We welcome Jim and Jean King, the founders of the student information software company Skyward, along with Portage County Executive Patty Dreier. The Kings announced ambitious expansion plans for their company, including the construction of a new global headquarters in Stevens Point, and increasing the number of employees from about 400 to over 1000. The plans were made possible by a legislative victory, in which the state's single vendor policy was repealed, allowing Skyward to continue serving more than half the schools in Wisconsin. We'll discuss the regional economic impact of the Skyward expansion and the bipartisan coalition of local politicians that achieved the legislative victory.

Route 51 welcomes the first appearance of Third District U.S. Congressman Ron Kind (D-La Crosse). Because of Wisconsin's new legislative districts, Congressman Kind now represents Stevens Point, Wisconsin Rapids, and much of central Wisconsin, areas that were previously part of the Seventh Congressional District. We'll ask Kind about his priorities for the new parts of his congressional district, and for his stance on Egypt and Syria, immigration reform, the implementation of Obamacare, NSA spying, gun control, climate change, Washington gridlock, and the President's call for a new jobs program linked to infrastructure spending.

This week we'll look at ways to fund mass transit and public bus lines for the greater Wausau area and for other Wisconsin communities where budget problems have caused cutbacks and service disruptions. Our guests will be Greg Seubert, the Director of the Wausau area Metro-Ride system, and Keene Winters, Wausau City Councilman and Vice Chair of the Wausau Area Transit Commission.

We welcome the Miami-based South Beach Chamber Ensemble for an hour of live music and conversation. Wausau native, cellist and ensemble leader Michael Andrews, bassist Cindy Blandino, violinists Sarah Schreffler and Oscar Soler, and violist Kenneth Martinson will perform selections from this year's South Beach Up North tour in our Wausau studios

Legendary band leader and trumpet player Sid Kyler will perform live in our Wisconsin Public Radio studios with saxophonist Duane Askew, clarinetist Louis Pradt, bassist Roger Pickering, and Route 51 host Glen Moberg on guitar. We'll talk about the influence of American jazz music and preview the Sid Kyler River Valley Jazz Festival, which happens July 19th and 20th at the Bull Falls Brewery in Wausau. This will be the first Route 51 show at its new time slot of 10 a.m. Thursday mornings.

Discussion on the Wisconsin State Budget. Host Glen Moberg will moderate a discussion with 72nd District State Representative Scot Krug, Republican from Wisconsin Rapids, and 85th District State Representative Mandy Wright, Democrat from Wausau.

We'll feature the technology of aquaponics, a water based food production system being highlighted at this weekend's Midwest Renewable Energy Association's Energy Fair in Custer Wisconsin, and at the International Aquaponics Conference, Aquaponics and Global Food Security, which is taking place this week at UW-Stevens Point.
Our guests will be, Dr. Christopher Hartleb, Professor of Fisheries Biology and Co-Director of the UW-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility; and Jesse Hull and Molly Stanek, the leaders of Imagine Aquaponics, a Wisconsin company that will be doing demonstrations on the technology at the Energy Fair.

We feature an encore presentation of an interview with Dr. Anne Speckhard, a native of Wausau who is an expert on international terrorism and post-traumatic stress. Dr. Speckhard has interviewed over 400 terrorists, extremists, their supporters, hostages, family members and their close associates in Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Belarus, North Ossetia, Morocco, Belgium, UK, the Netherlands and France. Dr. Speckhard will discuss her research, as chronicled in her recently published book, Talking to Terrorists, Understanding the Psycho-Social Motivations of Militant Jihadi Terrorists, Mass Hostage Takers, Suicide Bombers and 'Martyrs.' Originally broadcast on 1/10/13.

Profiling the regional breweries of North Central Wisconsin, with our guests John Zappa, Brewmaster of Stevens Point Brewery; Paul Graham, President and Owner of Central Waters Brewing Company of Amherst; and Mike Zamzow, Co-Owner and Brewmaster of Bull Falls Brewery of Wausau. We'll talk to the three brewers about the resurgence of craft beer in Wisconsin, the expansion projects they're involved in, and the rewards and challenges of competing with the giants of the industry.

We'll explore the impact of frac sand mining on endangered species, including the Karner Blue Butterfly, and human communities in Wisconsin with Dr. Dale Murray, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at UW-Baraboo/Sauk County and UW-Richland, who is giving a lecture later that evening at UW-Marathon County's Center for Civic Engagement in Wausau. Dr. Murray's presentations on environmental ethics have focused on habitat conservation plans, e-waste and community supported agriculture.

It's an hour of fun at the old ball park as we discuss baseball and the Northwoods League with Mark Macdonald, owner of the Wisconsin Woodchucks, and Liz Kern, general manager of the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters. We'll ask Macdonald about his ambitious plans to renovate historic Athletic Park in Wausau, and will ask Kern about recent improvements for the Rafters' fourth season in Witter Field.

We'll take a look at the growing problem of heroin use in central Wisconsin. Guests include Lt. Gary Schneck of the Marathon County Sheriff's Department; Deb Piskoty, Clinic Director of Wausau Health Services; and Melissa Dotter, Drug Free Communities Program Coordinator for the Marathon County Health Department. The increased use of heroin over the past three years is being blamed for an uptick in both violent and non-violent crime, and a growing number of overdose deaths and related health problems. The problem is the focus of a new public awareness campaign in Marathon County called "Pushback Against Drug Abuse."

It's our annual Garden Show, with our guest Dick Zondag, President and Owner of the Jung Seed Company. As always, the show will feature gardening, planting, pruning and landscaping tips exclusively for people who live in our challenging short season climate in North Central Wisconsin. Sontag will share his thoughts on the best variety of vegetables, flowers, plants and trees for "up north," and we will invite listeners to call-in live on the air for advice with their own gardening and landscaping problems.

We feature two very special guests this week: Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary, and former Congressman Dave Obey. Yarrow and Obey will talk about the music and politics of the sixties... and in a first of its kind event on live radio, Yarrow and Obey will perform some of that music in our WPR studios. Peter Yarrow wrote many of Peter, Paul and Mary's most memorable songs, including Puff the Magic Dragon and The Great Mandala. Dave Obey played harmonica in his Washington D.C. bluegrass band, The Capitol Offenses. The program will also discuss Yarrow's organization Operation Respect, with its message of tolerance and anti-bullying.

We'll discuss the continuing fight to eradicate Polio worldwide, and its lingering effects on Americans who contracted the disease decades ago. Guest include author Jerry Apps, whose new book Limping Through Life describes his struggles with Polio while growing up on a rural central Wisconsin farm; Bob Williams, a Polio survivor and owner of the Stevens Point marketing firm Idea Associates; and his wife Mary Williams, Past President of the Rotary Club of Stevens Point, which is spreading the word how post-polio syndrome affects victims. Rotary International's Polio Plus campaign is dedicated to the elimination of the disease around the world.

The Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra (CWSO) will pay tribute to naturalist, Fran Hamerstrom at this weekend's concerts when they perform the world premiere of the original composition, Enchanted Moonscape by Charles Rochester Young. The piece is based on Hamerstrom's children's book Walk When the Moon is Full. We'll talk about the music and the woman who inspired it with guests, composer Charles Young, CWSO Executive Director Ann Huntoon, and writer and friend of the late naturalist Mary "Casey" Martin. The program will also examine Fran Hamerstrom's work to save central Wisconsin's prairie chicken population with conservationist Sharon Schwab.

We'll talk about northern Wisconsin's native American tribes, their culture, their concerns, and their impact on the state's economy. Guests include Mike Wiggins Jr., Chairman of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, and Mic Isham, Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board Secretary and Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) Chairman. Wiggins has been outspoken in his opposition to a proposed iron mine in the Penokee Hills south of Lake Superior. Isham has been named to the newly formed Great Lakes Advisory Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

This week we talk about the economic challenges and opportunities facing the paper industry in Wisconsin, America and abroad. Guests will be John Schmid, investigative reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Jerry Lazarski, Executive Director of the UW-Stevens Point Paper Foundation. Schmid is the author of the critically acclaimed series, Paper Cuts, which details the threats to the American paper industry from Chinese competition. Lazarski is the former Vice President of Technology and Business Development for StoraEnso NorthAmerica, and the former Mill Manager for Consolidated Paper in Wisconsin Rapids.

This week we focus on water quality in the Wisconsin River basin. Our guests will be: Matt Krueger, River Restoration Program Manager for the Wisconsin River Alliance; Chris Murphy, County Conservationist for Adams County; and John Kennedy, Vice- President of BEPCO, the Big Eau Pleine Citizens Organization.

We talk with William Kamkwamba, author of the bestselling autobiography The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind; about his inspiring story of growing up in the midst of famine and political oppression in his homeland of Malawi, Africa, and how his self-taught passion for science led him to build a working windmill out of junkyard parts in order to bring power and water to his impoverished village. Also on the program: Edgar Elementary School history teacher Colin Hansen, who is bringing Kamkwamba to central Wisconsin; and Romey Wagner, Wausau alderman and manager of the Wausau Entrepreneurial and Education Center, who has spent much of the last decade working with the Masai tribe of Kenya building generator and windmill powered wells in the African backcountry.

Our guest will be Dr. Gordon Dammann, founder of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and author of Images of Civil War Medicine: a Photographic History, and Pictorial Encyclopedia of Civil War Medical Instruments and Equipment. Dammann will be joined by Wausau's own resident expert on the Civil War, UW-Marathon County Associate Professor of History, Dr. Brett Barker. The program will focus on the impact of the war on the evolution of medical technology in America.

We'll explore Wisconsin's blues music scene, as we preview The Blues Cafe festival scheduled for Saturday, March 9th at the Rothschild Pavilion. Our guests will be Great Northern Blues Society president Mike Tatro, and two of Saturday's performers: Sena Ehrhardt, a Minneapolis based vocalist who was nominated for Best New Artist in the 2012 Blues Music Awards; and Robert "One Man" Johnson, an acoustic blues musician known for playing multiple instruments at the same time. Ehrhardt will discuss her new Blind Pig records release, All In. Johnson will perform live in our Wisconsin Public Radio studios during the program.

Conversation with Wisconsin author and farm historian Jerry Apps, whose recollections are the focus of the Wisconsin Public Television documentary Jerry Apps: A Farm Story, scheduled for rebroadcast this Sunday, March 3rd at 7:00 pm. The documentary is described as "the portrait of a farm boy's childhood in Waushara County as told through personal memories and photos from the Wild Rose community."
Mr. Apps is the author of several novels and non-fiction works, including Tamarack River Ghost; Rural Wit and Wisdom: Time Honored Values from the Heartland; Garden Wisdom: Lessons Learned from 60 Years of Gardening; Campfires and Loon Calls; Barns of Wisconsin; Travels of Increase Joseph; In a Pickle; and Cranberry Red.

Discussion will revolve around the the controversy surrounding the decision by the state of Wisconsin to require all public school districts to have a single vendor for student information software, and the decision to award that contract to an out of state company, Infinite Campus, instead of Skyward, a Stevens Point company that employs 280 workers, and which currently services more than half the school districts in Wisconsin. Host Glen Moberg will moderate a discussion with Skyward founder and Board Chairman Jim King and State Senator Julie Lassa of Stevens Point, who has introduced a bipartisan bill that would require multiple vendors for student information software. The Route 51 program will also feature recorded comments from Governor Scott Walker, Republican State Senate Education Committee Chair Luther Olsen, Stevens Point School Superintendent Attila Weininger, and others on both sides of the issue .

Sharing the love today with a musical salute to Valentine's Day. Our guest is saxophonist and band leader John Greiner. Mr. Greiner and host and guitarist Glen Moberg will listen to some of the great American love songs of the past 75 years, discuss their musical history, and sit down together to play some live music on the air. Listeners will also have a chance to call in and talk about their favorite love songs. John Greiner's SwingShift Big Band features the music of Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller, Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and other great American jazz artists.

Why did the "Wisconsin uprising" fail? Why did the demonstrations, the massive petition drives, the mobilization of union members, and the recall elections end with Governor Walker still in power, and the Republican party in solid control of both the State Assembly and State Senate? This week we examine a newly published book of 14 thoughtful essays entitled A Whole Which is Greater, Why the Wisconsin "Uprising" Failed. We'll talk to the book's editors Paul Gilk and David Kast, and contributor James Veninga, professor of religion and former UW Marathon County Dean.

We feature a forum on proposed comprehensive mining legislation for Wisconsin, and the proposed new iron mine in the Penokee Hills south of Lake Superior. Host Glen Moberg will moderate a discussion between 12th District Senator Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst), who is playing a major role in writing the new mining bill, and 25th District Senator Bob Jauch (D-Superior), who opposes a number of provisions that are in the bill, and whose senate district includes the proposed mine. Listeners on both sides of the issue will be able to call in live with their questions and comments.

Exploring the world of origami, the traditional Oriental art of paper folding, in conjunction with a new exhibit at Wausau's Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum. Guests are origami artist and Wisconsin Public Radio host, Ruthanne Bessman and origami artist and Chicago Academy High School math teacher, Christine Edison. Bessman has studied with the leading paper folders in the United States, Japan, England and France, and has been featured in newspapers, magazines, and national television programs. Edison uses paper folding to give her students a hands-on understanding of the concepts of algebra and geometry, and to illustrate the practical use of origami by physicists and engineers.

We feature a debate on the issue of gun control in the wake of the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut and the push by the Obama administration for new restrictions on firearms. Guests will be F.E. "Buster" Bachhuber of Wausau, a member of the board of directors of the National Rifle Association, and Tony Gibart, policy coordinator for the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Mr. Bachhuber shares the NRA's opposition to the gun control proposals being considered by the Obama administration. Mr. Gibart supports universal background checks for gun purchases, and has expressed concern about the easy availability of assault rifles and high capacity clips.

We feature Dr. Anne Speckhard, a native of Wausau who is an expert on international terrorism and post-traumatic stress. Dr. Speckhard has interviewed over 400 terrorists, extremists, their supporters, hostages, family members and their close associates in Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Belarus, North Ossetia, Morocco, Belgium, UK, the Netherlands and France. Dr. Speckhard will discuss her research, as chronicled in her recently published book, Talking to Terrorists, Understanding the Psycho-Social Motivations of Militant Jihadi Terrorists, Mass Hostage Takers, Suicide Bombers and 'Martyrs.'

This week's show will focus on The Women's Community of Wausau, a shelter and place of refuge for the victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Guests will include The Women's Community executive director Jane Graham Jennings, sexual assault victims services program coordinator Jessica Lind, and volunteer coordinator Denise Lang.

It's our annual Route 51 Year End Review show... with a look back at the people, the passion, the politics and the places that made North Central
Wisconsin a special place in 2012. We'll hear some of the provacative interviews, the important news stories, the debates, the uplifting feature stories, and the great live musical performances... all condensed into a fast paced hour of riveting radio... produced and hosted by Glen Moberg.

Guest host Bill Martens fills in for Glen Moberg. Talk will revolve around holiday music- in all of its various styles and forms. Guests will be Tim Buchholz, Asst. Professor of Music at UW-Marathon County and Shereen Skola.

Route 51 embraces the Christmas season with a show on faith and the criminal justice system. Our guest will be Marathon County jail chaplain Ray Slatton, who as the director of Greater Wausau Christian Services ministers to the needs of prison inmates, and provides one on one mentoring and support services. Reverend Slatton will be joined by two of the volunteers that work with him: Sally Scinto-Reinertson and Rita Jirikovic.

The Medical College of Wisconsin recently announced plans for a medical college campus in Wausau. Guests include: Dr. John Raymond, President and CEO of the Medical College of Wisconsin; Dr. Brian Ewert, President and CEO of the Marshfield Clinic; and Dr. Keith Montgomery, Dean of UW-Marathon County of Wausau. The medical college plans involve a number of institutions in central Wisconsin, including Aspirus Health Care, Ministry Health Care, UW Stevens Point, and Northcentral Technical College.

We profiled the Learning is ForEver, or LIFE program, a membership based organization of adult learners sponsored by UW-Stevens Point and hosted by UWSP Continuing Education. 400 mostly retired adults are members of LIFE, with access to about 80 classes on a wide range of topics each semester. Guests were Richard Feldman, retired UWSP Professor of Philosophy and a member of the LIFE curriculum committee; Tom Ordens, a retired teacher and Sentry Insurance safety consultant who serves on the LIFE board of directors; and Vickie Richmond Hawkins, Director of Continuing Education at UW-Marathon County. The live broadcast originated from an actual LIFE class at the UW Center for Civic Engagement building on the UWMC campus.

This week's show offered a recap and analysis of the 2012 national, state and local election results. Guests were UW-Stevens Point political scientist Ed Miller, Wausau Daily Herald opinion page editor Robert Mentzer and Jane Graham Jennings, executive director of The Women's Comunity of Wausau. Discussion included the high points and low points of a long, hard fought campaign season. The program also touched on the way forward, and what the results portend for the future of north central Wisconsin and America.

We focused on the race for Wisconsin's 69th Assembly District. Guests included incumbent Republican Assemblyman Scott Suder and his Democratic challenger former radio newsman Paul Knoff about the priorities facing the district and the state of Wisconsin. Knoff will appear in the first half of the program. Suder will appear in the second half. Both candidates will take questions and comments from listeners live on the air.

We replay, in its entirety, the October 22nd 7th Congressional District Debate between incumbent Republican Congressman Sean Duffy and former Democratic State Senator Pat Kreitlow. The debate was moderated by Route 51 host Glen Moberg of WPR, and features questions from panelists and debate sponsors Robert Mentzer of the Wausau Daily Herald, Melissa Langbehn of WAOW TV Newsline 9, and Amy Pflugshaupt of WSAW TV Newschannel 7. The debate was also sponsored by the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service.

We held a political roundtable on the Wisconsin race for the U.S. Senate, just hours before a scheduled debate between Democratic U.S. Representative Tammy Baldwin and former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson at the UW Marathon County Center for Civic Engagement Theater. Discussion will include the US Senate race and the Presidential race. We have an all-star political panel including Democrat Christine Bremer Muggli of Wausau, Republican Bob Williams of Stevens Point and independent analyst Bill Kraus of Madison.

We featured a discussion with 7th District Republican Congressman Sean Duffy, who faces Democrat Pat Kreitlow in the November 6th election. Glen Moberg asked Mr. Duffy about the top domestic issues facing the people of North Central Wisconsin, and the top international issues facing the country. Listeners had a chance to call in questions for Congressman Duffy during the show.

This is a Wisconsin Public Radio / Wausau Daily Herald forum between the candidates for the 85th and 86th State Assembly districts. The event took place before a live audience October 3rd at the UW-Marathon County Center for Civic Engagement Theater. All five candidates participated: in the 85th District, Libertarian Jim Maas, Republican Pat Snyder and Democrat Mandy Wright; and in the 86th District, Democrat Dennis Halkoski and Republican John Spiros. Route 51 host Glen Moberg and the Wausau Daily Herald's Robert Mentzer were the panelists for the event.

This forum was between the candidates for northern Wisconsin's 12th State Senate District. The forum was organized by independent public radio station WXPR in Rhinelander, and its News Director, Ken Krall, who served as moderator. Route 51 host Glen Moberg served as one of the panelists and questioners at the event. The debate featured all three candidates running for the 12th Senate seat: Republican Tom Tiffany (who is currently serving in the State Assembly), Democrat Susan Sommer, and Libertarian Paul Ehlers. The seat is open because incumbent Senator Dan Meyer is not seeking re-election.

This program is a forum between the candidates for the 34th Assembly District which is based in northern Wisconsin's Vilas and Oneida counties. The forum was organized by independent public radio station WXPR in Rhinelander and its News Director, Ken Krall. WPR's Glen Moberg served as one of the panelists and questioners at the event. The debate featured all four candidates running for the 34th Assembly seat: Republican Rob Swearingen, Democrat Merlin Van Buren, and independent candidates Todd Albano and Kevin FitzPatrick.

This show features Seventh District Democratic Congressional Candidate Pat Kreitlow. He was the news anchor at WEAU-TV in Eau Claire and was later elected to the State Senate. He and his wife Sharry live in Chippewa Falls and have two daughters and a grandson. Mr. Kreitlow will face the Republican incumbent, freshman Congressman Sean Duffy in the November 6th election. We'll ask Mr. Kreitlow about the domestic policy issues facing the district, and the foreign policy issues facing the nation.

Our guest this week is the award-winning composer and best-selling author Peter Buffett, who will be appearing in Wausau on Tuesday September 25th for the Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin's George L. Ruder Forum. Host Glen Moberg will talk to Buffett about the philosophy behind his book, Life is What you Make It, his Grammy-nominated and Emmy Award-winning music, his activism on behalf of Native American causes and culture, his work in philanthropy, and his relationship with his famous father, financier Warren Buffett. The show will also feature an interview with Community Foundation executive director Jean Tehan about the Ruder forum, and the organization's 25th anniversary.

This week we welcome John Jackson Miller, comic book writer, novelist, and game creator. Based in Iola, WI, Miller has written Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the comics adaptation of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as well as many other projects including e-books and webstrips. His first novel, Star Wars: Knight Errant, was released in 2011 from Del Rey, alongside a comic book series of the same name which he writes for Dark Horse Comics. Bill Martens, producer for WPR's Joy Cardin Show, fills in for Glen Moberg, and talks to Miller about his history with comics and the comics industry; his work on the Star Wars franchise and his recent trip to Star Wars Celebration VI.

This week we welcome Ben Brancel, Secretary for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Brancel is in Wausau to talk about agriculture in central Wisconsin, and how farmers and producers can tap into global markets for jobs. The Secretary is asked about the effect of this summer's drought on the state's farm economy, and about the other concerns facing farmers in our state. Later, Secretary Brancel is joined by Don Radtke, Herdsman at Northcentral Technical College's Ag Center of Excellence and Tim Buttke, Senior Business Relations Manager with Mid Wisconsin State Bank. Mr. Buttke's portfolio is primarily concerned with agricultural loans, with an emphasis on dairy farming.

We take a look at the impact the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development program is having on North Central Wisconsin. $558 million dollars was invested in rural Wisconsin communities last year, in job creation, alternative energy development, regional food systems, and building and maintaining water, sewer, electric, telephone and broadband infrastructure. Guests will include Stan Gruszynski, Wisconsin Rural Development State Director, and Mary Patoka, President and CEO of CAP Services of Stevens Point, which will be using Rural Development funds for economic development and job creation. The show will also focus on the Rural Development program's work with tribal governments.