rotary and you know, maybe that will be one of my Retirement efforts is to get more involved in Rotary or some some other thing like that But it's because we don't
gathered together as much, that we don't have that kind of social capital, that we're not having the discussions that would essentially lead to better informed voters who would be a check on some of our worst impulses.
By going it alone in so many ways, just you and your screen, just me and my screen, just him and his screen.
And we're cherry picking what we want to see as we're doom scrolling through social media.
So instead of social capital, building things together, we're all stuck in social media and we're just individually ingesting things and sharing them, you know, hoping that people see it.
I'm hoping that people are listening.
I'm hoping that people are, you know, reading the things that I post.
But it's not the same thing as gathering in a group and working together.
And that's what the author was trying to convey to folks is that we need to look for ways that we can again gather together and build things.
And the most important thing when you're working on a project, when you're building something, is to overcome your disagreements.
There's never been one group project that didn't have something that you had to debate and somebody had to maybe compromise on or discuss different ways of getting things done.
That is meaningful engagement.
It relies on face-to-face conversations.
It agrees, it depends on an agreed set of facts.
And we seem to have the the opposite of that right now that instead of having that meaningful engagement, there's a lot of meaningless engagement.
Congressman Derek Van Orden is the poster child for meaningless engagement right now.
He's engaged on social media, but it's always insults or name calling belittling others or spreading misinformation about something.
There isn't
sufficient discussion and compromise on the kinds of things that need to be done.
And there is definitely not shared agreement on a set of facts.
Like we just covered with Melissa Baldoff in our climate check segment, you have now a White House that is preparing its own alternate facts and clinging to them the way a reporter clings to a lamppost in a hurricane.
And in a hurricane of facts and science that are out there, these folks are clinging to the light post of their own building of the alternative facts that are there.
And it's to our own detriment when we're not working together.
Here's Alicia putting up on YouTube.
I'm loving my time in the DAV, Disabled American Vets, people getting together is so good for your health.
And it very much is.
So the author of Bowling Alone
And again, this book was written in 2000 has has this excerpt that I wanted to share.
I challenge America's journalists, internet gurus and media moguls, along with viewers like you and me.
Let us find ways to ensure that by 2010.
Again, remember, the book was written in 2000.
Let us find ways to ensure that by 2010.
Americans will spend less leisure time sitting passively alone in front of glowing screens and more time in active connection with our fellow citizens.
Let us foster new forms of electronic entertainment and communication that reinforce community engagement rather than forestalling it.
The recent flurry of interest in civic journalism, he writes, could be one strand to this strategy.
If it is interpreted not as a substitute for genuine grassroots participation, but as a soapbox for such participation, the extraordinary power of television can encourage as well as discourage civic involvement.
Let us challenge those talented people who preside over America's entertainment industry to create new forms of entertainment that draw the viewer off the couch and into the community.
Well, how'd we do?
In the time since then, there've already been some toxic comments put up on the comment sections over at the Up North News Facebook page, because that's that's how it works.
Now, we've got people who are proud trolls sitting in front of their glowing screens who need to get out and as the kids say, touch grass.
Now, here's the thing.
When it says when it when the author said back in 2000 let's foster new forms of electronic entertainment and communication that reinforce community engagement Well, that's civic media That's up north news.
That's courier newsroom and a whole host of other places as well.
I hope That are saying hey, we're glad you're reading this.
We're glad you're watching this We're glad you're listening to this but get out there
into your community.
We've highlighted so many different groups that are engaged in their community.
They're either knocking on doors or they're making videos and other information that people will see on social media or they're crafting talk shows on the radio or podcasts that remind people that we should still have a shared set of facts and that we actually all agree on some very common standards.
We just have this impediment right now of politicians who don't understand that we collectively as a majority overwhelmingly support women's reproductive health rights and gun safety measures and fair maps and not suppressing voters and on and on it goes
Now the politicians that are impeding all that progress, they're still there, they still have money, they still have power, and they are counting on people to continue just doom scrolling and not increasing their civic engagement in the community.
So even though we did not make that goal that the author laid out by 2010 to maybe spend less time sitting in front of our glowing screens,
Let's at least acknowledge that there are people that are trying to get more of us up off the couch Give you good information while you are reading while you are listening but then to step up and again get to know your neighbors touch some of that grass and Bring a friend to the voting booth next time along as well
Coming up, we'll have some final news and notes from Lake WSOTA, including a visit with James Kelly, Civic Media reporter here in the Chippewa Falls newsroom.
That's all ahead live from Lake WSOTA here on the Civic Media Radio Network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.
Remember, you can follow Up North News on social media.
We're now on Blue Sky as an alternative to Twitter, but we're still on Twitter as well.
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, all the platforms where you'll find us.
You'll find a lot of civic media programming there as well.
And where there's civic media programming, there's civic media news.
And where there is civic media news, there is James Kelly out there in Chippewa Falls in the newsroom there.
James, how are you today?
I'm great.
How you doing?
Good.
Did you enjoy the long holiday weekend?
I did enjoy the long holiday weekend as much as I could.
I did do some work on Monday, on Labor Day.
I know.
I'm not supposed to, but it is what it is.
Yes.
I mean, the Tuesday morning show didn't just happen.
There had to be something done on Monday for that as well.
So yeah, I completely understand.
I was commenting yesterday on how Governor Tony Evers
Right before JD Vance arrived in La Crosse late last week, the vice president, Tony Evers had ready a big breakdown of costs of the Trump mega bill.
And what that told me was that Tony Evers is not going quietly.
He's not like, well, I'm retired and now he's just gonna phone it in.
He's still making the rounds, the school year's getting going.
And that included a stop in Altoona recently, right?
Yeah, he visited Altoona Elementary School yesterday and actually did say he was asked, you know, are you going to back anyone in the next Democratic primary for governor and said no at this point, but was asked, you know, how important is it for those candidates to also be out here doing everything that you've done over the last six or so years where you are actually at schools and at these facilities and said that's where the real work gets done.
It's true.
I mean, you can only do so much behind a desk in your office as a governor, as a legislator, whatever you have to, again, get outside.
and talk to people.
And Evers has been doing that as part of a statewide tour for the first day of school, visiting places, listening to people, and then incorporating those things into your legislative agenda.
It's basically how he keeps coming up with his state budget bill year after year, and he's continuing to do that now even in his, you know, coming up on his eighth and final year in office.
Yeah, he actually did also receive a presentation from the district about
how they've increased their student achievement over the last five years with kind of new models, including having special education teachers just in the regular classroom with their students.
So they're there all day.
So, you know, things that you could maybe take from this school and apply to other districts.
Exactly.
Let's see.
So let's talk about housing and affordable housing and the amount of housing stock that's in any given community.
It is something that's talked about in many, if not most communities in our state.
Washburn County is no exception.
Yeah, they recently completed an eight month survey of community housing needs and found much like much of the Northwest region that they need more workforce housing specifically.
They're proposing creating 300 new market rate rental units in the county or 250 modest first time home buyer type homes.
They have open jobs there.
They just don't have the places for people to live to take those jobs, which is unfortunately becoming increasingly common in this region.
Well, it really is.
And it is an economic development issue, which is why you see the business community in many of these hometowns inserting themselves into the issue and trying to be helpful in some way, shape, or form.
Up in Burnett County now as we continue our review of some Northwest Wisconsin headlines Burnett County is certainly no stranger to the the online dangers that are out there to the young residents of their community.
What are they talking about up there?
Yeah, they'll be hosting a panel next Wednesday from 5.30 to 6.15 at the Siren School's auditorium.
It's going to involve some law enforcement officials and some parents whose children have actually been victimized by online schemes, including Brittany Byrd, whose son Braden became the namesake for Braden's law, which increased penalties for people convicted of sex distortion leading to suicide.
So it'll be
An informational session trying to give parents a lot of the tools they need to identify when their children might be targeted by an online threat and what to do next.
All right.
And then last but not least here, of course, we did have Labor Day, which in Eau Claire means Labor Fest over at Phoenix Park.
Once again, some good attendance there.
Yeah, over 200 people for this event.
Chippewa Valley Indivisible helped organize it and did kind of a headcount.
State Senator Jeff Smith actually mentioned that the turnout was really good this year compared to when they first started doing it at Phoenix Park in 2011 after Act 10 was passed into law.
It kind of dwindled over the years attendance-wise.
People didn't really feel like they were making a difference, but this year there were certainly a lot more people out there.
They also had Wisconsin State AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale give a speech.
And she kind of described wealth inequality in a way I think relates to all Wisconsinites, which was imagine 100 people come into a cookout with one brat for each person, but 10 people take 70 of those brats and 50 of the people have to share three.
Well, I mean, if you're going to illustrate inequality, I mean, you could do worse than to pick brats as
a
symbol of that.
That is quintessentially Wisconsin right there.
Stephanie Bloomingdale, she knows how to frame an argument.
And especially with a barbecue happening just, you know, 200, 300 feet away.
Exactly.
I love it.
James Kelly follows these stories and more for Civic Media out of our Bureau in Chippewa Falls.
James, thanks so much.
Good to talk to you.
Have a wonderful day.
Thanks, Pat.
Have a good one.
All right.
A reminder that tomorrow on the program, we're going to be talking to Congressman Mark Pokan.
Congress is back in session.
And there is a lot going on already.
There were members of Congress yesterday that were talking to some of the victims of Predator Jeffrey Epstein and their frustration with the investigation and the lack of progress toward justice and to what degree the president of the United States might be an obstruction to that progress.
There's the chance of a government shutdown.
I know.
Stop me if you've heard this before.
There is the threat of a government shutdown at the end of this month, because once again, Republicans will not be able to pass a spending plan without Democratic votes.
But of course, they're going to try to job as many Republicans as Democrats as possible by putting things in that most Democrats simply would not, should not, could not support.
So we'll talk to Congressman Polkhan about his feelings on how things are shaping up there.
We'll talk to Sean O'Malley about your money and the markets, and we'll visit with Joseph Peckie as well.
Plus our usual daily check-in with some of our civic media friends.
They include Todd Alba and Chad Holmes as well.
My thanks to Peggy Words Olson for being one of our guests today.
Also to and Peg's nephew Parker Olson for being here and to meteorologist Brittany Merleau and to you as well for being here this morning.
I'm Pat Crite, the founding editor of Up North News.
Up North News is the Wisconsin outlet for Courier, a pro-democracy news network.
Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday.
We'll see you Thursday morning, bright and early 6 a.m.
right here up
north.
The national news cycle never stops, but it can be hard to find news about your local community.
Civic Media is dedicated to providing quality local and state news coverage across Wisconsin.
With the Civic Media app, you can get notifications about local stories that matter to you and your community.
Find the free Civic Media app in your phone's app store and choose notifications from the menu to tell us what kind of news you want to hear about.