1410 WIZM

Critics of Wisconsin governor Scott Walker's first State of the State of the address last night largely seem to share a common complaint: No specifics. The governor mentioned sacrifice but not necessarily where cuts in government will be made. But, while in La Crosse yesterday, the governor did seem to hint that cuts in Medicaid spending are inevitable. Although, Walker says, there's a place for programs like Badgercare among "the neediest of the needy" and those who need a safety net of healthcare.But, as Walker has repeated since his campaign for governor, he doesn't think state-provided health care should be a permanent state entitlement and recipients need to be transitioned into privately-provided health insurance eventually.

When La Crosse's ethics board cast judgment on the city's mayor, they did so with mercy. Although the board agreed that Matt Harter had crossed ethical lines in meetings with the county solid waste director last year, board members said the mayor should not receive punishment. Instead the recommendation to Harter: Reflect. Repent. Go to ethics classes.  During a city council committee meeting last night, council member Bob Seaquist agreed with those changes and urged his colleagues to go forward with that, saying, "it's time to move on."  Sure enough,  his council committee has recommended to the full council no punishment should be levied against the mayor. Final decision on that should come next week.

Part of being jailed is to rehabilitate and get back into society. Someone forgot to tell that to 56 year old Christopher Lehner of Winona. The Winona County Jail inmate is now wanted after he failed to return to the jail after a brief furlough.

Seems as though jail staff let Lehner go to a class at the Winona County Workforce Center a couple of weeks ago....problem is he never returned and now no one knows where he is. That brought about a charge of escape.

He was doing a year in jail for bouncing checks and forgery..........he'll do a lot more when he goes back home........to jail. 5 years for felony escape.

Don't be too worried about the forecast of the 'monster' snow and ice storm sweeping through the middle of the U-S this week.

Meteorologist Todd Shea at the National Weather Service office in La Crosse says the storm is still more likely to affect southeastern Wisconsin than this area.

Shea predicts the storm system could bring La Crosse a little more light snow, on top of the three inches recorded on Monday. The city had 11 inches of snow for January...an inch-and-a-half below normal for the month.