This Civic Media Podcast is sponsored by UW Organ and Tissue Donation.
Organ donations are desperately needed, and now is the right time to become an organ donor.
Talk to your family, get the dot, save lives, go to heroicd.com.
This is your WGBW Daily News Roundup for the Talk of Green Bay, 97.9 FM and 1590 AM.
For 97.9 WGBW News, I'm Lisa Hale.
In his seventh state of the state address, Governor Tony Evers declared 2025 to be the year of the kid.
He outlined several policies, programs and initiatives to make kids smarter, healthier and safer.
One of the ways he proposed doing so is with gun reform to include background checks for all
firearm purchases, instituting red flag laws, and restoring the 48 hour waiting period to purchase
firearms. We cannot let common sense get lost in debates over whether basic policies could have
prevented the most recent shooting, or the one before that, or the one before that.
We aren't here in Madison Equible about the semantics of the last shooting.
We are here to do everything we can to prevent the next one.
In addition to gun reform, Evers called for free breakfast and lunch for all school children
and increased funding to mitigate the childcare shortage in the state.
He also proposed to invest $300 million to provide comprehensive mental health services in schools.
The Republican response to the speech was delivered by assembly speaker Robin Voss.
We have the largest one-time surplus in state history, and instead of talking about how to return
that money to working families tonight, Governor Evers prioritized adding more spending and
growing the size of government. As Evers wrapped up his speech, he addressed national issues such as
immigration, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ protections. He said he would veto any bill that makes
Wisconsin less safe, less inclusive, or less welcoming. The man who's accused of setting fire to
U.S. Congressman Glenn Grossman's Fonda Lack Office appeared in court Wednesday where he was
charged with arson, attempted burglary, criminal damage to property, and terrorist threats.
19-year-old Caden Statchewitz of Manasha told police that he started the fire in response to the
TikTok ban, which Grossman voted in favor of. Statchewitz is being held on a $500,000 cash bond.
He will be back in court on January 30th for his preliminary hearing. Grossman represents
the sixth congressional district he was first elected in 2014. Students at Fox Valley Technical College
who face food insecurity can now get healthy fresh food from refrigerated lockers. Beth Burns is
the Vice President of Student Success at Fox Valley, and she says the service is possible because
of a grant that feeding America of Eastern Wisconsin received. We love to partner with organizations
like feeding America that can provide the support that possibly we are not the experts in
The food lockers are an extension of Fox Valley Technical College's existing food pantry,
but provide an anonymous and accessible alternative for students.
As the state struggles with a growing unhoused population and lack of available housing stock,
rent prices are expected to continue to rise as well. According to data from the real estate
company Zillow, rent prices in Wisconsin are expected to increase at the 12th highest rate of any
state this year. Experts say the dramatic increase in the price of a home is pushing more
residents toward rental options and the supply chain issues during the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the
pace at which the state was building new housing options to keep prices down. Even as residents
seen neighboring states implement increased wage floors, Wisconsin's minimum wage will remain
at $7.25 per hour or $2.33 per hour for tipped workers.
With the start of the new year, neighboring Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan have all
announced increases to their minimum wages, including tipped workers. In Wisconsin, however,
the minimum wage has not increased since 2009. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics data also shows
the 2009 minimum wage change would be equivalent to nearly $11 today if it kept up with inflation.
After Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went to two different Wisconsin courts trying to get his name
removed from the ballots here. His name was still in option back in November. That's because of
a state law. Well, now lawmakers have proposed a change. Here's Savannah, Tomay Olson.
Lawmakers have introduced a bill that would change Wisconsin election law to allow candidates
to get off the ballot. It will remember last year Robert F. Kennedy dropped out of the race and
supported Donald Trump. After that, he asked to get his name removed from Wisconsin ballots.
He didn't want his supporters still having the option of voting for him. He wanted that support
to go to Trump. But the Wisconsin elections commission said no. They said, according to the law,
the only way we can drop your name is if you died. Kennedy even filed a lawsuit and Wisconsin courts
agreed. Well, now Republicans in the state legislature have introduced a new bill that would allow
people to be removed from the ballot if they provide a sworn statement to the commission and pay a fee.
They'd have to file the paperwork by mid June to get their name removed for an August primary
and by the end of August to get off the ballot for a November election.
I'm Savannah, Tomay Olson, Civic Media News.
An inmate at Green Bay Correctional Institution faces 23 counts of loot and lascivious behavior
for allegedly exposing himself to female staff members. 47-year-old Zurich Simmons was charged
for the incidents that took place between March 21 and June 13 of 2023. The criminal complaint
refers to 89 incidents, but somewhere outside of the statute of limitations. Simmons made his
initial court appearance on these charges Wednesday. He has previous convictions for attempted
sexual assault of a child among other charges. Wheel taxes are not unheard of. Many municipalities,
such as Oshkosh and Appleton, use them to fund road work and public works projects.
Shano County is now considering a $20 per year wheel tax for residents. This would be over and
above the $40 wheel tax fee that the city of Shano already charges. Shano County would join
13 other counties, including Portage and Marathon and 38 municipalities that charge wheel tax fees.
The county board will vote on the proposal next month. I'm Lisa Hale, 97.9 WGBW News.
For news anytime, log on to WGBW.FM.
It's the Bucks and the Heat. Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with Sports. The Milwaukee Bucks flew back
today after getting snowed out in New Orleans last night. They're a game against the pelicans
to be rescheduled. Tonight they're at home against the Miami Heat. The Bucks have 13 games left
before the All-Star break. Nine of them on the road. At 24 and 17 can they hold onto that
fourth place spot in the East, Damien Lillard. We got to be there mentally. We got to be engaged.
We got to be disciplined and we got to be together. NFL former Lions offensive coordinator Ben
Johnson. Hell is first press conference as the new head coach of the Chicago Bears.
I've got tremendous amount of respect for the coaches and the players in this league.
Having competed against them for the last six years. Dane Campbell, Kevin O'Connell,
you're talking about two guys that are up for Coach the Year awards as the season ends here.
And to be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFour twice a year.
That's the Bears Ben Johnson with Sports on Mike Clemens.
On your entertainment beat, I'm Pete Schwabba.
If you're headed to the theaters this weekend, here are some options that might be worth checking out.
Brave The Dark is a drama about a teacher who connects and forms a friendship with an outcast
student who he learns has been living in his car. There are not a ton of reviews in yet,
but it's got a batting average of about 90% unrotten tomatoes. There's also a new Mark Wahlberg
movie called Flight Risk. The mystery thriller is directed by actor and maniac Mel Gibson.
When you've been in so many films in this genre, it's important to change things up.
So Wahlberg thought he would appear bald. Interesting? Nope.
No word yet if this movie is any good or not because there are no reviews out, which is always a red flag.
Translation? Flight Risk is a film risk. Spend wisely.
Another possibility in the mystery thriller genre is inheritance, a film about a girl who finds
herself in the middle of an international conspiracy after learning her father was a spy.
Sounds exciting, but just a handful of reviews and batting about 50% unrotten tomatoes.
Let's go to the movies. Fans of Abbott Elementary, which should include everyone,
will be excited to hear that the show has been renewed for a fifth season.
News comes on the heels of good winter ratings and a crossover episode with it's
always sunny in Philadelphia that drew over 8 million viewers. The show is about an underfunded
inner city Philadelphia public school and has great laughs. Abbott Elementary airs Wednesday
nights at 730 on ABC. Star Wars might be about to get a little more dreamy. Sure,
Deadpool and Wolverine director Sean Levy is on board to helm and people seem happy with the
script, but it's the rumors that Ryan Gosling will lead the cast that's gotten everyone excited.
If Gosling signs on, the film will start principal photography very soon, according to the Hollywood
reporter. In other Star Wars news, the Mandalorian and Grogu is headed to theaters
summer of 2026. Anyone else having trouble keeping these films straight? Netflix is raising its
rates again by $2.50 a month regardless of plan. This comes despite the streamer adding 18
million new subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2024. Why would they raise their rates while
adding so many subscribers? You'll love this. Netflix says they have to raise their rates to make
more content. Yes, they think we aren't very bright. I would have thought they were using
that extra money to fix buffering issues from celebrity boxing matches and NFL games.
Suits is proving to be one of the most bingeful shows on TV. It now has a popular spin-off called
Suits LA. Clever. The show has just announced a slew of guestars who will appear during the first
season, which includes stand-up comedian Pat Naswald, fear the walking dead's Maggie Grace,
and Brian Baumgartner, who played Kevin on the office. Suits LA premieres February 23rd
on USA. For more showbiz fun, tune in to Nightlight with me, Pee Chwaba,
weeknights from 6 to 8 p.m. on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Partly cloudy. Today we'll get to around 18 for a high this afternoon. The wind,
northwest at 5 to 15 that'll keep the windshield in the single digits here for most of the day.
Tonight clear down to zero tomorrow. Partly cloudy, 20. We're back to 32 by Saturday.
I'm meteorologist Sean Cable. Temperature now 6.
The Civic Media app. You can get notifications about local stories that matter to you and your
community. Find the free Civic Media app in your phone's app store and choose notifications
from the menu to tell us what kind of news you want to hear about.