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Date: 4/6/2021
Subject: April 6, 2021 News Update
From: LWV of La Crosse



April 6, 2021 News Update


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

Nancy Turyk is Chair of Wisconsin Green Fire's Climate Change Workgroup. She is an Emerita Water Resources Scientist at UW Stevens Point and has contributed to local, state and federal climate change education and policy for over 15 years. Currently, she is part of the Extension Climate Change Leadership Team and is contributing to the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts water working group. Her Bachelor and Masters of Science Degrees from UW Stevens Point focused on water resources and natural resources management.
Tom Bernthal retired from the WI DNR as the Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Coordinator in 2019. Since then, he has worked on wetland conservation projects with the Friends of Pheasant Branch Conservancy and the Prairie Enthusiasts, and wetland assessment tools with The Nature Conservancy. He is an active participant in Wisconsin Green Fire's Public Trust and Wetlands Work Group. He is currently focusing on federal jurisdictional implications of the definition of "waters of the United States" in the 2020 National Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) implementing the Clean Water Act.
John Robinson has been involved in setting public policy for over 40 years, serving on the Wausau City Council (1974 - 1980), Marathon County Board (1974 - 1980; 2006 - present), a member of the State Assembly (1981 - 1988), Mayor of Wausau (1988 - 1992), as a consultant (1992 - 2000) and as the Northern Team Supervisor in the Remediation and Redevelopment program of the WI DNR (2000-2017). He is a active member of Wisconsin's Green Fire working on public lands and PFAS related issues.
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.
 
 


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.
 
 
 
 


Speaking of Democracy
Join the Conversation
LWVLA Book Club

Monday, April 26
6:30 - 8:00 pm

ALL ARE WELCOME!

 
Culture Warlords:
My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy
by Talia Levin
Talia Lavin is every skinhead’s worst nightmare: a loud and unapologetic Jewish woman, acerbic, smart, and profoundly antiracist, with the investigative chops to expose the tactics and ideologies of online hatemongers. Culture Warlords is the story of how Lavin, a frequent target of extremist trolls (including those at Fox News), dove into a byzantine online culture of hate and learned the intricacies of how white supremacy proliferates online.
Book Club is meeting virtually. Click below to register on website.
 
  
 

Today, April 6, Is Election Day!

Polls Are Open from 7 AM to 8 PM.
 
  Vote for Your City. Vote for Your Schools.
 
Important Things Voters Should Know
 
1. Polling places are prepared for the pandemic with sanitizer and distancing; wear face covering (not required but recommended).
2. Absentee ballots can be brought to your polling place by 8 pm on Apr 6.
3. Find your polling place at myvote.wi.gov. Polls open at 7 am and close at 8 pm on Apr 6th.
4. Check your voter registration at myvote.wi.org. If you have moved, you can update your registration at the polls. Bring proof of residence with you.
4. You need a photo ID to vote, but it does not need to show your current address or have a star on it.
5. If you are incapacitated, immunocompromised, or have COVID symptoms, curbside voting is available. Stay in your car and call the La Crosse City Clerk (608-789-7510 press 5) or your municipal clerk's office upon your arrival.
6. Find information about the candidates on your ballot at VOTE411.org. Enter your address to see your ballot.
7. If you are having problems voting, call our Voter Helpline: 608-285-2141.

LWVLACROSSE.ORG:
Your One-Stop Source for Candidate Forums
    
Get Involved...
opportunities to volunteer or to join one of our teams--
help us defend democracy and empower voters.  
 
 Help Wanted:
  • League members (or anyone committed to Fair Maps) living in the Coulee Region to learn the DistrictR software program.
  • League members to organize and facilitate community conversations to draw communities of interest maps. 
2021 is the redistricting year! This is the year that Wisconsin must fix the gerrymandered Wisconsin Assembly and Senate district maps, along with U.S. Congressional districts.

As part of the People’s Maps Commission’s (PMC) work, Wisconsinites will have an opportunity to create maps that represent our communities. Public hearings have been completed. Now the PMC is beginning to gather maps from Wisconsinites. While they wait to get data from the Census Bureau at the end of September 2021, they are engaging volunteers all around the state in drawing community maps that can be used to create draft electoral districts.

Community maps are created by community members -- without any specific rules regarding how those communities must be drawn in terms of population numbers, county splits, and so forth. The idea is simply to have communities tell their own stories, and draw lines around the area that they consider their community, where they share values, culture, traditions, concerns, and lifestyles. Let our voices be heard through Fair Maps.
If you are interested or can recommend volunteers who would enjoy drawing maps, send a note to
lwvlawi@gmail.com with "Fair Maps drawing" in the subject line.

For Your Consideration...
local events, virtual events, viewing and reading suggestions that reflect the League's mission and priorities. Please send us your recommendations.
April is Hmong Heritage Month and, more broadly, Asian Pacific Islander and Desi (South Asian) American Heritage Month. The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin encourages League members and friends of the League to attend Hmong heritage celebrations scheduled in many Wisconsin communities throughout April.


March to Victory
Relay Across America: La Crosse Presente
April 13
11 AM at the Cass Street bridge
12 PM at Riverside Park
 
Voces de la Frontera Action, in partnership with the national We Are Home campaign, is hosting the Wisconsin portion of the caravan from April 11 to May 1 to demand that Wisconsin’s members of Congress and the Biden administration: Stop Deportations, Provide COVID Recovery for All, and Provide Citizenship for all.
 
 


April 22
11:30-1 pm
Virtual
Part I: Building Effective Hate-Bias Response Efforts and Processes
Creating an Inclusive Workplace Culture
Amanda Florence Goodenough
2021 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award Recipient
 
Amanda currently serves as a Team Lead for Social Responsibility Speaks™, LLC, a womxn-owned and BIPOC-centered consulting agency, whose mission is to create a culture of belonging and mattering through a focus on equity, inclusion, and justice.
Previously, Amanda served as the Director of the Research & Resource Center for Campus Climate at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. For 15+ years, Amanda facilitated workshops, programming, and assessment, provided leadership for the award-winning Awareness through Performance, and guided the institution's Hate Response Team. During her tenure, Amanda co-founded RISE UP (Racial & Intersecting Identity Symposium for Equitable University Progress) and the nationally-growing Hate/Bias Response Symposium.


Her Flag
Collaborative Art Project Video
Celebrates Women’s Suffrage History
 
 
Click below and enter the password “vote” to watch the 30 minute video in praise of the women who stood strong against great odds in their fight for voting rights. The film weaves the personal journey of an inspired artist with the historical realities of an imperfect but successful suffrage movement.
 
 

Help us defend democracy and empower voters.


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