Saturday, August 27, 2022

Declare Emergency/Ban "Conversion Therapy"

The City of La Crosse Common Council Administration and Personnel Committee will discuss two very important resolutions, both returning for consideration after being pulled earlier this summer. The meeting wil be held on Tuesday, August 30 at 6 p.m. in person at the Council Chambers of City Hall and online via LifeSize. See below for attendance information.

First: The council will take up a rewritten ban on so-called conversion therapy, "any attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression." See the previous post for more information. We need people to support this ban. More details about how, below. This is item #22-0636: AN AMENDED ORDINANCE to create Sec. 32-191 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of La Crosse prohibiting Conversion Therapy. (Note: The Committee and/or Council may convene in closed session) The sponsor is Council Member Kiel.

Second: The rewritten climate emergency resolution which was pulled from consideration in July after some people were worried that saying "fossil fuels" in a resolution recognizing the emergency need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (which result mostly from burning fossil fuels) might turn some people off. Links to both versions can be seen here

Thirty-nine countries and thousands of municipalities around the world have already declared a climate emergency to draw attention to the existential threat of using fossil fuels. 

This is item # 22-0977:  Resolution declaring a climate emergency, committing to policies that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and accelerating the clean energy transition, and supporting intergovernmental cooperation to reduced GHG emissions. The legislation is sponsored by Council Member Mindel.

We need people to attend this meeting in person or online--being there is better--in order to urge passage of both the ban ordinance and the climate emergency resolution.

This meeting is open for in-person attendance and will also be conducted through video conferencing. The meeting can be viewed by typing the URL in your web browser address bar:

https://stream.lifesizecloud.com/extension/1271327/e7506959-fe5d-44ac-805c-9016fb33bd90

Agenda items approved for public hearing by the committee are open to public comment. If you wish to speak ona n agenda item, arrive early to sign up before the meeting begins. If attending virtually and you wish to speak, contact the City Clerk at the email or phone number below so we can provide you with information to join.

Members of the public who would like to provide written comments on any agenda may do so by emailing cityclerk@cityoflacrosse.org or using a drop box outside of City Hall. Questions, call 608-789-7510. 

For each agenda item, time per side (pro and con) is limited to 15 minutes each, with individual spoken testimony limited to three minutes, so, be succinct if you plan to speak. Emailing comments is recommended, whether or not to plan to speak.


Thursday, August 25, 2022

Tonight - Conversion Therapy

 


In June, the La Crosse city council passed a resolution banning the practice called "conversion therapy." This is a dangerous and debunked practice that attempts to change a person's sexual orientation. Unfortunately, due to legal concerns, the original ban was rescinded so that language could be refined. The new version will be back before the Judiciary and Administration Committee on Tuesday, August 30, before going back to the City Council for another vote on September 8.

Complicating matters is a new threat by a right-wing law firm to sue if a ban is enacted. While 26 states have similar bans or limits, the Wisconsin MINjority Republican legislature is fighting with the majority-elected governor over the issue. In March 2021, after the State Department of Safety and Professional Standards adopted a rule to prohibit the harmful practice, the Wisconsin legislature maneuvered to protect it. In June 2021, Governor Evers signed an executive order banning the use of state and federal funds from being used in conversion therapy for minors. But, the order does not make the practice illegal, so several Wisconsin cities are taking the next step on their own. (Such bans are supported by the American Society for Suicide Prevention.)

The Center: 7 Rivers LGBTQ Connection is hosting a  discussion about conversion (“reparative”) therapy with a panel of medical experts, mental health professionals, and religious leaders on Thursday, August 25th at 7:00 p.m. at English Lutheran Church, 16th and King. 

The events is FREE, but please get tickets in advance to help 0rogram planning. Refreshments will be served.

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Cia Siab event Friday

 

Please support this great local resource however you can! Donations are always welcomed and volunteers are useful, too! 

Friday, August 19, 2022

IRA and You

From Climate Action Tracker

Not the Irish Republican Army or an Individual Retirement Account, or the Green New Deal, the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law last week, is an investment in clean energy, energy savings, and transitioning from fossil fuels.

While there's a huge list of things left out of the bill, including disturbing give-aways to the fossil fuel industry, there are many big programs that will help reduce carbon emissions, and, these days, that has to be the main concern. The counter-productive fossil fuel gimmes may not matter as much as feared as more switch to increasingly cheaper renewables.

For regular people, according to this Fast company summary:

close
One key part of the new law is a set of rebates aimed at low- and moderate-income households. Households making between 80% and 150% of the area median income can get back half of the cost of specific energy upgrades, while those making less than 80% of the median income can be fully rebated, up to a certain cap. The incentives include:
  • Up to $8,000 for a heat pump for heating and cooling
  • Up to $4,000 to upgrade your electrical panel (to prepare for an all-electric home)
  • Up to $2,500 for new wiring
  • Up to $1,750 for a heat pump water heater
  • Up to $1,600 for insulation, air sealing, and ventilation
  • Up to $840 for an electric stove, oven, or an electric heat pump dryer
On the transportation front, some credits for purchasing electric cars (even used cars) have been expanded and extended, but credits for eBIKES are nowhere to be found. This is a terrible omission, but, depending on the outcome of the November election, it could be fixed. And, local or state-level incentives could fill the gaps for a time.

Support for cleaner mass and active transit was included in the bill, including access and equity grants for improving walking and biking infrastructure.

As more details emerge and experts figure out who is eligible for what IRA benefits, communities like La Crosse are moving forward with plans to reduce our own  community carbon emissions. 

The draft Climate Action Plan is now ready for public review and comment. If you haven't yet read through it, please do. It's possible that action steps identified in that document will be made easier by the new IRA.

Between now and election day, we can move forward by
  • Reading, commenting on, and supporting the La Crosse Climate Action Plan;
  • Learning what incentives you can use to reduce your energy use and replace carbon-high appliances and vehicles with carbon-low (a great first step is getting a Focus on Energy Home Energy Assessment);
  • Joining with others to highlight and educate about why everyone needs to participate in this process;
  • Working like there's no tomorrow to elect people to office who deeply believe that climate collapse must be our top priority.

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

August 18 - Black Student Leaders fundraiser

Here's another chance to help BSL raise funds for back-to-school gift cards. 

Yummy bbq dinner for $20 OR a donated gift card on Thursday between 11 and 7 at 231 Copeland Avenue. 

If you can't attend, you can donate at https://bree90842.wixsite.com/bls-lacrosse

TODAY! Speak up for better biking

Ru-posting this important opportunity to make biking and walking better:

Here is your chance to have a say in what things might look like in La Crosse about twenty years from now, specifically, how we are going to get around (whether or not cars will continue to be our overlords).

Please attend and boldly give your opinions about what must happen in the future. Please don't be meek or incremental. Please know that we must stop (not just we but WE ALL) driving cars around. Gas-powered cars are awful for carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions, but all cars are awful for plastic particles from tires, space and resources for car roads and storage, and safety of people not in cars.

Before you go, get riled up that other places can have nice things like

but we have to have smelly, noisy, dangerous, Earth-killing cars roaming at will around every inch of our downtown, neighborhoods, schools, parks, and shopping areas. Aliens looking down at our community would think that the humans live in prisons surrounded by car-guards. Not only do they encircle almost every abode, but we give over huge plots of valuable space to their storage (most cars sit idle up to 95% of the day!) and feeding. We have to beg for them to stop for us to walk or bike across a street. They have forbidden us from using the streets, unless we get special permits, for anything but driving (and, supposedly, cycling, but most people don't see it that way from my experience).

We need a whole new way of looking at where we live in relation to where we get food, medical care, entertainment, services and education. We need a whole new way of valuing transportation that is healthy, least polluting, less dangerous, and more sustainable. We need to plan for that right now. The special public input sessions on August 16 are a way to do that. Please attend if you can.

On August 16 there will be two opportunities to weigh in on the La Crosse comprehensive plan for 2040 with respect to bicycle and pedestrian (and transit) issues. Please plan to attend and give your opinions on what changes we will need to see in La Crosse to make life better, easier, and more accessible for those who choose to move around without a car.

You may attend either session in person or online (see access information below):

* From NOON to 1 p.m. at the Southside Neighborhood Center (1300 6th Street South) 

* From 5 to 6 p.m. at the Black River Beach Center (1433 Rose Street),   

To attend online, join the meeting: https://call.lifesizecloud.com/4796124 OR call this number (you will only be able to listen if you call in, not speak): 877-422-8614  meeting 4796124#.

City of La Crosse Comprehensive Plan 2040

Bicycle

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Draft Climate Action Plan

 


After several months of meetings, discussions, research, and more meetings, the City of La Crosse Climate Action Plan team and consultant paleBLUEdot have published the draft climate action plan for public review and input. Public input sessions will be coming this fall. For now, please read and comment.

La Crosse Wants Your Input
on the Draft Climate Action Plan!

In 2019, the City of La Crosse Common Council passed a resolution which set a goal of reaching carbon neutrality community wide, in both energy and transportation by 2050.  

In August 2021, the City engaged paleBLUEdot for the development of its first Climate Action Plan outlining strategies and actions to support achieving its climate goals.  The City of La Crosse has been working over the last year in collaboration with the Climate Action Planning Team made up of a wide range of community members.

The Draft Plan is now available and needs your input.

You can review the City’s Draft Climate Action Plan on the plan’s website. Please share this review opportunity with your neighbors, friends, and family.  

Find the Draft Plan here:

https://www.lacrosseclimateactionplan.org/draft-plan  


Tuesday, August 09, 2022

School district meetings

 

In spring 2021 the La Crosse School District' superintendent, Dr. Aaron Engel, invited community members to "public input" meetings about the future of La Crosse schools. At those sessions, the props for an input session were present but it was pretty clear from the presentation and lack of answers that the decisions had already been made. Neighborhood schools would close and lots of money would be requested for a new high school waaaaay on the southside of town, far from homes, shops, restaurants, and after school jobs. This was bad. Really bad.

Questions about transportation came up. How many students would lose the ability to walk or bike to school? How were families without cars supposed to get to parent-teacher conferences? How many more teens would be expected to drive to school so they could get to their after-school jobs? How would all this new driving affect transportation greenhouse gas emissions? What conversations had been held with low-income families? What other options had been considered? How did staff feel about these plans?

Crickets.

And still, more than a year later, the only response has been that the state does not give the school districts enough money. Nothing about equity, transportation problems, climate consequences, safety concerns. 

After those initial meetings, there have been two push-poll surveys and other meetings where legitimate questions were, again, not answered.

The one answer Dr. Engel did give was why he had chosen the Trane administration building site. We don't need a site the size of Mayberry for a high school. But we do if there's going to be a giant redundant sports complex and huge parking lot.

To make matters worse, the school board seems to have  hidden behind a system of doing business that gives almost total control of everything to the superintendent. They set broad goals and he does what he wants with annual reviews to see if he's meeting those goals. The goal categories need updating (there's nothing, for example about the district's responsibility to our community and its students to operate in a way that reduces carbon emissions and transitions to renewable energy). And rules that allow for board intervention and more frequent assessments are, it seems, being ignored.

There's more, too, as staff protest pitiful inadequate raises and one school board member has resigned. As the city rolls out its draft climate action plan, it's clear that the school district's plans will make the commumity carbon reduction goals harder to achieve. Staff have not been listened to. Parents who want to bike with their kids to school have not been listened to. Families who don't drive have not been listened to.

More meetings are being planned, including at least one neighborhood meeting (at 6 p.m. on August 23 hosted by Logan Northside Neighborhood at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1010 Sill St), between now and November 8 when a nearly $200 million referendum will go before the voters. Don't expect to get answers or have anything change. The fix has been in from the start. But please go anyway and keep asking for answers. There are many reasons to oppose this plan. I think it needs to be withdrawn for now until real public input can be included.

8/11: Fundraiser for Black Student Leaders

 

Black Student Leaders needs your help! The BSL need to raise $7800 in gift cards or cash to help send local teens back to school with confidence and style.

Please support their fundraiser by sharing this post and stopping by 231 Copeland Avenue this Thursday 8/11/22 for some yummy barbecue! 11:00 am - 7:00 pm!! Thanks


VOTE TUESDAY

VOTE TODAY

Sunday, August 07, 2022

August 16 = our future in your hands

Here is your chance to have a say in what things might look like in La Crosse about twenty years from now, specifically, how we are going to get around (whether or not cars will continue to be our overlords).

Please attend and boldly give your opinions about what must happen in the future. Please don't be meek or incremental. Please know that we must stop (not just we but WE ALL) driving cars around. Gas-powered cars are awful for carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions, but all cars are awful for plastic particles from tires, space and resources for car roads and storage, and safety of people not in cars.

Before you go, get riled up that other places can have nice things like

but we have to have smelly, noisy, dangerous, Earth-killing cars roaming at will around every inch of our downtown, neighborhoods, schools, parks, and shopping areas. Aliens looking down at our community would think that the humans live in prisons surrounded by car-guards. Not only do they encircle almost every abode, but we give over huge plots of valuable space to their storage (most cars sit idle up to 95% of the day!) and feeding. We have to beg for them to stop for us to walk or bike across a street. They have forbidden us from using the streets, unless we get special permits, for anything but driving (and, supposedly, cycling, but most people don't see it that way from my experience).

We need a whole new way of looking at where we live in relation to where we get food, medical care, entertainment, services and education. We need a whole new way of valuing transportation that is healthy, least polluting, less dangerous, and more sustainable. We need to plan for that right now. The special public input sessions on August 16 are a way to do that. Please attend if you can.

On August 16 there will be two opportunities to weigh in on the La Crosse comprehensive plan for 2040 with respect to bicycle and pedestrian (and transit) issues. Please plan to attend and give your opinions on what changes we will need to see in La Crosse to make life better, easier, and more accessible for those who choose to move around without a car.

You may attend either session in person or online (see access information below):

* From NOON to 1 p.m. at the Southside Neighborhood Center (1300 6th Street South) 

* From 5 to 6 p.m. at the Black River Beach Center (1433 Rose Street),   

To attend online, join the meeting: https://call.lifesizecloud.com/4796124 OR call this number (you will only be able to listen if you call in, not speak): 877-422-8614  meeting 4796124#.

City of La Crosse Comprehensive Plan 2040

Bicycle and Pedestrian Issues Focus Meeting

(Hosted by the City of La Crosse Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee)

AGENDA

Introduction and Overview of the Comprehensive Plan

  • What is a Comprehensive Plan?

  • How the La Crosse Comprehensive Plan 2040 is being developed

  • How walking and biking issues and priorities in La Crosse connect with the Comprehensive Plan

Discussion Questions

  • What do you like about walking or biking in La Crosse? What works well? What are some of the city’s key assets or advantages for walking or biking?

  • What do you not like walking or biking in La Crosse? What are some things that don’t work well? What are some problems or issues?

  • How should we make things better? What ideas do you have for improving walking or biking in La Crosse?

Next Steps

  • How to contribute additional ideas and comments for the plan

  • Plan website and surveys: https://forwardlacrosse.org (new walk- and bike-oriented survey available after our session of August 16)

  • Questions, other items?

8/11: Among Mountains

From La Crosse Public Library:

Neng Now is a Hmong musician, filmmaker, artist, author, world-traveler, and scientist. He was born in Chiang Kham Refugee Camp in Thailand and grew up in Wisconsin. 

In December of 2017, he quit his day job to travel around the world, creating captivating art with the help of storytelling, visual content, and social media. 

In 2020, he was awarded a Fulbright Research Grant in Linguistics to Study the Hmong musical languages of Laos. Join us for a documentary screening of Neng's film "Among Mountains" on August 11th!

Among Mountains features the lives and storiews of the Hmong people of Lao. Introduced by Neng Now with post-discussion. 

A collaboration of HMOOB Cultural & Community Agency, McIntosh Memorial Library, and La Crosse Public Library. Funded in part by a grant from Wisconsin Humanities, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Funding also provided by the WiLS Ideas To Action Fund.

Wednesday, August 03, 2022

Food not (school) lawns


GROW La Crosse is a great organization that teaches kids about gardening while producing some food for families.

Personally, I think it's a crime that any school in this time of climate collapse still has a grass lawn, which must be fertilized, possibly treated with insecticides, mowed, and watered, all at a substantial financial and environmental cost, instead of a vegetable and grain field that could actually feed those families. 

Especially a school like Hintgen, where, according to U S. News and World Report school data, 68% of students are economically disadvantaged, there could be corn, bean, squash and other veggie fields where the big lawns are now. Same thing with Logan HS (51% economically disadvantaged). Why are we growing lawns at all at schools? I am not talking about playing space or sports areas or playgrounds, I am talking about big spaces filled with grass that are not used for anything but looks.

But, that's a rant for another time. 

For now, please support GROW La Crosse by attending the Great GROW Get Together on August 25, buying a raffle ticket to win an e-bike, volunteering at a school garden, or just donating.



Tuesday, August 02, 2022

Emancipation Ball remembered


On August 1, 1887, La Crosse residents celebrated the liberation of enslaved people in Haiti, then the United States, with an "Emancipation Ball." 

This year, the Enduring Families Project, B.L.A.C.K., Black Student Leaders, and Hope Restores are recognizing the history of this occasion by bringing back the August Ball, which will be held on Saturday, August 6th. at 6 p.m. at the UWL Student Union.

"This formal affair will feature our first Juneteenth Court... a group of young people who will be presented to society in the frame of our first Cotillion/Beautillion."

Please help restore and update this important area event by attending (purchase tickets here) or donating


Monday, August 01, 2022

Pride



From The Center:

Check your calendars! Make sure you have these dates saved!

2. T-shirts and tickets are available!

  • La Crosse Pride t-shirts are available for a very limited time only! You must order by August 15th to get 2022 's special color collections! This year we have options available up to a 5x! 
  • Purchase your tickets for So You Think You Can Drag TODAY! 
    General admission tickets* are still $20.00 / Reserved seats are $40.00 / VIP tickets are $50.00
    (* ticket master has additional fees, if you want to save on those, you can make your purchases directly from the La Crosse Center Box Office)

3. Keep your eyes peeled for additional announcements!