Pardonable Offenses & Offensive Pardons (Hour 2)

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Hey, good morning, 7 0 6 on a Thursday morning, December 4th.

Nice to have you back here up north on a cold, cold morning across Wisconsin.

Parker Olson producing things down in Madison.

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But first wanted to let you know some of the temperatures around the state right now.

It's six below here in the Chippewa Valley siren is the cold spot in the state at 17 below.

But Black River Falls is not far behind.

It is minus 15 there.

But just down the road in La Crosse it's one degree above zero.

Wisconsin Rapids is at eight below zero and Oshkosh done run out of degrees.

Temperature is zero right now in Oshkosh.

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Our question of the day that we've been asking is about kind of the Spotify wrapped thing.

that's come out and letting people know, you know, what they listen to on that particular app and all the different ways that other apps now track your statistics, health and fitness and food orders and you name it.

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The lot of the talk nationally, of course, has been about what is a possible war crime that was committed by the Trump administration by the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who

You know, his qualification, apart from serving in the military, was being a talking head on Fox.

No actual management experience, and certainly not the depth of military experience.

His main qualification was to blindly follow a commander-in-chief, who, by the way, is a convicted criminal, and had made clear to military brass that he expected all of his instructions and orders to be followed, even if they're illegal.

And that might be the case when it comes to a September 2nd attack on a boat that was allegedly running drugs.

But again, we don't really know because they blew up the boat, killed everybody in there.

There will be no follow-up investigation.

There will be no due process.

Pete Hexeth acted as judge, jury and executioner in this case.

The controversy is that in this particular strike,

There was a second strike.

There was the image that we've all seen of the boat being hit by a missile and then apparently there were two survivors who were clinging to the wreckage and You know the rules of engagement would say well you you rescue them and then you try them for whatever crimes they may have committed That's not what happened.

There was a second missile strike

specifically targeted to kill these individuals who were shipwrecked.

And Pete Hegseth has said, you know, rules of engagement mean nothing to him.

That's what they said in Nuremberg as well.

Rules of engagement very much do mean something.

There is still such a thing as crimes against humanity.

And we're a better nation than that.

But you wouldn't know that from talking to Western Wisconsin Congressman Derek Van Orden who is defending the second strike and and and again saying it in his naturally condescending way So here's what he said in an interview on CNN

Let me put it in a way that people who have not been to war can kind of visualize better.

If you're on the battlefield and there's an enemy tank and you launch a javelin missile, for instance, and it doesn't completely destroy the tank, you launch another one regardless if there are tank crewmen hanging out the hatch.

So as long as there was a fraction of that boat floating, it was a viable military target.

It was a viable, lawfully targeted enemy combatant vessel.

Those folks have been designated as terrorists by the State Department.

And he is literally wrong on all fronts for that.

People hanging out the hatch, people clinging to shipwrecks, they are no longer a threat.

The boat is no longer a boat.

It is no longer a viable threat.

And to call them viable, lawfully targeted enemy combatants also flies in the face of all logic because

only Congress has the power to declare war.

That's it.

Game set and match.

Everything else beyond that is an authoritarian government trying to carry out rules that they alone set and they alone feel that they have to abide by.

And nothing could be further from the truth.

Now, Hexeth likes to blame the fog of war and, you know, Van Orden is standing with that.

But

That's a convenient excuse when you don't want to follow the actual rules of engagement that include treatment of people who are helpless and who are clearly no longer a threat.

He told Van Orden told Spectrum News, if you are killing Americans or trafficking lethal drugs into our community, the US has every right and obligation to take decisive action.

Our Southcom warriors risk their lives every day to defend the homeland, and I will always have their backs.

That's nice of you to say you support the military.

But as we learned during the government shutdown, no, you actually don't.

You are happy to let people miss mortgage payments and fall behind in their bills.

And again, in terms of rights and obligations, those are things that you don't get to decide on the whim, even if you're the commander in chief.

There are still rules to follow, and I believe there will still be consequences to be paid for these actions.

Let's turn to a much lighter note here as we mark the holiday season on this Thursday morning.

Time now for 12 days of community kindness, a reminder that there are local organizations right in your hometown doing great things and they deserve your support.

And today we're talking about the Cable Hayward Area Arts Council with Jean Nicola.

Jean, good morning.

How are you?

Good morning.

Thank

you so much for

inviting us to do this.

Absolutely.

Our pleasure.

Tell us a bit more about the Cable Hayward Area Arts Council.

Tell us about its mission.

Well, its primary mission is to promote the arts and artists in the Cable Hayward area, which is basically Southern Bayfield County to Southern Sawyer County and a little bit of Washburn County.

Tell us about the importance of that.

Why by community art and supporting the community arts is important?

Well, you know, I think we there are studies that show that the arts are part of healthy living, healthy mental, you know, good mental health and that sort of thing.

And so we try to

It's not just paintings, it's not just visual arts.

We're also promoting music and writing and theater and any kind of creative venture that people can come up with, especially with the younger emerging artists and students.

And so you're always looking for ways to do that.

And for your folks, there was an art crawl that was done recently.

What's that about?

Well, I think we're going into our 15th year here in 2026.

And it's kind of a thing that's somewhat replacing art fairs where

the public goes to the artist studios rather than the artist going to some local park and setting up with a bunch of other artists.

So that way the public can see where the artist works, can maybe see some of their tools of their trade and their techniques and that sort of thing.

So it's a little more relaxed environment.

Every studio is different.

For example, mine is on a beautiful lake here in Sawyer County.

Yeah, so it's a literally a free tour.

We provide a map and they can follow either the online map or printed map to the different artist sites.

Yeah.

And there's a guide that goes along with it that apparently reaches some 7,000 attendees.

And by the way, the website for the group is cablehaywardarts.org.

Again, cablehaywardarts.org.

And so obviously, you're looking for people can make donations.

They can also become paid members as well if they choose to, right, Gene?

Right.

And those things are

those forms or processes are available on the website.

And the donations go primarily to scholarships.

So we give about last year we gave out close to $5,000 in graduating senior

grants for students who are going into some sort of creative field.

And then the other thing we've done is sponsor different local events for the public to make it affordable.

For example, there was this really interesting theater project out of, I think they were like out of the St.

Croix Falls slash Twin Cities area called the Fox and Baker Theater, who did a wonderful outdoor operetta at the local library that we funded.

And, you know, we've funded some things at the Park Center, which is another nonprofit in the Hayward area.

that hosts all these performing artists.

And to learn more, you can visit the Cable Hayward Area Arts Council at cablehaywardarts.org or on Facebook, look up Cable Hayward Area Arts Council.

And that's directly the page name right there to learn more and hopefully be a supporter of theirs, Gina Kola, from the Cable Hayward Area Arts Council.

It was great to catch up with you.

Thank you for telling us a bit about your organization.

You bet.

Thanks for calling.

You bet.

We will continue things here in just a bit.

I'm Pat Critewell.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

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Nice to have you back on a Thursday morning, December 4th, 855-75 Civic is our phone number 855-7524842, our question of the day.

What stat would you like to see about yourself?

And Tony is right up there with me.

He says, I would like to know how many times I walk into a room and forget what I walked in for.

That would be fun.

That would be a fun app because look, let's face it, your phone is listening to you.

It's one of the more troubling things that we've got out there.

Parker, I know you've seen this.

You didn't look up something.

You didn't Google it.

And you had up in your Facebook feed or whatever comes into ad for the thing you were talking about

a

little while ago.

It happens so frequently that it's actually bad at hiding it.

Yes, right.

And so, yeah, why wouldn't we get a stat at some point?

Here's the number of times your phone heard you saying, now, why did I come in here again?

because I did it just yesterday.

I was like, what did I come in here for?

And then

eventually I realized it was like a box of tissues that run out and I was going into the bathroom to grab a fresh box.

But I walked into the bathroom and I'm like, what am I doing in here?

I got to go back out in the living room, see the empty box again, and go, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and go back.

And I just want my phone to go ding.

Yeah, I want to know how many times I tap my phone screen to turn it on to look at the time.

and then three seconds later go, what time is it?

Yes, that'd be another one.

By the way, I should be noting that our keyword for this hour is brisk, B-R-I-S-K.

Brisk is the keyword in our grown-up gift list text win contest.

And you've got till eight o'clock, Tony says, I say, what was I getting?

Yeah, that's exactly it.

Or how many times you open the fridge door and don't pull anything out?

Which, by the way, that number is a lot lower now than it was when you were, say, 12 years old.

If my mom had an app that could show, this is how many times, Patrick, you opened up the fridge and looked and looked and looked, and then closed it again.

And 12-year-old me would be like, oh, but I was hungry, even if I didn't pull anything out of there.

Can I tell you about a stupid injury I sustained the other day?

Why?

Yes, you may.

I was opening a box of cookies.

Okay.

And I cut my finger on

the box

of the cookies.

Yeah.

That's not it.

Well, I want to know how many times I've hurt myself getting food.

Hurt yourself getting food.

Because this is not the first time I've done this.

You think a guy with Lawrence, but no.

No, no.

I mean, we always talk about paper cuts, but, you know, cardboard cuts from trying to stick your finger under the tab, you know,

and get a

package open.

Yeah.

The struggle is real.

on that one, that does indeed happen.

And so, stupid injuries would be another one.

Like, oh, here's how many times you went, how did that happen?

Where did

that bruise come from?

Yeah,

yeah, would love to know that.

What stats do you want to know about yourself?

8-5-5-7-5, Civic, 8-5-5-7-5-2, 4-8-4-2.

In sports, the Bucks were winners last night, but Yanis went down with an injury.

Apparently, it was a right calf strain.

and the Bucks were still able to beat the Detroit Pistons 113 to 109 last night.

The Bucks will be home Friday versus the Philadelphia 76ers.

Onto the Packers now where I see from Mike Clemens telling us that for a brief moment Parker, there was a record set by the Packers and the Lions.

It was the most watched ever.

NFL regular season game the most watched ever regular season game last Thanksgiving and they they held that record at Something like 58 million viewers or something like that Yeah, and then they lost the record a couple of hours later because

that was

followed that was followed by the Cowboys chiefs game Which had 61 and a half million viewers

America's team.

Hey, I didn't say it always it always is yep So we we had the record for a bit Tony saying on YouTube.

I believe cardboard cuts are the number one Christmas injury.

I Don't know if they are I think they might be one kid going El Kabong with their toy on another kid who tries to get their toy away from them and just swings it at them

Yep

Yep, another one like that.

That could definitely be the case.

But back to the Packers, I think the ratings are going to be pretty good for this Sunday as well when they take on the Bears.

It is a 325 kickoff, so coverage will begin at one o'clock Sunday afternoon on several civic media stations.

And by the way, as an aside, again, this game is at 325.

Then they play the Bears less than two weeks later on Saturday, the

21st, right?

Sure.

Whatever that Saturday is.

Yeah.

Uh, uh, six and 14 is 20.

Yeah, it's a 20.

Uh, sure.

Anyway, that game is is a prime time game.

It wasn't that it was moved.

It's that the time hadn't been officially set and it's now set to be a Saturday night prime time game on that weekend just ahead of Christmas.

So Packers Bears, those are those have the potential to be two really big games.

They do.

I saw a note from sports director Jimmy Cusca about the Packers Bears game this week and it is

it's close to national as possible for not being like the Sunday night football game or like

a

standalone game because it's on everywhere except for basically LA and Las Vegas,

which have their own teams playing at that point as well.

But yeah, yeah, makes sense.

So again, Sunday, you can catch that on several civic media stations.

There's also the Badger men's basketball team one yesterday.

They beat Northwestern opening up the big 10 season 85 73.

So Wisconsin now since 1999.

So so far in this millennium, you know, the 25 years since Wisconsin has won 22 of those big 10 openers in the category of sports stats that don't actually mean anything whatsoever.

But somebody's got to tally them up.

The Badger men 22 big 10 opener so far since the since the turn of the millennium as they say John Blackwell 26 points Nick Boyd 20 points.

Oh Blackwell only had 26

Blackwell 26 points and 11 rebounds.

Wow.

He had like 21 in the first half

The Badgers will host Marquette at the Cole Center this Saturday at one o'clock.

Catch the pregame at 12 30 Marquette on several civic media stations.

We got a big old weekend for sports here.

Not the least of which is hearing Parker on make the call Saturdays at 7am.

You can listen on the civic media app.

I'm Pat Crightlow from Up North News.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

Welcome back.

I'm Pat Crightlow from Up North News here in Chippewa Falls on a Thursday morning.

December 4th will be joined by Congressman Mark Pokan in just a moment.

First a reminder that this hour's keyword

In the civic media grown up gift list text to win contest is brisk B R I S K text to brisk through the civic media app before eight o'clock and you will be in the running for a daily prize of $200 and a grand prize when the contest is all set and done next week.

There will be three grand prize winners as well and you get many chances to enter throughout the course of the day.

Your next chance will be in the nine AM hour with a new keyword.

But for this hour, the keyword to text us is brisk.

Let's welcome in Congressman Mark Pokan now.

The government shutdown may be over, but the gridlock seems to still remain mostly because it's the gridlocks in the Republican caucus.

So there's really not much to do about it.

Congressman Pokan, good morning.

How are you?

Hey, good morning.

And you're exactly

right.

I had another.

person from the district, radio person that say, oh, you know, talk about Dems and Republicans not getting along.

I go, I wish it was just that simple.

It's a Republican and Republican fights.

That's why they can't put any meaningful legislation in front of us.

And, you know, it's because the speaker, Mike Johnson, is the weakest speaker, I think, in modern history by giving all the power to the executive branch.

We're not a co-equal branch anymore.

We're a subservient branch of government the way he operates.

So thank you.

for saying what is my daily dredge while I'm here in Washington.

Well, and again, it's not top of mind for most Wisconsinites.

But while we're on the topic, you've you've got, you know, Marjorie Taylor Green of all people, you know, breaking with Trump.

And now, apparently, again, according to one report, Nancy Mace of where's Nancy Mace from South

Carolina?

Nancy Mace is truly a sociopath.

And she will do anything to get attention.

And she loves attention.

Oh, my goodness.

Her mom needed to

hug her mrs mace you should have hugged your daughter when she was young um so i i don't take those reports that much but i do know there are many republicans who are quietly saying this is ridiculous we're not doing anything how come and they're going to have more people i think leaving not early but not running again because of mike johnson so i mean he really will go down in history not just because i don't

like his politics, but because he has been such a weak speaker, not standing up for the institution that's a co-weakle branch of government.

But yeah, Nancy Mace, I mean, you know, I used to say like a Marjorie Taylor Green, at least her broken clocks right twice a day.

That's how, you know, she gets right with Nancy Mace.

She's just a

crazy clock with where the hands are going in all directions.

He's giving everything in numbers above 24.

But the thing is, you know, for whether it's she or Green or some of these others who are.

now kind of going public with their criticisms of the speaker.

It really shows a move towards self-preservation because so many of these folks have a 100% voting record with Donald Trump.

And yet you see what just happened this week in a special congressional election in Tennessee where the Republican did win the seat, Mark.

But what's the story behind that Republican quote unquote victory?

Well, I mean, it was it was way off from where the Republican percent of the vote is.

I think it was just under.

9% was the victory, but it should have been strongly into double digits.

And if that was extrapolated across the country, we would win 43 seats next fall.

Democrats would flip 46 seats, I should say.

So that is something that's concerning to Republicans.

But you know, Representative Stefanik right now is kind of one of the Republicans leading the fight against Mike Johnson.

And I think especially among the women in their caucus, because don't forget, he's this Christian nationalist.

He has a Christian

nationalist flag outside of his office, I think there is another layer of dysfunction within the Republican Party that it has become truly a good old boys network.

And that's why I think some of the women are really feeling the pressure because they're being even more irrelevant in the modern Republican Party.

We're talking to Congressman Mark Polkhan as Congress gets back in session, more or less, after the government shutdown that had taken place.

And by the way, when you mentioned flipping 40 plus seats, if anybody goes, oh, that sounds like an exaggeration.

Trust me, as somebody who still bears the scars of 2010, the shellacking when Republicans flipped just over 40 or just over 40 seats, it is very much the kind of thing that can happen in 2026.

Again, nobody's counting chickens before they're hatched.

But as we talked to with Craig Gilbert the other day, I mean, the signs are there that if Republicans continue on the path that they're on right now, the voters are not going to take kindly to it in November of next year.

Yeah, and I was trying to talk to someone recently.

I mean, the numbers of a district are still the numbers of a district.

Some districts you'll never be able to win because there are some Republicans who, no matter what Trump does, are going to be Republican.

Where do independent voters go?

Where's the intensity of Democratic voters?

Are we fired up to get out and vote?

And where's the intensity of the Republican voters?

And if Republican voters and independents are saying, I'm paying too much for groceries, for durable goods, for utilities, for healthcare, they're not going to come out for Republicans.

But if Democrats and independents are concerned about what's happening to our country under Donald Trump and they do come out, I mean, that's the wave that comes out of

a potential 2026 election year.

But it isn't helped not just by, you know, the actions of the Trump administration, but in something as basic as the president of the United States in being asked about affordability, saying it's a con job that the focus on affordability that those are his words, it's a con job.

Mark, what percentage of Democratic candidate commercials will play that clip back next year and why isn't it 100

percent?

Think about it a guy who just gold leafed everything in the Oval Office and is building a Ballroom to the White House that's gonna be larger than the White House and at a square foot cost of 10 times what it cost to build any other ballroom by by industry standards is telling you that affordability is a con job You know people are smarter.

You know if you're paying more for groceries.

I just you know, I just paid about

12-13% more for when I go on a regular basis for groceries here in DC and I noticed when I went this week it was about

$20 more than what I usually spend just for two bags of groceries and I started doing the math on all of this and people are we know people are paying more but whether it's groceries or it's your utility costs because health insurance the big ugly law health insurance you're gonna see even more next year in your premiums that you're paying or your employer's paying and you might be doing a copay you're just seeing this and it doesn't look like he clearly doesn't get it if he's saying it's a con job so

That is the issue I think for 2026 and I don't think the Republicans get it.

We're talking to Congressman Mark Pocan and speaking of the Affordable Care Act and the huge spike in premiums because the enhanced tax credits expired and Republicans would not go along with any plan to extend them.

The plan or the agreement to end the government shutdown called for a vote in the Senate on perhaps restoring slash extending those enhanced premium tax credits.

I know you can't speak for the Senate, much less Senate Republicans, but

Will there be significance in a vote that is reportedly going to be taking place next week?

In other words, it may sound rose-colored glasses of me, but is there the possibility that next week we do actually see enough Senate Republicans say

Uh, our constituents are going to get hurt by this and we're going to kind of defy the president and go along with this, uh, or is that really just pie in the sky?

Thank you.

So

I, it could very likely get a positive vote.

The Senate, it's unlikely it'll ever come up in the house because we have the freedom caucus adamantly against this and all you need are like three people to oppose something and you kill it in the house, right?

So it won't even come up for a vote.

So, you know, the problem is those seven Democrats and one independent senator that joined the Republicans to reopen government.

are involved in a game of fantasy Congress.

And I understand fantasy football can be fun.

Fantasy Congress, not so much.

Would you trade away something for a vote that's not realistic because you're never gonna get a vote in the house or approval by the president?

So, you know, unfortunately, it was a bad deal they agreed to, but we are reopened and that's good.

We're fighting in other ways to get healthcare for people.

And honestly, the real fight comes from your constituents.

When people call up and say, this is my rate increase, how come I'm paying so much more,

That'll put more pressure on people, but what's going to happen in the Senate next week will be not very exciting.

I'm afraid because it's going nowhere.

Congressman Mark Pocanas with us and we spoke about one of your Wisconsin colleagues earlier Congressman Derrick Van Orden and the comments that he made about the reports that there was a second missile strike on one of the alleged drug boats and the Congressman from Western Wisconsin justifying it and saying as somebody who served in the military said it in his patently condescending way, let me put this in a way that people who have not been to war

can kind of visualize better if you're on the battlefield and there's an enemy tank and you launch a javelin missile and it doesn't completely destroy the tank you launch another one regardless if there are tank crewmen hanging out of the hatch so long as there was a fraction of the boat floating it was a viable military target it was a viable lawfully targeted enemy combatant vessel those folks have been designated as terrorists by the state department i don't know that you've heard that quote before but

i

i certainly found a lot to take issue within there

Well, I mean, here's the classic thing is when they instruct folks in the military, the example they give of an illegal order is around if there are people left after a ship is hit that you cannot kill them.

It is literally the example of what an illegal order is and it's what happened.

So, you know, maybe we understand why Derek's career is not in the military after his insight.

And I guess I should wave my fingers.

for people listening because they're not going to see him.

But his insight is this justification.

I mean, obviously, Daddy Trump says something.

Derek says, how high he'll jump, whatever it takes.

In this case, though, people know that it's wrong.

And now we also, on top of it, to add on to this, the inspector general just said that the whole signal gate with a.

you know, the secretary Hexeth using Signal as an unsafe, unsecure app could have put the lives of soldiers at risk.

This guy is on pretty thin ice right now.

Well, at least he should be.

As Alicia notes, for someone who was a senior chief petty officer in the United States, Davey, I know that Derek Van Orden knows better.

He knows people clinging to debris in the water are not threats.

And the thing that needs to be, people say, well, why should we care about them?

Because as we learned in, you know, stories of past wars, those could be our people clinging onto a vessel afterwards.

And whether Pete Hegs that says he doesn't care about rules of engagement or not,

They still exist.

Yeah.

And for Derek, if you're, you know, someone who wants to have a town show, have your membership for a town hall, you're seen as a threat, right?

I mean, there's got a lot of threats out there.

So I get it.

There's snowflakes out there, regardless of whether you're the military or not.

Derek is clearly a snowflake and a sucky, a sycophant to whatever Donald Trump will say.

But this was something that, fortunately, Dems and Republicans, this is one of the few areas I've actually seen Dems and Republicans look like we are a co-equal branch of government.

We are standing together against what happened here.

And I have some other theories of why, but the bottom line is this was wrong and it does have to be investigated.

And Congress, in this one rare case, Pat is doing the right thing.

All right, Congressman Mark Polkhan has joined us to talk about the restarting after the government shutdown.

And later in our next hour, we'll talk to Sean O'Malley about your money in the markets and the lack of government data and whether this economy is artificially propped up or not, which could create a whole new world of problems for the folks on Capitol Hill that I know you're following.

Mark, thank you so much as always for the visit.

We'll talk to you again real soon.

Yeah, thanks so much, Pat.

Appreciate it.

All right.

Have a great day, sir.

Again, Congressman Mark Pocan.

And as mentioned, we will get to some economic talk here and government data and basically blindfolding the Federal Reserve and forcing them to set interest rates that could affect every one of us without having all the right numbers in front of us.

We'll have that.

Plus, Joseph Pecky and more.

Again, brisk is the key word for the text to win contest, our grown up gift list.

You have until eight o'clock to text brisk.

R-I-S-K using the Civic Media app.

I'm Pat Critello from UpNorth News.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

752 let's continue things now on this Thursday morning.

Welcoming in James Kelly civic media reporter from our Chippewa Valley newsroom about some of the stories he's following James.

How are you?

I'm good.

How you doing?

Doing great.

Thank you.

Got my my little list that you provided of things that you've been working on and I cannot wait to learn more about I mean this is a tease right here.

He writes for me.

Eau Claire working with USDA on aggressive turkeys.

Yeah.

Well, turkeys, they can be aggressive.

Can they?

Really?

They

can.

You wouldn't think it.

I mean, I've certainly seen geese at Irvine Park.

We'll go after somebody.

But I just always figured turkeys were a little bit more docile than that.

Yeah, not these days.

No, this has been going on for months in the city of Eau Claire.

I feel like I'm looking at a scene at a

South Park here with the turkeys getting all aggressive and pecking at people or something.

So this is a real thing.

Yes, this is a real thing.

There's a flock of turkeys around the Old Wells Road in US Highway 312 area.

And I went back and looked because I remembered doing this story when it like first happened that there were being aggressive turkeys in that area.

It was in May.

all the way back in May that

this like

first started really becoming an issue and it's still an issue now into December so the city reached out to the DNR and said you know what do we do about these turkeys like they're being really aggressive the DNR said well it could be you know part of their mating season like they become a little more territorial there could be

You know, people could be feeding them a little bit, maybe tossing them some bread, which is getting them used to being around people, so there's just more incidents.

But at this point, they're calling in the local USDA officials, say, we have to come up with some way to relocate these turkeys.

They need to go to a place where there's not people.

Or, or hear me out here, bring in some farm kids, because being married to a farm kid, whenever she hears about these, these things like especially geese and other birds being aggressive, she's like,

Their neck is right there.

It does not take much to snap a neck.

Well, you know, we were like rid of them humanely, Pat.

No, no,

no.

That's how you do it.

They're done.

And guess what?

Dinner is served.

Now you don't have to worry about it.

It was just Thanksgiving, guys.

Come on.

I know, but I'm just saying- Yeah, who needs to buy your turkey at Walmart?

I'm just saying, on behalf of all the farm kids out there who are listening going, what are we talking about here?

You know, or a good swift kick, whatever the case may be.

And don't give me the animal cruelty thing.

These are animals that are being aggressive on you.

And this is how you answer it.

You don't call in the DNR and we'll come up with a five point program and blah, blah, blah.

I mean, I wish them well with it, but there are easier ways or, or another phrase that my wife brought from the farm, you know, a bullet still costs a quarter.

Um, look, which is not true.

Not true.

And I'm not advocating shooting the turkeys in this instance, but there, sometimes we get a little, we're thinking, we're thinking, overthinking these things a little bit.

That's my two

cents.

You know, Pat, it's very mature to say, well, they started it.

So we're just finishing it.

Sure.

Whatever works or maybe it is a mating problem and we just maybe there's way too many toms in there And we just need to bring in some hands.

I don't know balance things out.

Maybe it's that

yeah, I'm not a turkey expert How much

how much fun is it to speculate because a bunch of dummies like us from the city don't know how to handle this kind of stuff?

I'm great with pigeons pigeons.

I'm good with turkeys.

I got nothing for them

Tom and Hartford dinner.

Yes.

Yes, it's a turkey.

It's it's what's for dinner anyway before you get to the next door

I should say just one last time you got three minutes to text in the word brisk brisk with your civic media app for a grown-up gift list text to win contest.

All right, enough fun with the turkeys.

Let's get over to another story out of Eau Claire and Foster Homes.

Yeah, foster homes.

So they're starting a new initiative here in Eau Claire.

It's called the High Acuity Foster Home Initiative.

The goal is to support children who have more complex needs, kids who have been through trauma in their early years.

A lot of times the more specialized care that they need involves going out of state to different places.

So this new initiative is going to provide some more monthly stipends for foster families and could actually end up saving the county about

four to $25,000 per month per child to be able to like provide these services here.

So it's a good way to keep these kids in their own community.

There's a better chance of them, you know, recovering when they're surrounded by people they know, family, friends, staying in their homes.

So a good initiative.

Honestly, that is, I don't know that you can do enough when it comes to supporting foster programs.

These are folks that basically are doing the Lord's work as far as I'm concerned, and so I hope the program succeeds there.

Then, of course, we've got the ongoing controversies about data centers, and we hear about them in southeast Wisconsin, but there is also an issue in the Menominee area.

Yeah, the

Menominee, there you have that proposed data center we've talked about before.

That's on the annexed land from the town of Red Cedar, I believe it was.

That's about right by County Road B and 650th Avenue.

Yesterday there was statewide protests against data centers.

One of them did take place in Menominee, but...

Unlike other areas, Menominee has actually paused those plans for the for the data center.

They did forward the rezoning request to the planned commission the city council did over the last couple weeks.

So we'll see what comes of that.

But it does seem like in Menominee the appetite for the data center has certainly gone down.

That's not the case in other areas though.

No, it has not.

And finally, we mentioned earlier the Bridge to Wonderland Parade taking place in Chippewa Falls coming up on Saturday night.

There's also the Chippewa Valley Parade of Lights going on.

Yeah,

they're

taking entries for their annual holiday decorating contest through, I believe it's December 15th, yes, and then judging will take place from December 19th to 21st, and there's going to be a bunch of different categories, best use of lights, most entertaining, you know the categories.

Absolutely.

It's just that time of year to drive around, look at holiday decorations and say, wow, somebody spent way too much time putting those up, but I'm thankful that they did.

Yeah, because it's very pretty, but that is real dedication.

James Kelly does all this for the Chippewa Valley at 93.5, the tap double.

or you can listen on the Civic Media app.

You can also see the current headlines James is working on, whether local sports over at the website, thetap.fm, again, thetap.fm.

And finally from Tony, he says, my wife called the DNR once about an injured porcupine.

Their response, don't you have a gun?

She said, no.

They said, ask your neighbor to borrow theirs.

That, boys and girls, is what I expect from the DNR.

And

that's...

Way to go, guys.

Wow.

This is not city living.

Don't overthink this.

All right, James Kelly, thank you so much.

Have a great day.

Have a good one, guys.

All right, coming up in our next hour, we will be talking to Sean O'Malley about your money in the markets.

We'll talk to Chad Holmes and Wausau and Joseph Peckie about state politics and Mandela Barnes getting into the governor's race.

I'm Pat Crichtlow.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

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