Feb. 12 - America in Crisis

 

On February 12 at 5:30 p.m. Central, The New Republic’s Michael Tomasky, Timothy Noah, and Greg Sargent will host a New Year event, America in Crisis: Navigating the Dark Road Ahead in D.C. With the new administration in place, this event will bring together influential political commentators such as Jared Bernstein, Jamie Raskin, Bennie Thompson, Olivia Troye, Mark Zaid, plus more, to explore what we can expect in the months ahead. Live and live streamed from The Atlas Performing Arts Center.

This event is produced in partnership with Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Rachel Carson Council

RSVP: https://atlasarts.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/events/a0SRk000004TNwbMAG

 

5 Calls makes it easy for you to reach your members of Congress and make your voice heard. The 5 Calls team researches issues, writes scripts that clearly articulate a progressive position, figure out the most influential decision-makers, and collect phone numbers for their offices. All you have to do is call. 

Scientists, researchers, doctors speak out

In the past week since Donald Trump's inauguration, the executive branch has placed an unprecedented set of restrictions on federally funded research grants, impacting thousands of academic workers across the country and putting scientific research in the United States at serious risk. These restrictions include pauses on critical research funding, including research on cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, alongside communications blackouts, travel bans for employees, and hiring freezes.

Academic workers across the country are organizing to call on our congressional representatives on Thursday, 1/30, at 3pm ET / 12pm PT to demand these restrictions be lifted immediately.

Any delays and uncertainty in federal grant funding will have dramatic consequences for scientific research and for the American economy. The administration must lift its restrictions as soon as possible and it is up to us, as academic workers, to demand an end to these irresponsible policies.

https://form.jotform.com/250226137228047

Vote February 18

Absentee ballots have gone out for the February 18 primary election and absentee-in-person voting begins next week. In La Crosse, the field of candidates for mayor, school board and at least one city council district will be narrowed down by the primary.

As long as we still can, we have to vote, but first, we have to know who we are voting for. For example, one school board candidate is a "conversion" therapist and one has ties to the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a right wing legal firm.

The League of Women Voters is compiling a one-stop information site for voters at https://lwvlacrosse.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=484247&module_id=667501 

The Hintgen Neighborhood Association is hosting an informal "Meet and Eat - Talk to Candidates" on Thursday, Jan. 30 from 4 to 6 p.m. at Bennett o'Riley's, 4329 Mormon Coulee Road. 

WIZM is planning a February 6 mayoral candidate forum at UW-La Crosse.

The La Crosse Tribune usually has candidate statements though often they are hidden behind a paywall.

Spring elections usually have lower voter turnout, and some voters believe (wrongly) that elections for school board, city councils, and state races are not important. Learning about candidates and voting is the very least we can do while our votes still count.

Meanwhile, the most important race will not have a primary but desperately needs attention, donations, and effort. The race for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice will determine whether or not the state retains its current progressive majority. Judge Susan Crawford is running against Republican Brad Schimel. This is something you can do right now, today that will make a huge difference going forward.

For questions about your voting registration, what's on your ballot, how and where to vote, and much more, visit https://myvote.wi.gov. 

From City of La Crosse:

Notice to City of La Crosse Residents

Absentee ballots for the February 18^th Spring Primary Election have been mailed to electors who have a request on file. If you requested an absentee ballot, please watch for it in your mail and PLEASE READ the instructions and methods for returning your voted ballot.  Remember to sign the absentee certificate envelope and have a witness sign, print their name, and provide their full residential address.

If you wish to receive an absentee ballot by mail for the upcoming election, you can submit your request at myvote.wi.gov.  The deadline to request a ballot by mail is Thursday, February 13^th.

In-person absentee voting will open on Tuesday, February 4^th and closes on Friday, February 14^th.  Dates, times, and locations for in-person absentee will be posted HERE.

To look up your voter registration, find your polling place, track your absentee ballot and more, visit myvote.wi.gov or contact the City Clerk’s Office.

Can the Constitution Keep Pace?

 

Through the apparatus of the American legal system, the Constitution was designed to be able to change while preserving the promise of justice, equality, and liberty for all. But how can the courts work for change now, as well as over the longer term, to shape a Constitution that is in sync with an ever-evolving nation? A panel of expert legal thinkers explore groundbreaking ideas and arguments designed to address the changing Constitution in contemporary America.

LIVE STREAM 5:30 p.m. (must regi$ter)

David Cole is the Hon. George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy at Georgetown University Law Center, legal affairs correspondent for The Nation, and former National Legal Director of the ACLU. Elie Mystal is the justice correspondent for The Nation and the host of its legal podcast, Contempt of Court. Katrina vanden Heuvel (moderator) is editorial director and publisher of The Nation and a frequent media commentator.

Protect Voting Rights - Vote NO on SAVE

 From ACLU:

The SAVE Act, H.R.8281, is a direct attack on voting rights, and we must stop it from passing.

This bill would create unnecessary new barriers by forcing voters to show documentary proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, just to register to vote and will require faulty voter roll purges that will lead to eligible voters being disenfranchised. It's a bill based on lies about widespread voter fraud and it threatens to block millions of eligible Americans from voting who lack easy access to these records due to financial or systemic barriers.

Fill out this form to email your Representative and urge them to VOTE NO on the SAVE Act—take action today to protect our democracy and our rights!

If passed, the SAVE Act would: 

• Create Barriers for Millions of Voters: Over 21 million Americans lack easy access to the documents this law would require for voter registration.
• Target Marginalized Communities: Voters of color, naturalized citizens, young and older voters, and individuals with low incomes would face the biggest hurdles.
• Increase Erroneous Voter Roll Purges: More frequent and erroneous purges of registered voters, even in some cases voters who have been registered and voted for years.
• Impede Election Administration: This bill imposes significant burdens and costs on state and local election officials—who are already vastly underfunded and understaffed—and imposes criminal and civil liability to their everyday activities.
• Repeat Past Failures: Kansas implemented a similar law over a decade ago that disenfranchised over 35,000 eligible voters before courts struck it down as unconstitutional.

The SAVE Act isn't about safeguarding elections. It's about silencing voters, and we need you to tell Congress to vote NO on this bill. Congress should be expanding our voting rights, not rolling them back.

Learn more: https://act.aclu.org/a/save-act

###

From ProtectDemocracy.org - Seven tactics that unite authoritarian leaders:

"CORRUPTING ELECTIONS: The biggest innovation of 21st-century authoritarians has been to maintain the facade of democratic elections while at the same time tilting the rules against their opponents. They do this by suppressing votes and biasing, distorting, falsifying, or even overturning the results — either through capturing the referees (e.g. installing loyalists as election officials, putting pressure on otherwise independent officials, etc.) or by manipulating the electoral rules in their favor."

Black Excellence

From Hope Restores and Black Student Leaders

5th Annual 

Black Excellence Celebration

Saturday, February 22 · 6:30 - 10:30 p.m.

Cappella Performing Arts Center

721 King Street, La Crosse

Join us for the 5th Annual Black Excellence Celebration! This event is all about celebrating and honoring the Black community's achievements. We are excited to come together in person to recognize the incredible individuals who have made a significant impact in various fields. The celebration will feature inspiring speeches, live performances, and opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals. Don't miss out on this incredible evening filled with pride, diversity, and empowerment! Hurry and get your tickets to secure your spot at this memorable event!

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/5th-annual-black-excellence-celebration-tickets-1138539876419

Oppose

 

Contact your senators and urge them to oppose Pete Hegseth's nomination to lead the Defense Department. Trump's pick would undermine our national security. https://app.sosha.ai/s/G4Ufy2RR

Is Trump trying to kill us?

Last fall, NJ.com posted an article called "Is Trump Trying to Kill Us? Authoritarian Expert Says Yes. Here's How." Read it. It begins, "There are five key areas that authoritarians want to control when they attempt to decapitate a democratic state, authoritarian expert and author Timothy Snyder writes: health, law, administration, defense and intelligence."

And so it begins. As part of its mission to destroy the country, the Trump administration has ordered key federal health agencies to pause all external communications, including communications about research, and  funding, meetings, travel, and hiring. 

While temporary pauses are apparently common when administrations change, the breadth and lack of information about this freeze is unusual. This Science Magazine article describes the devastating effects this is having on research and planning. "The moves have generated extensive confusion and uncertainty at the nation’s largest research agency, which has become a target for Trump’s political allies. 'The impact of the collective executive orders and directives appears devastating,' one senior National Instotutes of Health employee says."

Many universities, hospitals, patients, and medical trials will also be impacted. "Another consequence of the communications pause, according to an NIH staffer involved with clinical trials at NIH's Clinical Center, is that agency staff cannot meet with patient groups or release newsletters or other information to recruit patients into trials. Another unknown is whether NIH researchers will still be allowed to submit papers to peer-reviewed journals."

Use this tool to see how the freeze will affect our state and contact our representatives and senators to highlight the dollars that will be lost, not to mention the scientists and research, if things don't change immediately. Do they care? Does it matter?

Baldwin: (608) 796-0045

DVO: (202) 225-5506

Johnson: (202) 224-5323

New: Scientists at NIH can’t purchase supplies for their studies after Trump administration pauses outside communications from CNN

And, if that's not enough, other scientists are being instructed to turn in "secret DEI" colleagues. "In a new message distributed on Wednesday, government employees were warned they would face 'adverse consequences' if they failed to promptly report any hidden DEI programs. 'We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language,' said the memo, which set a 10-day deadline for information."

7. They will propose shocking laws to provoke your outrage. 

Know Your Rights

 

The ACLU says, "Regardless of your immigration status, you have guaranteed rights under the Constitution. Learn more here about your rights as an immigrant, and how to express them." Learn more at https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/immigrants-rights  (If you are not a member of/contributor to the ACLU, consider it.)

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has produced a three-page pocket guide and distributed it in her district. We will probably not get one from our US Representative. Please share.

Teen Vogue has another great idea. Neighborhood ICE Watch groups.

This is from progressive vets association, Sons of Liberty, referencing the National Immigrant Justice Center:

Contribute to good causes

15. Contribute to good causes. Be active in organizations, political or not, that express your own view of life. Pick a charity or two and set up autopay. Then you will have made a free choice that supports civil society and helps others to do good. - Timothy Snyder, 20 Lessons on Tyranny from the 20th Century

On Thursday, January 23, the Wisconsin Chapter Sierra Club will hold a virtual volunteer training session, the first of the new year and the new era.

As the war on our environment and our climate future ramps up, working with an established, proven organization is a way to resist and connect. From pushing back against Line 5 and new fossil fuel development to organizing for better transportation and renewable energy, to defending wolves, rivers, and vulnerable habitats, there's lots of work to be done.

Join the Virtual Volunteer Fair Thursday, January 23 at 6:30 p.m. 

Preparing for climate migration

Executive orders or not, people are going to have to move because of global heating. Where will they go? Some studies highlight our area, along with regions in the western plains states, parts of Appalachia, and areas in the northeast as potential "climate receivers." 

As environmental conditions worsen, the mass migration trend will accelerate. In the coming decades, the United States will be increasingly affected by sea level rise, hurricanes, extreme heat, wildfires and freshwater shortages, among other hazards. Millions of Americans will respond by moving. How to prepare for and respond to the challenges of climate change will be a primary governance question for the years to come.  

On January 22 at 9 a.m. Central, join Governance Studies at Brookings for a conversation on domestic climate migration in the United States. Experts will explore questions including: How are U.S. communities are vulnerable to climate change?  What steps are being taken at a federal, state and local level to prepare localities to adapt to climate risks and to welcome new residents displaced by climate disasters? Can preparations for the upheaval of climate change be structured to help address longstanding inequities of wealth, health and opportunity? 

Viewers can submit questions for speakers by emailing events@brookings.edu or via Twitter at @BrookingsGov by using #USClimateMigration. 

Getting through together

From Rebecca Solnit:

Monday morning we are entering a new chapter in this country's history and we are entering it together, with our friends and principles held close and our eyes wide open at 11 a.m. Central time.

I saw how people crashed the night of the election and I'm here to forestall that if I and we can. To enter this era in strength and in solidarity. We'll talk about MLK, democracy, climate, love, action going forward

Come to the livestreamed event instead of doom-watching that inauguration thing, and besides which it's Martin Luther King Day, and we have a lot to say about him and beloved community.

https://www.youtube.com/@Rebecca.Solnit and https://www.facebook.com/events/799613369024488

King Day Events

In addition to the evening community program on Monday, Viterbo is hosting afternoon sessions open to the public

The division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion invites you to join us on Monday, January 20, 2025, for our Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, Learning, and Celebration.

Afternoon Learning Sessions

Location: Fine Arts Center, FSPA Lobby, Viterbo University,

1:00 p.m. – We Are Still Here: A Story of Resistance to Colonization in the City We Now Call La Crosse
Speaker: Dr. Ariel Beaujot, Professor of History, UW-La Crosse
This presentation will explore the history of the Ho-Chunk Nation and their continued resistance to colonization in the region.

2:00 p.m. – Black Indigenous People: A Historical and Contemporary Perspective
Speaker: Shaundel Washington-Spivey, Executive Director and Co-Founder, BLACK Inc.
This session will provide insights into the history and lived experiences of Black Indigenous people in La Crosse and across the nation.

5:30-6:30 p.m. -  Refreshments and nonprofit community organization tabling  

Location: Viterbo Fine Arts Auditorium & Lobby

Evening Lecture – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration

Location: Viterbo University Fine Arts Center, Main Theatre

Time: 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.)

Saturday in Madison - Peoples March

Free Every Body! Every Body Free!

January 18 at 1 p.m.

James Madison Park,  Madison

Unite and Fight for Our Rights!

On January 18th, and throughout Inauguration Weekend, hundreds of everyday people will gather in Madison, and across the nation, to demand a future that centers the needs of the people over the interests of the wealthy elite.

Together, we’ll defend our freedoms against relentless attacks on our communities. We choose solidarity, safety, and each other.​

WE SUPPORT:

* Women’s Rights
* Workers’ Rights
* Abortion Rights
* Trans Rights
* Immigrant Rights
* Global Solidarity (Palestine, Lebanon, Congo, Sudan)
* Environmental Justice
* Housing Justice

WE DEMAND:

* No Genocide, No Deportation, No Abortion Ban
* Housing, Healthcare, Union Jobs for All
* Democracy for All, People Over Profit, Workers Party Now
* End Act 10

Program Schedule (Subject to Change)

12 noon   Set up. James Madison Park.
1:00 p.m. Rally start
1:30          March start
2:30          March end at State Capitol.
2:30          Rally start
3:30          Rally end

Learn more, including how to volunteer, rides available, and more at https://action.womensmarch.com/events/people-s-march-forward 

Monday - Honor Dr. King

  

On January 20 at 7 p.m. Viterbo University will host the Community Celebration in its Fine Arts Center and on its Facebook page. The guest speaker will be Lerone A. Martin, Centennial Chair, Director, Professor Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. This year's MLK Junior Award recipients will also speak. The event is free and everyone is welcome. Learn more at https://www.viterbo.edu/social-justice-and-equity/mlk-day-service-learning-and-celebration

"Power, properly understood, is the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political, or economic changes. In this sense power is not only desirable but necessary in order to implement the demands of love and justice. One of the greatest problems of history is that the concepts of love and power are usually contrasted as polar opposites. Love is identified with a resignation of power and power with a denial of love. What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love."

Last chance to stop the camps

From Alex Karakatsanis, author, civil rights lawyer: 

It's important for all people of good will to understand the Laken Riley Act before the Senate votes on it. It’s unconstitutional. It’s horrific in every word and clause. But there is a deeper, more imminent violence lurking beneath its hate-filled text.

First the background. The Laken Riley Act is unprecedented in modern U.S. history. It requires federal DHS bureaucracy to build billions in new infrastructure to cage any undocumented person *even accused* of petty theft, shoplifting, or several other property crimes.

A key aspect of the law is people are rounded up and put into mass caging facilities (built and usually run for profit) for a mere *accusation.* A person (even a child) need not be convicted, and they are taken from their families and jobs and churches and schools immediately.

The fact that prominent Democrats are joining in the depraved, uninformed, and ignorant chorus to pass this law should be a warning to people of good will. We are becoming an even meaner, more misguided society. There's time to shift course, and to stand up for fellow humans.

Read more at https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1879195865820364830.html

New update:

Update from Karakatsanis:  Senators have rejected amendments to protect children and pregnant women and to restrict to convictions. Instead, almost 20 Dems voted to *expand* the law, including misdemeanor APO. This means any cop in the US could get someone indefinitely detained in the new camps.

###

As this Bulwark article explains, the fear is the point.

###

Contact Tammy Baldwin  who voted YEA on the motion to proceed last week. Use this ACLU letter for talking points if you need them. Her La Crosse number: 608-796-0045.

[To their shame, many Democrats are supporting this bill with 48 House Dems voting yea earlier this month and only 9 Dems plus Bernie voting NO on the motion to proceed.] 

Local Black History Book Release

Celebrate the release of the first children's book highlighting the history of George Edwin Taylor, a La Crosse Black historical figure.  The book is an expansion of the Enduring Families Project, an initiative that provides living and video theatrical portrayals of local Black historical figures, into Enduring Family Project: Children's Stories.  

Show up to honor, support, and celebrate Black families and Black history in La Crosse!

Book Release Celebration

Date: 1/25/2025

Time: 1 to 4 p.m.

Location: La Crosse Area Heritage Center (506 Main St)

RSVP: 608-782-1980 or admin@lchshistory.org

Housing Study Public Forum

 

The City of La Crosse and consultant MSA are facilitating a second public forum to share progress on the 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing -- both components of continued federal housing finding.

Thursday, January 23

5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

Black River Beach Center

The event will include:   

• Summaries of public engagement to date
• Interactive stations to provide feedback on drafted elements
• Additional information about the project

Members of the planning team will be in attendance to answer questions and collect input.

Learn more at https://www.cityoflacrosse.org/Home/Components/News/News/2214/

The Black River Beach Center is sort of reachable on the #6 bus (Sill & Caledonia), though if you need to go back downtown and stay to the end, you will need to wait almost 1/2 hour for the next bus because service switches to hourly at around 6.

Community Trail Farm

From Coulee Region Sierra Club:

JANUARY 14 at 6:45 p.m. COMMUNITY TRAIL FARM with Josh Hein, Outdoor Recreation Alliance. ONLINE.     The Outdoor Recreation Alliance, or ORA Trails, in La Crosse, has taken on its biggest project yet.  With the purchase of a 277 acre old farm just minutes from downtown, ORA is creating a space that is truly for everyone. Plans include building 15 miles of trails, restoring various prairies and savanna, removing invasive species, enhancing wetlands, and improving trout habitat and stream ecology. ORA is also teaming up with schools, universities, municipalities, and other organizations to establish education and community programs and events that celebrate all the space has to offer.

We will hear from Josh Hein, ORA’s Trail Farm Project Administrator, about the organization and the project, with time for your questions following his talk. 

Register for this online program at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/HWlLbYKyQ023yg3-ZdoA6Q and, after registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. If you would like to join the meeting by dialing in on your phone, please call 608-315-2693 or email CRSierraClub@gmail.com to sign up. 

You can learn more about the Community Trail Farm at oratrails.org/trail-farm. 

help

 

NBC News in Los Angeles has compiled a good list of agencies and organizations accepting donations for firefighters, victims of fire, humane societies, food and supplies distribution, and more.

More here: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/how-to-help-those-affected-by-the-wildfires/3598176/

Green jobs in La Crosse

From Green Homeowners United:

We are excited to share two new positions we at Green Homeowners United will be starting for residential energy assessor/apprentices, based in La Crosse! Please share with anyone who might be interested, or if you have any recommendations of where to best post it, we'd appreciate it

This is an exciting opportunity, as we bring the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act residential rebates to the Coulee Region! These assessors, supported from our main office in West Allis, will directly unlock thousands of dollars for low- and middle-income residents to install insulation, electrical upgrades, and heat pumps in La Crosse, and eventually the surrounding areas. These positions will be the precursor to Green Homeowners United launching a full unionized climate team of insulators and energy efficiency professionals to the area later in 2025, further helping residents use the IRA benefits.

We would love to speak with you about this work, but our first step will be to find two promising candidates who want to make a career learning energy assessments and home energy improvements. Thank you in advance for your input and sharing!

Contact Kevin Kane at kevin@greenhomeownersunited.com

Call your senator

We may have to make a separate page of all the actions that are going to be recommended until we learn whether this will be an unusually awful presidential term with a weak and clueless opposition where calling representatives might make a difference or the beginning of the supranational autocracy that couldn't care less what people want.

The new alert concerns the "Laken Riley Act," already passed by the U.S. House of Representatives (with 48 obliging Democrats). According to Leah Greenburg, co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible, "This is a bill designed to 1) hand Trump massive new powers to terrorize communities with ZERO oversight and 2) give extremist right-wing judges the power to set policy for all of us. Let your Senator know that you oppose it and that you're watching how they vote."

Alas, a new batch of Manchin Dems, including some who were supposed to be the good ones, seem ready to continue helping Republicans remake the country. 

For more information about the bill, check out this article by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. 

The bill, already passed in the House, would hand state attorneys general, like Ken Paxton in Texas, veto power over large swaths of federal immigration policy.

Under a provision of the bill that has gotten little attention, federal courts in places like Texas and Louisiana could hear lawsuits seeking to impose sweeping bans on all visas from countries such as India and China.

Call Senator Baldwin - 608-796-0045 (La Crosse office). And call Ron Johnson, too - 608-240-9629 (Madison office).

Steamroller

From the ACLU of Wisconsin:

This morning, the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety held a public hearing and executive session and passed SJR-2, a joint resolution that proposes to enshrine specific voter ID requirements in the state constitution.

This committee hearing was publicly posted Monday evening without the required 24-hour notice.

This proposed referendum would make it more difficult for eligible voters to cast their ballot, particularly voters with disabilities, students, first-time voters, low-income and unhoused voters, and Native, Black, and Latino voters. Wisconsin already has some of the strictest voter ID laws in the country.

If legislators pass this resolution for a second time, voters could see more referendum questions on the April 1, 2025 ballot.

The full Senate plans to vote on SJR-2 during a rushed floor session tomorrow. The Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections has also scheduled a public hearing on the Assembly version of the bill (AJR-1) for tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. in Room 300 Northeast at the State Capitol. The full Assembly intends to vote on the legislation during a floor session next week.

We submitted testimony against the measure, but we need your help.

Your voice can impact the outcome of these votes. The margins are razor-thin, and you can be the difference. It is critical that everyone in the state has accessible voting.

Tell your Senator and Representative to vote no on SJR-2/AJR-1.

Step 1: Find your legislators' number and email.

Step 2: Call or email your Senator and Representative and tell them to "vote no" on SJR-2/AJR-1