Mornings with Pat Kreitlow

We’ll talk to Sean O’Malley about your money and the markets. While the Federal Reserve did cut interest rates Wednesday, it appears to be less out of pressure from President Trump and more out of concern that Trump has taken the country to the verge of stagflation, with inflation still a problem even as the job market keeps getting worse. Chad Holmes will tell us about the stories he’s following for Civic Media in the Wausau area. And political strategist Joe Zepecki talks about the dangerous political climate the far-right has brought to our nation.

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We’ll meet pediatrician Dr. Kellie Snooks, who has a new video series “Raising Wisconsin” on UpNorthNews social media sites. Her latest report explains what vaccines actually do inside your body. We’ll also visit with former Racine alderman Trevor Jung, who just announced his candidacy for a State Senate seat held by a Republican for most of the past 14 years.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a...

We’ll discuss the latest disturbing attack on America’s freedoms as another corporate television network caves to pressure from a ruling party and removes its late night show host. ABC joins a growing list of media outlets that have done the president’s bidding and put profits ahead of free expression and the freedom to speak truth to power. Meanwhile, Congressman Derrick Van Orden takes a page from fascism’s playbook in the way he turns the First Amendment into speech that is guilty until proven innocent.

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We continue welcoming a growing parade of candidates seeking higher office in 2026, with a visit from state Rep. Francesca Hong, who this morning announced her candidacy for Wisconsin governor. We’ll ask about the growing appetite among some voters for more unabashed liberalism and no more trying to placate the creeping authoritarianism in our government. We’ll visit with Civic Media friends Earl Ingram, Melissa Kaye, and reporter James Kelly.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to t...

The change of seasons is becoming more noticeable. Kids are back in school. Football is back on the field. And candidates are announcing their plans for 2026. We’ll talk to a former childcare provider in New Glarus who’s decided to run for a seat in the Legislature because its leadership has ignored the needs of providers, parents, and employers long enough. And in our Homeroom segment, we’ll track the progress of bill at the state Capitol being considered now that the state budget is settled — which bills are good for education and which are a nuisance or even und...

There’s a lot about the current sluggish economy that can be pegged to moves by the White House, but there’s another underreported quirk in our economy: big business is getting bigger. That reduces competition — the most important factor in keeping prices manageable. We’ll talk about some troubling examples of how families are being nickeled and dimed in ways that don’t get big headlines and show why we need elected officials focused less on corporate America’s leaders and more on their customers.  And that’s not just for retail goods but for our media and social media op...

To hear the Speaker of the House tell it, Republicans have no interest in working with Democrats to reach a budget deal and avoid a government shutdown — even though GOP members can’t agree among themselves how to write a budget. Democrats are demanding Republicans dismantle a health care cost bomb that’s going to skyrocket health insurance premiums, but Speaker Mike Johnson seems content to watch families endure healthcare sticker shock. We’ll talk to Courier Newsroom’s Cam Stevenson on Capitol Hill, and we’ll visit with Dan Shafer from The Recombobulation Area with the latest on the Wisconsi...

Instead of doing the job of a congressman, Derrick Van Orden spent his Monday still attached to his Twitter keyboard and calling for people, groups, and even cities to be punished because he does not agree with the opinions expressed by fellow Americans. That now includes the City of Eau Claire. It’s not typical (or normal) behavior for a member of Congress to advocate for defunding services from one of the largest communities in their district, but nothing about this situation is normal. We’ll talk to Emily Berge, Eau Claire City Council president and a candidate for Cong...

Big Government is casting a wider net, seeking to police people’s thoughts as expressed on social media and use those posts to have people fired or to deny visas to potential visitors and workers — again, based on their thoughts and opinions. The news about visa denials came even as the vice president of the United States used his government office to guest host Charlie Kirk’s former radio show and make more threats to use government as a weapon against people solely for political purposes.

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The candidate list for the 2026 election is growing again this week. We’ll talk about this morning’s entry of state Sen. Kelda Roys to the governor’s race. And we’ll talk live with Milwaukee city council member JoCasta Zamarripa, a former legislator who’s now running for Wisconsin Secretary of State.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! To learn more about the...

The current president and majority party may be shamelessly trying to drag America back to the days of coal and oil generating most of our power and pollution, but plenty of other people are pushing back. We’ll talk to Robert Kraig of Citizen Action Wisconsin about the ways they’re making sure lawmakers are aware of the direction being demanded by most Americans — and it doesn’t involve going backward and ignoring the problems of a changing climate.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio ne...

Far-right provocateur Charlie Kirk symbolized the fight over free speech. Universities faced pressure to cancel his appearances as well as pressure to not give in to so-called cancel culture. That makes it ironic that the most tangible activity in the country in the days after his murder has been a wave of firings of people for expressing their own points of view — and threats of firings from people like a member of Congress from Wisconsin.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Fr...

We’ll ask Dr. Kristin Lyerly about Not-a-Dr. Robert Kennedy, Jr. and the misinformation he’s spreading about autism, Tylenol, and folate deficiencies, causing more angst among pregnant women. And Mike Clemens will help us review last night’s Packers game against Washington and whether the short-week pressure will be worth it by having ten days until the next game.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a s...

We’ll ask former US Attorney Jim Santelle to make it make sense: the same US Supreme Court that says race cannot be a consideration for college admissions now says race can be an issue in deciding whether law enforcement can pull over, harass, and even detain people they only suspect of not being citizens. And we’ll ask journalists Mark Jacob and Jennifer Schulze about the coverage of the Charlie Kirk murder, especially the double-standard that accompanies the “sanewashing” taking place about Kirk’s views.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several...

The good news is that President Trump finally approved disaster relief for flash flood victims in southeast Wisconsin. The stupid news is that he had to wrap the announcement in The Big Lie. Yes, Trump is still being delusional or traitorous in lying about winning Wisconsin and the 2020 presidential election. We’ll also talk to Courier Newsroom’s Keya Vakil about the ongoing effort to tone down the violent rhetoric in the wake of this week’s political violence.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio...

Governor Tony Evers was the keynote speaker for the third night of the annual Cap Times Idea Fest and talked about his decision not to run for a third term and his legacy after eight years of playing defense to a hostile Legislature. We’ll talk to Joe Zepecki about that and the day’s other top stories. Sean O’Malley will visit to discuss your money and the markets. And Chad Holmes will tell us about the stories he’s following for us in the Wausau area.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs...

National politicians get most of the attention, but the people who are getting things done day by day in government are the ones who serve at a local level. It’s time to think about who’s serving on your town board, city council, county board, and in other posts — and if you think it’s a way you could help your community, there’s a group dedicated to training the next round of municipal leaders. We’ll talk to a Wisconsin mayor who heads up that national group.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs...

Conservative agitator Charlie Kirk was a lot of things, many of them antithetical to hopes for a safer America, but that does not excuse political violence – nor any kind of gun violence. If Wednesday was an average day in America, Kirk was one of 300 people who were shot yesterday, nearly half of them shot dead. And that includes a school shooting Wednesday in Colorado. The other victims won’t get the attention Kirk has received, but perhaps the attention to this murder in Utah will take the rest of the country a step closer to recognizing that gun violence and...

We’ll talk live with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the most recent candidate to announce in the 2026 race for Wisconsin governor, about his decision to run and what he wants voters to know about his experience and positions. Also, we’ll have a guest from Clean Wisconsin on how all of these massive new data centers are sucking up groundwater wherever they pop up, a development that’s good for Artificial Intelligence but not so good for neighbors whose wells have run dry.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several statio...

It might be one of the biggest billion-dollar surprises in Wisconsin, if you were to ask most taxpayers how much public money is going to the private school voucher scheme. It’s more than $700 million this year and getting close to a 10-digit annual payout. We’ll outline how one group is launching a transparency campaign to build public awareness before the program swallows up more of the state budget and skims resources away from local public schools.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio netw...

It’s already well-documented that Congressman Derrick Van Orden spends a lot of time scrolling and trolling through social media. But even by his standards it was weird that he put a new comment on a photo from two years ago. Even weirder: the photo he commented on shows him on the US Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021 — and his comment was, “Hell yes.” Van Orden claims he did not take part in the domestic terrorism that followed on that fateful day, but is it that much better to simply be a spectator to a treasonous mob after flying there to suppo...

Is it possible to be an evil genius doing diabolical, well-planned things and be stupid as well? We’ll talk to Courier Newsroom’s Cam Stevenson live from Washington, DC about a Trump/conservative strategy that has gone both ways. It has meticulously given the country a US Supreme Court that on Monday delivered one of the most racist decisions since it upheld Japanese internment camps 80 years ago. At the same time, the administration decided it was a good idea to raid a car and battery complex in Georgia — and South Korea will likely pull the plug on something that w...

We’ll catch up with Jeff Rennicke from Friends of the Apostle Islands about how the president’s willful neglect of our National Parks is being seen in everything from overworked staff and fewer tours to piled up trash and lost revenue that could keep our parks healthy. We’ll also talk to Sheila Everhart from the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association and dairy farmer Hans Breitenmoser about the latest opportunities to add some rural Wisconsin sites to your next road trip bucket list. They also bring some updates on bills, including AB413 and SB415, that are in the works at the...

Once again local media provided coverage of Congressman Derrick Van Orden unencumbered by fact checks, clarifications, or context. We’ll review an event — not a town hall — to “celebrate” a new tax policy on tips and overtime. It is not nearly as generous or encompassing as you would think, to see how it’s being covered by many outlets.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single epi...

For all of the bluster some politicians offer about saluting the service of our veterans, they really show their stripes when it comes time to provide actual services of their own to the men and women who served our nation. We’ll talk to Sen. Jeff Smith about how important programs that help homeless veterans in two Wisconsin locations are on the verge of shutting down because Republican legislators took Gov. Evers’ state budget request and changed it to $0 — and are somehow trying to blame the governor for it.

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The notion of fair elections has been taking it on the chin lately as Republicans in multiple states engage in corrupt cartography right out in public. We’ll talk to Iuscely Flores from the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition about a bipartisain effort to get rid of gerrymandering the maps for Congress and state legislatures. They’re taking part in a statewide campaign of public forums to remind people they should be the ones who choose their representatives — their representatives shouldn’t be allowed to choose who gets to vote for them and who doesn’t.

Mornings with Pat Kreitl...

Even being on rehab from knee surgery wasn’t going to stop one enthusiastic Packers fan from attending the season opener at Lambeau Field. We’ll talk to Dr. Kristin Lyerly about a perfect day for football and a practically perfect performance by Green Bay to open the 2025 campaign. The Milwaukee Brewers also continue their latest winning streak. We’ll check other headlines from the weekend and get Brittney Merlot’s forecast to start the workweek.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through...

We’ll get set for Week 1 of the NFL season with Mike Clemens giving an update on the Green Bay Packers’ status heading into their opener at home against Detroit. And Dr. Kristin Lyerly will sum up the significance of the RFK, Jr. congressional hearing and the additional burden it puts on everyone who wants to get credible information about their health care.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to m...

We’ll talk to our Week In Review panel about this week’s events, including a congressional hearing featuring a US Health and Human Services Secretary still blocking or undermining the basic building blocks of public health. Plus: breaking news about job numbers.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! To learn more about the show and all of the programming across the Civi...

Cheese-infused, football-shaped chicken nuggets. Tater tots with brat slices and beer cheese. Maybe some summer sausage with your grilled cheese? With the Packers beginning their 2025 campaign this weekend, we review some of the concession cuisine being served this season at Lambeau Field.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! To learn more about the show and all of the programming across the Civic...

It’s the worst of both worlds: inflation remains an issue (which is why you might hike interest rates) but the job market is softening (which is why you might cut interest rates). In other words, Trump Stagflation, with a side order of political pressure on what’s supposed to be an independent Federal Reserve Board. We’ll discuss this dilemma with Sean O’Malley. And we’ll ask Joe Zepecki about the possibility that the president will send military troops to Milwaukee… just because.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stat...

Congress is back in session, so we’ll ask Congressman Mark Pocan about the full range of déjá vu topics: the Epstein files, another government shutdown showdown, and more. And Todd Allbaugh previews this afternoon’s show on the Civic Media radio network.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! To learn more about the show and all of the programming across the Ci...

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley came up north to see one of the ways Wisconsin can address the ongoing problem of affordable housing. He also talked about when he’s likely to announce a run for governor. Plus: States are starting to go it alone when it comes to offering vaccine and other public health guidelines now that the US Department of Health and Human Services is working in complete opposition to public health.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday fr...

The trick to writing good fiction — if you work in the Trump White House, anyway — is the ability to pick and choose which scientific facts match up well with your politics. In this week’s Climate Check, we’ll discuss the most interesting work of fiction in DC these days: a Trump administration report that calls the threat of climate change overblown. Dozens of scientists say it’s riddled with errors, cherry-picked data, and misinformation.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday fro...

Classes are back in session. So are lawmakers in Madison and Washington. We’ll talk to Peggy Wirtz-Olsen of WEAC about the bills they’re following that range from big picture revenue needs to micromanaging things like cursive writing and what kinds of flags can and can’t be displayed at school.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! To learn more about the sh...

It’s been a little while since Powerball fever started spreading again, but Wednesday’s estimated jackpot of more than $1 billion has us thinking about one of life’s little luxuries: daydreaming. What would you do if you suddenly had $1 billion? Also, today’s History Lesson has a note about the world’s richest woman and just how many billions of dollars she’s already given away since divorcing the world’s richest man. We’ll discuss Vice President J.D. Vance’s upcoming visit to Minneapolis following a tragic church school shooting, sparking debates on gun safety versus an approach with m...

We’ll talk to Dan Shafer of The Recombobulation Area about the new school year and how a new state budget isn’t making life any easier for struggling school districts who will probably be setting another record for referendum requests to fill in the gaps from lazy legislators. And we’ll start a new weekly visit with Courier Newsroom’s Cam Stevenson, author of Below the Beltway, a daily newsletter about his new gig reporting from Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civi...

Superior Mayor Jim Paine will recap Pride Weekend up in the Twin Ports and tell us why the event doesn’t take place in June like in many other communities. And we’ll recap Labor Day weekend, including the news for thousands upon thousands of American workers who’ve had their collective bargaining rights ripped away by an anti-union president who sees public sector workers as unworthy of jobsite protection.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the...