Before contacting the La Crosse office, check here for our latest updates:
Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?, LIVE in La Crosse, June 8!! Michael and the gang will host their weekly national broadcast from the Viterbo Fine Arts Center, and you can be part of the audience. For details, scroll down to "Upcoming Events" (below).
WPR's Newsmakers, the La Crosse News Bureau's weekly regional talk show, explores topics and issues of interest to our tri-state listeners in western Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, and northeastern Iowa. For details, scroll down to "Regional Programs" (below).
NEW!! WPR's award-winning Newsmakers receives two Wisconsin Broadcasters Association awards! Scroll down to "Special Announcements" to learn more.
JAZZ, BLUES AND MORE ADD PIZAZZ TO YOUR EVENINGS AND WEEKENDS ON 88.9 WLSU...from WLSU's Saturday Afternoon Jazz Club and Wednesday Night Blues, to NPR's Piano Jazz and World Cafe. Of special note...the May 29 Wednesday Night Blues presentation of an in-studio performance by The May West. For details, scroll down to Music Programs under "Regional Programs" (below).
"WORLD PERSPECTIVES" features international student commentaries on home, culture and living abroad...we're currently updating our site with new material, so please check back in the weeks to come. For details, scroll down to "Special Announcements" (below).
SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN listeners can also hear WPR on 91.3 WHHI and 89.1 WSSW from Prairie du Chien to Richland Center, Dodgeville to Platteville. Details on our Southwest Regional Stations page.
WPR's HD FM-digital broadcasts feature CLASSICAL MUSIC AND MORE... For details, scroll down to "Special Announcements" (below).
Welcome to the Southwest Regional Office of Wisconsin Public Radio. We invite your questions and comments about membership, programming and other regional broadcast-related matters; our office can also guide you through making major financial gifts or corporate support/underwriting contributions to WPR; and we're home to WPR's award-winning La Crosse News Bureau.
WPR is community supported public radio serving western Wisconsin and beyond. Listeners support WPR through annual membership gifts. Learn more - and make a pledge! - at Support WPR.
WPR's community support also includes business, corporate and institutional sponsorships of local and network programming. Underwriting the cost of our programming provides many benefits:
* Creates interest in a business' products and services
* Enhances name recognition among a highly desirable, upscale and educated audience
* Associates a business with quality programming
* Promotes a business regionally, statewide or nationally
To learn more about WPR's corporate support opportunities, contact Marv Spielman, in La Crosse, at 785-8987, toll-free at 888-790-0185, or via email. You can also learn more at WPR Underwriting.
Public Inspection Files for the radio stations licensed to the Educational Communications Board and the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and programmed by UW-Extension and Wisconsin Public Radio are maintained in the designated locations, pursuant to FCC rules. They are available for viewing to the general public during regular business hours. Learn more here. Review WLSU's current EEO report here.
Highlights of regional current affairs programming:
WPR's Newsmakers is the WPR-La Crosse News Bureau's locally-produced weekly news and current affairs talk show. These hour-long discussions go "behind the scenes" to explore stories of regional interest through in-depth interviews and occasional features. Newsmakers' on-air broadcasts can be heard Thursdays at 5 p.m. on Ideas 90.3 WHLA, and Saturdays at 5 a.m. on 88.9 WLSU.
NEXT TIME...The possible expansion of private school vouchers has been a hot button issue; we'll get the perspective of La Crosse area private school leaders. Plus, future changes are in store for GED tests; we'll learn more from those who help administer the tests in western Wisconsin.
Here's the latest...We explore the pros and cons of wind power in Wisconsin; what makes a project viable today, and why does Wisconsin lag behind neighboring states in wind power production. And we discuss the Organic Valley and Gundersen Health System "Cashton Greens" wind project; we hear about the benefits of the project and if it's working as planned, now that it's been in operation for a year. (3/16/13)
ALSO from Newsmakers: Online...
* We talk with architects and representatives from Western Technical College about energy-efficient "passive homes" as WTC moves forward with plans to begin building models in La Crosse this year; and speaking out on Social Security and Medicare issues for La Crosse-area seniors. (5-9-13)
* A lot of attention has been paid to the UW System's 650 million dollar reserve fund; we talk with Chancellor Joe Gow about the budget situation at UW-La Crosse. Plus, an update on this year's planting season and other Wisconsin agribusiness news (5-2-13)
For more than three decades Newsmakers has been taking La Crosse-area listeners beyond the headlines with extended interviews and in-depth conversations that advance the top stories of the day. Originally produced for 88.9 WLSU (now broadcast Saturdays at 5 a.m.), the show has extended its audience reach through broadcasts on Ideas 90.3 WHLA (Thursdays, 5 p.m.) and online at La Crosse Audio Archives.
The La Crosse News Bureau's senior news editor, and Newsmakers producer, is John Davis; WPR reporter Maureen McCollum hosts the series. Contributors to Newsmakers include reporter Steve Roisum (WPR), producer Mary Meehan-Strub (director of UW-Extension for La Crosse County), and executive producer John Gaddo, WPR's regional manager for southwestern Wisconsin.
We invite your feedback, comments and questions. Please email members of the Newsmakers production team (email addresses above); general comments can be directed to WPR Regional Manager John Gaddo.
WPR MORNING NEWS on 88.9 WLSU-FM/HD1, La Crosse's NPR news and music station from WPR:
Weekdays during Morning Edition (4-9 a.m.),Wisconsin Public Radio teams up with NPR to cover the day's regional and world news. Special reports and extended interviews produced by WPR's La Crosse News Bureau are occasionally aired at 7:20 or 7:50. Selected reports can be found on our La Crosse News Specials archive page.
Arts & entertainment reports on Great River Region arts and cultural events and activities, music performances, theater, visual arts, community festivals, and more, are occasional features Fridays, at 8:40, on Morning Edition, repeated Friday nights at 6:20 during All Things Considered; WPR's John Gaddo hosts.
The World Cafe - Weekdays, 7-9 p.m.; Saturdays, 6-7 p.m.
Weeknights, from NPR Music, host David Dye connects us with what's new in the world of music; from jazz to acoustic to new folk and contemporary indie pop, David introduces the musicians creating today's music through studio interviews and performances, plus new and classic recordings. On Saturdays, David returns with selected interviews and performances from recent programs on Conversations from the World Cafe.
World Cafe playlists, recent music news, reviews, and much more about all types of music are available at World Cafe and NPR Music.
Jazz Night - weeknights at 9 p.m. * Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights, locally-hosted jazz from the WLSU music library.
* Wednesdays, the emphasis turns to blues with Tami, on Wednesday Night Blues. * Friday nights feature PRI's Riverwalk Jazz (repeated Sundays, 4 p.m. - see below), followed by an evening of recordings and classic performances hosted by nationally-syndicated jazz host Bob Parlocha.
OTHER LOCAL JAZZ....
The Saturday Afternoon Jazz Club - Saturdays, noon-5 p.m.
David Miller hosts an hour of big band favorites from noon-1 on Swingin' Down the Lane (repeated Sundays at 7 p.m.). And then between 1 and 5, WLSU hosts play favorites from the WLSU music library. Requests are welcome at (608)785-8380
Side By Side Jazz is an ongoing series showcasing WLSU's extensive collection of LP recordings, one side at a time; it can be heard Sunday afternoons at 2; repeats are scheduled periodically throughout WLSU's weekly jazz schedule.
Jazz Night: The Sunday Jam, Sundays after 8 p.m...music specials and a wider-than-usual range of styles that intersect with jazz, including specials from NPR and other national producers, selections from the WLSU music library, and concluding with:
Sonic Vibrations - Sundays, 10 p.m.
The Sunday Jam concludes each week with an hour of electronic music featuring the improvisation and jazz-like influences on contemporary electronic artists; Steve Farley hosts and welcomes your comments or playlist requests by e-mail at sonicvibrations889@hotmail.com. [You can catch an *early* broadcast of each week's show Sunday mornings at 4 a.m.]
Jazz Encores, late night/overnight La Crosse-area hosts share favorites from the WLSU music library, including selected encore broadcasts from past shows.
Piano Jazz Rising Stars,Sundays at 3 p.m., introduces up-and-coming artists in the jazz world. In this encore broadcast of the 2012 season, we hear pianists Kris Bowers and Aaron Diehl, saxophonist Grace Kelly, vocalists Tammy McCann and Schal Vasandani, vibraphonist Stefon Harris and more. Jon Weber hosts NPR's Piano Jazz Rising Stars, repeated Sundays at 8 p.m., on La Crosse's 88.9 WLSU. NEW: The 2013 season of Piano Jazz begins in July.
Sundays at 4 p.m., we head south for Riverwalk Jazz. Soak up the high-energy sounds of the Jim Cullum Jazz Band as award-winning storyteller David Holt brings you back to the early years of jazz in America. His captivating tales cover everything from the turn-of-the-century blues and cakewalks to the small swing ensembles of the 1920s and '30s. Produced by Pacific Vista Productions and Jim Cullum for Texas Public Radio. (Also Fridays at 9 p.m.)
Sundays at 6 p.m., sample selected performances and regional variety on Tent Show Radio, contemporary music - from acoustic and folk to swing and rock - plus spoken word, comedy, skits and more. Tent Show Radio (also heard locally Saturday at 7 p.m. on WPR's Ideas 90.3 WHLA) originates from the Big Top Chautauqua on Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin.
Gail Vaughan hosts ROOTS GOSPEL showcasing selected recordings from the "golden age of Gospel" - the middle decades of the 20th century - that led more than one musician into the world of jazz, blues, rock, funk and popular music. You can wake to an encore airing of this series Sunday mornings at 5 a.m.
Wednesday Night Blues -- part of the weeknight jazz and blues programming on 88.9 WLSU -- includes occasional 'live performance' broadcasts.
Appropriate for May, it's the five-piece string band May North, in our studios for Wednesday Night Blues. Host Tami Bartels shares their in-studio performance beginning at 9 p.m., May 29, on 88.9 WLSU. From rockin' blues to foot-stompin' bluegrass and traditional Americana Folk, members of The May North hail from St. Paul and Winona, MN: musicians George (on 6-string) and Stephanie McCorkell (on fiddle), execute thoughtful lyrics while Chris O'Brien (on dobro) creates mystical melodies. Jeff Swanner (on bass) holds down the tradition and Matthew Byrne (on banjo) delivers quick fingerpicking. Join us for an hour of The May North on Wednesday Night Blues.
In March we heard the bluesy side of Matt Ray and Those Damn Horses, a hard-driving string band that serves up steamy helpings of roots, Americana, and old time music all with an intoxicating modern twist.
Members of the band (at left) visited with Wednesday Night Blues host Tami Bartels and performed 'live' in our studios during a recent visit to the Coulee Region.
Other past guests:
* Winona blues musician Mike Munson returned to share more of his own music and to introduce some of his favorite recordings by others, as he co-hosted the show with Tami Bartels. (February 2013)
* Singer-songwriter Scott Wilcox shared a selection of stories and music, from blues to rock, jazz to soul, folk to country. The Tomah, WI native, has returned to Wisconsin after living in Alabama and starting a family. (January 2013)
* Members of the local blues group "Cheech & The Family Band". This group, which plays in La Crosse and for surrounding music festivals, is comprised of Andy Steeno on upright bass, Jim Zill on guitar, Steve Moen on harmonica and Greg "Cheech" Hall on slide guitar. (October 2012)
* La Crosse's own Paul "Paulie" Matushek has been producing looped sounds with his acoustic and bass axes since his discovery of the art. He shared his music and discussed the joy he feels from playing his music. (July 2012)
* Minnesota blues guitarist Charlie Parr stopped by during his 2012 spring/summer tour to perform in our studios. His tour has included concerts in La Crosse, Decorah, and other area communities. (June 2012)
* Independent Music Award winners Joe and Vicki Price from Decorah, Iowa. Joe and Vicki's music is flavored more to the juke-joint end of the blues: a bit rough and tons of fun. (May 2012)
* Western Wisconsin's County Road G: Heather Kitching, bass; Jeff Strand, electric guitar; and Noah Hittner, acoustic guitar, vocals. Combining the influences of blues, folk, and classic rock, they perform mostly original material with selected covers. (April 2012)
* La Crosse's Greg "Cheech" Hall (at right). (March 2012)
* Winona blues musician Mike Munson. (February 2012)
Wednesday Night Blues presents three hours of blues every Wednesday from 9-midnight. Bartels draws mainly from the WLSU music library, but also features musicians from our scenic river and bluffs region along the Mississippi River who perform solo and acoustic blues "live" in our studios.
WPR Network Programming - Information on NPR News and music programming on 88.9 WLSU-FM/HD1, La Crosse, and 89.1 WSSW, Platteville, can be found at WPR News and Music. Please note: local programming preempts some WPR network programs on 88.9 WLSU-FM/HD1; you can hear the entire service on 88.9 WLSU-HD2 and on 91.3 WHHI-HD3.
WPR CLassical, Wisconsin Public Radio's full-time classical music service can be heard locally on 90.3 WHLA-HD2 and 91.3 WHHI-HD2 or over the Internet, Learn more at WPR Classical.
Details about WPR's Ideas Network programming on 90.3 WHLA-FM/HD1, La Crosse, and 91.3 WHHI-FM/HD1, Highland, can be found at WPR Ideas.
Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?, LIVE in La Crosse!!
Join WPR and Wisconsin's own Michael Feldman for laughs, giggles and guffaws at a live national broadcast of the comedy/interview/quiz show Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know? from the Viterbo Fine Arts Center, Saturday, June 8, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
It's live radio at its best. You'll enjoy Michael's banter with announcer Sara Nics, jazz with the Whad'Ya Know? Trio including John Thulin, Jeff Hamann and Clyde "The Funky Drummer" Stubblefield, and you might be the lucky contestant chosen to take the stage and play the Whad'Ya Know? Quiz.
La Crosse-area guests and musicians will also join Michael on stage for this special broadcast, including western Wisconsin's Third District U.S. Congressman Ron Kind, with special music by Winona blues singer/guitarist Mike Munson.
Tickets are available through the Viterbo Box Office, (608)796-3100, or online here.
Wisconsin Public Radio supports several arts and performance series throughout the greater La Crosse area -- we encourage you to support events presented by our community partners: The Pump House Regional Arts Center, UW-La Crosse Department of Theatre Arts, UW-La Crosse Campus Activities Board, the Heider Center for the Arts, Viterbo University Fine Arts Center, La Crosse Community Theatre, and others -- and thanks!!
Online links to La Crosse-area community, arts and cultural events from around the tri-state area of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa can be found on our Regional Events and Activities page.
AWARD-WINNING NEWS FROM WPR'S NEWSMAKERS
It's with great pleasure we announce that the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association (WBA), on May 4, 2013, recognized Newsmakers with a first place award for its special 2012 elections coverage -- programming cited by the WBA as helping citizens become better informed voters. Our coverage included a series of forums and debates with candidates in western Wisconsin's 94th and 96th Assembly races, the 32nd Senate district, and Wisconsin's Third Congressional district -- plus the pros and cons of referendum questions put forth by the La Crosse School District and Western Technical College. Newsmakers also provided a review of post-election results, regional analysis of the impact of Wisconsin's redistricting , and local perspectives on the year's earlier recall election.
Newsmakers also received a second place 2012 WBA award in the category of "best radio show" -- this award recognizes presentation and impact, creativity, and production values, and in this case calls special attention to our Newsmakers program on historic preservation initiatives in and around the La Crosse area.
Congratulations to the Newsmakers team -- senior editor and producer John Davis, host/producer Maureen McCollum, producer Steve Roisum, and community producer Mary Meehan-Strub -- and thank you to the thousands of Newsmakers listeners who inspire us to do what we do to keep you informed of regional news and issues.
John Gaddo WPR Regional Manager-La Crosse, & Newsmakers executive producer
"WORLD PERSPECTIVES" is a collaborative project produced in conjunction with UW-La Crosse. Throughout the year, the La Crosse office of Wisconsin Public Radio hosts tours, class conversations and special program opportunities to assist UWL international students in their understanding of U.S. media, community issues, and the English language.
Since 2009, this initiative has included gathering student commentaries and essays that reflect their perspectives on home, culture, and living abroad. The full archive, including all-new essays from the 2012-13 academic-year, and details of the project are available on our "WORLD PERSPECTIVES" page.
WPR's 88.9 WLSU tops the list of "favorite La Crosse-area radio stations!" The 2012, third annual Best of La Crosse contest was sponsored by La Crosse's Second Supper monthly newspaper. Read more at Second Supper Newspaper.
IN 2013, HD DIGITAL RADIO OFFERS CLASSICAL MUSIC (AND MORE) FROM WPR
HD digital radio broadcasts are available from Wisconsin Public Radio throughout southwestern Wisconsin. These "high definition" digital stations also serve the adjoining portions of Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.
Our "HD1" broadcasts on each of these stations offer a better quality sound of WPR's regular programs; "HD2" broadcasts offer additional channels of programming not normally available on the typical FM or HD1 stations.
90.3 WHLA-HD2 and 91.3 WHHI-HD2 feature WPR's 24-hour classical music network, WPR Classical.
88.9 WLSU-HD2 is currently broadcasting the NPR News and Classical Music network from WPR, simulcasting most of the same programs already on 88.9 WLSU-FM/HD1, but offering an alternate overnight classical music service. Additional programs will be added to WLSU-HD2 in the months ahead.
91.3 WHHI-HD3 broadcasts WPR's full-time NPR News and Classical Music network.
MORE ON HD RADIO...
HD radio broadcasts result in two significant changes for listeners with HD radio receivers:
* First, it enhances the sound of a station's existing programs by improving the signal to a CD-quality listening experience.
* Second, it allows FM radio stations to add additional channels of programming to better serve listeners who have HD radio receivers. (The station's main programming is heard on HD1, while additional programming can be heard on HD2, HD3, etc.)
Early in 2007 88.9 WLSU-FM introduced the first full-time HD radio signal to La Crosse. In September 2008 WPR upgraded Ideas 90.3 WHLA, La Crosse, to HD. Ideas 91.3 WHHI, Highland, has also been upgraded to HD.
Learn more about HD radio and WPR's HD radio stations here. Learn more about WPR Classical, here. And learn more about HD digital radio on a national basis here.
If you are an HD radio listener, we invite your comments and signal reports. Please email them to WPR's southwest regional manager John Gaddo.
Friends and family gathered on June 18, 2011 to remember and celebrate the life of WLSU's founding station manager, Jim Conway. The memorial was held at his residence along the Mississippi River in La Crescent, MN. Conway passed away in January during his annual winter stay in Florida; he'd been fighting colon cancer at the time.
On the occasion of June's gathering, long-time friend and colleague John Jenks, UW-La Crosse professor emeritus, shared his recollections of Conway, his professional and personal accomplishments, and WLSU's founding in an interview with current WLSU/WPR regional manager John Gaddo, himself a student of Conway's in the 1970s.
Listen to their broadcast tribute:
Play MP3
Download
13:33
An extended version of this interview is available here:
January 2011: WPR welcomes Maureen McCollum to its La Crosse News Bureau. Maureen comes to us from NPR affiliate KBIA at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO where she was a news anchor and reporter. Maureen is a 2007 graduate of UW-La Crosse and was a part-time reporter for WPR in La Crosse in 2008. She'll report on regional issues for WPR's statewide newscasts and WPR's regional current affairs talk show Newsmakers.
Maureen says her love for radio began at a very young age when she created shows on her parents' boombox. That curiosity carried her into her studies at UWL and eventually to her reporting for KBIA, a network of Missouri public radio stations, and nationally for PRI's Marketplace. In addition to her reporting duties, Maureen's work has included mentoring University of Missouri journalism students.
Stories, edited for broadcast, from StoryCorps' visit to La Crosse in July-August, 2010 are gradually finding their way to WPR's airwaves and online archives. Audio archives of stories already broadcast can be found on the WPR StoryCorps homepage. Pictures of participants can be seen here.
Listen for announcements and watch WPR's e-Newsletter, RadioWaves, and our website for additional broadcast details.
What is StoryCorps? StoryCorps staff travel the country year-round recording the stories, life experiences, and conversations of everyday people. The independent nonprofit project whose mission is to "honor and celebrate stories from all walks of life," collected over 100 conversations during its month-long stay, July 12-August 7, at the La Crosse Public Library. These stories are recorded and preserved at the Library of Congress, with selected stories broadcast on Morning Edition from NPR and WPR (heard locally on 88.9 WLSU).
You can learn more about StoryCorp's national initiative here.
MANY THANKS to our La Crosse-area community partners who made the StoryCorps visit possible, including the La Crosse Public Library, Gundersen Lutheran, Merchants Bank, the Pump House and People's Food Co-op!
