Introducing Civic Media News Director Chali Pittman (Hour 1)

Live from the Civic Media World Headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, it's the Todd Alba show.

And now, pursuing truth wherever it may lead, here's your host, Todd Alba.

Across Wisconsin

on the Civic Media radio network and streaming worldwide on the Civic Media app,

Good afternoon, everybody.

Tal Alma, author, producer, and engineer, Mr. Aaron Zommers on the board.

It is six minutes past the hour of two o'clock on this Friday, TGIF May 30th, 2025.

It is a great day to be Wisconsinite.

Welcome everyone here at the World Headquarters of Civic Media in downtown Madison on State Street.

We'll look cloudy, Zommers.

At least that's what we think it looks like.

But in reality, and this is serious,

The entire state is under a weather advisory for air conditions, air quality

advisory.

Really?

I did not know that.

Yes, because of the big wildfires raging in Canada, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and that is coming down through Wisconsin, through the atmosphere.

So if you're an individual with asthma or somebody that has respiratory conditions,

It means you might want to stay inside or limit your time outside.

Brittany Relow this morning told us that this weather system is going to move out because there's a cold front coming down from the north through the south today.

That's going to bring in some showers, some garden variety, thunderstorms through much of the state.

And by tomorrow, most of the smoke from the wildfires should be out of the air.

So just be aware of that as you go throughout your day.

It's going to be a great Friday here on the show.

Coming up at the bottom of the hour at 235, Shaly Pittman, the brand new news director here at Civic Media, will be our guest sitting right here in the studio.

She is based here at the World Headquarters of Madison.

I've gotten to know her over the last couple of days here.

Fantastic individual.

long list of accomplishments.

We're very, very proud to have her joining Civic Media as the news director.

And so she's going to stop by, tell us a little bit about herself and kind of her outlook on the news.

Absolutely.

I am excited to have all of you hear the approach that she's taking to this position because as Todd said, very accomplished, very nice person.

I'm excited.

Yeah, she's she's very cool and really knows news and I think it's going to be a great leader for our news department.

So Shelly Pittman will be here at two thirty five at three oh six or shortly thereafter.

Little what's worse for you today.

I'm not on the face of it.

It doesn't seem controversial.

But maybe we'll stir the pot handshake or fist bump.

Handshaker fist bump that's coming up in our number two also going to check in on various assorted and sundry news of the day gonna have We're gonna have fun this a little bit later Because I filled in for quite low this morning packed quite low on mornings with packed quite low Six until nine by the way across the civic media-ready network Patrick is going out to Idaho to see his first eldest grandson

graduate from high school, so he took an extra day.

I said, sure, be happy to fill in.

How can you say no when he was such a gracious and kind host last week when he had us up at Lake Basota at his home for our show, brought me an old-fashioned at the end of the show?

How could I not say yes?

Also, why would you not want to help out a friend and colleague see their grandson graduate?

He did wait until I had the brandy old-fashioned in hand and had a sip first.

That's funny.

That's funny.

By the way, as long as I've got you here and I'm doing this favor for you.

No, I was happy to do it.

I had a good time our lots of changes speaking of under our new news director Sam Davison we the day you were out zombers or Wednesday We kind of say goodbye on this show to him.

This was his last day on John and Gordy here the morning show in Madison He's gonna come back though occasionally He's going to help run the Boy Scout camp and Eagle Scout just like yourself this summer and then he's going back to school Already a graduate of UW Madison for broadcasting.

He's actually has felt the call

to go back and be a social studies teacher.

So he's going to do that, but he'll still be stopping by.

So we have a dumb.

the new producer for Johnny Gordy, he was round, and then Greg Bach will still be the co-host of Matt and Aaron Ayer with Gene Matt and Ayer from 9 until 11 every morning, but he was also producing Pat Kratlow's show.

Now Greg gets to sleep in a couple of hours extra because we have Parker, the new producer and engineer for that show, so I got to work with him.

Great individual both great individuals very excited to have them on board young new talent just like yourself summers So the the median age of the home office has gone down a few years.

This is true Those of you who've been listening for at least a few months.

You also remember just another producer we had here who left to go on to Other things, you know, she's going for a medical degree We are sad to see Jess and Sam go but happy for them because they're moving on with their passions

And Dom and Parker are doing great so far.

They're catching on to everything like that, so.

Parker, though, is a graduate of UW Whitewater, the nemesis of UW Platteville, my alma mater.

We joked around that, joked around about that a little bit this morning as well.

So anyway, we had on the show this morning with Pat Craitlow's show, had a lot of fun doing that.

But we talked about.

There's weather stuff with print emeralds and these wildfires are really really serious up in Canada And that is causing the it looks like smog or or clouds, but no it's smoke for these wildfires.

So take care out there today, but anyway Pat on his show every morning He does the national day thing where he says it's the national day for whatever whatever Well today one of the national days is mint julep national mint julep day I found out

if you're I'm not a fan of mint juleps really but if you are that's that's fantastic don't think I've had one there's also I did not even know this was a day but we're gonna celebrate it coming up in hour two I'm not gonna I'm gonna keep people hanging on you're going to love it if you were a fan of Sesame Street you're going to love it

So all that more can be up in your calls as well.

Always welcome to give us a ring a link.

855-752-4842.

855-752-4842.

But let's kick it off with some serious breaking news at this hour.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinels, Daniel Bice, great reporter there at the Journal Sentinel, a bipartisan group of more than 130 former state and federal judges.

filed a brief today supporting a motion to dismiss the criminal charges against Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan, saying the case could have, quote, chilling effect, unquote, on judges around the nation.

The 21-page amicus brief argues that the two federal charges against Judge Dugan represent, quote, an extraordinary and direct assault on the independence of the entire judicial system, unquote.

Dugan, of course, was indicted last month on charges.

She helped an undocumented immigrant evade federal officers after he appeared in her courtroom.

Goes on to say in this brief quote, permitting the prosecution of a state circuit court judge for conduct falling squarely within her rightful exercise of judicial discretion, establishes a dangerous precedent that will chill judicial decision making at every level.

It was a 100 again the brief was signed by 138 retired judges It also says in this brief quote the case directly threatens the ability of all judges to their job without fear of retaliatory prosecution

I'm sure, I should say I'm sure, but my guess would be that Maggie Dawn, an attorney herself, former Milwaukee County attorney there, will be touching on this more in her show right after hours from four until six.

But again, the breaking news at this hour, a group of 138 retired judges urges the federal court to drop charges against Hannah Dugan, that from Dan Bice at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Also making news, this according to WisPolitics.com, great publication.

I wonder what in particular that that really affects Wisconsin directly.

And the other one is just a little bit bizarre, in my opinion.

This from, again, with politics, the Trump administration listed deep red Seanal County alongside Dane County and the cities of Madison and Milwaukee.

as the Wisconsin communities refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

The release late yesterday included no information on why the communities were listed and attempts to reach Shuttle County officials were unsuccessful.

Now, here's the thing, you know, I was stepping away from the story for just a, just a second.

I know Shuttle County pretty well.

My dad and stepmom will live there for almost 40 years, probably spend a lot of time up there.

The sheriff up there has been a long-sense Republican.

And now back to the story, it was politics.

More than 67% of county voters November backed Trump.

67% win for Trump and Shuttle County.

And the county board in 2021 approved a resolution, and here's the key, declaring the North Eastern Wisconsin community a, quote, second amendment sanctuary county.

Unquote stepping away from the story so shuttle if you don't know is just to the west of Green Bay It's about a 30 minute drive now in the beautiful four lane highway 29 But back at night there by 19 back in 2021 the shuttle County Board passed a resolution saying that shuttle County was a second amendment Sanctuary County

In other words, we are going to allow people to be arrested for having firearms.

Basically, if you, we're going to make sure we protect gun owners' rights in Charlotte County.

Well, of course, it's already protected by the Second Amendment, but they seem to just really want to double down on this.

Back to the story with politics, the administration's announcement that Charlotte County is under scrutiny here included a note.

that the list will be updated regularly and cautioned, and this is a direct quote from the Trump administration, quote, no one should act on this information without conducting their own evaluation of the information, unquote.

I mean, this is the same thing that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy said the other day when Wisconsin Congress from Mark Buchanan asked him, you know, in committee, and,

Kennedy said, well, you know, nobody should really be taking health care advice from me, medical advice from me.

You're in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services, dude.

So now here in this announcement, even though they're listing Sean O'County as a community refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, the Trump administration encounters it and says, but you know, don't really believe us until you conduct your own investigation.

President, back to the story, President Trump signed an executive order requiring the creation of a list identifying states and local jurisdictions that obstruct federal immigration laws, Department of Homeland Security sent criteria for inclusion on the list, included factors such as, quote, compliance with federal law enforcement, immigration restrictions, and the legal protections for illegal aliens, unquote, their words, not mine.

So basically what appears to have happened here is,

the Trump administration is trying to call out communities that are calling themselves sanctuary cities uh for for migrants and because shuttle county passed a resolution saying it was a second amendment sanctuary county

Because it included the word sanctuary, it appears now that the Trump administration used AI or something like that and basically got caught up in the mix.

That's what I was going to say.

I was going to say, I would bet a lot of money that it's AI, just like when they did their whole big tariff board and had a bunch of places that are uninhabited by human beings that just have penguins and stuff.

It's because it was AI generated.

So again...

If you think some of these out of control Trump policies aren't going to affect you, ask the people in Chateau County.

They elected Trump in Chateau County with 67% of the vote, and now they are under scrutiny by Department of Homeland Security for being accused of being a sanctuary for immigrants.

You cannot make this stuff up.

855-752-4842, 855-752-482.

You're on phone calls on the other side.

It's a TGIF edition of the All Balls show.

You're listening across the state of Wisconsin to the Civic Media Radio Network.

And having fun doing it, welcome back to the Town of All Show on the Civic Media Ready Network on this Friday, May 30th, 2025 of Zombers, the last show for a month of May.

We'll begin to June when we come back on the air on Monday.

How about that?

Yeah, you're right.

It

always goes so fast.

It all goes so fast, right?

Glad to have you along.

Coming up at the bottom, or just after the bottom of the hour, Shelly Pittman, brand-new news director here at Civic Media is going to be here.

Learn more about her and some of the things going on in the Civic Media News Department.

Right now, talking about a couple of stories, one of which is breaking Milwaukee drill Sentinel from Daniel Bice at this hour.

A group of 138 retired judges urges the federal court to drop charges.

against Hanna Dugan in Milwaukee.

855-752-4842.

Let's go to the phone lines.

Gary in Sussex.

Gary, happy Friday to you.

What do you got?

Yeah, you too.

Hey, I appreciate you letting me speak on the air because I'm going to disagree with these 138 judges.

This man went, he was arrested for assault and battery.

for beating the living daylights out of a man and then punching a woman and both of them ended up in the hospital.

So she thought, well, because he's an illegal alien and he's now gonna most likely be deported, I'm gonna let you go.

How would you feel if it was one of your friends or your brother or your mother that got punched and this judge went out there and just let the guy go because she didn't want him thrown out of the country?

Well, I think I want to make sure I let you finish.

Number one, from what I've read about the actual case, some of which you put out there, I think is accurate.

There may be other details to the story that are being left out.

I'm not an attorney.

I'm certainly not a judge.

But from what I've seen, Gary, I don't think anybody is disputing what should or shouldn't happen to the individual who was, you know...

in the courtroom.

I think what it comes down to, and I think the entire tape, the videotape is hours long, but I've seen some of the clips from the courthouse video of this incident where the INS officials, or INS, the ICE they call it now, ICE officials in plain clothes were kind of just chilling, hanging out outside the courtroom.

And if you look at the report from Department of Homeland Security or ICE,

It accuses Judge Dugan of being like irate and coming out and throwing this fit.

But if you look at the actual videotape, it's not there, Gary.

She's very calm.

We don't know what she said, obviously, because it's just a tape, not the audio.

And when the defendant guy, I mean, he comes back out into a hallway where there is clearly on the videotape another

playing close ICE official, he doesn't grab the guy, doesn't tackle him, he doesn't hit, he just kind of follows him out of the courtroom.

And then the guy, because there was other people outside the courthouse, takes off and then they get him.

So I don't think it's, for me at least, it's not about that Judge Dugan was trying to help this guy get away or let somebody who committed a crime allegedly get away.

To me, it's these charges against Judge Dugan

which seemed to be pun intended, trumped up.

Well, the thing is, your judge, and I guess she threw the ice guys out, told them, you can't be in my court.

You got to get out of the room.

That's why.

But if you look at it, and again, I'm not trying to be argumentative, but if you look at the tape, Gary, she said you have to go to the chief judge and she showed him where the courtroom was.

They said, OK, fine.

Actually, another, she didn't, apparently Judge Dugan didn't know there was another plainclothes guy that she didn't see.

He stays right there.

So again, she wasn't throwing them out of her courtroom.

She saw that she heard that they were standing outside and said, look, guys, you can't just be lurking around here.

Go see the chief judge who oversees the courthouse and they did that.

So I think it comes down to just a matter of, I think that the Trump administration wanted to make a point.

They picked Judge Dugan to do it and I just don't see

You know a she should be afforded her due process innocent and proven guilty I I just think that the feds have a really weak case based on the videotape

Well, I disagree with you But you know as far as I'm concerned as far as if you're illegal in this country if you go out there and turn yourself in and say look I've been living here working hard.

I don't believe anybody should be thrown out of the country I think that you should work your way to citizenship

But if you're punching people, especially a woman, and you're illegal in this country, you have no right.

Well,

I would say that anybody, regardless of their status, if you're committing a crime, well, absolutely you should be.

You know, you should have a trial of your peers and if found guilty, you should be put away.

But Gary, we just got about a minute left here, but you brought this up.

You brought this up.

I mean, rest of your take on it.

What do you think is the thing where now it's being announced today that Trump has pulled the illegal status of half a million individuals which paid their own way to come here on a plane and they were given legal, they went through the, did it the quote unquote, right way?

They were here under legal status for two years.

They had to have financial sponsorship to get here.

And now without any warning, Trump is pulling their status.

I don't know enough about it, but if you're doing good and you were welcomed into the country and you get a visa to stay here for so many years, I have no problems with that.

So I think you could be wrong on that one at that taken, you know what?

I don't know who's advising him.

I mean, you know, he has advisors and he'll probably change.

But I can't listen to you much longer.

But you said about the fist bump and the handshake.

Yeah.

I fist bump almost everybody.

And I appreciate when when I fist bump, they fist bump me back.

If I hand shake me, you know, so that's that's the way to just try some time.

All right, go around and either fist bump and see what happens.

Nobody's going to shake your fist.

I appreciate your early vote on what's worse.

Thanks, Kerry.

Have a great weekend.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

Yeah, early vote summers an early vote.

We're gonna get into more of this story I just kind of mentioned to Gary there because this is a follow-up Again, we have a half million individuals who are here legally and Just like that Trump pulls their status even though they're here legal and there was another case involving somebody from the walkie an immigrant who was set up Christie or not Chris.

Yeah, Christie.

No

DHS Secretary sends out this thing and it turns out the guy is 100% innocent.

We'll talk about that.

Stay tuned though.

We're going to keep it local.

The brand new Civic Media News Director, Shaly Pittman, right here on the other side on the Civic Media Ready

Network.

I ain't that good news!

News across the state of Wisconsin is 35 minutes now past the hour of two o'clock.

Welcome in in his May 30th, 2025, TGIF, a Friday edition.

Nicely done there, Mr. Zalbers.

Who's singing that?

Who's the, who's the?

The Supremes.

Isn't it really the Supremes?

It sure is.

That's fantastic.

We're going to have some good news here.

We're going to talk to our new news director, Charlene Pittman here in just a minute, but I always remiss.

Got into that phone call with Gary.

Always appreciate him listening.

We don't always agree, but always good to have him call in because Zauber's is saying you got to do the giveaway today because if you're watching live on the stream Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, Twix, whatever you want to call it.

I am in my Brewer's jersey today or at least my my three-quarter zip and my Brewer's mug because it's these two fabulous stupendous fabulous.

Friday giveaway for Brewer's tickets.

Your chance to win four club seat tickets at Ampham Field for a game to be named later.

No, we have it right here in front of us.

It's for Saturday, June 7th against the San Diego Padres 635 start time.

This is very important.

You have to be able to go to that game.

You cannot transfer, you cannot exchange.

Luke Mathers keeps these tickets.

It is well-oiled mink.

leather satchel.

All right, I think we decided

it was synthetic oil.

Yes,

synthetic mink oil that is sustainably

created.

People

got

worried because we were killing mink.

It's a sustainable mink oil, and he has these tickets, and so we cannot exchange them.

So you have to be able to go on Saturday, June 7th on Brewers against San Diego's 635.

So text in, download the Civic Media app.

If you don't have it, it's free.

And then open it up.

First 11 stations of the news talk sports stations.

Click text in the lower right hand corner.

And now you're all set.

The word today for our free Friday Brewer giveaway is Park.

The word is Park.

P-A-R-K Park.

This weekend is a lovely time to go to the

Park, P-A-R-K.

Text the word park right now on the Civic Media app, and somebody at the end of today will be a lucky winner of those four Brewer tickets for Saturday, June 7th.

Maggie Dawn will have one more word coming up between four and six.

All right, believe me, no one is more excited for our next insiders.

Did you mention that it's statewide?

Oh, for goodness sake.

I've got myself in trouble.

No.

Thank you, Zombers.

The lawyers tell us we have to tell you this is a statewide giveaway.

All right, there we go.

We got the legalese out of the way.

Nobody's more thankful for our next guest than me after not having a news director for quite some time and working election night without one.

I've been filling the chair, but now no longer needed because we have a legitimate, wonderful, talented news director here at Civic Media making her first appearance on the air.

Absolutely.

First appearance on the air.

is Shelly Pittman.

Shelly, thanks for being here.

Thank you for having me.

It's an honor to be on your show, and I'm still gonna tap you for election night.

I hope you know that.

We'll see.

We'll see, but no, I'm happy.

However, I can help out, but I'm really glad that you're here because, well, first of all, let's just start out.

Tell folks a little bit where you grew up, where you're from.

Thank you.

Thanks again for having me.

My name is Shali.

I have worked in journalism and in radio since I was 18 years old.

I grew up in kind of rural-ish Wisconsin, Fort Atkinson.

I went to UW Madison and worked at all kinds of radio stations, public and college and non-commercial, but I've never worked in commercial radio.

So I'm

kind of crossing it off my list now that I'm here.

The rules are a little bit different.

love that we're a statewide network.

This is so cool.

Still a lot to figure out, but yeah, I have done it all.

I've been behind the mic.

run so many boards and produced a lot of different shows.

And I come from W-O-R-T most recently.

I was the news and talk director there for six years.

Madison Hippie Station is what it's commonly derided as, but it is so much more than that.

I was just gonna say, I've...

Better on Tony's show before.

Castaneda,

yes.

Tony Castaneda, great guy, great musician, great Madisonian, one of my favorite people of all time.

He was kind enough to have me on his show, and he came on this show.

I, what you just said, I think is really important because, you know, there's always stereotypes or whatever.

And certainly, I think there is kind of that grassiness, root earthiness of WRT.

But we've actually used some of your stories of WRT newsroom on our show because you guys have really been known for some really great reporting here in Madison.

Thank you so much.

And yeah, it's true.

I think you pulled our reporting here on consulting a couple months ago, and that took a whole year.

And we do open records.

I think the important thing in your community is showing up, which I know that's something that civic media is trying to do.

But there's no replacing that, right?

And media, in many regards, is crumbling across Wisconsin.

So I think.

We're connected with our community.

We have the, you know, it's volunteer based.

We have kind of seven full-time, I should stop saying we,

right?

There are seven full-time staff members and a few part-time staff, but everyone on the air is a volunteer over at W-O-R-T.

So it's a lot of training folks on how to do good radio, but you also have a wide network of tips.

So that's pretty cool.

It is super cool and

Well, I love about your experience at ORT, which is a community radio station.

Our owner CEO, Sage Weil, his original vision, which still holds true, is to create a network, a statewide community-focused radio network.

And we have so many great people across the state in our news department.

We had several of them on.

We just had James Kelly, our Northwest Bureau Chief up in Chippewa Falls on Friday.

I think that having those individuals all across the state being led by someone like you who comes from community-focused radio, I just think that it's a fantastic matchup, and I'm really excited.

I'm really excited to be on my fourth day here.

It's been a bit of a drinking from a fire hose.

I've been meeting with our reporters, our reporting team, and my number one takeaway is how hard they work.

work incredibly hard to report from their communities and that sometimes it's not as easy when you're in rural Wisconsin, right, when there aren't a lot of...

other news sources.

But I see that as our specialty in reporting what's actually happening in our community, also being the folks who show up.

So I'm excited to continue that work.

We're talking to Shelly Pittman, the new news director here at Civic Media across our statewide radio network.

It is 42 minutes past the hour of two o'clock.

Shelly is one of the great...

privileges that I have with this show is they allow me to travel throughout the state.

We've done the show.

It was pretty much from almost every market at this point now, at least the news talk market, I think.

And, you know, I grew up originally at the Center and WRCO and now part of it is WRCE is my home station is where I started when I was 17.

And Joanne Krulatz, our news director there, she's going to school board meetings, to city council meetings.

She's putting newscasts together, a 45 minute live, new newscasts every day and a lot more.

You got when we're up at Chippewa Falls, James Kelly's going out to rallies on again, so I think Van Orton, the congressman up there.

You've got Melissa Kay at Wisconsin Rapids.

We did the show from up there, much like WRCO.

people are coming into the station every day.

Oh, here's what's going on with our local Lions Club to raise money.

Here's what's going on to raise money for the PTO.

What, as you look at this network now that you're inheriting, I guess, or now leading, this is a better way to put it, what would be your, on day four, a couple of goals that you would like to see us achieve our news department?

Well, the first goal is just to talk with everyone.

And I'm about halfway through that goal.

But short-term goals would be to make the news operations.

We've had a couple of changes in the last few years to make that a little more sustainable for our reporters.

But I am definitely still finding my niche.

I think being connected to your community and having that play out on air, on talk shows and on news shows,

could use some refinement, but is of paramount importance.

I think our news and our news talk or our talk programs, being able to communicate a little more would be good.

So, yeah, I don't know.

I'm glad I'm not joining the day before an election or something like that, right?

Right, yeah.

And I think our friend and colleague, Jane McNair, who is an icon in this business, part of me particularly in Southeast Wisconsin, and she and I have chatted, and the irony is not lost on any of us.

The oftentimes communication companies sometimes are the worst to internal communication.

We're doing okay, but I think there are some things to figure out.

But there are so many projects to take up, and that's also what I love about this company is it does have a little bit of a

to start up vibe to it.

And there are so many things that we can do, right?

I was talking, I was in, what do you guys call it, the knock?

I just call it

the control room.

Yeah, network

operation center, the

knock.

Is that

what it stands for?

Yeah, that's what it stands for.

Oh, I didn't know that.

I've been here three years, I didn't

know.

It's a really great place to hang out because you can listen to any station with the click of a button, which I love.

But our Chris Casper, the engineering guy here, was just showing me what they used to do live remotes.

And they have all this technology that you can go anywhere in the state and do a live remote, even if you don't necessarily have broadband.

So there are a lot of opportunities here.

I've got folks asking me about open records already, and I'm excited to bring more of that with us as well, or just as much.

really hone that.

So there are a lot of opportunities.

Yeah.

And I guess the point I've been bringing that up earlier is just that what I love about you is you're from the business, you're a broadcaster, you're a journalist.

And so you get this stuff.

And so I think sometimes, you know, we in communication, myself included, who doesn't always do a good job of communicating with others, the fact that you get that and you can instantly on day one,

It's just a huge compliment to our company.

And I'm really, really excited to have you here.

That's really kind of you.

Thank you so

much.

Radio people are the best.

The folks who can run the board, who can be behind

the mic.

Yeah.

The summer is fantastic.

Yeah.

Has he hosted?

Well, I'm not really

hosted, no.

No.

I mean, I've talked on the radio.

I talk every day, but no.

I guess I co-hosted with one of our producers who left recently, Jess.

That was one day.

I've done one show as a very secondary co-host.

The answer is yes.

You've hosted, right?

So they're all knowing each role is so important, too, to know what a producer, how much work it takes to produce.

Producers never get enough credit.

You do a very good job.

We

try.

Yeah.

No, I think that's really important of acknowledging all of the people who...

Work really hard to make a show of success and you do it flawlessly

Well, you're too kind, but I, I'm a big believer in, in team.

And I just come in and do my little part, but you're absolutely right.

Without engineers and producers like Zabras, without our engineering team, without, you know, it goes on and on.

This thing's never going to work.

So I'm just very privileged and fortunate to be here and do my little dog and pony show between two and four.

Well, this morning you were on this morning too.

So

you're doing a little more.

Yes.

This morning I got up early and did Pat Crite low show.

And that was a lot of fun.

Hang around for another segment.

Sure.

You have time because I want to come back here.

I guess we have a couple minutes.

Oh, one minute or so when we come back this morning, Pat has this great round table on Fridays and Mark Jacob, who wrote for the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times.

Fantastic guy as is Jennifer Schuelsie, who is an ABC 7 and WGN TV in Chicago.

And we had this discussion this morning on.

the what's what I guess I'll say the word mainstream media is missing today and the benefit of having independent journalism and maybe how civic media fits into that.

So we'll ask you that on the other side.

OK.

All right.

Text the word part.

P. A. R. K. to the civic media app for those Brewer tickets.

Come on back.

Talk news with Charlie Pittman is the title show across Wisconsin on the civic media radio network.

Yeah, I love you.

Welcome back to the Tahoe Bowl show.

This is a video you're already know.

252 here across Wisconsin.

That is the you found the rare versions of the word version.

That's rarely played with the words.

It's usually used to be that but it's fine.

I'm not criticizing

it.

Usually it's like a trumpet not

say it's like the but it's fine.

But it's the theme song to mash some breaking news according to CBS News at this hour.

Lorena Swit who played major Margaret Hula hand of the TV series MASH.

has died.

A representative for her confirmed to CBS News, Ms.

Swit was 87 years old.

She died at her home in New York City, according to a representative, B. Harlan Boll, who has sent in a statement to CBS News today, she is believed to have died of natural causes.

Swit starred on stage and screened, but she was perhaps best known for her long running role as the foil to Alan Alda's Benjamin Franklin

Hawkeye Pierce on match, which aired for 11 seasons on CBS from 1972 to 1983.

Again, Lorena Swit, better known as Hot Lips Hula Hen on the show MASH.

dead at 87.

We're here with our guest this half hour.

We're pleased to have her, not just this half hour, but here at the company.

She is the news director for Civic Media.

Shelly Pittman.

Shelly, do you remember, do you ever watch MASH?

No, I was going to say that went all over my head, but you seem like you like that.

It was my it was one of my all time favorite television shows.

And the the finale of MASH, which was the title of it is called Goodbye Farewell and Amen, was the number one.

It still might be the number one network show of all time.

It got like eighty seven million people or something watching it.

Now, is it something that you rewatch?

Oh, I have, because my dad collected them and I've kind of inherited that, I have all 11 seasons on DVD.

You watch them on DVD?

No, I haven't.

I haven't.

I don't sit down.

But you're like me TV or something on cable or over there that that and I think that to me is the testament to a great television program.

It's been off the air all these years and I could watch it.

an episode I've seen a dozen times and I still laugh and or get that was the magic to match is the writing because it first it was based on a movie a comedy movie and made into a series and the first two or three or four years were all just comedy it was very funny but then it got into this kind of storytelling of telling the story of people in war and it got very emotional as well and they could combine that magically between comedy and drama

which by the way I looked it up

MASH is indeed the number one most watched broadcast live if you exclude Super Bowls.

Because if you include those, it's number 12 and the rest of the top 20 are all Super Bowls.

Pretty impressive.

That was a, it was a big, a big show back in the day.

Uh, what do you guys have about four minutes left or so?

Uh, Shali, we talked to this morning on Pat Crichtlow's show, filled in for him with Mark Jacobs, uh, formerly the Chicago Sun Time and, uh, our Chicago Tribute and Sun Times.

And, uh, also, uh, Jennifer Scholesy, who worked in television to ABC seven WGN about the fact that so much of mainstream media is either getting pressure from higher up.

in the case of CBS and ABC, who have either settled or in the process of trying to settle lawsuits from President Trump and are kind of capitulating.

Scott Peleon, 60 Minutes, called his own network out in the series finale this year of 60 Minutes.

And I think one of the great advantages to independent news sources, of which I would consider Civic Media 1, is there ain't no directive from the top that, oh, you could only say this or that.

Our owner, Sage Wilde, just wants us to tell the truth.

That's a great directive to have.

And I think that's part of the challenge of this job is parsing out what exactly are we going to focus in and what are we focusing on for that day.

But you're right.

I also think that there are many talented journalists who work at all of those networks.

I

agree.

in particular is a particularly challenging medium to work in where we get lumped in with everyone else at the station because you are the voice behind the mic and if people tune in once then you are representative of the entire station, right?

I think that's a very difficult thing to grapple with especially when you're talking about news where you get to say your opinion, Todd.

I don't, right?

So I think that is something that has never quite been solved.

But I invite folks to think of radio as a newspaper.

You are the opinion section.

And the newscasts that you hear in the middle of your show are the news section, which are fact-checked and vetted and not that you're not.

What

kind of

vetting process did you go

through?

A lot of people say not much.

I've said this show many times.

This is not a journalist news program.

It's a news talk opinion program.

Exactly.

But having gone through Platteville's communication and journalism school, not proper J school, but communication program, I apply journalistic ethics to this show.

Absolutely.

Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense.

But there is a distinction.

And I ran across that at W-O-R-T.

And I think every station and other news sources also face that problem of there are many people who work at one place and they all have slightly different perspectives and procedures and ways and ethics.

So trying to standardize some of that too is a little bit...

Part of my goals here.

About a minute left or so.

What have I not asked you that you think people across Wisconsin should know about you or your new role as news

director?

Oh, so much and I look forward to getting to know you better.

listeners might want to know that we share a wall.

So I

can hear you

laughing every day.

And it makes me really happy that, you know, so you, you have a cool energy over there in your kind of producers corner, which I appreciate.

So you're being way too kind because, uh, because I travel a lot, my, my desk area has got to be quite a nest.

So that's my, that's my goal to try to clean that out.

So it's not quite so bad over the weekend.

You know, some of the greatest journalists I've seen, they have very messy desks, so I think

you're

okay.

Thank you.

You're absolutely right.

It's the HGED thing.

Back in the Capitol, my desk could be a mess, and my boss would say, how can you find anything?

I'd say, what do you want?

I don't

have time to find

something.

I just need to do the thing.

Exactly.

I could pull something out of a pile.

I knew exactly where it was.

Shali Pittman, everybody, our new news director here at Civic Media.

Welcome, Shali.

And please come back often.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Our pleasure.

Stay tuned.

What's worse is next, you're listening to the Todd Albao Show across Wisconsin on the Civic Media radio number.

Live from the Civic Media World Headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, it's the Todd Alba Show.

And now, pursuing truth wherever it may lead, here's your host, Todd Alba.

Across Wisconsin on the Civic Media Radio Network.

and streaming worldwide on the Civic Media app.

Good afternoon, everybody.

I'm Todd Albaugh, along with our outstanding producer and engineer, Mr. Aaron Zombers on the board.

It is six minutes past the hour of three o'clock.

Welcome into hour number two of the big program here on Friday, TGIF May 30th, 2025 for the World Headquarters of Civic Media Downtown Madison.

It looks like clouds.

I guess it might still be cloudy.

But it looks a little darker than it should because we are under a air quality advisory the entire state of Wisconsin for all day.

As these Canadian wildfires, which are raging up in Canada, Brittany Merleau this morning on the Patrick Wright show told us that this is at least due in part to climate change, global warming, and this is causing.

bigger and and a longer fire season not just in Canada but in parts of the United States as well and Now we have what would this happen one a year or two ago something like that.

We had it lasted for several days

where it was really hard to be outside.

So this will not last several days.

It's expected that after today, what's gonna happen is a cold front is gonna move through, that's gonna create some showers and garden variety thunderstorms through parts of Wisconsin today and into overnight.

And that will kind of push out the smoke in the air.

So it should be a little bit easier and better to breathe.

By tomorrow, temperature is warm up during the weekend.

And then by 90,

By Monday this what happens when you start your day at 430 by Monday It's gonna get what my grandma used to call sultry.

It's gonna be sultry on Monday Yeah, exactly the type of weather the Zombers loves it's gonna be like 90 and humid

I'm gonna go find, I'm gonna walk into a random restaurant that has a walk-in freezer and just go in there.

Just walk back into the kitchen and go in the walk-in freezer.

It'll be a hot one on Monday, so be prepared for those summer-like temperatures coming in on Monday.

Coming up here in just a little bit, we're gonna do some of the what's worse for you today.

And also, it is one of the national days.

There's like national spaghetti day, national...

Be nice to your mom day.

There's a national day for everything.

Well, today there is a national day based on a Sesame Street skit.

I did not know this existed and I am thrilled by it.

So we're going to talk about that in just a few minutes as well and also get into more of the serious news.

Lots of news today, particularly around immigration and one of the stories once again has Wisconsin in the spotlight.

an immigrant who was charged with threatening to kill the president of the United States.

Secretary, Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, tweeted about it, has ruined this guy's reputation, and now it comes out he's 100% innocent.

So we'll discuss that a little bit later as well.

Why do I mind you here?

We are smack dab in the middle of our Friday free ticket Friday Milwaukee Brewer giveaway This is for four tickets to the walkie-brewer game for Saturday, June 7th, and it's very important It's just it's very important that you go to this game We cannot exchange it or trade it out.

You have people to go Saturday, June 7th when they take on San Diego

at 635.

So it's for that game.

Download the Civic Media app if you don't have it, because you're going to want to have it for Monday as well when we start our new Scotty Sunburn summer giveaway ticket thing.

Close enough.

It's our big text-to-win contest, starting on Monday.

And you have to have the brewers, the Civic Media app for that.

Notably, also a statewide contest.

Yes, exactly.

So download Civic Media app for not just today, for the brewers tickets, but for our new text to win contest starting on Monday.

You download the app, you open it up, the first 11 stations are ours, and then you click on one of those, you'll see text in the lower right-hand corner, click on that, and then text the word right now, the word is park, P-A-R-K.

Always good to go to the park during the summer.

P. A. R. K. Text it right now on the Civic Media app and you can be eligible win four club level seats in the beautiful club level.

Nice seats, great seats for Saturday, June 7th against San Diego.

Park, P. A. R. K. Park is the word.

Maggie Dawn will have another word coming up sometime between four and six this afternoon.

Right now let's go to the phone before we do what's worse.

How about that 8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2 Mark from prayer to sack and mark you want to speak about this incident I was talking about we're talking more about it in a bit but involving Kristi Noem

Yeah, does this guy have any cause of action for this Kristi Noem defaming this guy?

I mean ruining this guy's trying to ruin this guy's life.

I mean I mean that figuratively, you know, I'd want her head on a spike I mean that it was just

It's the kind of thing that if she's caught cosplaying all over the The bloody country, you know to pose with you know holding higher powered weapons and with her you know her thugs alongside her also holding weapons and I mean that is just not the image that It's supposed to be portrayed in the same going after this guy like this.

I mean they need to pay I mean if she needs to pay and it should be with it should be with her job.

I mean that it's

It is just a beyond the pale that this woman violated her oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and apparently she's she's never read the document.

I mean that You know that I play a constitutional scholar sometimes I'm certainly not but I certainly know that that she violated the Constitution Nine ways to Sunday with this nonsense.

Yeah appreciate the call mark Agree.

It's just a really really bad look

But even worse, it's really bad for this poor guy who happens to be, by the way, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Longest Mark called in.

Let's just give you the details on this story, according to CNN.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on ex Twitter, whatever you want to call it this week, that an undocumented migrant from Mexico had been arrested for allegedly sending a letter threatening to kill President Trump.

She also included a picture of the man and a copy of the letter, but get this Investigators now believe the migrant was set up According to several sources law enforcement believes that Ramon Morales Reyes 54 did not write the letter Which was sent to an immigration and Customs Enforcement Office and other agencies instead

Investigators suspect a person who is currently awaiting trial in a robbery and assault case in which Reyes was the victim wrote the letter in an attempt to have him deported.

Federal officials who asked for a handwriting sample from Reyes also determined that his handwriting and the threatening letter did not match.

The guy is totally innocent.

He was set up by someone who assaulted him because they want to get him out of the country.

I guess figuring, well, geez, if the guy is out of the country, maybe they'll drop the charges on me.

So they make this up and send this out.

More now for Wiz Politics and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Mr. Reyes, as we said, 54, a Mexican immigrant living in Milwaukee.

was arrested on May 22nd on the walkie-south side shortly after dropping his daughter off at school.

Family members say they, the family members of Morales, the innocent guy, are now receiving death threats after Cristino made that post, claiming that he threatened to assassinate President Trump, which he did not do.

However, his family members and his attorney say Reyes,

Get this does not speak English and is not proficient in writing at writing in Spanish Could not have authored the letter Officials already determined Reyes did not write the letter by the time they interviewed him Reyes his attorney says DHS was quote careless unquote with their issuance of the statement gnome has already done irreversible damage to the family

I mean, this is just absolutely preposterous to me.

It's sick.

Here's a guy who beat up another person, and he's planting a letter basically, setting this guy up, trying to get him thrown out of the country so that he gets off the charges of assault.

855-752-4842, 855-752-4842.

Dana listening in lacrosse.

Dana, thanks for calling.

Just a couple minutes left.

What's up?

But I spent a while good to talk to you

as well

on this Christine on this Christine home story I'm trying to think with my mega mega hat on here If she wrote that letter but on your latest Statements, it's not like maybe she didn't actually write.

Oh, it's not alleged that Christie know wrote it It's alleged that the guy who beat up Reyes wrote it.

Ah Well, then wouldn't that guy?

be the one that actually threatened the president and he should be held liable for it.

Yeah, that's a great point.

That's

a great point.

That's all I got.

I gotta get back to work.

Thanks, Dana.

Really appreciate you.

Have a great day up there.

You're Granddad's bluff and beautiful across Wisconsin.

No, that's a great point.

Again, I'm not an attorney, but there might be something to that.

I mean, if he wrote this letter threatening the President of the United States,

and made it look like someone else did it.

I mean, the guy who wrote it, maybe he's liable in that case.

I don't know.

Either way, you cut it.

It's just, it's so disappointing and so sick, in my opinion.

And look, each of us has to take responsibility for our own actions.

But again, I go back to, I firmly believe that much of what we do in the country, in our communities,

are influenced in some way, shape, or form by the people who we elect.

The President of the United States, whomever that is, that person, we're not like other countries that have kings and queens and even, you know, monarchs that are kind of, you know, not, they don't run the government, but they're a part of the country.

Here at the President of the United States is essentially like our monarch.

You want to look up to that person.

And when President Trump is demeaning people based on their race, the color of their skin, where they're from, all that does is incite others, his followers, some, not all.

But this guy apparently is, well, you know, Trump does this.

He disparages immigrants.

If I do the same thing, they'll throw this guy out and I'll get off scot-free for beating him up.

And the and the really sick part is that Kristi Noem Who knows better?

She just she doesn't care about the facts and this is what's so dangerous about this administration They don't seem to care about the truth.

They don't seem to care about what's real or not remember JD Vance when he was running for vice president last year Remember the whole dogs and cats they're eating the dogs and cats the Haitian immigrants which was all made up

JD Van Sant on the record, we played it for you.

Last year, where he said, hey, if I have to make things up, I will.

If we exaggerate to get elected to win this race, we'll do that.

They have not changed since they've gotten into office and into power.

Come on back, it's 19 past the hour of three o'clock.

Lighten things up a bit.

A little what's worse for you on the other side is the title of the show on the Civic Media, Pretty Network.

22 minutes past an hour of three o'clock.

Who's that?

Who's the who's the artist there?

The White Stripes

Jack White playing guitar and singing

very good It is pertinent to today's what's worse could do that the second first of all reminder If you want to be eligible to win four club level seat Milwaukee Brewers tickets for Saturday, June 7th, and it is specific to that game Saturday, June 7th at 6 35

in the evening, go to the Civic Media app and text us the word PARK, P-A-R-K, text PARK, P-A-R-K, right now, and be eligible.

At the end of the day, the computer will randomly select one winner from all the entries from throughout today, and you will be on your way to Amfam Field on Saturday, June 7th.

And by the way, our Luke Mathers reminded us this morning that particular game

June 7th.

They're giving away a Jackson Cheerio replica jersey.

So it's the for the first 25,000 fans.

So if you wait, you might want to try and shop a little early.

Get there early.

Yeah, get there early.

So it's really a twofer.

You get the seats.

If you win, you get the free tickets for the seats and you get a free jersey for Jackson Cheerio.

So why not enter?

Chances bet much better to win this than the the lottery That's the sure Texas the word park park right now on the civic media app Go to the app store download it open it up first 11 stations are our news talk sports stations Click on one of those go to the text icon and then text the word park park 24 past three o'clock time once again for what's worse.

Let's go

What's worse in this portion nothing to give away no prize money involved But it is your chance to have your voice heard across all 11 new sports talk stations in the civic media ready network No better place to advertise to get your word out of your business Get your business's word out.

How about that the civic media network?

Check us out at civicmedia.us.

All right, timely indeed, whether, you know, a lot of times brewers, players, whether if they win, they'll go through a line and they shake hands, but not everybody shakes hands, especially after COVID, right?

COVID kind of, I mean, the fifth bump was always kind of around, but it really took off during COVID.

So today's category, what's worse?

Hand shake.

Or fist bump what's worse handshake or fist bump 8 5 5 7 5 2 4 8 4 2 8 5 5 7 5 2 4 8 4 2 Let's go to the phone lines Charles listening to the UK a beautiful Milwaukee Charles handshake or fist bump what's worse

handshake

I used to think fist pump was, but 11 years ago, I had a bilateral double lung transplant.

So now to keep down germs, I fist pump.

All right.

And instead of hands shaking.

So hands shaking for me because of germs.

That's a great

point.

And I think we kind of, we kind of got sensitized to that during COVID, right?

It was just like, well, you know, and some people do like the elbow bump as well during COVID.

Yes.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

All right, Charles.

Well, I think that's a great a great viewpoint on that a great entry our first entry.

I appreciate it.

Have a great weekend, Charles.

You as well.

Thank you very much.

What's worse handshake or fist bump 855-752-4842 855-752-4842.

You can also text us on this as well on the cynic media app cam in Appleton says both are worse.

I've been in men's bathrooms and see all of you not wash your hands.

Cam, you nailed it on the head.

That is like my number one pet peeve.

And I have a lot of stories relating to me trying to convince people to wash their hands or publicly shaming people in front of their families and restaurants for not washing

their hands.

Do you do that?

I have done it before.

To a stranger?

Yeah.

Really?

Yeah, I'd be like, you might be OK with eating off your pee, but your family probably isn't.

Oh, jeez.

I've never done it to just a complete stranger.

I didn't

say that to a complete stranger.

Okay, but that's how I really feel

Matt listening in in Richland Center says the fist bump is worse.

I don't

read the

recipe There's there's more but we're gonna we're gonna keep it non personal So we're just gonna say Matt's vote is for a fist bump is worse appreciate the call or the text there

one of our wonderful UPS drivers out there in the old RC, getting her done there on a Friday afternoon.

What's worse, handshake or fist bump?

8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2-8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2 or text us on the Civic Media app.

What's worse, handshake or fist bump?

You want to give your answer?

I think I got to say, I got to go with Charles and say that handshake is worse.

I mean, there is the- Clearly after what you said.

Well, yeah, there is the germ aspect, but also,

A lot of people put way too much pressure on handshakes, and no one really does that for fist bumps.

You mean like when you meet someone?

Yeah, like, oh, you gotta make a good impression, have a good firm handshake.

And some people take that way too seriously.

That's, I mean, yeah, when I was growing up, that was a major,

major thing.

And I think a lot of people still judge to a certain degree.

And I will say if someone has like a limp handshake, that annoys me.

I just, I don't...

I don't know.

It's weird.

No, that's I mean,

that's

fair.

Can't be weird.

Just give the person like a good don't do don't do like Trump is notorious for trying to like squeeze people's hands Yeah, just a firm handshake and look at me.

Nice to meet you.

Also fist bumping little kids is so much fun.

Oh, yeah, sure.

Absolutely

Uh, let's see here, uh, Cam also says in Appleton, I chewed out a woman at Cub Foods for picking up meatballs with her hands and popping them in her mouth at the self-serve station at the hot food court.

Who does that?

What's wrong with people?

All right, what's worse, handshake or fist bump, 8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2.

More on the other side, Ag update news, weather and sports.

It's the title of our show on the Civic Media, ready to go first.

wherever you may leave and having fun doing it.

Welcome back to Todd Allball's show on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Glad to have you along.

35 minutes now past the hour of three o'clock on a TGIF Friday edition of the Allball show.

Zomber is on the board.

Glad to have you here.

You say, Todd, it looks like it could rain.

Well, in some parts of Wisconsin, I'd be raining because I have showers and garden variety thunderstorms moving across the state from north to south throughout the afternoon into this evening.

But that's great to clear out what you think could be clouds in part of Wisconsin now.

Kind of, kind of, I don't want to say dark, but it's, it looks over, very heavily overcast.

That's very overcast.

A little gloomy.

That's a good word, gloomy here in Madison.

And it's because we are under a air quality advisory today, wildfires up in Canada.

In the forests up there, Manitoba, Saskatchewan.

Some of us are still out of control.

Many, hundreds of thousands of acres burned, and the smoke is moving south across Wisconsin, and that's made, led that to what makes it look like it's super cloudy right now.

So if you're somebody with asthma or whatnot, take care.

Wear a mask or just stay inside if you can.

It should move out of here by tomorrow with the showers and thunderstorms rolling through.

It could be warmer this weekend, and then maybe, partner.

is my granddad used to say, partner 90 degrees on, uh, on Monday and human conditions might be in the air conditioner weather by the time we get to Friday.

Right now we're right in the middle of, uh, what's worse, asking the question, what's worse, handshake or fist bump, a handshake or a fist bump.

8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2-8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2, or you can text us on the Civic Media app.

John, in Edgerton, listening on WMDX says, fist bumps are worse because the handshake was always to see if your enemy had its weapon.

Really?

I did not know that, but... If they... I'm gonna believe John's...

This would be a great addition to the Liars Club.

Is John just saying whether I'll read something that's not true or is he giving us a hitherto unknown fact?

I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt and say that it's true.

That's really interesting, John.

I did not, as Johnny Carson once said, I did

not know that.

According to history.com.

Yes.

He's onto something.

Really?

That a popular theory is that the jester began as a way of conveying peaceful intentions by extending their empty right hands.

Strangers could show they were not holding weapons and for no ill will toward one another.

And some even suggest that the up and down motion of the handshake was supposed to dislodge anything hidden in your sleeve.

John for the win, John Edgerton for the win today.

Nicely done, John.

See, this is the part I love about this this bit every day.

A lot of times it's just for a laugh or whatever, but occasionally you learn

something new.

You really do?

I had no idea.

I did

not either.

I just thought it was one of those weird things people do.

Yeah.

Do you think a handshake is

a weird thing?

I mean, I don't think it's weird.

Everyone does it, but it's just, I didn't think there was a specific reason

for it.

Got it.

But you're a fist bump guy.

So we'll forgive you.

855-752-4842-855-752-4842.

Back to the phone lines from beautiful Brookfield.

Listening on WAUK.

Jim, Jim, handshake or fist bump?

What's worse?

I would say the handshake only because of the germs post-COVID.

You know, I've gotten the fist bumps and after COVID, I went a full year with just doing fist bumps because I did like somebody

wiping their mouth or whatever and then shaking hands with me and went a full year just doing fist bumps and the first person that caught me and grabbed my hand and shook my hand was my doctor in a medical office and then what does he do?

He turns around and washes his hands in the sink.

So anyway, I think hand shakes are worse.

and also Todd to expand on that handshake you put it out to show no weapons it goes back to the medieval days for the toast when you banged glasses you're supposed to splash them into each other's cup to show you're not poisoning your your opponent or your enemy or whomever you're dining with so the handshake no weapon toast means you're not you're not poisoning

You know, if you splash a little over into your glass,

that makes sense.

Once again, I did not know this, Jim.

Thank you for more hitherto unknown facts.

I appreciate it.

Have a great weekend down there.

Beautiful Brookfield.

All right.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Thank you very much.

See, we have the best listeners always serving up great info, things that you knew as you can use.

Well, I don't know about.

Well, you keep, okay, party.

You can impress someone at a

party with your history.

You can impress somebody at a party.

So next time you, you know, cheers and spill some of your drink into your, into your friend or your neighbor's like, what are you doing?

Well, I just want to make sure I'm not poison you.

Yeah, you gotta, especially if you're all drinking different things.

Yeah, absolutely.

Uh, let's see here, uh, Eric and Lodi, let's see on WMDX says a handshake is worse.

I know the bathroom hand washing habits of too many people to not feel icky shaking someone's hands.

I don't know.

I guess I don't think about this as much, but I don't know.

Well, we'll see.

I guess I'm more of a traditionalist.

I don't know.

I grew up there where handshakes were made to be more important, I guess, than maybe some people.

I think post-COVID.

has really done a lot for them.

I think so.

And for me, yes, I said that handshakes are worse, but I don't dislike them.

I just feel like fist bumps have more upside to me.

I'm old fashioned, so just for the sake of being different today, I'll say fist bumps are worse.

Because sometimes I feel awkward when I do a fist bump, because you don't know right away whether, like, is the other person going to do it back

or what?

One thing that was a...

Interesting to me in this history.com article about the origin of the handshake Tips us off to some of the way the culture is now where it says a lot about your character or whatever one 1877 Victorian guide counseled its readers that a gentleman who rudely presses the hand offered to him in salutation or too violently shakes it ought never to have an opportunity to repeat this offense If someone gives you a band handshake

Bad handshake, excommunicate them, never again.

Lots of medieval history today on the show.

All right, that'll wrap it up.

Once again, we'll back next week with another edition of What's Worse here on the show.

I mentioned this earlier and I want to just bring it up here.

Kind of turn a page, I guess you'd say.

Because again, I think that so often these things are happening in Washington, D.C.

and there's a lot of, well, this is never going to affect me.

from the Trump administration and to a degree I get that because many things so far haven't affected some people but I think this kind of fire hose I know I use that term too much but all this news coming out today regarding immigration and migrants we have this guy now as we talked earlier in Milwaukee who was the victim of being beaten up

I guess we have to say allegedly because this guy hasn't had his day in court yet.

And the guy who allegedly beat up this migrant, he is now accused of writing a letter, making it look like it was from the guy he beat up, threatening to kill President Trump in hopes that the guy would be deported.

And I guess the guy that beat him up then thought he would get off on these charges, these allegations.

And I kind of mentioned the other part of this in passing.

And I'm looking at CNN right now on their website.

And this is like not even making any of the top headlines right now.

It was announced overnight that the Trump administration is going to pull, get rid of basically the legal status.

of a half a million people who are from countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

We hear a lot from folks about, well, you know, the general they, if they want to be here, they should do it the right way.

Don't come illegal.

Here you have approximately a half a million people who are from countries that are

In some cases, war-torn, that they were threatened.

And they went through the legal process.

It is shown that all of these people, in order to get legal status in this country, had to show financial sponsors.

In other words, and I've gone through this, as someone who worked on immigration issues in the Congressional office for many years, it's not just like, hey, here's Jane or Joe, and they're sponsoring me.

Jane or Joe or whoever it is, they have to submit very extensive bank statements, financial statements, legal statements, proving that they have the resources to financially support an immigrant to this country.

Then the immigrant, the applicant has to submit all the paperwork for themselves.

and then it gets approved.

On top of that, all of these people had to pay their own ticket to get here.

Government did not fly them here, they paid their own way.

They landed, they went through the proper channels, they had their visas, and the visas were for two years.

To say, okay, you have two years to live in the United States legally, while we look at your case and determine whether you can stay here longer term.

And now, last night, the Trump administration announced they are immediately pulling these visas.

Half a million people who've come here the right way, quote unquote.

And now, they either have to immediately find a way, figure out a way to go back to their original country, or risk being arrested, deported, their lives upended.

I just asked that people would stop and put yourself in that individual's place.

You did it the quote unquote right way.

You're a legal immigrant to this country.

You paid your own way.

You found sponsorships here in the United States that will support you while you get your life in order.

You did everything right.

You haven't committed any crimes.

And the Trump administration looks at you and says, get the hell out.

Not exactly the Ellis Island American story.

Not exactly the story of America welcomes the poor, the hungry, the immigrant trying to find a better life.

There is nothing American.

about what Donald Trump is doing here.

It is spiteful, it is nasty, and it's just plain mean.

And the reality is, as someone who's been to a foreign country several times in Central America, what this action does is actually increases illegal immigration.

Because people in other countries look at this and say, why the heck should I do it the right way?

I have a better chance if I go undocumented, go with a coyote, pay the money to go across the border and live quietly with my family.

When you don't provide a reliable legal path to entry and the people want eventually citizenship, all it does is encourages illegal immigration.

And I feel terrible for these folks.

And if you don't think that these kind of policies could affect you, ask the people in Seanal County, Wisconsin, just west of Green Bay today, who are now under the scrutiny by the Trump administration for being a sanctuary city.

And they voted for it was 67% of the vote because they passed the resolution being a sanctuary city for the second amendment.

You can't make this stuff up.

Back with your phone calls after this.

It's the Total Ball Show for a Friday on the Civic Media, right in the middle.

Welcome back to the title of all show in the Civic Media Ready Network where it is now eight minutes before the hour of four o'clock in the top of the hour, ABC or CBS News, depending upon which of our great stations you're listening to all across Wisconsin, a weather update with Brit Emeril Low.

She'll update us on the air quality watch this afternoon.

Heavy smoke from those Canadian wildfires and then us.

some showers and thunderstorms tonight before it warms up over the weekend.

And our great sports reporter, Mike Clemens in the Brewers back in action tonight at Philadelphia.

So I'll be in tune for that.

And then of course, from four until six, the Maggie Dawn show with Maggie Dawn and from six until eight, Pete Schwabba and Night Light along with Conrad.

Always a great show to end your day with here on Civic Media.

Right now, talking about this story.

the Trump administration cancelling the legal visas of a half a million folks who paid their own way, who did it the right way, who have financial sponsors, who did not commit crimes, and the Trump administration seemingly do it, you know, just because.

855-752-4842.

Let's go to Dolores, listening on WMDX here in Madison.

Dolores, thanks for holding, we'll see.

I was taking that for taking my call.

You know, I was born in Mexico and I've been living in the United States for over 30 years and I'm a US citizen.

And I'm just wondering, you know, President Trump and doing all this, you know, getting all these, these are revoked and everything.

I'm wondering if our home countries are, you know, start doing the same thing.

to the U.S.

citizens who live in our countries, like, for example, Mexico, we have a lot of people, a lot of U.S.

citizens who live in different cities, especially like in Tulum, San Miguel de Allende, Puerto Vallarta, and a lot of the U.S.

citizens that live illegally also.

So I'm wondering if we start doing the same thing in our countries to see how they feel.

I think somebody terminate your, you know,

And, you know, so I'm just wondering about that.

Right.

It's a great point, Dolores.

And you know this better than anybody else is that you're right.

There's a lot of expats, as they say, Americans that go down there to either avoid taxes on income or to get cheaper health care.

And they extend their visas.

And because they're spending dollars, they kind of get to just go along.

But would that be something if Mexico and Costa Rica and Panama kind of turned the tables on some of these folks?

Exactly.

I mean,

Nobody knows what the immigrants going through, you know, I Fortunately, you know being an immigrant myself It could be rough.

It could be very very rough You know turning your life around from one day to another, but you know, I will be You know, I will be for it to see if our Mexico or Belize or Costa Rica, you know

They start doing the same thing.

Yes, I see.

Well, Dolores, just know that you're part of... Thank you for making my call.

You're part of what makes Wisconsin great, Dolores.

So thank you so much.

Have a great weekend.

Thanks for calling in.

Great point.

Great point, by the way.

That is a great point, yeah.

All right.

I want to end this show with this because Phil had him for Pat Krightlow on his show this morning.

He does this great segment where national days.

And today is national hole in my bucket day.

This is real.

Each year on May 30th, National Hole in My Bucket Day is celebrated as a wacky holiday in honor of the fun children's song, There's a Hole in My Bucket.

From the great Sesame Street skit who first aired in 1969 on PBS, give us a little cut of this, Hole in My

Bucket.

Wait a minute.

Look at this.

There's a hole in the bucket.

Dear Liza, dear Liza.

There's a hole in the bucket.

Dear Liza, a hole.

So fix it, dear Henry.

Dear Henry, dear Henry.

So fix it, dear Henry.

Dear Henry, fix it.