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Date: 3/24/2021
Subject: March 24 News Update
From: LWV of La Crosse



March 24, 2021 News Update


Upcoming League Events...
the who, what, where, when, and how to attend LWVLA events 

Speaking of Democracy
Join the Conversation
LWVLA Book Club

Monday, March 29
6:30 - 8:00 pm

ALL ARE WELCOME!

 
The Politics Industry:
How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy
by Katherine M. Gehl and Michael Porter
In "The Politics Industry," Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter take a radical new approach. They ingeniously apply the tools of business analysis-and Porter's distinctive Five Forces framework-to show how the political system functions just as every other competitive industry does, and how the duopoly has led to the devastating outcomes we see today. Using this competition lens, Gehl and Porter identify the most powerful lever for change-a strategy comprised of a clear set of choices in two key areas: how our elections work and how we make our laws.
Book Club is meeting virtually. Click below to register on website. Check on the website calendar for information about the April Book Club.
 
 
 
Note: Katherine Gehl will be appearing in a virtual webinar
co-sponsored by our League on April 14.
See below.
 


April Lunch & Learn
Tuesday, April 13
11:30 AM - 1 PM

 
Earth Day Recognition: Air, Land, and Water  
 

WI Green Fire leaders Nancy Turyk, Tom Bernthal, and John Robinson will present emerging issues as they relate to climate change, threats to wetlands and other lands and waters of southwestern WI, and more in-depth information on PFAS, a current hot topic in the La Crosse area.

 

Wisconsin Green Fire is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the conservation legacy of Wisconsin by promoting science-based management of Wisconsin's natural resources.

 
Members of the public are invited to this free virtual event.
The registration link is pending; check the calendar entry on our website soon.
 
 


April 14, 2021
12:00 PM
 
Katherine Gehl is the co-founder of Democracy Found, a Wisconsin-based nonpartisan organization advocating for Final Five Voting, and the co-author of The Politics Industry. She will participate in a virtual conversation with Rusty Cunningham, former Executive Editor of the La Crosse Tribune, about Final Five Voting as a possible solution for repairing our divisive, dysfunctional politics.
 
This event is being sponsored by Democracy Found, the Great Rivers United Way, the La Crosse Tribune, LeaderEthics-Wisconsin, and the League of Women Voters of the La Crosse Area.
 
More information and a link for registration are included on the event page on our website. Also read the La Crosse Tribune's endorsement for Final Five Voting.
 
 
 
 

2021 Candidate Forums

 ...links to calendar and recordings of past forums
 
School Board Candidate Forum
School District of West Salem

sponsored by the LWVLA
 
March 24
6:30 - 7:30

Candidates
 
Kyle Boland      Robin Fitzgerald      Thomas Helgeson      Chris Peterson   
                                                                               
You are invited to submit possible questions.
Please send them by noon on March 22

to lwvlawi@gmail.com.

A One-Stop Source for Candidate Forums
Information Updated from Last Week

Check our calendar for details and links to upcoming events with local and state candidates.  And click on the "Candidate Forum" button toward the top of our homepage to access recorded events.
 
Currently we have links on our website calendar to upcoming candidate events:
  • 3/24: LWVLA West Salem School Board Forum
  • 3/25 UW-La Crosse Mayoral Debate
      ---and links to recordings of the following events ("Candidate Forums" button at the top of the homepage)
  • The La Crosse Independent & La Crosse Local La Crosse School Board Candidate Forum
  • The La Crosse Independent & La Crosse Local City of La Crosse Virtual Mayoral Debate
  • Virtual LGBTQ Mayoral Town Hall Live
  • Closing the Gaps: A Conversation with State Superintendent Candidates
  • WI Retired Educators Q&A with State Superintendent Candidates
  • WLSU Newsmakers Interview with La Crosse Mayoral Candidates 
  • UU Mayoral Debate
  • WKBT La Crosse Mayoral Debate
  • LWVLA La Crosse School Board Candidate Forum
  • LWVLA Mayoral Candidate Forum for the City of La Crosse
  • Weigent Hogan City Council Candidates for Districts 8 & 9
  • Powell Poage Hamilton Neighborhood Meet the Candidates for Mayor, Council Districts 8, 9, & 11
 
 

2021 Spring Election

  Vote for Your City. Vote for Your Schools.
 
Early Voting
(In-Person Absentee)
 began on March 23.
 
Check with your municipal clerk for locations and times.
 
If you are voting by mail, request your ballot and mail it in soon!
  
 
 
Take Action...
let your voice heard by elected officials and policy makers
Help Phone Bank for Fair Maps
 
The Ashland County Voter Services group has connected with several activists working on ending gerrymandering. Volunteers working on a nonpartisan redistricting referendum in Polk County are asking for individuals who might be willing to do some phone banking.

Phone bank shifts will be 2.5 hours long, 1 Tuesday evening and 2 Saturday mornings. For each phone bank, organizers will gather on Zoom to give folks a simple script, time to practice the script, support with calling, and debrief time at the end.

Please consider, and respond quickly by filling out the Google form (link below) for one of three possible shifts.


~Diane Koosed
LWV of Ashland and Bayfield Counties
 


infrastructure hearings
On April 1, between 3 and 5 pm, you will have the opportunity to learn about the condition of our state's infrastructure, and why this is a good time to invest in its improvement.
 
Infrastructure makes up many aspects of our daily lives we often take for granted such as water, waste disposal, energy, roads, bridges and transit. Most are in need of upgrade, repair or replacement, and now is the time to do it.
 
LWVWI and ASCE-WI are collaborating on this project to educate Wisconsin residents about ASCE's 2020 Infrastructure report card.  The four webinars will all include the 30-minute presentations by Carl Sutter and William Holahan. Carl Sutter, P.E., is the society director for the ASCE-WI and will provide an overview of the Infrastructure Report Card. William Holahan, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, will make a compelling case for why “now” is the right time to invest in sustainable infrastructure in Wisconsin.

Following the presentations will be a live Q&A session between the presenters and local stakeholders to allow for quadrant specific discussions. After this series of introductory sessions across the state, LWVWI will host webinars on select infrastructure categories to serve as springboards for local advocacy for increased investment in sustainable infrastructure.
 
La Crosse is in the Northwest Quadrant. Our meeting will be on April 1, from 3 - 5 PM.
 
 
 

For Your Consideration...
local events, virtual events, viewing and reading suggestions that reflect the League's mission and priorities. Please send us your recommendations.
Holocaust Lecture with Eva Schloss
Wednesday, March 24, noon–1:30 p.m.
 
Viterbo University and the D.B. Reinhart Institute cordially invite the public to participate in the free Holocaust Lecture with Eva Schloss, Holocaust survivor, by watching live on Facebook.
 
In 1938, Germany invaded Austria, causing many Jewish families to flee. Among the emigrants was eight-year-old Eva Geiringer, who with her mother, father, and brother moved first to Belgium and then to Holland, where one of her neighbors was a German Jewish girl of the same age. The two girls became friends and playmates. Ultimately, both girls and their families were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Later they would become stepsisters.

Schloss survived her concentration camp experience and made her way to England, where she married Zvi Schloss and raised three daughters. Her stepsister did not survive Auschwitz, but kept a diary that did. Her name was Anne Frank.

Since 1985, Schloss has devoted herself to Holocaust education and global peace. She has recounted her wartime experiences in more than one thousand speaking engagements. She has written three books and has had a play written about her life.


Join American Experience for a exclusive preview screening and discussion of the new documentary "The Blinding of Isaac Woodard," on March 29 at 5 PM. 
 
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is pleased to present a preview screening and discussion of the upcoming film,The Blinding of Isaac Woodard. The event will feature an extended clip from the film and a panel discussion with film participants. The event will be streamed live on OVEE, a shared-viewing platform from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
 

About the film: In 1946, Isaac Woodard, a Black army sergeant on his way home to South Carolina after serving in WWII, was pulled from a bus for arguing with the driver. The local chief of police savagely beat him, leaving him unconscious and permanently blind. The shocking incident made national headlines and, when the police chief was acquitted by an all-white jury, the blatant injustice would change the course of American history.

Based on Richard Gergel’s book Unexampled Courage, the film details how the crime led to the racial awakening of President Harry Truman, who desegregated federal offices and the military two years later. The event also ultimately set the stage for the Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, which finally outlawed segregation in public schools and jumpstarted the modern civil rights movement.

The Blinding of Isaac Woodard premieres on March 30 at 9/8c on PBS.



Help us defend democracy and empower voters.

Contact Us:
website: lwvlacrosse.org
email: lwvlawi@gmail.com
PO Box 363
La Crosse, WI 54602