League Of Women Voters of the La Crosse Area
January 2017 Newsletter

Save the dates for LWV winter meetings

January 10th:   Community Collaboration and Response to Mental Illness.  
New Location:   La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce Education Center 601 7th St N, La Crosse.  The Chamber Office is at the intersection of 7th and La Crosse across from City Hall.  Use the Chamber parking lot off 7th St N.

February 14th: Wisconsin State Budget -- Education
New Location:   La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce Education Center 601 7th St N, La Crosse.  The Chamber Office is at the intersection of 7th and La Crosse across from City Hall.  Use the Chamber parking lot off 7th St N.

March 8th:   International Women's Day

March 25th:    Annual Legislative Day Breakfast
 
NEW in 2017!
League of Women Voters now has a pay pal option for lunch reservations. Please RSVP at least one week prior to the meeting date.  Reserve through paypal at

January Lunch and Learn
Tuesday, January 10th
"Community Collaboration and Response to Mental Illness"
  11:30 am lunch (optional)
Noon to 1 presentation
La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce
601 7th St. N, La Crosse
 
The Mental Health Coalition of the Greater La Crosse Area is a community coalition composed of advocates for mental health and providers of mental health services. It exists to eradicate the stigma surrounding mental illnesses, to achieve insurance parity for mental health treatment, and to improve access to mental health services for those who need diagnosis, treatment and support--that is, to create a mentally healthy community.  Coalition leaders will share a progress report on regional efforts to address mental health care.
 
RSVP by January 2nd: email lwvlawi@gmail.com, call 608-269-9177, or use paypal at:  http://www.lwvlacrosse.org/calendar.html
December LWV "Transportation Update"

At the December Lunch and Learn, Jim Longhurst and Charles Lee described the history and current status of transportation planning in La Crosse and the region. Citizen engagement is strongly encouraged to achieve the transportation vision:
"To be a beautiful, livable, vibrant, historic city between the rivers, bluffs, and marsh that is the economic, educational, medical, social, cultural, and transportation hub for the region."
 
Interested LWV members can review transportation planning information posted on the La Crosse Area Planning (LAP) website http://lapc.org. Watch for public LAP meeting announcements and join in the conversation about innovative approaches to transportation planning. Additional information is posted on the City of La Crosse website http://www.cityoflacrosse.org/Transportation.
 
FYI, the League of Women Voters La Crosse Area has policy positions on transportation and the marsh http://lacrosse.wi.lwvnet.org/about_action.html.
LEAGUE BOOK CLUB

WHEN: Tuesday, January 17, 2017, at 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: Java Vino 1505 Losey Blvd. S. La Crosse, WI 54601
BOOK: "Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?" by Thomas Frank

Thomas Frank also wrote a book about 8 years ago called "What's The Matter With Kansas". Frank points out in this book that Democrats have done little to advance traditional liberal values: expanding opportunity, fighting for social justice, and assuring that workers get a fair deal. He notes that the nation as a whole is on a one-way ticket into the abyss of inequality. Come discuss with us these issues that are important to many of us. 

Hope to see you there!
Maureen Kinney (608) 784-5678 maureen@johnsflaherty.com
Inter League Organization Update
 
As its first action focus, the LWV-Upper Mississippi River Region Inter League Organization chose nutrient pollution in October 2015. Nutrient pollution is the excess nitrogen and phosphorus carried in runoff from city streets and farm fields or flowing from our waste treatment plants fueling the algae blooms creating the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. At home, these algae blooms are lowering property values, hindering recreation, and degrading drinking water quality.

The four states in our ILO region (Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) are engaged in efforts to reduce total nitrogen and phosphorus in our water by 45%. To reach this goal, hundreds of our communities and thousands of our citizens will need to engage in "spreading the word, growing collaboration, and focusing on action" to get the job done.

To that end, the LWV of Jo Daviess County is partnering with our local Rotary Club in sponsoring a regional conference, "Water: We're All in the Same Boat," January 10 and 11th, at Eagle Ridge Inn, in Galena. (See below.) Please encourage the members of your LWV to attend. We are also requesting that you reach out to your local Rotary Club and encourage a Rotarian from your community to attend also. The plan for continued collaboration with our local Rotary Clubs after the conference is attached here.

You will see that use of the Watershed Game plays a prominent part in the suggested programming by our Rotary/LWV partnerships. We have already trained 47 Watershed Game facilitators. We look forward to bringing the presentation on nutrient pollution and the Watershed Game to your local LWV in the near future.

If you have questions or need further information, don't hesitate to call Bonnie at ( 815)777-9282  or email bonniekaycox@gmail.com  

Please join us January 10-11, and note that early registration rates end January 1st. Be sure to check out the special conference room rates at Eagle Ridge Inn under the "Lodging" tab at the top of the conference webpage.

Register online at http://galenaroundtable.com  

League of Women Voters of La Crosse Area              
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