S*#t You Need To Know: Interesting Problems And Impactful Changes

It's a wake-up call in more ways than one.

Time for some sh** you need to know.

Yeah, that's true.

Hey, here's something you need to know.

La Crosse gets $2.4 million for affordable housing projects.

La Crosse received that $2.4 million in state and federal funding to help build two affordable housing projects.

that will create nearly 100 new housing units.

One project will transform the former Lincoln Middle School into the Heritage Lofts at Lincoln, creating 51 affordable apartments and community space after the school closed in 2023.

The second project, 7th Street Residences, will add 45 affordable units near the Green Island ice arena and provide housing options for working families and residents with moderate incomes.

City officials say the projects will help address

across his growing housing shortage and support workforce housing needs as employees struggle to find enough affordable places for workers to live.

A recent housing study found La Crosse County needs nearly 4900 additional housing units, including more than 2000 apartments affordable to lower wage workers.

Construction on the Lincoln School redevelopment is expected to begin in early 2027 with both projects scheduled to be completed in 2028.

We're hearing more and more about these affordable housing developments and that's great because just those numbers alone in La Crosse County

are terrifying.

And then you magnify that by the rest of the state not having affordable housing.

And this is a problem that's not going away, but a little bit.

Little start.

That's how you got to get the first steps in, so good for the cross.

Absolutely.

In other stuff you need to know this morning, President Trump abruptly ended a roughly 50-minute interview with NBC's Kristen Welker during his visit to Wisconsin, saying he had, quote, had enough and criticizing NBC as a one-sided crooked network.

The exchange became tense after Welker challenged Trump's claims about California primary elections, leading the president to remove his microphone and walk away from the interview.

Now this interview was conducted during rainy conditions in Chippewa Falls with both Trump and Welker later acknowledging weather and audio issues complicated the conversation.

Trump referenced the interview during his Wisconsin event telling the crowd he quote got a little bit angry with NBC but said they ultimately had a good time.

Welker later said she and Trump spoke the following day and agreed to do another interview in the future.

This interview covered a

range of topics, including the economy, the Iran conflict, and federal spending.

And NBC later published a fact check of several claims discussed during the conversation.

There's been video of that that circulated all over this weekend.

It's been shown several times across many, many news agencies.

If you weren't able to see the full thing, just go to your favorite news source.

Well, I'm going to be

honest.

I

sat down with a cup of coffee.

And, you know, at 9.30, the local news is over and then mass comes on.

So I flipped over to meet the press and I started to see, I started to watch the interview and I was like, I can't, it's too early on a Sunday.

I can't listen to this.

I missed it.

I had it

on and I missed it.

I missed his petulant little outburst when he, oh, and come on.

Ben critical of Kristen Walker privately well just to my wife on Sunday mornings yelling why doesn't she ask the harder quite why doesn't she follow up what she did and then he

said

she was stupid again he loves to call ladies stupid I don't ladies why do you still support this guy but anyway uh yes so he had a little temper tantrum and he stormed off the interview because finally somebody called him out yeah finally she was like there's no proof of of

you know, the election in California being faked.

There's no proof of this.

There's no, ooh, he doesn't like that.

And he especially doesn't like it from women.

Man, oh man, I, this guy.

hates strong women

he does

nasty women

he does and

Brian they should know their place

they should keep their

mouth shut

and later this morning we're gonna actually do have a fun game of factor fiction based on the president's appearance in Chippewa Falls on Friday so we'll get into a little bit of that later this hour so join us for that as well

well

I read this whole story.

I was trying to figure out how to fit this into the show

because

it's fascinating

this thing.

It is fascinating.

New private property signs in a rope barrier along Lake Michigan near Lyons Den Gorge Nation Preserve in Ozaki County are sparking debate over public access to Wisconsin shoreline.

Go and follow up on this story and read more, man.

We'll probably talk about it more.

Nearby property owners say the signs were installed because of ongoing problems with litter, dog waste, trespassing, and people climbing unstable bluffs near their home.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is investigating and plans to determine the site's official ordinary high watermark, which helps determine where the public can legally walk along the shoreline.

And that's a very important part of this story.

The Ozaki County Sheriff's Office says people generally have the right to walk along the beach below the ordinary high water mark and advises visitors to stay on wet sand or in the water to avoid trespassing concerns.

The dispute comes as separate Lake Michigan Beach Access as a separate Lake Michigan Beach Access case in Shorewood moves through the courts and could eventually treat the reach the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

So

I started reading this and I immediately thought, oh, these spoiled people who live on the lake.

What?

Oh, they don't want people walking along like that.

I thought these, uh, people who leave their dog waste and drop garbage and stuff.

I hate them too.

Then I read more and I said, oh, okay, there is a law that says if you have a house on a bluff, your property does extend down to the natural high watermark.

So.

People could still theoretically down the road still walk along the water's edge get your feet wet enjoy the walk, but you couldn't go past a certain point, right?

Which makes sense because the other thing was some of the residents were saying yeah people are climbing these bluffs We're afraid somebody's gonna get hurt It's a liability issue because it technically is our property and we don't want to have to cover somebody falling off a bluff because they didn't

obey the no trespassing signs.

So it is a complicated thing,

but

I just, I, I came to the conclusion that these property owners have that right.

And it would not, it would not, as I thought initially completely shut down that stretch of beach.

It would still be accessible.

You just have to, you know, apply your trade elsewhere and do me a favor.

I don't

care

where you are outside.

I don't care if you're in the parking structure next to the station.

Pick up your garbage right pigs

I don't know why we still have to teach people to do this.

Because

people are dumb and they don't think they only think of themselves.

That's what it is.

Yes.

We want to get into this story as well because this is going to affect a lot of people.

This is our big story.

If you or somebody you know uses WIC, the WIC benefits, you're going to want to pay attention to this because the US House has approved a new federal spending bill that would actually reduce funding

for the WIC program by about $200 million.

Now, of course, if you're not familiar, WIC provides food assistance and nutrition support to pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and children up to the age of five.

This particular proposal, Brian, would actually reduce monthly fruit and vegetable benefits for participants.

Benefits for breastfeeding mothers could drop from about $52 per month to $13, while benefits for young children could fall from $26 to $10 per month.

About 5.4 million people across the country actually receive WIC benefits, and it helps people purchase healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs, cereal, infant formula.

Kind of important if you have an infant in the house.

Yeah.

Whole grains and other approved items.

Before you go on, can I clarify something?

Sure.

The House run by Republicans, they are the party that's telling people we need to have more kids, right?

They are.

Even have kids you can't afford, which

they're

trying to make more possible because they're cutting funds.

So these are the people, they care and correct me again.

They care about people if they're unborn, they care about children.

But once you're born, you don't need to eat healthy.

and you don't need to get meals in school.

So

it's only until you actually are outside your mother's body that

you're

important.

Once you hit the streets, you're a burden.

Apparently so, and we want to make sure that when that happens that you don't have the support that you need or the healthy foods or the medical care that you actually need.

But in case you're wondering, WIC actually differs from SNAP or food stamps because those benefits can only be used on specific foods that meet federal nutrition standards designed for pregnant women, babies, and young children.

Now, in case you're wondering how this impacts Wisconsin,

The WIC program serves more than 142,500 women, infants, and young children each year, with roughly 106,000 people receiving benefits in this state alone.

That is 38% of all babies born in Wisconsin and more than a quarter of children under the age of five statewide are using the WIC benefits.

Overall, it serves about 54% of the eligible population.

And here's the other thing that people in this state need to remember that this is an urban, a rural area.

This is a program that benefits all of them.

The biggest users of WIC in the state of Wisconsin are

white women who live in Milwaukee, Madison, and Marathon counties.

This is- Say

that again, would you?

Yes.

So, use the biggest portion of WIC recipients in this state goes to Milwaukee, Madison, and Marathon counties.

That can't be right.

It is.

I did the research.

I know, but it goes against

everything.

So not only would this cut nutrition, it's going to also force states to create waiting lists or limit enrollment if available funding is not enough.

Health experts also say that WIC is as a preventative program that improves birth outcomes, child nutrition, and long-term health.

Every dollar invested in WIC generates an estimated $2.

48 cents in future savings through lower health care and social service

do away with it,

but again short Short-term vision short term.

We're cutting this.

We're cutting this We don't pay attention a long term because the people a lot of the people making these decisions are not going to be here in the long term.

It's just

It's just time.

It's just fact.

I mean, the whole thing is, is this is a program that is supposed to help and benefit mothers so that they can stay healthy.

They can get the assistance that they need.

They can buy the fruits, the vegetables, the supplements, and potentially even the baby formula, which again, kind of important if you have a child in the house to make sure that they're healthy.