And good morning.
It is the WXCO morning reports on 98.9 WXCO.
It is 722 here on this Thursday morning.
A little bit of light rain has been falling in Central Wisconsin.
70 degrees is the temperature.
I'm Chad Holmes and very happy to welcome live in studio, the Democratic Party Chair in Marathon County, Nancy Stencil.
Hey, good morning.
Good to see you again.
I was away two weeks ago, so it's been four weeks since we saw you.
Yeah, it really
has been.
But time flies when
We're fighting for the future of our country.
That's right.
There's a lot to talk about, but one of the things I thought we'd start with, because you haven't even officially announced this.
It's going to be coming up here to there tomorrow, I think.
But you have decided, there's so many things we can talk about that are maybe a little bit more divisive.
And I think divisive is not a dirty word if you're fighting for the right thing.
But there are times we can try to come together and solve a problem.
And you have made a you're going to make a challenge Yes to Republicans and it's a challenge to Democrats as well.
Yes, it is here in central, Wisconsin What what what what what are you gonna be
doing?
Well, you know each month we try to think of in the Democratic Party a charity to give to and for the month of September What we're gonna come up with is we are challenging our Republican neighbors Republic of Party of Marathon County to give to
the public school lunch program.
We got so many kids out there that you know they're starting off the year with a lunch deficit and I talked to some of the schools and every school has a program where you can donate money to kids school lunches.
So the challenge is going to be to donate money and we're gonna do this on a
We'll trust you to be honest kind
of
thing.
Just go back to your county party and make sure that you tell them, hey, I gave X amount of dollars to such and such a school.
We don't need to know your name, how much you gave
or
anything.
Your county party will total up what you gave.
And at the end of the month, we will just see who came more towards school lunch
deficit.
Well, that's the thing as well.
Real quickly, the idea of a school lunch debt.
Right?
I mean, is that the most depressing term that you can pick up on?
It
is.
I kids can't learn if they don't eat.
And, you know, ultimately, whoever, you know...
The Dems give more money, or the Republicans give more money.
Ultimately, the person that wins is the kids.
Exactly.
And earlier this week, I had Rob Hughes from Wausau Schools with us.
He's fabulous.
And he does.
He's got his heart definitely in the right place.
And not only his heart, but his feet and his hands and everything else are doing great things.
He is quite the worker.
But he actually said one of the things that, you know, if he could.
Had the magic wand basically is that every kid would have a free lunch.
I mean that is again the foundation of learning You can't start your day off or be in the middle of your day if you're hungry learn if you're hungry And also again, there's different, you know ideas whether you're a Republican or a Democrat when it comes to the idea of school lunches But in this case, there's really nothing to disagree about if you really
the kids are the winners and that's just it right there
and frankly It's not if you're our Republican friends who don't want to see
any additional government spending.
Hey, make a donation.
There's
so much divisiveness.
And it's one thing that, you know, both.
Both parties will talk about how, you know, how do we end this divisiveness and then we both go out there and make more divisiveness.
So this is a way of, you know, just reaching across the aisle and just saying, Hey, you know, here's something we can do that's going to benefit somebody.
For somebody that's out there right now who says, Yeah, that's a wonderful idea.
I would love to make a donation.
What's the best way to do it?
Called your local school, your local school.
public school of choice.
We're doing this with the public schools because they accept everybody.
But it just called the school and I know the one I really have to give a shout out to the other day that I talked to is the DC Ever School District, which is my alma mater.
But
the lady that I got a hold of there was.
fabulous.
And she said to like, you know, when they do this school lunch, death thing, they try to reach, you know, the parents and whatnot to find out why, you know, what is the inability to pay or whatever.
But it also goes beyond that because there's other things that kids, there's like sports fees and all that kind of stuff too.
And they want to know because it levels the playing field, they can help.
So again,
Take part in this challenge.
Make sure that you, number one, make the donation to your local school.
make that call, make that donation, you'll be changing a life actually.
I mean, that is the bottom line.
But then again, we want it to be a fun activity for both Republicans and Democrats.
Let your party know.
And have you talked to the Republicans about
this?
Nope, not yet.
You're the first to hear this on the air here today.
But
yeah, I will be reaching out
and telling them about this
challenge.
And I know that a few of our Republicans tend to check in once in a while on what we're up to.
So if you're out there,
Republicans as well.
And I hope that you have no issues in terms of talking to the GOP party here in Marathon County because I
have no issues.
No, no.
But I mean, I hope that they don't have a, you know, I hope they take the challenge.
That's the bottom line is because
ultimately it's the kids that win.
It is ultimately number one.
And
we need to walk the walk.
I
mean, we all
care about our kids.
We have just a
about a minute, a little bit more than a minute to go here in this segment.
And then we'll be back with you at 7.52.
But when you talk about it, it brings up the idea of school funding.
And obviously we've gone through this budget cycle here in the state of Wisconsin.
We're still so far behind.
And it's real easy to see what the governor, and I frankly, at times I thought, well, maybe the governor needs to be a little bit.
Put the hammer down and veto, but there are consequences to that as well, so
right there are and I think you know not just signing with him, but I think he's done the
the best that he can.
You have to find compromise and there's things that are going to be cut.
And I think he tried to pull together the best that he could.
Am I
happy?
No.
But
the
bottom line is when the Republican Party holds the majority in both the Assembly and the State Senate, there is only so much you can do.
Right.
And then that's again the reason why every election is vitally important.
It is.
I mean, you can see the governor is not a dictator.
No, he's not.
He's
a very fair man, and if anything,
he
hasn't shouted out enough.
He just quietly gets stuff
done.
But we're going to talk about the foundation that is being laid for 2026, and maybe to get Democrats a majority in at least one of those branches of our state government.
Oh my
goodness, yes.
And we'll talk about that, and what else has been going on with Nancy Stencil coming up at 7.52.
Back to Pat Crightlow in World with Mornings with Pat Crightlow next.
on WXEL.
Welcome back it is the WXCO morning report on 98.9 WXCO WXCO dot FM mobile devices and Alexa by searching WXCO and on the Civic Media app and also on the WXCO YouTube channel you can see
me and you can see across from me Nancy Stenzel and you can go back on the WXCO YouTube channel to see previous conversations as well.
And we do have Nancy across the way.
Hey, in the last month since we last talked, we continue to have different events going out there to try to keep people engaged and also to say to our elected officials that we're watching
you.
and also to let other people know who maybe aren't as engaged as we are that that we're out there you know like when they drive by they honk they give us thumbs up that
They know that they're not alone.
There's people out there fighting.
And you're not out there causing damage or anything like that.
It's all about issues.
No, I'm getting a
free shower most of the time when I'm out
there.
And frankly, and you told me this.
And I've seen it in the press release.
Yes.
And I, along with our new news director, popped over there last Thursday just to see what was going on and report on it.
And all of a sudden.
And you got a free shower too.
And it's like, yeah.
What she got really wet I got wet me.
What's the deal with that
come on?
Well, yeah, I think it's just like
it's
not
I it's not just happening We are
not going to be washed up and
I'm
not going to drown this from our ideals by the way you're gonna
actually use this
Yes,
we are gonna
be toxic times
Beach bash coming up this Friday at 11 30 and and we'll be out there and you know I mean like if they turn on turn on the sprinklers again you know make sure that you have your beach towel or maybe your swim goggles or your fins or something to go with it or if you need your car washed you can even just
drive
by because they spray it far enough it's way out into the road
so I mean that's it's good you know the
To kind of say, okay, we know what you're doing, but we're gonna we're gonna have we're gonna we're gonna be having a witty kind of way that have a beach back
Yes, we definitely will and and at the same time bringing like to to what's going on because there was one gentleman that was with us that you know He had assigned very plain and simple Tom Tiffany hates grandma With this big beautiful bill and what he's bringing Tiffany's bringing out there, but oh how great this
is let me ask you because Tiffany did actually put out a statement
to the Washington Highlander Review, talking about all the wonderful aspects of the big, beautiful bill, the so-called big, beautiful bill.
And kudos to that guy that wrote a rebuttal in there yesterday.
That was fabulous.
Yeah, let me ask you, though, about your response to what
the congressman said.
I mean, how do you respond to
that?
The guy that wrote the rib bottle said everything
I would love to
say and he said it so much better than I could.
But it isn't, you're not going to be getting these big social security breaks and all this stuff that they're talking about.
That's not actually going to happen for you.
The first thing, and I mentioned this to you, the first thing that he put in that statement was about.
the biggest tax cut in American history.
And the thing about it is it sounds really wonderful.
The first of those of us who are in the lower middle classes who don't make a lot of money to get a little something back.
But if it costs big parts of the social safety net, it's not worth it.
Then I don't want it.
I mean, I said that
from the get go.
If somebody else has to do without health care so that I get a $10 refund, no.
The Democratic
Party right now.
And, uh, obviously there's been so much going on, I mean, six months, we hit the six month anniversary just a couple of days ago.
But at the same time, and we were talking about this, that it's important for the Democrats, I think, to lay down some polls in terms of what are the true beliefs of the Democratic Party.
And I said, and I actually said, I must say to you out loud here that sometimes the Democratic Party is really good about, uh,
being there after the cattle has left the barn.
The door has been open and they're already gone.
And then the Democrats will step up and I use the example of a Keem Jeffries making this long speech that really it was, oh, everyone's all clapping.
What a wonderful thing a Keem Jeffries did with that speech, but it meant nothing because it was already done.
Because it
was over and done with.
It was just a time buying mechanism.
We need to be
bigger and we need to be bolder and we need to stand up for, you know, what the working
people really need.
And we talked about this off the air too that, you know, to you or to me, you know, buying furniture is a big thing.
Um, you know, we're not looking to buy, you know, a $4,000 or $4,000 score a foot home
or
whatever is, it's the things that would help the actual working class people.
And, and they do align with our values, but they're worried about how they're going to pay the rent next month.
They worry about.
the child care, and we need to be bigger and bolder and just say, we're putting this in place, this is what we believe in.
And frankly, it gets frustrating when you see somebody make a bold agenda like Mandami in New York City.
Yes.
And you have Democrats who push back against it.
That's
frustrating.
I agree, because I like Mandami.
I really do.
And I hope all the best that he can actually go forth with these things because he took the time he sat in and he listened to the people and what they really needed.
And frankly, when you look at some of the planks of his platform, I think they could work in the state of Wisconsin and right here in Central Wisconsin.
Oh
my gosh, they could work here in Central Wisconsin.
And, you know, I think there'd be great pull.
And I mean, if he ran here today, I think he would win the majority of the vote.
I really do.
And something I want to ask you to wrap it up because something else that you were saying off the air is that as we look forward.
that you're looking for folks who are willing to run for office.
And I think that's something that we should talk about.
The
county board, the city council assembly and senate of course too.
But it is important, all politics are local and you need to get involved.
Don't be afraid.
I did have one gentleman that said to me, he said, I might be too far to the left.
You know what?
That's okay.
We'll take it.
I mean, you need to be.
Fold and you need to make your own statements
and the only way the system works is if we are involved in the
system.
Yes.
Yes
Don't be afraid to get involved in your city government.
And I know that you would be, you've done it yourself.
Yeah, you put
yourself out there.
And also, so for people that may be thinking about it, who may be, oh, hey, maybe it's something I want to do, I would encourage them to contact you.
Yes, contact me, get ahold of me.
You can answer some questions about what you need to think about, what you need to do.
Certainly can, and we will get you the right help and the right tools that you need to make you successful.
Nancy, thank you again for popping on by.
Thank you.
Hey, I'm going to be talking to Pat Critewell coming up in just a few minutes of my segment with Pat.
I like to vent a little bit and we'll do that coming up at 806.
That is great.
WXCO.
And
good morning once again everyone and welcome back.
It is the WXCO morning report on 98.9 WXCO.
Online at wxco.fm mobile devices and Alexa by searching wxco and on the civic media app And again, we are also available on youtube.com youtube.com go to the 98.9 wxco channel To see live our local segments and also be able to go back and see previous segments including unedited interviews with our guests as well
It is overcast.
It is 70 degrees, a few sprinkles falling in the area as well here on this Thursday morning.
It was quite a weather Wednesday.
In fact, we had a tornado warning in part of Marathon County.
We had severe thunderstorm warnings as well late yesterday afternoon.
I was on the air with some weather updates to try to keep people informed on what was going on.
Boy, and as well as I was driving home yesterday after leaving work, it was.
Downpour is not exactly the right word.
It was just it was coming down in buckets
Yeah, and
even overnight I was you know sleeping and then I'd wake up once in a while and I could hear at times It was raining very hard as well.
So we got a lot of rain in the last 12 to 18 hours and a word that we word that we're not using very much as drought but
That's true,
but yeah, so today expected Starting off here with these overcast guys.
We do have another Chance of thunderstorms not a great chance slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m.
In a high of 81 degrees So a bit of cooler weather then tomorrow looking like a great summer day mostly sunny skies at a high near 85 so something I wanted to mention
coming up this weekend.
And if you're looking for a wonderful activity and really a chance for the community to come together, it is Wausau Mung Festival, the Among Wausau Festival 2025.
It is going on Saturday and Sunday at the People Sports Complex at 602 East Kent Street in Wausau.
incredible lineup of events and activities.
It brings together the Monk community and the entire community.
So it really, it's a wonderful opportunity for everybody to go out and share in the joy of cultural heritage.
There's sports tournaments going on, got dance competitions, singing competitions, got a variety of food and non-food vendors who are offering delicious dishes and unique products to explore, got great kids entertainment,
Fun activities and attractions geared for children of all ages to enjoy got the grand parade coming up on Saturday at 10 a.m The grand parade basically kicks off the entire weekend of activities So again, it's really a great weekend of excitement learning community spirit So you can be there to compete perform or just enjoy the festivities the Mung wasa festival is the place to be both on Saturday and Sunday the admission is 11
$7 bring your family friends neighbors immense yourself in the rich culture and traditions of the monk community So don't miss that celebration coming up this Saturday and Sunday at the people's sports complex on East Kent Street in Wasa And it's that time of year.
There's a lot of great activities.
We got the Wisconsin Valley Fair coming up
I think
starting next week if I'm not mistaken
So again, lots going on and really, this is a wonderful event because it's a chance really to explore different cultures and learn a little bit about different cultures.
And I think just bring people together.
Again, this idea that there's a right culture, a wrong culture, a right way of being, a wrong way of being is causing so many difficulties right now in not just the area communities, but communities throughout the
country.
No, a culture is perfect.
Every culture has its upsides and downsides.
But the point is that we should be able to come together and embrace those differences.
Even if we don't always agree on them, we should at least be open-minded and try to understand them better.
where they come from and what they stand for.
Instead of trying to divide us apart, we should try to come together.
Like you said, it's not easy, but it is worth it.
It would take the
time.
Expose you to different folks different people perhaps new friends new activities.
I think I mean you talk about all the time I mean this in your place and the productions you're involved in it brings you together with people Maybe you would not have otherwise crossed paths with you'll learn from other people you have established new relationships I mean, it's just one of those it's another aspect of Expanding one's life.
There's not just
one type of actor.
It's all different types of people coming together regardless of race or gender or sexual identity or just how much experience you have in the theater.
It doesn't matter.
If you want to be a part of the theater, sign up for an audition and just be embraced in the magic of the theater.
It doesn't matter.
who you are or what you look like.
It just matters that you're willing to try and put yourself out there.
My experience is not easy to do it first.
And you do that in other areas as well.
It doesn't have to
be just the
arts or the theater, but there's so many other ways you can put yourself out there to expose yourself to new people, to new ideas, to
new activities.
DEI, it's very
important.
There you go.
DEI.
Get out
there and...
live life, soak up life, and great opportunity with the Mugwasa Festival coming up on Saturday and Sunday.
Coming up in our final segment, we will have our number for the day.
We'll see if Ian can finally get one right
this week.
It's a must.
situation.
Yes.
Have to get
today and tomorrow to get it right.
I don't know what the topic is yet.
So we're going to have to wait and we'll
be
surprised.
But we'll be back with that.
And coming up after an information update, Pat Crichtlow will be back and he'll be talking to Joseph Pecky.
Talk to politics with Joseph Pecky coming up.
The time is almost 8 30 70 degrees in wassup.
You're at 98.9 WXCO.
It is the WXO morning report part of mornings with packed right low on 98.9 WXO online at WXO dot FM open devices and Alexa by searching WXO and on the civic media app with the in well shine Chad Holmes
coming up in just a few minutes, we'll have our number for the day quiz.
But something I talked about with Nancy Stentz, I'm not sure if I talked to her about it on air or off air, because I was talking to her both when we were on the air and off the air, but mentioned a posting yesterday on the news site Axios.
And they have a national newsletter.
And from time to time, I bring up the point that folks who believe...
or tried to promulgate the idea that there is a liberal media.
They don't understand what a liberal media is because we do not have a liberal media in the United States of America.
And Axios is supposed to be this sort of straightforward news site.
And this is what they put in their national newsletter yesterday.
President Trump.
In terms of raw accomplishments, crushed his first six months in historic ways.
Massive tax cuts, record low border crossings, surging tariff revenue, stunning airstrikes in Iran, modest inflation.
Yet, poll after poll suggests most Americans aren't impressed.
In fact, they seem tired of all the winning.
They say then why it matters?
Well, Trump appears to be losing by winning.
The more he does, including issues beyond his legislative wins.
The more the general public, especially independent, shrug or recoil.
This paradox is unfolding in what could be the very best chapter of his presidency before tariffs push prices higher or midterms pose risks to his GOP majorities.
Give me a break.
The idea that
The only thing I will say is you can use the term historic both as positive or negative.
Yeah, I would say maybe His first six months have been historic in a negative way
in
terms of much of what he's done but the idea that The axiost is trying to frame this as Trump has come in has just been
Incredibly good in his first six months is ridiculous And actually there was a very interesting point made in a newsletter that I get every morning.
It's called a cup of coffee with Craig Calcutta era It's a baseball newsletter, but it also involves some news and politics and thoughts from a more liberal point of view right and Calcutta era says the most charitable interpretation of axiosis framing is that they view political news as sports
and can only contextualize it in terms of who is winning at any given time to the exclusion of all other things.
He says that in the framing of the above passage, it's roughly equivalent to a sports columnist complaining about how Alabama beat Mississippi State by four touchdowns, yet somehow got passed up in the polls by a Michigan team that barely escaped Penn State with a last second field goal.
And that is something that I have found very frustrating about media as well.
They frame it in a very sports-like atmosphere.
Last year during the election, CNN would call it when there was debates.
debate night in America.
We're on election nights.
Election night in America.
Like it's NBC has football night in America.
And they have all this- We're trying to pump it up with all this unnecessary energy.
It's like, can we take it for what it is supposed to be a serious conversation about what the candidates stand for?
And I'll try to turn it into like the- Like Monday night football.
You know?
Like Monday night football.
Not everything has to be a sports analogy.
Can't we just like, hey, have a serious conversation without all the hype and adrenaline?
It's like, oh, who's more popular?
How many rings is this gonna get?
It's like, can we stop trying to make, publicize every single thing about this?
And I remember last year during the...
presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
They had them come out there with this loud music.
It was like they were being introduced into a wrestling ring.
Exactly.
It's ridiculous.
And also real about the showmanship
with these people.
Exactly.
And you have this list of everything that Donald Trump has passed.
Yes, you can call that winning because he's got these Republicans cowtowing to him.
But how about actually delving in to the impact?
What do these laws mean?
Exactly.
So often it's all about winning or losing.
Hey, you got it.
You got it through.
We know the
tax cuts are for the wealthy.
But what is everybody else kidding?
And you can do it in a, in a, in a, in a, it can be a very straightforward manner that, you know, if you're somebody that truly believes that tax cuts for the wealthy is good for the economy, well, then try to try to say what this is going to do.
So again, it's just this.
Sportification of politics has to end and we have to start going into it's unnecessary more into I would call boring analysis of policy than trying to
gin up excitement over the horse race or anything else involved in it.
But we're going to gin it up and actually have a scoreboard here and act like sports here because it's our number for the day quiz.
We have
the big scoreboard with the end and this week it's zero wins and three losses.
That means in order for him to get a passing grade, he has to get today right and tomorrow right.
Our number for the day involves the Green Bay Packers.
Okay.
The Packers have started training camp.
And our number for the Packers is how many NFL championships have the Packers won in their more than 100 year history?
Okay.
Your choices are 11 championships, 13 championships, 15 championships.
You know what I'm going to say.
Dad, I hope you're listening because I could really use your help on this one.
I'm gonna say 13.
13 is my final answer.
I'm gonna say 13.
The
Green
Bay Packers have won 13 NFL Championships.
Yes.
One out of four, so that means tomorrow it's all on the line.
So happy I got that one right.
Can you get a passing grade tomorrow?
You'll have to find out tomorrow.
So you didn't have a good rest of your day.
You too, Chad.
Happy Thursday, everybody.
Matt and Aaron are next on WXCO.
