La Crosse politics, plainly argued.
La Crosse Talk PM WIZM is a local affairs show built around live-feeling interviews with local officials, candidates, advocates, and political observers. It keeps city budgets, county decisions, childcare, pools, libraries, elections, and data centers close to everyday consequences.
PRESS PLAY
La Crosse Talk PM WIZM is a local affairs show with the loose energy of an after-work radio conversation. Its center of gravity is La Crosse-area government, but the show rarely treats policy as distant or procedural. A city budget gap becomes a conversation about cuts, staffing, health insurance, pools, libraries, and whether a professional administrator would change day-to-day management. A county discussion about data centers turns into questions about land use, energy, local authority, and what a moratorium would actually require. The show likes specifics. It names committees, council cycles, request-for-proposal processes, referendum ideas, tax impacts, school districts, public meetings, and the offices where decisions get slowed down or pushed forward. That detail is balanced by a casual rhythm. Guests are asked to explain things again, narrow the issue, pick a priority, or admit when the answer is still unclear. The tone can swing from neighborly to skeptical in a few seconds. It is especially strong when connecting household economics to civic choices, as in conversations about the ALICE report, universal childcare, property taxes, and the gap between one-year relief and lasting affordability. State politics widens the frame without losing the Wisconsin angle. Episodes touch on Supreme Court races, political presence in those races, a gubernatorial run, utility caps, taxes, public spending on sports, and the fallout from elections. There is room for side roads, too. Brewers jerseys, walk-up music, local radio jokes, and offhand geography give the show a lived-in feel. The format works because it does not polish away uncertainty. It lets guests think through budgets, process, and tradeoffs in real time, while keeping the language accessible. For listeners around La Crosse, it functions as a civic check-in. For outsiders, it is a ground-level view of how local and state politics actually sound when they are being hashed out between meetings.
Made for: For listeners who follow La Crosse-area government, Wisconsin politics, public spending, and local quality-of-life fights. It also suits civic-minded listeners who prefer conversational interviews over formal policy briefings.
What sets it apart: The show makes municipal process feel immediate by tying budgets, committees, referendums, and public services to recognizable local consequences. Its strength is the mix of practical questioning, casual banter, and granular La Crosse context.
Listener conversations about the days events in and around the La Crosse area. Weekdays from 5-6pm on WIZM 1410AM and 92.3FM
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Rick Solem makes La Crosse's budgets, public projects, and household pressures legible through detailed conversations with local decision-makers.
La Crosse Talk PM WIZM turns civic policy into direct, conversational interviews with the people involved. Rick Solem presses local officials and community leaders on decisions with practical consequences, including an $8 million city budget gap, library and pool plans,…
Rick Solem takes your $8 million city budget worry to a La Crosse council member.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
La Crosse budget pressure and north side planning drive a fast-moving city hall discussion.
Rick Sullivan spends the hour with Aaron Newberry on a familiar La Crosse city hall tangle: city administrator legislation, a budget that may require $8 million in cuts, and health insurance costs that were said to be up 30% after Tuesday's budget-parameters meeting.
A clear county-policy check-in that keeps the local politics easy to follow.
A county-administrator visit turns into a clear look at the machinery behind local headlines: a data center moratorium, universal child care, and an incentive package meant to bring more people to La Crosse County.
A La Crosse conversation ties Wisconsin's ALICE numbers to child care, tax policy, and local committee engagement.
Mary Kay Wolfe returns the 2026 ALICE report to La Crosse with a difficult headline: 35 percent of Wisconsin households are below the ALICE threshold or in poverty.
Wisconsin sports funding opens into NCAA money, NIL choices, and a toss-up House race.
A local-radio conversation uses Wisconsin college sports to look at the political incentives around a public funding fight. Political science professor Dr.
A local talk-radio episode ties tax cuts, health care, SNAP, and the farm bill to a broader question about civics.
La Crosse Talk PM frames civics as something broader than a classroom term, using that question to move through the One Big Beautiful Bill, the overdue farm bill, SNAP, tax cuts, and health care.
Blunt counsel for disciplined masculine responsibility.
This episode features an interview with Michelle Howe from the Wisconsin DOT discussing ongoing transportation projects in downtown La Crosse, focusing on bike lanes, traffic safety, and infrastructure improvements.
Host Rick Solom and UW-La Crosse political scientist Dr.
UW-La Crosse political science professor Dr.
The Rick Solom Show examines Wisconsin's Democratic governor primary through state senator Kelda Roys's arguments about electability, Democratic Socialism, school vouchers, and campaign finance.
Rick Sullivan interviews Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley about re-entering Wisconsin’s governor’s race and receiving Tony Evers’ endorsement.
Rick Sullivan has Aaron Newberry in the studio.
Jane Clay Campbell joins Rick Solem for a county update.
Mary Kay Wolf, executive director of Great Rivers United Way, joins the Rick Solem Show on WIZM to discuss the newly released 2026 ALICE Report, which finds that 35% of Wisconsin households fall below the ALICE threshold, an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
A political science professor discusses controversies around Wisconsin politics, including Milwaukee Brewers jerseys and taxpayer funding for sports, in a casual radio show format.
Former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes discusses his background, political career, and motivations for running for governor of Wisconsin.
The City Council President discusses upcoming council meetings, the status of the old Kmart property, a proposed $50M indoor pool, and how she manages numerous city committees.
UW-La Crosse political science professor Dr.
Adam Murphy discusses the environmental and economic impacts of AI data centers, rising RAM prices affecting small businesses, and Wisconsin's Supreme Court race.
The hosts preview an upcoming committee week discussion about the city's TID 11 district, where officials must decide whether to spend expiring funds, likened to a gift card with a deadline, to avoid losing money or pay off debt.
The La Crosse library director discusses the $3.1 million renovation and upcoming grand reopening, highlighting new private study nooks with Brody chairs.
This episode features interviews with committee chairs and a panelist from the International Women's Day Celebration in La Crosse, discussing the event's purpose and the upcoming #GiveToGain initiative.
La Crosse School Superintendent Dr.