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Now, for my Lake WSOTA studio, here is the founding editor of Up North News, Pat Craiglow.
Thank you, Don Rue.
Good morning.
Welcome back.
Nice to have you here up north on a Tuesday morning, November 25th.
2025 I'm packed quite low in Chippewa Falls Parker Olson producing things down in Madison Studio A2.
Charlie Ray is standing by from the Washburn area new candidate for the legislature seat in the state senate in northwest Wisconsin and then in our next half hour we will be talking to a legislator from northwest Wisconsin state representative Angela Stroud.
We didn't have to go to northwest Wisconsin for this we could have talked to
any member of the legislature about the fall session, what got done, what didn't get done, you'd probably hear some uniform answers from one side of the aisle, and Angela Stroud will not hesitate to share what she thinks could have been done in Madison, but did not get done, which also might be motivating people like Charlie Ray to run for a seat in the state Senate as well.
So we've got all of that along the way.
First reminder, with it being a holiday week, we will on Thursday have the best kind of Thanksgiving leftovers.
Some of our great conversations recently, including pediatrician Dr. Kelly Snooks talking about measles outbreaks, signs and symptoms to watch out for, the safety of the vaccine as well.
We'll hear from Chuck Collins from the group Patriotic Millionaires.
You probably hear those spots throughout the day here on Civic Media radio stations, and so we learn more about the group that way.
And then we've got some fresh material for you on Friday to get you into the Thanksgiving slash Black Friday weekend.
That includes, as usual on Fridays, our weekend review panel and Greg Bach joining us for our history lesson.
And I cannot promise you that Greg Bach and I will not sing a Glenn Campbell song at some point during his visit on Friday.
So tune in for what may or may not happen there.
Spoiler alert.
Greg and I will sing the Glen Campbell anytime.
All right, let's see the Up North News Daily newsletter is out for today.
You can sign up over at UpNorthNewsWI.com.
Click subscribe up in the top banner.
And in the in the newsletter this morning is a story about the prehistoric wonders that are being discovered around Madison's Lake Mendota, where several ancient canoes have been found over the past few years.
Some of them
going back more than a thousand years and the kinds of things that we're learning about the indigenous people that had settled in that area all that time ago.
So to learn more, you can get our newsletter by signing up at upnorthnewswi.com.
Let's see, we've also got, we've asked a couple of questions today.
We've mentioned that our question of the day deals with what's the worst song that has ever charted because this is the 40th anniversary of we built this city by Starship reaching number one.
And some people think it's the worst song ever and they're wrong.
It's Sister Christian by Night Ranger.
Anyway, then there's our question of the week from our Sunday morning newsletter.
asking, how do you feel about the AI boom?
Are you mostly optimistic, mostly pessimistic somewhere in the middle about its impact on, you know, jobs, the effect of misinformation, things like that?
So a lot of responses have been emailed in already to that one to see our question of the week first.
Again, head over to our website and get our Sunday morning newsletter that I put together every weekend for you as well.
Well, except this coming weekend, we're going to take Thanksgiving weekend off from our politics newsletter.
You're going to get a heaping helping of politics over Thanksgiving dinner, perhaps.
So we'll pause for one week before we get the show back on the road.
710 right now.
Let's get to know one of the new candidates for state legislature.
Charlie Ray up in the Washburn area is running in the 25th State Senate District, a very purply part of Northwest Wisconsin.
So let's find out more about him and what motivated that campaign.
Charlie Ray, good morning.
How are you?
I'm good, Pat.
Thanks for having me on.
How
are you this morning?
Very good.
Thanks.
Nice to have you.
And we'll not keep you long because you're dodging an incoming blizzard.
So I'm sure that you've got things to do up around that area.
Charlie, tell folks a little bit about yourself.
What's your background?
And then we'll get into why you decided to run.
Well, thanks, Pat.
Yeah, I've been working in
Local issues up here for a couple decades.
I've been on the town board for a decade eight years.
There is a town board chair Which gets you real close to getting the potholes filled the roads graded and the snow taken off the local roads and some folks actually previous county board members suggested I look at the county board and I stepped up to county board six years ago and
ran for that position and I've really enjoyed working with a non-partisan county board, getting things done, figuring out some solutions, you know, from simple things like we just got online dog licensing set up in Bayfield County for the first time.
So I'm very excited about that small thing that will make life a little bit easier for folks, make things more efficient for our town clerks.
But I'm also willing to take on the bigger issues, like our county zoning code.
I, like many people, get driven crazy by our out-of-date and confusing local zoning code.
And I've taken on a leadership role there.
I'm on the zoning committee, and we've decided to completely overhaul our entire zoning code up here.
So that's a big lift.
But I'm willing to take on the little things and the big things.
Wait a minute.
So you're willing to work on the substance, you're willing to work on policy, the things that actually get things done for people?
Yeah, Pat, I hate to say that, you know, that might get me in trouble in this campaign.
What I see coming out of Madison is a lot of distraction and smoke and mirrors and not focusing on some real major things that we need to deal with, like our healthcare system, our public education funding and figuring out how to
Let our local communities have more control over their future.
Well, I'm certainly familiar with that in in 2006 having run for state Senate against a Republican incumbent and you're up against the same thing.
So what are you telling people about why they should make a change in that particular state Senate district, Charlie?
Well, I think people realize it's time for a change.
I think we've had
28 of the last 30 years dominated by the Republican Party and the state legislature and I don't think we've really seen that much happen in a positive way.
So you know there's been structural things led by the Republicans that are coming to fruition like our school funding situation is just hitting crisis levels and and that's that's a long-term structural
set up to underfund our public schools and we're seeing this with just repeated, you know, referendum after referendum and trying to just keep our operations going for our local schools.
So something's not working with that structure and we got to address that.
So I think people are ready for a change, Pat.
We're talking to Charlie Ray and you can learn more at Ray, that's our AY.
F-O-R-W-I, Ray for W-I-R-A-Y-F-O-R-W-I.com.
Similarly on Facebook, look for Ray for W-I-R-A-Y-F-O-R-W-I.
Again, Charlie Ray, running for State Senate.
You were talking about the work you've done at the local government level, but let's hear more about your own personal interests and what you've done for professional experience.
Yeah, I've been a professional forester for 20 years up here.
My background's in environmental studies.
So I've got a more general broad background.
I worked in wetlands policy and water policy before getting into full-time forestry.
So I've been setting up timber sales.
I do invasive species control, help people manage their land.
My wife and I also own honest stock books up in Bayfield, which is new and used books.
And we have a theater now.
So it's a full service multi-faceted small business.
So small businessman, forester, raised two kids up here.
And I was interested to hear about the historic canoes they found in Madison because canoeing is a huge part of my life.
My wife and I undertook a honeymoon canoe expedition from here up into
across northern canada
and spent under a marriage encounter right from the get go as we would call it and at that no point did you take a paddle to the head which is why why why that marriage lasts uh we're talking to charlie ray candidate for state senate in the 25th district that's up in northwest wisconsin a lot of these districts have changed and for folks that might not be aware you know there was a change made uh to get rid of the so grossly gerrymandered legislative
maps.
And last year in 2024, that led to a lot of changes in assembly districts because all of the assembly seats were up.
The state Senate is a four year term, so only half the Senate seats were up last time.
The other half of Senate seats are up in 2026 with a lot of change districts, a lot of more competitive districts, Charlie.
So when you look at that and you look at the potential for Democrats to win control of the state Senate and or the assembly and or hold the governors.
office as well.
What do you see is the the best potential for Wisconsin?
Where can Wisconsin go if things go well in 2026 for you and others?
Well if things go well we could we should be looking at a trifecta where the Democrats take control of the legislature and the governorship for the first time in decades and we've got a real possibility for some positive change for the people of Wisconsin.
There's talk about how we can address health care more
seriously and deeply for Wisconsin residents.
We will be able to undertake reform of the school funding formula.
Things that have been blocked, real conversations that have been blocked through the distractions of the Republican dominated legislature and governorship for a long time.
So that's one of the reasons I'm engaged, Pat.
You mentioned our incumbent Senator, Mr. Quinn.
He's no longer in the district.
So we have an open seat actually in the 25th.
We're not going against an incumbent.
We have two Republicans in the primary already and the district boundaries as you pointed out are now Shifted and they just they follow the county lines instead of gerrymandering partially out of counties.
So it's the four counties in the north and then Ashland Bayfield Douglas iron and then
Sawyer Burnett Washburn and Polk County down in the northwest corner of Wisconsin there.
So I think we got a real possibility to turn this seat We only need two seats to flip in the Senate in order to take the Senate and this district is One of one of seven that is targeted for a likely flip.
So I'm hoping to be I plan to be part of that yeah
Charlie Ray is our guest running for state senate in the 20 the newly redrawn 25th senate district which is where I got confused on the incumbents here but you know just picking on the education funding alone and I've only got about a minute here till a break but you know we are seeing just a parade of school referendums and you're gonna hear from people oh there's just too many local school referendums there's a problem here what's the solution to that
Charlie?
There's no easy solution to these things, Pat.
It's a tough conversation that's got to be had.
I think one solution is we have to find some funding streams for schools that do not come from our local tax rolls because it's just breaking us locally.
I mean, I pay taxes locally here.
I've seen the taxes go up and up and the schools are the top of the list.
And it's also not fair.
Justice is an animating motivator for me in this and it's not fair to have some school districts that
have very high value.
don't have problems raising money and then other districts that just struggle and we're not even going to be able to rebuild some of these schools when they crumble after a hundred years.
So we've got to do something.
No, and it's like I said, with all these referendums, you know, my general recommendation is say yes to the referendums, say no to the people who have set up this environment where we have nothing but referendums because of a generation now of chronic underfunding of our public schools.
Charlie Ray is our guest.
He's a candidate for state Senate, 25th district out of Washburn up in Northwest
West Wisconsin and coming up at 735, we are going to be talking to State Representative Angela Stroud from the Ashland area.
We'll get more into what the legislature has done and what they didn't get done and the things that still could be done after the holidays.
There's still a little bit of time before Republicans send the legislature home for a nine month paid vacation.
I'm Pat Krightlo from Up North News.
This is the Civic Media Radio Network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Stay up to date on the latest news and information for your local community and Wisconsin by signing up for our free email newsletter.
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Welcome back, still ahead, we'll be talking to Cam Stevenson, live from Washington D.C.
from Courier Newsroom about things happening in the nation's capital.
And then a little later, Eric Gunn from the Wisconsin Examiner will be here as well.
Hey, just a reminder that civic media also has its own new daily newsletter and you can find it over on sub stack had the Civic media today dot sub stack comm and Get yourself caught up on all the program notes and more civic media today dot sub stack comm Let's see online.
We've got Tony Up in Ashland who reminds us that there is an easy answer the legislature in the state should properly fund schools.
Yes, Tony
exactly.
He also says love the maps in Charlie's background.
Pat needs more maps.
So Charlie, I will be reaching out to you to borrow some of your maps at some point here.
But yeah, it looks good there.
Charlie, Charlie Ray's joining us now from the Washburn area running for state Senate in the 25th Assembly District.
You can learn more over at his website.
which is REI, R-A-Y, four, F-O-R, W-I.
So REI4WI.com, look up REI4WI on Facebook as well.
Charlie, we talked about education before the break here.
Let's talk a bit about healthcare.
Certainly, you know, the thing that gets the most attention is Wisconsin being among the few states that have not yet expanded Medicaid.
And more recently, hasn't even expanded Medicaid protection to women who've just
delivered babies.
Clearly, there's room for improvement on health care in this legislature.
Yeah, there certainly is, Pat.
And I hope Angela will address that recent health care policy myths that happen in Madison.
In talking to people and trying to figure out what we can do on health care, I didn't realize, but the Medicare
Medicaid reimbursement rates are set by Wisconsin policy.
So there are things we can do even with these federal programs, including accepting the Medicaid expansion that will, what I think people will forget in this stuff is they get focused on maybe somebody's getting something that maybe that I feel like I don't have, but this is all of our health we're talking about here and the
the cost of our health care depends on all of us being healthy and the whole population and getting our providers reimbursed adequately for the services that they're providing.
So if we can expand the pool of people that are being kept healthy, that brings down our costs for everybody.
If we can increase
what we reimburse our providers, well that makes more providers available for all of us.
So there's stuff we can do and I'm interested in you know thinking outside of the box and bigger picture working here in the county.
I see how our county delivers different parts of health care services.
in different levels.
I'm thinking of the Meals on Wheels program that helps seniors stay at home.
I'm thinking about our nursing home that our county's invested in and kept open through lots of help and we've got our nursing home back on its feet again.
And so I think the state can play an active role in that kind of activity that helps keep costs down again if you keep people, elders in their home.
They are healthier and they're not costing the medical system.
And if we can have nursing homes that are in our communities, people have better outcomes than if they have to go abroad out of town to get nursing care help.
And you can see a lot of this on Charlie Ray's website again, ray4wi.com on the issues page where he emphasizes healthcare as well as education.
And in our final couple of minutes here, local control as well, because you have extensive experience serving in local government.
I remember when Republicans, you know, took control of state government 15 years ago, based on a promise of being the party of local control, they have proven to be anything but.
So what is it that would need to change if you were to be elected to the legislature, Charlie?
Well, there's lots that needs to change.
Pat, I think I've started a list of laws that I would like to see repealed that would give us more local control.
You know, and top of my list is the law that limits a county's ability to use.
to set conditions when we issue a permit.
So there's a substantial evidence requirement right now on conditional use permits, which basically ties the hands of your local government because we can't put any reasonable conditions on some development proposal in order to be comfortable with going ahead with it.
So we're left with a choice of no conditions whatsoever, let the project rip, and hopefully our community won't be
destroyed by this project or say no to the project.
So it seems like a good idea to, hey, you got to have some reason on your conditions, but the truth is people in general have common sense out in the country.
And are we going to trust Madison to make these rules that are going to determine what our communities look like and what kind of development we have?
or we're going to trust our local elected officials to make those calls.
And I think what you point out, Pat, is everybody believes in local control until they disagree with their locals.
And then they want to kick it up to Madison.
And I think
what you see is the lobbyists go to Madison.
And then when they don't get the right answer there, they go to DC and look for an answer there.
I'd like to keep it local.
Alicia says on YouTube this entire session of the legislature has been about wrenching more control from counties and municipalities which is especially important as we're talking about data centers and factory farms and you know a host of other developments that
Again, you know, it's not about being anti-development, but it is most certainly against, you know, and it being against sprawl and destroying our resources.
And that's where we need some good people in the legislature.
Charlie Ray is running for the state senate seat in the 25th district up in northwest Wisconsin.
Charlie, congrats on the campaign launch.
Keep in touch and safe travels along the campaign trail.
Thanks, Pat.
We'll be in touch.
I really appreciate it.
Have a good morning.
you bet.
Take care there.
And again, that's Charlie Ray, and you can get more at Ray, F-O-R-W-I, or A-Y-F-O-R-W-I, Ray4W-I.com and Ray4W-I on Facebook.
All right, still ahead.
We're going to talk to State Representative Angela Straude from Northwest Wisconsin about some of the things that did and didn't get done in this latest session, a floor session for the State Senate and the State Assembly, and then Eric Gunn from the Wisconsin Examiner.
We'll have more to say about it in our 8.30, half hour.
I'm Pat Crightlow from Up North News.
Follow us at UpNorthNewsWI.com.
This is the Civic Media Radio Network.
Well, you know if you're listening to us live on the radio that then you know it's 735 on Tuesday morning November 25th
If you're not then that didn't really matter that time check did it but either way We love having you along live or later on on demand by following the show as a podcast head over to Spotify Apple wherever you get your podcasts follow mornings with Pat Kratlow powered by up north news and that way you never miss a guest Never miss a topic can always come back and listen to something again if you like Let's see we've got one of our questions today
Was about some of the worst music that charted the things that you disliked the most from Jim and Campbell sport flock of seagulls.
I ran so far away That quintessential 80s tune right there tomorrow on the program we will have state representative Christian Phelps and state senator Jeff Smith They will be part of our homeroom segment remember last week in our homeroom segment.
We had two members of a blue ribbon commission
from back in 2017, 2018, looking for a bipartisan solution on reforming the way we pay for our schools.
And so we talked to those two commission members from back in the day.
And tomorrow we're going to talk to Representative Phelps and Senator Smith about how the things that were suggested or recommended in that blue ribbon commission report
They're still very doable.
You just maybe need to change the makeup of the legislature to get some of those bipartisan ideas through.
and maybe not have quite so much extremism in the legislature.
That segment is coming up 24 hours from now, here on these mornings powered by Up North News.
Also tomorrow, Up North News newsletter editor, Ellie Bordeaux, will talk about an article she's written on a way that you can reward the small businesses that invest in our communities.
So stay tuned for all of that on the program tomorrow.
But coming up right now, we head back up to the Ashland area, State Representative Angela Stroud represents that neck of the woods,
and is completed with the fall session of the State Assembly for now.
Angela, good morning.
How are you?
Good morning.
I'm well.
Thanks.
How are you?
Good.
Thank you.
You know, we've had a pretty common theme here.
And let me first back up for listeners to say the legislature is not.
done yet.
But the legislature, you can kind of think about it as a play in three acts.
Act one is the state budget.
They do that.
And then act two, we just finished.
That's the fall session after the state budget where you try to get a lot of stuff done.
Act three comes in like January, February, maybe early March of next year, where they try to cram everything else in.
And then they get much of the rest of the year off.
At least that's the way Republican leadership runs things right now.
So let's talk about act two this fall.
session and shall we go with a grade?
If you were going to give it a grade for productivity and success, how would you rate the fall session?
I'd give it a D.
I won't call it an F because there were things happening, but they weren't great.
There's two distinctions as you know.
There's the bills that are introduced where there are a lot of good ideas and then there are the bills that are heard in committee and that make it to the floor.
and those bills, so many of them.
I mean, you know, occasionally there are some that are bipartisan and are reasonable and good ideas, but by and large, it's just such a waste of taxpayer money.
There's no doubt there.
I mean, the things and not just the things that say Republicans are passing that they know Governor Tony Evers will veto, but the things that they pass a second time.
or a third time again knowing they're going to be vetoed as if that's making some kind of a statement when the statement
does appear to be a waste of taxpayer time and resources and yet we find ourselves into these areas where well here's one we discussed last Friday.
Well first before that there was the redefining abortion as if politicians can do that and then taking it a step further a rather extreme bill being introduced that would require you know in some cases people you know women who suffer miscarriages
to have to collect the tissue and bring it into a doctor's office to be looked at.
Again, just as intimidation against, you know, chemically induced abortions, you're really learning a lot, Representative Stroud, about where the priorities have been on the Republican side of the aisle in this session.
It is shocking and those two bills in particular I mean I saw a clip online of the debates and it's pretty clear that Republicans and even the ones who were considered moderate I want to be clear This is not just the extremes are setting up for a future where their goal is to criminalize abortion again and It's just it's unbelievable that that continues to be their focus.
I mean our state has so many needs We have so many challenges.
I'm so glad Christian Phelps is going to be on tomorrow
Education funding is one of our biggest challenges.
Everybody's about to feel that.
When you open your property tax bill next month.
and you realize that the legislature is still trying to talk about abortion, then you can really get a sense for how just extreme and irresponsible this legislature is.
Well, it seems to be what they, you know, what they do best.
I mean, one of the bills that they passed, I'm not going to say, you know, whether it's a bipartisan idea is up for debate.
But school consolidation, now it's one thing to help school districts reward them for being more efficient, but they're
are plenty of lawmakers who saw that bill as simply a way to undermine public schools by, again, urging more about consolidation or emerging districts rather than fixing years and years of chronic underfunding.
How did you see that debate playing out?
I have very strong feelings about this, you know, representing a rural area.
I take this really seriously and, you know,
If you have tried everything possible, your funding schools, you're helping them be more streamlined, you're helping them be more efficient, you're actually trying to address health care costs, and then you still see population decline that you can't really confront, then you should consider consolidation.
I mean, I think that's a practical thing after everything else has been tried.
But I talked about this in a fuller speech.
Closing a school, especially a rural school, is a death sentence for a rural community.
it puts them on a death spire, property values drop, investments go away, and really you start to see that exacerbation of population decline.
And so it's really just cynical is the word that comes to mind that they, after so many years of disinvestment, now are like, hey, here's some money for something, school closure.
That's the one time they want to fund public education is when they're making an investment to close the school.
It's just
These are anti-public school people and I hope that people really pay attention to that and hold them accountable.
We're talking to State Representative Angela Stroud from Ashland about the fall session of the legislature that was just completed.
Got done got passed although may likely get vetoed and the kinds of things that didn't get done I mean some things are on a perpetual list sadly about this representative Stroud healthy school meals for all Clean water initiatives affordable housing improving the shared revenue situation and it's not as if Good ideas weren't put on the table and I
I don't just mean that in a democratic party sense, but yes, in a lot of cases, these were democratic initiatives where the message didn't appear to be my way or the highway.
The message appeared to be, hey, here's where we're starting.
Can we talk about these and maybe make some progress on some of these things?
And it really sounds more like there was just a brick wall on the other side of the aisle.
our bills never get a chance for a committee hearing.
I mean, we don't even get a chance to have the conversation to say how could we make a policy or a law that would improve people's lives.
And so, yeah, the total brick wall, even conversations, I find, I try to reach out to Republicans.
Sometimes I have meetings, but what I often hear in those meetings is, yeah, leadership's never gonna accept this.
Yeah, leadership's never gonna be okay with this.
Yeah, we're not gonna be able to move this forward.
And it's always a no.
Even some of my Republican colleagues, I think they want to get stuff done, but they're dealing with a leadership that's focused on one thing and one thing only that's holding on to power.
And so they think the way to hold on to power is to make sure Democrats never get a win, including the governor.
Apparently, there are some issues where veterans affairs issues, for example, they do not want the governor to get a win helping veterans.
So rather than us doing anything to help vets, Republicans just want to block it to make sure that it doesn't happen.
I mean, it's just, it's the opposite of what should be happening in our legislature.
Yeah, I mean, the things that they focus on instead were attacking, you know, the, you know, so-called 400 year veto that that Governor Evers put into school funding, rather than again, address the root cause of underfunded schools, and then things like, you know, increasing the felony penalties for damaging statues, because, you know, again, there's just so much that seems to be more about talking points than
getting things done.
I mean, you mentioned veterans, the thing that I don't know what you could call more shameful, the lack of extending badger care coverage for postpartum women to 12 months or pretending they didn't defund the programs that help homeless veterans.
I know.
Well,
Let's not make it a competition.
Let's call them both shingles.
See, that's what you can do in politics.
Yes.
And they both are.
There's something for everybody to look at and say, why couldn't you do that?
Why couldn't you work together on that?
I think this is 15 years of failed leadership.
I mean, it's time for something new.
They really are just, they have a one style of approach to everything and it's block, block, block tear down.
You know, they get excited.
You mentioned the statue.
provision.
If we're going to increase felonies or lock more people up, they're all about that.
Let's talk about that all day, every day.
I'm pretty sure if Adam put out a bill that said I want to put 10% more people in jails, they'd be all over that.
But that's pretty much the only topic that gets them excited and interested in doing some
work.
you know, there are so many issues surrounding affordability.
You know, childcare, for example, there was some work done on childcare in the state budget, but it wasn't, you know, the wholesale extension of childcare counts.
And so between that and all the other affordability initiatives that, you know, the Democratic caucuses put out, it just feels like
you're going to be able to go back, not that this should be about campaigning, but you are going to be able to go back next year.
It sounds like and say, here are all the affordability issues that a state government really could address, but this legislature decided not to.
Yeah.
I mean, at the top of list, property taxes because of our failure to fund schools.
Um, and then we have utilities.
I mean,
there's childcare, there's healthcare, all up and down the list people really need government to work and I think it's hard for Republicans when you have an anti-government ideology and you don't have, of course the market isn't going to solve our healthcare problem then you're stuck in this in between where you really can't meet people's needs so you've got to make it about culture wars and you've got to make it about some
you know, bizarre topics that normal people generally don't care about.
What they really care about is paying their bills.
And it's our job to really help voters understand that so they can really connect the dots and realize one party's looking out for you and the other party is out to watch.
We're talking to State Representative Angela Stroud from the Ashland area.
Tony writes from Ashland, my wife had a question about daycare and Angela and her office were very responsive, excellent constituent service.
Oh, it's nice to see that.
And from Alicia, she says, and this is second hand, I will acknowledge.
Side note, I was told by a Republican legislator that they really didn't do anything or make a big deal about homeless veterans because they didn't get phone calls.
First off, uh, just just argue.
Second, I'm one who will tell you as a legislator, phone calls can be very effective.
It's good to know what people are thinking.
It's good to know what people are demanding.
But to say you won't do something because your phone isn't ringing again, it's just it's it's just an abdication of Your own individual responsibility as a legislator.
It's just well, what does leadership want me to do and It's just lemming like behavior if what Alicia saying there is true
It's very very very top-down on their side And you know there are structural reasons for that on the Republican side the leadership controls the campaign dollars and so
They go in and say, what do you want from me today?
That's the attitude.
Whereas from my perspective, I am a representative.
I represent the people in my district.
And so I listen to them and then I go and fight for them.
I don't know why that's novel, you know, like that's what it's supposed
to be.
It shouldn't be.
It's like I said last week with Robin Voss standing up against the postpartum expansion bill that 30 Republicans have sponsored.
If a Democratic leader in the Assembly or Senate did that, he or she would be replaced that day.
I know because I've seen it happen.
Yeah.
State Representative Angela Straut from Ashland.
Always great to catch up with you.
Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for being here.
You too.
Thanks so much.
Take care.
All right.
Take care.
Coming up after eight o'clock, Eric Gunn from the Wisconsin Examiner.
about some of the things being considered in the Capitol.
And Cam Stevenson from Courier Newsroom, live from Washington, D.C.
Live from Chippewa Falls, I'm Pat Critello.
This is the Civic Media Radio Network.
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Let's check in now with James Kelly.
You can follow his Chippewa Valley news updates on 93.5 of the tap.
That's WCFW HD2.
Also on the Civic Media app.
And on the web, you can see his current headlines, weather, upcoming local sports and more from 93.5.
The TAP at this web address, thetap.fm.
That's again is thetap.fm.
And James Kelly joins us now from the Civic Media Newsroom in beautiful Chippewa Falls.
James, how are ya?
I'm good.
How are you doing?
Doing good as well.
So I know that we have quite Thanksgiving plans ahead of us here, which for those of us who aren't doing a lot of traveling means a lot of TV, maybe a little catch up on work.
But I'm looking at your to-do list here and you're going to deserve the relaxation.
There's a lot going
on here.
Well, I always try to relax when I can.
We never know
when those times are going to come.
No, I totally agree with that.
So your first item sounds very promising from the folks at Chippewa Valley Technical College.
And I know that they have a firefighting training course.
I didn't realize that they're doing some research that could actually be helpful with preventing future groundwater contamination.
Yeah, so this is an interesting story.
There's a state Senate bill that got passed last week to establish a DNR grant program, essentially making it easier for fire departments to buy this new product called soy foam.
It's a soybean-based fire suppressant, so it doesn't have all those PFAS that became popular in the 1960s.
Now, it's actually interesting.
I spoke to David Garley, who is a managing partner and the chief tech officer at this...
company cross-plane solution.
And he told me that back in World War II, they actually started using soybeans as fire suppressant, and it was very effective until they came up with the PFAS, which was more effective.
So Chippewa Valley Technical Colleges Fire Safety Center has been helping them test out this new formula for the soybean-based
firefighting foam over the past few years and and now that bill passed the state senate it'll go to the state assembly in the next couple of weeks so definitely a very interesting use of the fire safety center good testing site
yeah yeah kind of a way to get go back to the future if you will on this all right let's talk about the local drug take back numbers that have been racked up in the Eau Claire area
Yeah, so last week I spoke to someone from the Eau Claire City County Health Department who shared some of these numbers.
It always interests me that Wisconsin is so highly ranked during these drug take-back days, because it obviously doesn't have the biggest population out of any of these states.
But since these began, and I think it was 2012,
Wisconsin ranks third overall behind only Texas and California.
Now most years it ranks first for each individual drug take-back day.
In Eau Claire County there were 2,000 pounds of medications returned through the spring and fall drug take-back day this year.
I also spoke with them about some of the harm reduction vending machines going on in the area.
They said that there has been over a couple thousand boxes of Narcan distributed over the last couple years, and over a thousand fentanyl test strips, which come in packs of five, so that's really over 5,000.
Wow.
Okay, well, first off, good for everybody who's not just flushing pills down the toilet that they don't need anymore.
It's good to do the drug take back numbers.
My only concern being the spouse of a physician is, is everybody taking their prescription the way they're supposed to be?
Are you skipping some doses or something?
But whatever the case may be, good on you all for taking it back and not polluting the groundwater.
So that's great.
Let's talk about the ongoing efforts in the Chippewa Valley
address homelessness and what's been happening there with the Career Development Center.
Yeah, so the LA Phillips Career Development Center is running this 100 Nights of Shelter campaign.
Their goal is to raise enough money to get afford
affordable emergency motel room stays for unhoused individuals in the Chippewa Valley.
It's $80 per night for a motel room stay, and they're trying to get funding to at least have that all the way through early March.
So basically the entire winter, what's interesting is, I know we talk a lot about the resources that Eau Claire has available for unhoused individuals.
Chippewa County doesn't have a homeless shelter.
So for people up here, this is one of those programs that could make a really big difference for them when they're just out in the cold.
Right.
And that was really the
the Genesis behind the tiny houses program, which up here is known as Hope Village.
And it started with churches.
Each, you know, several churches built one tiny home that, you know, a homeless family could use.
And now it's become more of a program.
And the financial thinking behind it is, you know, yet cost so much to build a tiny home.
But compare that to, like you said, 80 bucks a night motel vouchers, those add up real fast.
And it does not take long to make back the cost of constructing that tiny home for people to live in while they get back on their feet, while they get access to resources and everything.
So any of these things that can be done to address homelessness are definitely a net positive.
All right, what else we got going on?
Well,
the Chippewa Falls City Council approved the lot plans for the Rogers Behavioral Health Hospital.
That's a new hospital.
It could open in spring of 2027.
They still have a few more approvals to get, but they're hoping to begin construction this spring.
So when that opens up, they'll provide some mental health outpatient care, 14 beds for inpatient care, and 24 beds for a longer term residential treatment.
I had also received $10 million from the state legislature.
And if you remember that $15 million that was originally meant for this area out here was first meant for behavioral health services
because
there had been some losses there and they repurposed that money.
So now another $10 million for this new center should fill a pretty desperate need in the Chippewa Falls area.
Oh, without a doubt.
I mean, a lot of those services were being provided by Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, which was in need of upgraded facilities even before the shutdown came.
And so it's nice to see some positive action there.
And just a few seconds left, but tourism is going to get another boost in the Eau Claire area.
Yeah, visit Eau Claire and the city came to an agreement on a new three-year contract.
Pretty similar to the last agreement, something new in this one is there's $85,000 set aside to develop a 10-year strategic plan for developing the tourism industry in the area.
That's after a record-setting year for tourism again in Eau Claire.
Oh, it's nice to see that tourism sector growing.
James Kelly has all this for us on our Chippewa Valley station through Civic Media, 93-5 The TAP, and follow him at thetap.fm.
James, happy Thanksgiving.
Thanks very much.
Have a good one, guys.
All right.
Coming up in our next hour, Cam Stevenson standing by in the nation's capital from Courier Newsroom and then Eric Gunn from the Wisconsin Examiner.
I'm Pat Crightlow.
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