Coulee Progressives

Thursday, April 02, 2026

Help wanted

This year, the Hmong Education Project will be at Lincoln Middle School starting with a COMMUNITY NIGHT, open to all, on Friday, April 24 from 4 to 6 p.m. with food, music, demonstrations, and tours of the project. This annual event helps students and community members understand Hmong history and culture.

La Crosse students will visit the project from April 27 through May 1, with two sessions daily - 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

VOLUNTEERS can help during the student visits as teachers (some training required) or as general helpers who will help with simple tasks that don't require training.

This is a great chance to expand and strengthen our caring community.

To volunteer for either role, please contact Tony Yang, Cultural and Family Connection Program Coordinator, School District of La Crosse. HEP Director. Phone: (608) 789-5879 Cell: (608) 386-4438 Email: nyang@lacrossesd.org

Monday, March 30, 2026

Wednesday - get political

AFSCME Members to Hold La Crosse Accountability Action at 4 p.m. on April 1 near La Crosse Human Services, 300 4th St. N.
(Corner of 4^th and Vine Streets)

Call on Rep. Derrick Van Orden to Stand with Working People

AFSCME members and community allies will gather outside La Crosse Human Services on Wednesday, April 1, to call on Rep. Derrick Van Orden to stop backing policies that make life harder for working people and put vital public services at risk.

Working families across western Wisconsin are already stretched thin by the rising cost of health care, groceries, child care and other essentials. AFSCME members say proposals that cut public services and weaken the support families rely on only deepen the strain, all while the wealthy and well connected keep getting more.

Folks, including passersby, will be invited to write what has gotten too expensive for them on signs.

AND

Join Citizen Action Wisconsin for an online program about DATA CENTERS at 6 p.m.

MUST REGISTER FOR LINK!

Join community members from across Wisconsin for a virtual town hall on data centers, artificial intelligence (AI), and rising utility bills.

Large technology companies want to build massive data centers in Wisconsin to power artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing. These facilities use huge amounts of electricity and water, sometimes as much power as a small city. To supply that demand, utilities are proposing new power plants and expensive grid upgrades. If there are no protections in place, families and small businesses could end up paying for this through higher utility bills.

Data centers can also increase pollution, strain local water supplies, and slow progress on climate goals, creating risks for our health, our environment, and our communities.

State Representatives will join this conversation to hear directly from residents about concerns related to electricity costs, water use, transparency, and community impacts.

Read more and register at https://secure.ngpvan.com/_H8eYZAOWUypCTOwMsQo8g2#!

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

Stop the Cave!

From Indivisible:

Thirty-nine days into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, Republicans are in their weakest position. There’s mayhem at airports across the country and voters are rightfully putting the blame on them. After all, they’re in charge of everything -- and all of this could have been avoided if they’d agreed to basic restrictions on ICE and Border Patrol.

Under immense pressure, they were ready to strike a deal to separate out and approve TSA funding (as Dems have tried to do for weeks) and get airport security agents back to work. Trump reportedly killed the deal -- and then added to the political (and safety) nightmare by putting ICE in airports.

This is the moment for Democrats to press their advantage and demand Republicans break with a flailing president whose approval rating is plummeting to near-January 6 levels. They have the moral and political highground to push forward a deal to rein in ICE and Border Patrol -- or at least force through TSA funding while those negotiations continue.

Instead, right now, there’s a chance Democrats could fully cave and back a new "deal" struck by Trump and Republican senators to fund Border Patrol and some ICE operations -- potentially without any reforms.

We need to flood Democratic phonelines today to demand they do not accept any deal that gives ICE and Border Patrol more money to terrorize our communities, or fails to implement serious reforms.

CALL YOUR DEM SENATOR

We do not know all the details of the deal yet. But knowing it includes more funding for Border Patrol and ICE -- which already has the budget of a national army -- is enough to confidently reject it out of hand.

If this deal goes through, it will be a historic capitulation by the Democratic caucus that will allow ICE and Border Patrol's lawless brutality to continue. Any senator who votes for such a deal will be as responsible as Trump and Stephen Miller for the terror, violence, and death unleashed by those masked thugs using our taxpayer dollars.

As of writing, we have not seen any Dems pledge to support the proposal, but some Democrats have already voiced cautious support. We need to nip that in the bud immediately.

There’s no time to waste. Call your Democratic Members of Congress now and tell them to reject this deal.