507 S. 2nd St. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

A New York-based retirement planning company has opened a second headquarters in Milwaukee, adding another technology-oriented tenant to the Eagleknit Innovation Hub in Walker’s Point.

Retirable, founded in 2019, announced Thursday that its Milwaukee office is now open and will initially house approximately 10 employees. The company said it plans to hire more employees as it builds Milwaukee into a second operating hub alongside its New York City headquarters.

The company provides retirement planning, investment management and income planning services, pairing clients with financial advisors while also using automated technology.

Retirable’s Milwaukee expansion comes with a hometown connection. Co-founder and CEO Tyler End grew up in Shorewood and attended the UW-Milwaukee before launching the company in New York in 2019.

“As more and more Americans are turning to Retirable for personalized retirement guidance, we’ve reached a point where establishing a presence beyond New York makes sense,” said End in a statement. “Milwaukee offers an incredible combination of financial services expertise, exceptional talent, and a rapidly developing tech community.”

“On a personal level, it’s also where I grew up, so having the opportunity to build part of Retirable’s future here makes this especially meaningful,” he said.

The company said its number of clients in Milwaukee increased 25% during the past year, while its Midwest client base grew 44%. Retirable said its assets under management increased 110% during the same period and its workforce grew 25%.

The Milwaukee office will primarily serve Retirable’s operations and finance teams and will include a mix of locally hired employees and workers relocating from its New York operation.

Retirable is leasing space from Wangard Partners at the tech hub, 507 S. 2nd St.

“Having a leading fintech company like Retirable establish its second headquarters in Milwaukee is a strong vote of confidence in our city’s talent and momentum we’re seeing across our technology and financial services communities,” said Department of City Development Commissioner Lafayette Crump.

The move adds Retirable to a growing collection of businesses and organizations at Eagleknit and places it within Milwaukee’s recently designated “innovation district,” which is centered on Walker’s Point and extends into portions of the Harbor District, Walker Square and Menomonee Valley.

Wangard redeveloped the former Eagleknit Knitting Mills factory as a technology-focused office complex. The four-story building was constructed in 1928 and originally contained approximately 107,000 square feet. A $30 million redevelopment was completed in 2021. The project included a 30,000-square-foot glass addition designed by Gensler and constructed by Findorff.

National contract furniture dealer Henricksen became one of Eagleknit’s largest tenants earlier this year when it relocated its Milwaukee-area operation from Brookfield. The company opened a 14,500-square-foot office and showroom on the building’s fourth floor for approximately 25 employees.

Other Eagleknit tenants include workforce training nonprofit i.c.stars, Dan Beyer Architects, Tredo Group, REYN Engineering, Forward Community Investments, SRH and Islands of Brilliance.

Retirable was founded by End and Ian Yamey. The privately held company says it has helped thousands of clients develop retirement plans and is backed by investors including Nationwide, Western & Southern Financial Group and Primary Venture Partners. As of 2025, it had raised more than $25 million.

The business is initially operating from the coworking space located in the building.

County Executive David Crowley, Sheriff Denita Ball and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany.

Following U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany‘s attacks on Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Sheriff Denita Ball has found herself in a position of having to defend a program providing digital tablets to inmates in the Milwaukee County Jail.

The Tiffany campaign seized on the issue of jail tablets to attack Crowley after Judge David Borowski questioned why the jail provides them during a court hearing in a high-profile triple-murder case. The defendant in the case, Thomas Zollicoffer, allegedly used a tablet to discuss threatening witnesses.

But it’s Ball who is responsible for overseeing the tablet program in the jail. Now she’s having to defend the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and the tablet program after the Tiffany campaign made it a major angle of attack in the race for governor.

“Our office has an obligation to run the Milwaukee County Jail safely, securely and in a way that holds people accountable when they break the rules,” Ball said in a statement Thursday. “We also have an obligation to make sure the public has accurate information. Misrepresenting how this technology works — or who pays for it — doesn’t make anyone safer. It just spreads misinformation.”

Approximately 20,000 people cycle in and out of custody at the jail every year.

The MCSO provides tablets to all inmates unless a court commissioner or a judge orders that they do not receive one. Inmates can use them to contact defense attorneys or friends and family outside the jail. The tablets come loaded with free educational programs and entertainment options that must be paid for.

Tiffany visited the Milwaukee Police Association offices earlier this week to criticize Crowley as soft on crime, with a particular emphasis on the issue of jail tablets.

Tiffany cited incidents where tablets were misused, and charged that Crowley has not done enough to respond to the problems. The congressman and his campaign have also said the tablets were used to access “child pornography.” A spokesperson for Ball told Urban Milwaukee that is impossible because the tablets are not directly connected to the internet.

Now Ball is attempting to clear the air and misinformation circulating about the jail’s use of tablets.

In her statement, the sheriff explained that the tablets are provided by the jail’s communications contractor, ICSolutions; that they are not paid for by taxpayers; that the tablets are connected to a closed, provider-managed network, not the internet; that inmates can’t contact just anyone, as recipients receive a notification to create an account and accept a message when one is sent; that it’s not possible for the MCSO to monitor every message in real time, but it does revoke access when tablets are misused; and that the use of tablets in corrections settings occurs across the state and country and is not a partisan issue.

During a public event Wednesday, reporters asked Crowley about the use of a jail tablet to contact a victim 1,500 times. “This is a situation that I take very seriously, and we’re having ongoing conversations with the sheriff’s department to figure out what the process was and actually how this actually happened,” responded the county executive.

Crowley also pointed out that the federal Bureau of Prisons recently launched a laptop program and that the state Department of Corrections implemented a similar program while former governor Scott Walker was in office and Tiffany was a member of the state Assembly.

Facing attacks from Tiffany on the issue of public safety, Crowley swung back, saying, “He’s voted to defund our police officers, and I would love for… you all to continue to ask him as to why he voted against releasing the Epstein files.”

In July 2025, Tiffany joined House Republicans in voting down a measure that would have forced the release of documents related to criminal investigations of the sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a former close friend of President Donald Trump. Epstein committed suicide while in custody in 2019.

In November 2025, after sustained public pressure, Tiffany and other House Republicans voted to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act, requiring the U.S. Department of Justice to release the documents.

UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena’s new jalapeño popper brat. Photo by Lauren Hafeman.

At the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, the fall sports season is arriving with new food and beverage options.

“Each year we want to give our guests new experiences,” said executive chef Ryne Harwick. “Anybody can come and have a great sports entertainment experience along with some great new food.”

So what’s to come? Here are the highlights:

Jalapeño popper brat: jalapeño and cheddar brat, herb cream cheese spread, picked jalapeños. Served with kettle chips.

Brisket spud: baked potato stuffed with smoked brisket, garlic butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese, BBQ sauce.

Smashville sandwich: two smashed beef patties, Nashville chicken patty, shredded lettuce, tomato, onion, spicy pickle chips, Nashville secret sauce, griddled brioche bun. Served with fries.

Harwick said he is most excited about the Smashville sandwhich, and credited his senior sous chef Joshua Kutzner with its invention. “It’s exciting because we’ve never had the duality of chicken and burger. It’s a great messy game day meal,” Harwick said.

Also debuting is a dirty soda bar.

Dirty soda is a non-alcoholic soft drink mixed with cream and flavored syrups. The teams that call the arena home—the Milwaukee Admirals, UW-Milwaukee Men’s Basketball and the Milwaukee Wave—created team-themed options. Customization will also be available.

“The Panther Dirty” contains Pepsi, caramel, vanilla and cream.

The “Dirty Wave” contains Pepsi, coconut and mango.

The “Admirals Dirty Blue” contains Pepsi, blue curacao and vanilla.

Drew Dawson, communications and public relations manager at Wisconsin Center District  said per person spending at the arena’s sports teams events has increased 5.37% since the 2023-24 season. Dawson attributes that rise to the arena’s investment into upgrading vending spaces and keeping menus fresh for fans each season.

Sports fans attending the Milwaukee Admirals home opener (vs. the Grand Rapids Griffins) on Oct. 10 will be some of the first to fill their bellies with the arena’s new fare.

Shorewood social studies teacher Sarah Koppling says she incorporates 9/11 into lessons all year long. Photo courtesy of Sarah Koppling

The first time Sarah Kopplin took over a classroom as a student teacher was 9/11.

Kopplin had spent the night before preparing her lesson for the 10th grade world history class in Stillwater, Minnesota.

But by 7:46 a.m. central time, everything changed.

“The principal went on the loudspeaker and announced that all teachers needed to stop teaching and turn on the television set attached to the wall,” Kopplin said. “And we watched the second plane hit the tower.”

Students and staff were sent home for the rest of the day.

Kopplin’s second day wasn’t better — a student in her class was Sikh and wore a head covering that his classmates suddenly associated with Osama bin Laden, the leader of the Muslim extremists that claimed direct responsibility for the 9/11 attacks.

The 10th grader was beaten by other students at the school.

Twenty-five years later, Kopplin is a social studies teacher in the Shorewood School District.

On Friday, she will tell her students about these events and use age appropriate photos to discuss the 9/11 attacks that killed 2,977 people.

But Kopplin says 9/11 is present throughout the school year in her classroom, to teach empathy.

“I actually use the attacks to frame the entirety of my class because it had such a huge impression on me,” Kopplin said. “Having students mistreated because they were Muslim and Sikh and having them associated with terrorists, even though that’s not who they are. That’s really shaped me as an educator.”

While Kopplin, and many of us, are emotionally tied to 9/11, 30 percent of the people living in the United States weren’t born during the attacks, so Wisconsin teachers are teaching what is, for students, history, said Jeremy Stoddard, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Stoddard and his colleagues at Wisconsin Center for Education have looked at how educators across the country do and don’t teach about 9/11 and the War on Terror that followed.

He says over the last 25 years, teaching has changed and the messages have varied depending on the state.

Ten states have passed laws requiring either curriculum or a schoolwide activity, such as a moment of silence or a school assembly on Sept. 11. Florida, for example, requires 45-minutes of instruction about the event, Stoddard said.

Pennsylvania ordered its Department of Education to create curriculum that schools could use, Stoddard said.

In Wisconsin the state Legislature added Sept. 11 to the list of “special observance” days for schools. But there is not a curriculum requirement.

This week the state Department of Public Instruction sent out resources to schools, but nothing is required. Wisconsin is a local control state, leaving decisions on lessons to school districts.

Chuck Taft is a social studies teacher at the University School of Milwaukee. Corrinne Hess/WPR

At the University School of Milwaukee, students will gather outside on Friday morning and hear from six teachers who were on the school’s campus the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

Two of the teachers were students at the time.

Social studies teacher Chuck Taft says the ceremony will be about remembering but also about public memory and shared experiences.

Taft says there are very few events in American history that created shared memories — Pearl Harbor, the Kennedy Assassination, the Challenger explosion and 9/11.

But the students, and some teachers at the University School, weren’t born 25 years ago.

“We’re trying to get a conversation started in our school, and then we’re asking students to take that conversation home and ask their parents ‘Mom, dad, what’s your 9/11 story?” Taft said.

25 years later, Wisconsin schools teaching and observing 9/11 was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Aubrey Jannene fights a giant. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Football season is upon us! While most readers probably have their Sunday plans figured out (go Packers), there are plenty of ways to fill in the rest of your weekend schedule.

Puerto Rican Festival is back and bigger than ever, featuring more food, bigger acts and more Puerto Rican pride. Silver City Fest will celebrate a neighborhood that’s been plagued by recent construction projects and Argren Faire is bringing the Renaissance to Milwaukee.

September 11-12: TosaFest 

TosaFest is celebrating its 50th year and will bring live music, beer, vendors and more to Wauwatosa Village. The festival will feature three stages packed with live music, and guests can sample beers from five different beer gardens. There’s fun for the whole family too – the Kid Zone will feature inflatables, carnival games, face painting and more. TosaFest will run from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday.

September 11-13: Strummerfest MKE

Local bands will pay tribute to legendary rocker Joe Strummer while raising money for Milwaukee Public Schools’ music programs as part of Strummerfest MKE, a single-day music festival hosted at Club Garibaldi. Eight local bands, including Kilbourn, Static Unknown, Que So What and more, will be given 15 minutes each to perform their versions of Strummer songs. Strummerfest MKE will start at 7 p.m. Doors will open at 6 p.m.

September 12: Silver City Fest

Culture, music, interactive art and more will come together in Silver City as part of a festival promoting the neighborhood’s local businesses and rich history. Recently, a major reconstruction project has put local businesses on National Avenue in a tough spot, so it’s more important than ever to get out there and celebrate the shops that help run Silver City. While the festival has traditionally taken place on National Avenue, it has moved to Pierce Street for 2026. The festival is free to attend and will run from noon to 5 p.m.

September 12: Argren Faire

Milwaukee’s version of the Renaissance Faire, dubbed Argren Faire, will once again return to the Riverwest neighborhood. The fair, which will feature artisan vendors, music, interactive events and more and promises to be even bigger than prior years. Be sure to dress up and participate in costume contests, beard contests and feats of strength. Argren Faire will take place on Locust St. outside of Black Husky from noon 8 p.m. and is free to attend.

September 12: Puerto Rican Festival

The 13th annual Puerto Rican Festival will return to the Henry Maier Festival Park and this year the festival is promising bigger headliners, more food and more Puerto Rican pride. The festival will feature performances by main stage headliners Michael Stuart, Dia, BLB and more, and guests can sample Puerto Rican bites from over a dozen food vendors. Folks from the Milwaukee County Zoo will be on site as part of the Wildlife Fun Kids Area, where families can learn about the Puerto Rican Parrot and other animals. Puerto Rican Festival will run from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Puerto Rican Festival website.

September 12-13: IKEA Frank Mots International Kite Festival

Over 600 kites will fill the sky over Lake Michigan as part of the 47th annual IKEA Frank Mots International Kite Festival. Head over to Veterans Park where guests can experience giant kite displays, professional kite flying teams, family activities and more. Families can participate in free kite flying lessons, and be sure to get there early for the grand launch of 600 kites at noon. The festival is free to attend and will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

September 13: Make Art MKE

More than 175 artists and makers will gather at Mount Mary University for Make Art MKE, a long-running outdoor art event held each year on the Sunday after Labor Day. The event will feature fine art, handcrafted goods and other curated products from artists throughout the region and beyond. Visitors can browse the work, meet participating artists and enjoy the Mount Mary campus throughout the day. Make Art MKE will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2900 N. Menomonee River Pkwy. For more information, visit the Make Art MKE website.

Reyna Elizabeth Garcia (Photo courtesy of Voces de la Frontera)

Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) traveled to Leavenworth, Kansas, on Wednesday to visit an immigration detention facility where two Milwaukee women are being held, interview them and check on their welfare. Reyna Elizabeth Garcia and Estenderly Marte Polanco were both arrested during a surge of arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in early July.

Reyna Elizabeth Garcia

Their arrests were described as excessive and violent by advocates from Voces de la Frontera, who monitored the surge and joined Moore on the Kansas visit. Moore said that the Leavenworth ICE facility currently holds 450 people but is designed to hold more than 1,000. She said she saw signs of rapid expansion. Moore fears that the facility will quickly fill up with more people. “They are building so they can fill this thing up with twice as many detainees,” she said.

Garcia and Polanco told Moore that they are being treated as human beings, Moore said. Detainees are allowed to leave their cells and be in a common area during the day, and the facility has plans for an area where detainees will be able to exercise and get access to sunlight. Moore observed various meals being prepared including kosher and vegetarian options, indicating that the facility is making an attempt to meet dietary needs, although the food appeared to be of low quality.

Most of the people held at Leavenworth are not criminals, Moore said. Still, she said, “it is a very depressive setting, it is definitely a prison, and they are aggressively building.”

Officials at the facility denied any medical neglect, Moore said, and the detention center has doctors on call, but no full-time medical staff within the facility itself.

“We had some hard questions for the ICE officials,” Moore said. “We were very curious to see where the murders and rapists were, and they were unable to show us that.”

Garcia was arrested in late May along with her brother and fiancé after ICE agents in unmarked vehicles followed them as they were leaving  a local grocery store in Milwaukee. Her fiancé, Galo Suárez, was later released and told by ICE agents to walk away and to not look back or else he’d face consequences, he said during a Voces press conference after the arrest. Polanco was arrested the same weekend while driving with her 11-year-old son, who was in the back seat when ICE agents pulled her out of her car. During the arrest, agents split Polanco’s lip, threw her to the ground, and at one point placed her in a position where she couldn’t breathe, she said. In both arrests, agents were described by witnesses as mocking and insulting the people they were arresting.

After her visit, Moore described Garcia as extremely depressed. Polanco checks on her, Moore said, adding that Polanco has a strong faith in the power of prayer and uses this to help lift Garcia’s spirits.

Estenderly Marte Polanco (Photo courtesy of Voces de la Frontera)

While Garcia’s fiance was released the same day he was arrested, Moore said that the family later learned that her brother had been deported. Polanco said that she told the agents that she was scared about what would happen to her child, who was born prematurely. He remains traumatized after witnessing her arrest, Moore said, and blames himself for his mother’s detention.

Garcia told Moore that she left Nicaragua because “the politics put me in danger,” only to find herself in a similar situation in the U.S.

Moore criticized the historic level of funding for ICE in recent budgets — more than $120 billion — and said her Democratic colleagues worked together to stop further allocations in the most recent budget reconciliation bill. At Leavenworth, she said, she wondered where all the money was going. “I was looking for the sauna,” she joked. The privately run facility is operated by CoreCivic, which sold the facility to the federal government for $238.4 million — about $300,000 per bed. Moore said it is comparable to other prisons that don’t bring in nearly as much money.

In response to questions from the Examiner about Moore’s visit, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security called Moore’s criticisms of the facility “baseless and false.”

“If she doesn’t like our country’s immigration laws, she should focus on changing them–not political theater,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

“Individuals in ICE detention continue to have access to on-site medical care, community emergency transport services, emergency room care, hospital admissions, and off-site specialty care,” the spokesperson added.

“The men and women of ICE are entrusted with upholding the rule of law and are held to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and ethical conduct,” the spokesperson wrote. “They are trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve dangerous situations to prioritize the safety of the public and our officers. Officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive ongoing use of force training.”

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore visits Kansas ICE facility to check on Milwaukee women was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.

Townhomes at 2034-2038 W. Greenfield Ave. Rendering from VIA CDC.

The City of Milwaukee has selected four development teams to build a new generation of affordable, owner-occupied housing on vacant city lots, nearly seven months after the city originally expected to announce the winners.

The Department of City Development announced Thursday that it is working with Community First, Moxie Development Collective, UniteWI and VIA CDC on its Revive Housing Development: Attached Housing Pilot Program.

The initiative is intended to produce about 20 new homes, including townhouses, duplexes and other forms of “missing middle” housing that fall between detached single-family homes and larger apartment buildings.

The homes would be built on city-owned vacant lots and sold to households earning no more than 80% of the area median income.

The four teams are:

• Community First, working with co-developer VERA Property Management and Engberg Anderson.
• Moxie Development Collective, working with Sean Meyers Architect.
• UniteWI, working with co-developer Emem Group and DreamBuilders.
• VIA CDC, working with BMR Design Group.

Their selection has been a long time coming.

DCD issued a request for qualifications in November 2025 seeking developers interested in creating housing types that are common in older Milwaukee neighborhoods but have rarely been newly constructed in recent decades. Proposals were due Jan. 16, and the department originally anticipated announcing three selected development teams on Feb. 20.

Instead, negotiations continued through the spring.

By May, DCD officials said they were preparing to work with as many as four development teams. One had identified a cluster of vacant lots near King Park as its preferred location, while the other three were looking at sites in the near north side district represented by Ald. Milele A. Coggs, the near northwest side district represented by Ald. Russell W. Stamper, II and the south side district represented by Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa.

DCD’s Thursday announcement did not identify which developer was interested in King Park or assign any of the four teams to specific sites. The department said it is now working with the developers to identify appropriate city-owned lots and advance designs through the city approval process.

Each team will receive a $25,000 design subsidy to develop a housing model that can fit on standard Milwaukee lots and be replicated elsewhere.

The city has $2.8 million available to subsidize construction — $1.6 million approved as part of the city’s 2026 budget and $1.2 million from a federal PRO Housing grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

That funding is now expected to support about 20 homes. When the city solicited developers last fall, it said the pilot could create as many as 25 units.

The subsidy is necessary because the city intends to sell the homes at prices affordable to households earning no more than 80% of the area median income, while construction costs are substantially higher. Conceptual financial models issued with the 2025 solicitation estimated that about $100,000 in subsidy could be required for each unit.

“Milwaukee families deserve more opportunities to own a home and build wealth in their neighborhood,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson in announcing the selections. “By putting vacant City-owned lots back to productive use and supporting new, affordable homes, we are investing in Milwaukee neighborhoods and creating more pathways for homeownership.”

The program is part of Johnson’s declared 2026 “Year of Housing” and the “revive” component of his broader Raze & Revive initiative, which was launched in 2024 as the city accelerated demolition of deteriorated tax-foreclosed houses.

The connection between the Revive program and where the new homes would be built became a point of contention at City Hall this spring.

Johnson’s administration proposed using revenue generated by The Brewery District to support housing development on a large collection of vacant lots near King Park, immediately west of Interstate 43.

The city is pursuing the acquisition of 19 privately owned lots there and would combine them with 19 city-owned parcels to assemble nearly two full blocks for new development. A tax incremental financing district amendment included $1.5 million to support housing development and another $1.5 million for site acquisition, preparation and infrastructure.

But Coggs and Ald. Robert Bauman questioned why the King Park development was being tied to Revive.

Coggs said the city should ensure that neighborhoods experiencing the most recent demolitions also receive a substantial share of the investment generated by the program. Most of the vacant King Park lots, in contrast, are the legacy of a sweeping urban renewal program that demolished approximately 900 homes in the area beginning in the 1960s.

Bauman, whose district includes the King Park site, argued that its proximity to Downtown, Marquette University, Aurora Sinai Medical Center and the Milwaukee County Courthouse presented an opportunity for a larger mixed-income development rather than a project tied specifically to the subsidized Revive program.

DCD officials stressed at the time that no existing Revive money was being shifted to King Park and that the additional TIF funding would expand the overall pool available for housing.

The Common Council ultimately approved the broader financing plan, but additional council votes will be necessary before specific housing developments can proceed.

DCD said Thursday that the four selected teams will present their proposals to the Common Council later this fall.

“Expanding the types of housing we build is an important part of addressing Milwaukee’s housing needs,” said DCD Commissioner Lafayette Crump. “This initiative gives us an opportunity to work directly with local development teams to build new attached housing models and turn underutilized land into high-quality, affordable homes that fit within Milwaukee’s existing neighborhoods.”

The program grew out of the city’s Housing Element plan, formerly known as Growing MKE. The comprehensive plan update calls for allowing and encouraging more housing types, including townhouses, rowhouses and duplexes, as a way to increase the city’s housing supply and provide more options at different price points.

Protester Jennie Klecker participates in a march for abortion rights Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023, in Madison, Wis. “Theres nothing more important right now for my kids,” she said. Angela Major/WPR

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin filed a new lawsuit challenging Wisconsin abortion restrictions Thursday, just days after the Wisconsin Supreme Court returned to work with a newly cemented 5-2 liberal majority in place.

The lawsuit, filed in Dane County against Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, argues that two Wisconsin laws violate the state constitution’s guarantee of personal liberty.

One of those laws requires people seeking abortions to wait 24 hours between requesting an abortion and receiving one. The other states that only licensed physicians may provide abortions, which limits a person’s ability to self-administer abortion drugs through telehealth.

“This case asks our court to recognize … that our constitutional freedom includes the ability to make deeply personal decisions about our reproductive health care without unnecessary government interference,” said Tanya Atkinson, the president of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, during a press briefing announcing the lawsuit.

The case names Ozanne as a representative of all Wisconsin district attorneys, because they would prosecute violations of the rule that only physicians can administer abortions, said Diane Welsh, a lawyer for Planned Parenthood.

“Anywhere in the state where an abortion would be provided, there could be criminal charges for a person who’s not a physician,” said Welsh.

Lawsuits challenging Wisconsin’s abortion restrictions have been anticipated since Roe vs. Wade — which federally protected abortion access — was overturned in 2022, effectively throwing the issue back to the states. The most significant challenge was over a Civil War-era statute that had been interpreted as banning abortion in Wisconsin, and which went back into effect when Roe was overturned.

That law was at the heart of campaigns to elect liberal justices to the state Supreme Court, and last year, the high court overturned the statute, allowing abortions to be administered within the state under certain restrictions.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court found that the 19th-century law had been superseded by a series of additional restrictions passed in the ensuing decades. Immediately, abortion advocates signaled they might challenge those restrictions.

Thursday’s announcement makes good on those possibilities. In the briefing, attorneys for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin argued that restricting a person’s ability to use telehealth appointments for medication abortions, and requiring a person to receive counseling and wait a full day before receiving abortion care, are unnecessary and illegal barriers to healthcare access.

“Through this case, we are asking Wisconsin courts to recognize that these restrictions conflict with the freedoms and protections guaranteed to each of us under our state’s constitution,” said Atkinson. “It’s about whether our constitutional freedoms belong to each of us, or whether the government can make our most personal decisions for us.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Wisconsin Right to Life said Planned Parenthood is seeking a “permanent constitutional shield” for abortion access.

“This lawsuit isn’t about access,” said Samantha Craig. “It’s about removing the last few guardrails standing between a woman and the procedure table. It is incredible to us that such basic protections for informed consent and women’s safety are disregarded for the sake of protecting Planned Parenthood’s abortion-first business model.”

The Wisconsin Supreme Court, which would have the final say in the case, has a definitive liberal slant that is all but guaranteed to be in place for years to come. Liberal Justice Chris Taylor, whose 10-year term began in August, was once a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood. Liberal Justice Susan Crawford, who was sworn in a year earlier, once represented the group as a private attorney.

As Wisconsin Supreme Court starts new term, Planned Parenthood challenges abortion restrictions was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

(Left to right) Erick Shambarger, Danielle Bly, Ald. Scott Spiker and Mayor Cavalier Johnson. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson held a ribbon cutting Thursday to celebrate a new solar array near Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport that triples the city’s solar power generation.

The 4.6-megawatt solar array, which is substantially complete, was built on a former city landfill at 1600 E. College Ave. in partnership with We Energies. It expands a previous 2.25-megawatt array finished in 2021.

The 6.8-megawatt system is the largest solar array in the history of the city of Milwaukee. It is capable of powering 80 city buildings with 100% renewable energy.

“Supporting clean renewable energy is really important to me. It’s really important to the community overall in Milwaukee as well, because we all need reliable energy sources to power our buildings, to have our lights on, support our transit systems, and so much more now,” the mayor said at a ribbon cutting event Thursday.

The new system complements another “utility-scale” array built by the city and We Energies in Caledonia. Together, they now supply the city with 9.6 megawatts of renewable energy.

The projects were developed through the Renewable Pathways pilot program, which allows We Energies to finance the development of solar power by charging the city a higher rate for electricity. The city is also leasing the landfill to We Energies for approximately $800 an acre.

As part of the layered agreement, the city also secured workforce requirements from We Energies. Contractors Westphal & Co. and SunVest Solar were required to hire unemployed or underemployed city residents to work at least 20% of the total hours on the project.

After the lease payments, the new solar array will cost taxpayers about $84,000 a year in additional energy costs. According to a 2020 report, the city spends about $4 million on electricity and natural gas for buildings, $3.5 million on street lights and $6 million on power for the Milwaukee Water Works.

“This community solar project will help the city meet its environmental goals and provide our customers affordable, reliable and clean energy,” said Danielle Bly, vice president of supplier diversity with We Energies. “The hundreds of panels on this site are capable of powering about 2,000 homes.”

The solar arrays help the city achieve climate goals laid out in the Milwaukee Climate & Equity Plan. They are, however, just one of 10 big ideas in the plan the city is working on, said Erick Shambarger, director of environmental sustainability for the city. “We’re also working to get electric vehicles and help homeowners save on their energy bills through both efficiency and solar,” he said.

City buildings, including firehouses, libraries and police stations, will soon have signs indicating they are 100% powered by renewable energy, said Shambarger.

The new array near the airport took substantially longer to develop than the system in Caledonia, despite being approved at the same time. Shambarger said the site’s history as a landfill was to blame. We Energies didn’t want to build there, but the city wanted to have a project within the boundaries of Milwaukee, he previously said. The site is capped with clay, and the racks supporting the solar panels could not be drilled into the ground. There were also a number of approvals needed from local entities, including the airport, before construction could move forward, Shambarger said.

The Caledonia array opened in September 2025.

More recently, the completed smaller arrays on the roofs of the Department of Public Works field headquarters, 3850 N. 35th St. and the Milwaukee Police Department‘s District 3 station, 2333 N. 49th St. Another 210 kilowatts of solar arrays were also installed on three city libraries.

Gallery

A Flock Safety automated license plate reading camera. Photo by Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Municipalities in Waukesha County are facing a lawsuit over their use of Flock Safety’s license plate reader camera system.

The conservative law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, or WILL, filed the suit, arguing law enforcement members in the municipalities are using the camera database system without a search warrant, violating the Fourth Amendment.

The suit was filed Thursday in Waukesha County Circuit Court against the City of Muskego, City of Oconomowoc, City of New Berlin, Village of Mukwonago, City of Waukesha, City of Delafield, Village of Hartland, City of Brookfield, Village of Menomonee Falls, Village of Elm Grove and Village of Pewaukee, as well as Waukesha County.

Dan Lennington, the managing vice president and deputy counsel for WILL, said they are asking the court to declare that law enforcement in the county must obtain a search warrant before they use the Flock system.

“And that a warrant is required under the U.S. Constitution, specifically the Fourth Amendment, to search this database, which is a really powerful database that tracks your daily movements, just like a lot of other technologies do,” Lennington said.

Data from the cameras can be accessed by other law enforcement agencies.

Lennington said there are examples of misuse of the technology by police officers in Wisconsin and across the nation.

“If there just would have been some sort of oversight, like a warrant requirement from a judge, then these abuses would have been caught,” he said.

“That’s really the purpose of the Fourth Amendment, is to provide a check on law enforcement and to make sure that when they’re using very powerful surveillance tools, like Flock cameras, that those requests are reviewed before they’re put in the field,” he added.

The lawsuit comes as some local governments and law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin have moved to cut ties with Flock Safety. Opponents of the technology have raised privacy concerns and worries about how the data can be accessed and shared.

Some local leaders have said the technology is a tool that can be used to improve public safety.

Lennington said WILL is not asking that the municipalities cancel contracts with Flock Safety.

“We’re not asking that the cameras be taken down,” he said. “We’re asking that the constitutional standard be applied.”

What the complaint says

There are more than 120 Flock cameras installed in Waukesha County, according to the complaint. The complaint says the 11 municipalities named in the lawsuit, and Waukesha County, all have contracts with Flock Safety.

The municipalities and the county have, “granted police officers permission to search a surveillance network that records, tracks, and predicts the whole of Plaintiffs’ physical movements,” the complaint said.

“This permission — searching the whole of Plaintiffs’ past, present, and future physical movements without a warrant or probable cause — violates the Fourth Amendment’s right to be free from unreasonable searches,” the complaint said.

The complaint said the Flock database, or the “Flock Location Database,” has photos and videos from the cameras in Waukesha County, as well as from more than 1,500 Flock cameras across the state and around 120,000 Flock cameras across the nation.

The complaint said the local governments, “allow their employees (typically police officers) to search the Flock Location Database and use Flock’s advanced tools without obtaining a warrant.”

“Defendants also do not require probable cause before searching the Flock Location Database or to use Flock’s advanced tools,” the complaint said.

The complaint claims movements “are tracked and recorded in this database.” It said the cameras record the location of a vehicle and the time, as well as details like the vehicle’s make and model.

The lawsuit alleges the database is a “database of individuals’ physical location information,” and therefore, “the Fourth Amendment demands a warrant based on probable cause before any search (or a valid exception),” the complaint said.

Lennington said a valid exception could include an “emergency exception.”

In Muskego, police officers searched the Flock database over 300 times from July 25 and Aug. 24, according to the complaint. Muskego has 9 Flock cameras, the complaint says.

“Other agencies ran searches on the Flock Location Database that included the City of Muskego cameras over 900,000 times during the same period,” the complaint said.

NoCams Muskego is named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Pete Karas, who is running for Wisconsin Secretary of State as a member of the Green Party, is the group’s co-founder. He agrees that a warrant should be required in order to use the database.

“If the government wants to search your cell phone, they need to get a warrant, or your Google history, they need a warrant,” Karas said. “But in this case, they can monitor and track you, and no warrant is needed.”

Municipalities in Waukesha County sued over use of Flock camera system  was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Immy Kaggwa. Photo courtesy of Immy’s African Cuisine.

Immy’s African Cuisine, one of Milwaukee’s only restaurants specializing in East African fare, is set to launch a line of freezer-friendly “take and bake” entrées — designed to bring the restaurant’s authentic African home-style dishes from their kitchen to yours.

Owner Immy Kaggwa said after “a year and some months” of working on the idea, “everything is ready to go” and will launch the offering before the Thanksgiving holiday season.

The feature dish of the take-and-bake line is egusi, a traditional stew made with crushed melon seeds, fresh ginger, garlic and other spices. It will be offered in chicken, beef and mushroom varieties. The mushroom option incorporates okra and collard greens. A navy bean stew and fried spinach dish are also set to launch.

“We are going to start small,” Kaggwa said. “But if customers want more options, we’ll go from there.”

Each take and bake package includes microwave, stovetop and oven heating instructions, as well as a spice level indicator. The navy bean stew, for example, is a “mild” spice level, while the beef egusi is “medium.”

The take and bake packages will be for sale exclusively at the restaurant, 2847 N. Oakland Ave. The price of each take and bake will be dependent on its weight, but Kaggwa offered a range of $7-$9 for the chicken egusi and $6-$7 for the lighter mushroom egusi.

Kaggwa opened Immy’s African Cuisine as a brick and mortar location in 2022, after operating a food truck under the same name for several years. Since then, the restaurant has garnered more than 500 Google reviews, with an average score of 4.6.

“We finally made it and it’s going well,” said Kaggwa. “We are thankful to our customers.”

U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden

Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden touted President Donald Trump’s healthcare agenda during a speech at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention.

Van Orden, who was among the first speakers at the event, credited Trump with helping him bring billions in new federal funding to Wisconsin hospitals, which Democrats deny.

The opening night of the two-day midterm convention in Dallas featured speaker after speaker hailing Trump’s accomplishments. They also vowed not to let Democrats make him a lame duck by flipping the GOP’s slim majorities in the U.S. House and Senate.

When he took the stage, Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, highlighted his career serving as a former combat medic, paramedic and Navy SEAL. He said it’s given him insight into the need for high quality “and actually affordable healthcare” in Wisconsin.

“You know who else knows this?” asked Van Orden. “Our great president Donald J. Trump. He is fighting to make quality healthcare a reality for everyday Americans, and that’s why President Trump and the Republicans secured $50 billion for a rural healthcare infrastructure transformation program.”

Van Orden said the funding included in the 2025 “Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed by Republicans and signed by Trump represents the “largest investment in rural healthcare in the history of our nation.”

Continuing on his healthcare theme, Van Orden said he worked personally with Trump and fellow House Republicans “to level up our Medicaid assessments and bringing billions of dollars back to Wisconsin’s BadgerCare program.”

“These investments have made a real difference to real people all over rural America, including back home at Black River Falls Memorial Hospital,” said Van Orden. “It’s where our awesome doctors can now spend less time worrying about the future of the hospital and more time taking care of their patients, who are their neighbors and that they love.”

Van Orden’s claim about Medicaid assessments has already been disputed by Democrats, including Gov. Tony Evers, who said the additional federal funding for BadgerCare was only possible because Republican and Democratic state lawmakers passed the current state budget before the federal spending bill was signed by Trump.

National Democrats have been targeting Van Orden’s 3rd Congressional District seat for more than a year and are backing Eau Claire Democrat Rebecca Cooke’s third attempt to take it. She came within 3 percentage points of defeating Van Orden in 2024, when he ran several points behind Trump in the district.

Minutes after he finished speaking in Texas Wednesday afternoon, national Democrats were already attacking him. A statement from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee accused him of “lying about his record gutting health care” because the 2025 bill he touts cut billions in Medicaid spending.

“Derrick Van Orden voted for the largest Medicaid cuts in history, stripping health care from millions and risking rural health services, he took cash from the health insurers and drug companies and sided with them to keep costs high – all to lower taxes for his special interest donors,” said DCCC spokesperson Katie Smith.

This is the first time the Republican Party has ever held a midterm convention, which serves as part rally and part fundraiser, with tickets selling for $20,000 or more. A number of Wisconsin Republicans made the trip, including state GOP Chair Brian Schimming, U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, and Michael Alfonso, the son-in-law of U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who is running for the state’s 7th Congressional District.

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor, said he wouldn’t make the convention because of prescheduled campaign events.

Throughout the first night of the GOP event it was clear the focus was really on Trump, who has seen his worst approval ratings on record in polling this year. One by one, Republicans hailed Trump’s accomplishments during his second term in the White House, with Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters describing Trump as “the best president this country has ever had.”

“Republicans deliver results, and if Democrats take even one chamber of Congress, the agenda stops,” said Greuters. “We’re sure as hell not going to let that happen!”

Other speakers accused Democrats and their candidates of being communists in favor of open border immigration policies, higher taxes and allowing boys to compete in girls’ school sports.

Van Orden focuses on healthcare, Trump at Republican midterm convention in Texas was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Oak Creek Power Plant. Photo taken November 13, 2021 by Dave Reid.

At a rally in Milwaukee last week, community organizers, local leaders and environmental activists voiced their opposition to We Energies’ plan to raise rates by $13.35 per month in 2027 and another $8.69 per month in 2028, adding up to about $22 more per month after two years.

This would bring the total number of rate hikes since 2020 to six, they noted.

Most of the speakers complained that the utility has continued to reap massive profits and returns to shareholders — and paid its CEO $12 million in 2025 — while many Milwaukee families are struggling to make ends meet.

They might have been more outraged if they knew just how much money has gone to the company’s top executives since 2020. A check of the company’s annual reports shows these payments:

– President and CEO Scott Lauber received $11.8 million in 2025 and a total of $48.3 million for the six years from 2020 through 2025.

– Executive Vice President and CFO Xia Liu received $5.1 million in 2025 and a total of $26.7 million from 2020 through 2025.

-Executive VP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary Margaret C. Kelsey was paid $2.98 million in 2025 and $16.4 million from 2020-2025.

– Executive VP for external affairs Robert M. Garvin was paid $2.68 million in 2025 and $16.2 million from 2023 to 2025.

– Executive VP and COO Michael Hooper is listed for just two years, earning $3.6 million in 2025 and a total of $6.3 million for 2024 and 2025.

– In addition, there were substantial payments to retired president and CEO J. Kevin Fletcher totaling $2.6 million from 2020 through 2022, and to executive chairman Gale Klappa during those same two years, paying him $3.3 million.

All told, over a six-year period, seven top executives received $119.8 million.

“It is beyond disgusting that these executives are getting these kinds of salaries while overcharging people for electricity and shutting off power for the people who need it the most,” said state Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) in comments to Urban Milwaukee.

“They are putting profits over people,” said Antonio Butts, executive director of the local non-profit Walnut Way Conservation Corp, who was one of the speakers at last week’s rally.

“Currently, one in 10 We Energies customers is disconnected on an annual basis. In the 53206 [ZIP code], one in four customers are disconnected by a monopoly whose responsibility is to provide reliable service to customers,” Butts told Urban Milwaukee.

“There are stories of people having to rely on candlelight because they can’t afford electricity,” Larson added.

But Brendan Conway, spokesperson for We Energies, via email said that less than seven cents per month is included in the average energy bill for those employees and incentive compensation (a big part of executive pay) is paid using stockholder dollars.

And where do the stockholders get the money? “Everything that We Energies uses to operate is paid for by southeast Wisconsin consumers,” Butts responds. “So when an attorney fights to get the company higher rates, it’s paid for by the ratepayers.”

Are there other top employees at We Energies earning million-dollar salaries? The company doesn’t disclose this. “Like all publicly traded companies, we provide the compensation of the CEO, CFO and other named executive officers,” Conway said.

But We Energies is not like other publicly traded companies. It is a publicly regulated monopoly subject to state oversight. Does the Public Service Commission request detailed information on, say, the top 10 paid employees? “There is no PSC requirement to publicly list compensation beyond SEC requirements,” Conway said.

Over his 22 years as the top executive at We Energies, Klappa was paid $188.4 million, as Urban Milwaukee has previously reported. When he retired, the company board of directors offered a laudatory statement about his record of driving profits. “Under his leadership, the company has achieved record financial performance — delivering 23 consecutive years of dividend increases, consistent earnings growth and unprecedented capital investments,” the statement noted.

Not a word was offered about ratepayer shut-offs or making electricity more affordable.

Firefighters work to extinguish a second fire at Lincoln Avenue Elementary School on July 6. Photo by Urban Milwaukee staff.

The charred remains of Lincoln Avenue Elementary School will stand for several more weeks, at least.

After the school was destroyed in a five-alarm fire on June 30, Milwaukee Public Schools and city officials talked openly about a quick demolition to avoid the risk of collapse. But the structure has sat as a damaged mass ever since.

After issuing a request for proposals (RFP) to find a demolition contractor, MPS is going back to square one. It reissued the RFP Wednesday.

“Our initial request yielded one bid. To make sure that all possible partners are aware, and to create the best possible process to safely demolish this building, we reissued the request,” said a district spokesperson.

The district initially requested bids in mid-August, but that followed a district executive’s July 6 meeting that a RFP would be forthcoming “as fast as possible.”

Bids in the latest round are due Sept. 21 at 1:30 p.m.

The three-story building, 1817 W. Lincoln Ave., was constructed in 1917 and later expanded.

Video evidence shows that the source of the fire was rags in a hallway garbage can.

The students and staff of Lincoln Avenue Elementary School have moved to Casimir Pulaski High School. Urban Milwaukee education writer Terry Falk recently covered the red-carpet welcome students were given at their temporary home and the challenges they face.

MPS has not released plans for a new building at the Lincoln Avenue site, but district officials have committed to a public engagement process.

July 6 Photos

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June 30 Photos

School Photos

Milwaukee Fire Department engine pulls out of Station 26. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

With the price of fire trucks and engines surging and the city already struggling to replace what it has, could the Milwaukee Fire Department supplement its fleet with smaller vehicles and use them to respond to nonfire calls?

A request to study the idea, led by Ald. Peter Burgelis, was inserted into the 2026 city budget as a footnote.

“We have spent a good deal of time in the Milwaukee Fire Department exploring this concept,” said Fire Chief Aaron Lipski to the Public Safety & Health Committee on July 23.

Three different pilot phases have been conducted. “We have done a variety of vehicle deployment concepts within those,” said Lipski.

The trials started in 2016 with a “cross-staffing model” that didn’t work. “We essentially loaded up a Suburban with some EMS equipment, parked it next to a fire truck, and if it was a medical run, the crew had to grab all their stuff off the engine, jump on the Suburban and take the run,” said Lipski. “This was terminated after we were unable to respond to numerous fire calls while returning from EMS calls.”

All MFD firefighters are cross-trained and licensed as emergency medical technicians.

In 2019, the department conducted a second pilot with a “paramedic supplement model.” Two paramedics were assigned to an SUV and responded to eight lower-priority, less severe calls. “We tried that; that showed some promise,” said the chief. A third pilot was conducted out of necessity in 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MFD’s report says the SUVs could handle up to 331 runs per month in place of larger vehicles.

That would not only reduce use of the department’s heavy equipment, but also reduce burnout among crews.

But to achieve citywide coverage, MFD estimates it would need four to eight staffed vehicles to keep crews from spending too much time driving.

Lipski said obstacles remain to deploying the concept: the start-up costs of more than $100,000 per vehicle plus staffing, compensating for the fact that the crews can’t be used to respond to fires, and fitting the vehicles in the city’s existing fire stations.

“That’s a very real problem. Our infrastructure would need to be changed,” he said.

He said MFD data and peer departments also don’t indicate there would be maintenance savings.

But Lipski is looking at something else that could improve the fleet’s reliability: more mechanics.

“Adding people is not en vogue right now, obviously, with the tightening budgets, but we think it’s a solution that might work out,” he said.

With MFD having stood up a new maintenance facility, Lipski believes more manpower could improve fleet availability.

“We have a ton of our fleet that is just waiting in queue for maintenance,” he said.

The chief said it would also expand the city’s ability to repair equipment from other area departments, a revenue-generating activity. MFD and other Milwaukee County fire departments participate in a growing service-sharing agreement where departments routinely cross municipal boundaries to respond to emergencies.

Another thing the department is already doing is using data to improve its dispatching, which Lipski believes could cut thousands of vehicle runs per year. “We are trying to always send the bare minimum of what could be needed for the maximum worst-case scenario,” he said.

Council members didn’t discuss the mechanics, but instead asked more questions about the paramedic model.

“I appreciate the in-depth study,” said Ald. Scott Spiker. “The question is the finances to make those extra four or five units fly.” He asked if MFD could deploy the paramedic supplement model within MFD’s existing budget.

“There’s no way,” said Lipski of his $165 million budget.

“Would it be worthwhile to start with one or two?” asked Burgelis.

“No,” said Assistant Chief Joshua Parish. He said the pilot had two units. “You had two Suburbans running lights and sirens across 100 square miles of city for like 15 hours at a time. The report from them was it was useful, but it was way too much.”

What about putting them in the highest volume stations and targeting geographic areas?

“Now we’re back to where we put them. The highest volume stations don’t have any room,” said Parish.

Lipski said the stations in the oldest part of the city, where the demand is, were originally built for horse-drawn equipment.

“We literally don’t have the space to put a VW Bug in there in addition to what we already have,” he said.

No one asked if red Volkswagen Beetles would make good paramedic vehicles.

The council is scheduled to begin its budget deliberations in late September.

Scooter riders in the Van Buren Street protected bike lane. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Milwaukee’s emerging network of protected bike lanes and trails secured a major boost in late August when the Wisconsin Department of Transportation awarded the city funding for six projects.

The awards, which allocate federal funding for local projects, will provide more than $10 million to cover the cost of building bike lanes on N. Holton and W. Burleigh streets, extending the Powerline Trail at two different points, improving pedestrian safety along N. Teutonia Avenue and upgrading the city’s traffic signal infrastructure to reduce congestion.

The Holton Street protected bike lane would extend a protected bike lane network out of Downtown and into Riverwest and Harambee. A two-way protected bike lane was constructed in recent years on N. Van Buren Street, as the street is known south of the Holton Street Bridge, and $1.7 million in funding would help extend the connection farther north.

W. Burleigh Street would also gain a protected bike lane as part of a $1.5 million grant award. The Burleigh Street protected bike lane would run along the street as it passes Holy Cross Cemetery and Lincoln Memorial Cemetery between N. 60th and N. 72nd streets. The protected bike lane would fill a gap between planned protected bike lanes along W. Lisbon Avenue and W. Roosevelt Drive.

The two Powerline Trail projects would extend a rapidly growing southside trail. The trail’s primary route is an east-west leg paralleling W. Howard Avenue. A $1.6 million grant would fund a 1.85-mile northern extension between W. Plainfield and W. Cleveland avenues, west of S. 99th Street. A separate private grant was recently announced for that trail extension and a Department of Public Works said the department will pursue a final cost estimate before deciding which grant to leverage. The trail is intended to eventually extend north to the Hank Aaron State Trail.

A second Powerline Trail grant would add a looping route to continue the trail around Interstate 43/94 and link with other improvements made to the north. It would add a 0.5-mile protected bike lane on S. 6th Street between W. Howard and W. Bolivar avenues, bisecting the planned trail network at W. Waterford Avenue, and a 0.5-mile on-street safety improvement between S. 6th and S. 3rd streets along W. Bolivar Avenue. and north on S. 3rd Street back to the powerline corridor at W. Waterford Avenue. The grant for that project is $1.56 million.

An additional $1.7 million grant will fund pedestrian and transit improvements along 2.2 miles of N. Teutonia Avenue, including the installation of bus boarding islands. The islands are designed to improve safety and bus access by creating protected waiting areas, shortening pedestrian crossing distances and adding separation between sidewalks and traffic. They can also make bus service more efficient by allowing buses to pick up and drop off passengers without pulling in and out of traffic.

The city was also awarded a $2.4 million grant to continue upgrading its traffic signal infrastructure, building on earlier grants aimed at modernizing the city’s transportation network. The project will install fiber-optic and ethernet-based communications at 34 intersections along six corridors, allowing for real-time traffic monitoring, improved data collection and adaptive signal timing. The improvements are intended to reduce congestion, shorten response times when traffic issues arise and cut vehicle delays and emissions.

The protected bike lane awards come from the state’s Transportation Alternatives Program. The other awards are from the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program. Both are state-administered programs funded by federal formula funds.

Each grant requires a local match, often at least 20%, to access the funding.

Mara’s Grill. Image from Google Maps.

Mara’s Grill, a beloved Guatemalan-Mexican fusion restaurant in the Kops Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side, announced yesterday that it will close on Sept. 19.

In a phone conversation with Urban Milwaukee, co-owner David Hernandez said an unexpected increase in rent is pricing the restaurant out. In June of this year, he said, “I was told everything would stay the same. Then last week, around August 30, I was asked to sign a new lease.” That new lease, he said, included a rent increase of “over 100%.”

“The rent increase is something we didn’t expect,” Hernandez said. “If it was $200 more, we could have made it work. That was not the case.”

Mara’s Grill, 3441 N. 84th St., is one of the only restaurants in Milwaukee to serve authentic, scratch-made Guatemalan dishes. Hernandez said that business has been slow since construction on W. Lisbon Avenue began in the spring of 2025.

“It’s been an honor and pleasure to serve you for almost 11 years,” reads the restaurant’s closing announcement.

In the hours after the announcement, loyal customers took to Reddit and Facebook to share their grievances regarding the upcoming closure and admiration for the spot.

“This sucks. Not a lot of options for home made Mexican in the area, this one was fantastic. Loved everything we tried,” wrote one commenter on Reddit.

Hernandez said he and his wife, co-owner and namesake of the restaurant, Mara Taracena, plan to take “a month off” after closing on Sept. 19. In that time, he said, they will search for a new spot to restart operations.

Hernandez said that if they are able to find a new location, much of the menu will stay the same. He said they hope to find a space with more seating options than the N. 84th St. location provided.

Area Ald. Lamont Westmoreland said the restaurant was his family’s “go-to” and he would work to find it a new home after the property was sold.

According to city records, Jakub Lepold and his family have owned the property for several decades.

Potholes in Riverwest. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Want to get a pothole on your street filled in Milwaukee?

Get in line, and pray you’re in the right location.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson went public several months ago about the city’s record influx of reported potholes and a plan to use overtime to catch up, but data and a string of emails from the Department of Public Works reveal the city is nowhere near achieving that goal. The emails also reveal that a geographic challenge effectively prevents the city from filling potholes on the city’s South Side with overtime.

In an email circulated to council members and their aides, Chad Chrisbaum, transportation infrastructure engineer in charge, said DPW continues to deal with an “unprecedented number of requests.”

Through the end of August, the city received 24,000 pothole reports, compared to a record 16,804 in all of 2014. DPW has filled 15,300 of the 2026 requests and reports an average response time of 25 days for this year.

“The plan set forth in April of this year has yielded a record number of completed work requests, but the number of unaddressed fixes remains historically high,” wrote Chrisbaum. “Mandatory and voluntary overtime has tested our crews, both physically and mentally. They continue to perform each day knowing that the task, while not overly complicated, is monumental in size.”

In April, Johnson and City Engineer Kevin Muhs said a series of April showers and the freeze-thaw cycle likely caused the record influx. The city was first focused on the busiest streets.

But Chrisbaum said DPW has switched from focusing on arterial streets and hazards to side streets and alleys. It is still prioritizing areas with a “significant concentration of requests.”

“Unfortunately, this can leave some geographically isolated requests unaddressed for months at a time,” he wrote.

That might explain why a series of potholes this author reported near Humboldt Park have sat unpatched for more than 100 days.

But another factor could be at play.

The Geography of Potholes

An email to Ald. Peter Burgelis from a DPW street maintenance manager says potholes on the northwest side are being prioritized. “At this time, the crews are primarily working on the northwest side of the city,” the email says. It is dated Aug. 31.

But that email, said a DPW spokesperson, applies only to weekday overtime when crews work shorter shifts.

DPW buys its hot-patch asphalt from Stark Pavement Corp., which has a plant at 11710 W. Hampton Ave. near Menomonee Falls. “To maximize productivity, we are assigning crews to work as close to the plant as practical. With the ongoing interstate construction activity, crews have experienced significant travel delays. In some cases, by the time a crew picked up asphalt material and traveled to its assigned location on the southside, it was nearly time to return to the DPW headquarters located on N 35th and Capitol,” said the manager.

“They prioritize the south side during other times to make up for that,” said the spokesperson. The city’s north and central areas are also receiving more reported potholes currently, the spokesperson said. “There’s no general deprioritizing.”

According to the email, two overtime crews are currently assigned to the South Side (south of W. Greenfield Avenue). In April, DPW reported having 12 pothole crews in the field. It is now down to nine crews. Six to eight crews work during weekday overtime.

If the issue persists, the city might have to consider spending millions reversing a two-decade-old decision. The city used to have its own asphalt plant, centrally located in the Menomonee Valley, but sold the site on S. 6th St. to enable the development of the Harley-Davidson Museum.

To date, no combination of new equipment, a Milwaukee Brewers sponsorship and AI detection has been enough to bail the city out.

What’s Next?

“Your continued public-facing support for the work we do is greatly appreciated as we try to navigate these incredibly difficult circumstances and keep morale high,” concluded Chrisbaum’s email to the council. “As public servants our primary goal is to serve you and your constituents who are also our neighbors, family, and friends. We do understand your frustration in having to explain delays to unhappy constituents and applaud your patience.”

“In other words, DPW is failing to get the job done, with little hope of catching up before winter,” said Ald. Robert Bauman of the department’s response.

Cold temperatures could compound the problem. As temperatures drop, asphalt plants close and the city must switch to using cold-patch asphalt that doesn’t last as long.

But Ald. Peter Burgelis believes he has a potential solution: hire private contractors. “The numbers tell the story: our crews are breaking records filling potholes, and they still can’t keep up with the amount of requests,” said Burgelis in a statement. “Residents don’t care whose truck shows up. They care that the road gets fixed. When demand overwhelms our capacity, we need to add capacity, not add months to the wait.”

The Public Works Committee is scheduled to consider Burgelis’ idea Thursday. Chrisbaum’s email indicates DPW will offer support.

2023 Congressional Districts.

Recent redistricting reform succeeded in making Wisconsin’s Assembly and Senate districts far less gerrymandered. However, the eight Wisconsin congressional districts were left unchanged.

Over the past year, two lawsuits were brought against Wisconsin’s gerrymandered congressional delegation. One is called Elizabeth Bothfeld et al. v. Wisconsin Elections Commission et al. (“Bothfeld” for short) and was brought with the aid of the Elias Law Group, whose website describes it as “a mission-driven firm committed to helping Democrats win, citizens vote, and progressives make change.”

The second lawsuit is called Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy et al. v. Wisconsin Elections Commission et al. (WBLD). It was brought with the aid of Law Forward, self-described as “Wisconsin’s only nonprofit pro-democracy law firm. We fight every day to revitalize our democracy and expand our rights under the Wisconsin Constitution.”

In the Bothfeld case, plaintiffs argue that the use of a “least-change” criterion to guide redistricting violated the separation of powers principle. Essentially, applying least change in updating Wisconsin’s legislative districts to reflect the 2020 U.S. Census meant that the new maps were as partisan as the old maps.

On the surface, this decision could be described as a nonpartisan one. After all, it could be done with no attention to how people actually voted in the various parts of the state. In its effect, however, using least-change was a highly partisan decision. The 2010 legislative district maps had been heavily gerrymandered in favor of Republicans. Using the least-change criterion meant that the gerrymander would continue for another ten years.

Bothfeld plaintiffs argued that the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as a nonpartisan entity, should not turn its decision-making over to a highly partisan body, the Wisconsin Republican Party. The least-change criterion violates separation of powers, is not neutral and is incompatible with judicial independence, in the view of the Bothfeld plaintiffs.

The WBLD plaintiffs use a different argument: that the congressional maps are an “anticompetitive gerrymander” that aims to minimize the number of competitive districts. In anticompetitive gerrymandering, incumbents are protected from a serious challenge in the general election.

In the graph below, the blue columns represent the Democratic share of the two-party vote in the current Democratic congressional map based on the 2024 election. Two districts, the 2nd and 4th, containing Madison and Milwaukee, are overwhelmingly Democratic. That allowed the mapmakers to create a partisan gerrymander, winning six out of eight districts in a swing state where the voters are evenly divided.

The blue columns also illustrate an anticompetitive gerrymander. Only two of the districts could be considered competitive.

The yellow columns represent an alternative to the current maps created by Dave’s Redistricting to maximize the number of competitive districts, showing the percentage Democratic in yellow for each district. Six of the eight districts cluster right around the 50% mark.

Comparing Present Wisconsin Congressional Map to Most Competitive Map

WBLD argues that the current uncompetitive map violates Wisconsin’s Constitution in several ways:

1. The government no longer “derives its just powers from the consent of the governed” when anti-competitive gerrymandering shields legislators from electoral accountability (Wisconsin Constitution Article I). In this situation, the “suffrage” protected by Article III becomes pointless and the “blessings of a free government” can’t be secured through elections with preordained outcomes.
2. History also shows that one of the Constitution’s overarching principles is preventing officeholder entrenchment by promoting competition and electoral accountability.
3. The brief points to several precedents in previous court decisions in which ruled against an anti-competitive gerrymander.

Eventually, both judicial panels appointed to hear the two cases rejected plaintiffs’ motions for judgment and granted motions to dismiss. But the Bothfeld panel explains that “this panel is not endorsing the current congressional map.” The problem, the panel explained, was that the plaintiffs were asking the panel to make changes in policies passed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. For example:

The Wisconsin Supreme Court addressed the exact same assertion that Plaintiffs set forth here—whether there is a right to partisan fairness in the Wisconsin Constitution—and a majority of our supreme court held that there is no such right.

The problem is that during this period a series of elections was changing the makeup of the Supreme Court from a conservative court that viewed a Republican-created partisan gerrymander as a fine thing to a majority liberal court that finds such district maps offensive — or from one that believes that the Wisconsin Constitution contains no right to partisan fairness to one that believes there is such a right.

But until the Supreme Court announces that change with a ruling overturning the past decision, district courts and courts of appeal are bound to respect the previous understanding.

Oral hearings on each of the two lawsuits have been scheduled for Sept. 16, 2026, in the Supreme Court’s Madison courtroom (at 9 a.m. for Bothfeld and 10:30 a.m. for WBLD). The hearings are planned to be broadcast on WisconsinEye. (Note that WisconsinEye has the WBLD hearing starting at 11 a.m.)

Both the three-judge panels and the defendants agree that past statements by the Wisconsin Supreme Court are obstacles to the actions proposed by the plaintiffs. It will be interesting to observe whether the justices decide to remove those obstacles.

Nurses at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison have petitioned for an election to vote on joining the Service Employees International Union. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)

Nurses at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison have filed official charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the hospital’s parent company, SSM Health, for allegedly violating federal law by refusing to negotiate a contract with the recently established nurses’ union.

The hospital’s nurses voted by a landslide earlier this summer to establish a union — a result that SSM fought to prevent the NLRB from recognizing. The efforts of management to prevent the union recognition were rebuffed by federal officials.

In a news release on Tuesday, the nurses argued that hospital administration is wasting time engaging in anti-union activities when instead negotiations on a labor contract should be getting underway.

The nurses have complained that the hospital administration has reduced staffing to unsafe levels, putting patient safety at risk. Staffing levels at St. Mary’s are the lowest of Madison’s seven hospitals.

“SSM should be investing in staffing, support and retention of nurses, not wasting time and resources fighting our union, which is our voice to speak up for our patients,” St. Mary’s nurse Hannah Joers said in a statement released by the union. “Our number one goal is to win a contract which better takes patients’ level of sickness into account for staffing, and makes sure that we keep nurses by the bedside. SSM executives in St. Louis are abusing our empathy, making us do more and more with less and less. We’ve had enough, and the time has come to transform the system so that our patients’ needs come first. We will never back down and we are 1,000% determined to win a strong contract to provide the highest quality patient care.”

St. Mary’s nurses file charges against management with NLRB was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.

A Flock Safety automated license plate reading camera. Photo by Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said Wednesday he doesn’t plan to include funding for Flock surveillance cameras in his 2027 recommended budget.

The county’s contract with the company Flock Safety expires at the end of the year and, with growing concerns about the controversial surveillance technology, the county executive does not plan to include funding for another contract in his budget. But he told media Wednesday the county’s 2027 budget process is ongoing and he hasn’t formally released his final recommendation yet.

“We’ve already put guidance out there as it relates to the Flock cameras and making sure that we have guardrails and protecting people’s privacy, so until we have the policies and procedures in place, I don’t think that Milwaukee County should be running these cameras,” the county executive said in response to questions from reporters during a public event at Kosciuszko Park Wednesday.

Crowley announced on Sept. 1 that he was seeking limits and a policy framework for the county’s use of controversial Flock surveillance cameras, which passively capture license plates for all passing vehicles and store them in a searchable database.

He sent a memo to county government leaders, law enforcement and court officials calling for the development of a policy framework for Flock surveillance cameras that limits when they are used, who can use them, how long data is stored and who has access to the data.

Flock cameras, which were first introduced by the company in 2017, face a growing public backlash in Milwaukee and across the country. Recent polling by Data for Progress, a progressive, data-focused think tank, found overwhelming opposition to Flock cameras, regardless of political affiliation.

Milwaukee County has permitted 42 cameras on county parkland; another six cameras are set up on county roads and equipment, but they are being used by local municipal police departments and permitted by the Milwaukee County Department of Transportation, according to Crowley’s office.

The contract for the county’s Flock cameras is held by the county’s technology and IT department, called the Information Management Services Division, Crowley’s memo noted. The cameras are owned by Flock and the sheriff’s office has access to the data they collect.

Sup. Justin Bielinski is calling on the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office to stop using Flock cameras. He has also drafted a resolution that would prohibit Flock cameras on county parkland, which is controlled by the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.

Informed of Crowley’s current plans not to include funding for Flock in the 2027 budget, Bielinski told Urban Milwaukee, “I appreciate the County Executive hearing the feedback from constituents and other law enforcement agencies across the state. As we seek to move on from Flock as a contractor, it’s critical that we don’t trade one bad tech company for another, and that whatever we decide to do with surveillance in Milwaukee County going forward, civil rights, data custody, and community oversight must be our primary concerns.”

With midterm elections less than two months away, Flock cameras have joined data centers as a hot-button issue in races across the country. There is also growing bipartisan support to ban Flock cameras. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is not seeking reelection, recently issued an order to local governments to remove all Flock cameras from state highways. Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is seeking reelection, has said he would support a statewide ban.

In Wisconsin, both candidates for governor — Crowley and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany — have staked out positions on Flock that would be more restrictive than the current policy environment. Crowley has said he would push for transparency and limits on Flock cameras that protect privacy. Tiffany recently said during a campaign event at the Milwaukee Police Association that he would “pause state funding for Flock” and create a task force to “thoroughly review the use of flock cameras and making sure that there are guardrails around it.”

Elsewhere in Wisconsin, municipal leaders and law enforcement officials have started canceling their contracts with Flock. In Sheboygan, Mayor Ryan Sorenson canceled a contract with Flock after the company allegedly violated terms of its agreement. Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling recently ordered the removal of all Flock cameras used by the department, “after learning that Flock appears to have been collecting and retaining information beyond what the Sheriff’s Office understood or agreed to,” according to the Racine County Sheriff’s Office.

214-228 E. Erie St. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

A prominent Milwaukee law firm is trading its downtown office for space in the Historic Third Ward.

Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown (GRGB) plans to relocate from its longtime home at 333 E. Kilbourn Ave. to 222 E. Erie St. at the start of 2027.

The trial and litigation firm will occupy a portion of the fourth floor, putting it next to the executive suite of Twin Disc, the Racine-based manufacturing company.

GRGB said in a statement that it selected the Third Ward as it looked to design an office for the firm’s future. The new space will include a modern buildout intended to support a more collaborative work environment, as well as access to the parking structure attached to the building.

GRGB has operated from the 330 office complex since 2000.

The move will bring the firm approximately a mile south to an 89,000-square-foot historic building. The four-story structure, with a partial fifth floor and an attached parking garage facing E. Chicago Street, was constructed in 1891, shortly before the massive 1892 fire that destroyed much of the Third Ward. A century later, it was redeveloped into a modern office building.

An affiliate of Chicago-based R2 Companies acquired the property for $9.65 million in late 2019.

The building has attracted a mix of office, restaurant and entertainment tenants.

Twin Disc moved its executive team into approximately 8,100 square feet on the fourth floor after announcing the relocation in 2022. The publicly traded manufacturer continues to operate manufacturing facilities in southeastern Wisconsin and elsewhere.

Brian Parrish of Paradigm Real Estate represented GRGB in the transaction, while Ned Purtell and John Davis of Founders 3 represented the building’s ownership.

Escape The Room Milwaukee also operates from the building, offering four escape-room attractions. The building’s restaurant space now houses bb.q Chicken, the international Korean fried chicken chain.

Nearly 60-Year-Old Firm

The move marks the latest chapter for the firm, which traces its history back to 1968.

Frank Gimbel founded the practice after five years as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, which included a conviction of mobster Frank Balistrieri for tax evasion. His brother, Stanley Gimbel, joined the following year, and the practice subsequently added former federal prosecutors Richard Reilly and Thomas Brown and former Wisconsin Department of Justice special agent D. Michael Guerin.

Frank Gimbel and Guerin would both go on to serve as presidents of the State Bar of Wisconsin. Gimbel also had an unusually visible role in Milwaukee civic affairs, serving for more than two decades as chairman of the Wisconsin Center District board.

The firm’s website currently lists 13 active attorneys. Its six current partners are Nicole M. Masnica, Kristin Leaf, Joshua Gimbel, Jason Luczak, Denis Regan and Adam J. Schleis.

Enbridge crews have begun working on a temporary bypass around the site of a gas leak on Enbridge’s Line 5 in Iron County that released 1.3 million gallons of mainly propane and butane. Photo courtesy of Enbridge

A gas leak that occurred last month on Enbridge’s Line 5 is the largest oil and gas pipeline spill reported in Wisconsin in more than 50 years, according to a WPR review of federal data.

WPR analyzed hazardous liquid accident data submitted to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and data submitted by Enbridge and its predecessor Lakehead Pipe Line Company since 1970. The data represents reporting for pipeline facilities used to transport hazardous liquids that include crude oil and natural gas liquids.

Federal data indicates the Aug. 25 leak in Iron County that released 31,000 barrels — or 1.3 million gallons — of natural gas liquids is the company’s largest release reported to federal regulators. Line 5 remains shut down.

Enbridge has said the leak occurred after a subcontractor’s unoccupied flatbed truck rolled into an open excavation site for a Line 5 valve project, striking the pipeline and releasing mainly propane and butane into the atmosphere.

“The vast majority of the remaining two thousand barrels of liquid initially contained within the excavation site, have now also vaporized and dispersed. Today crews continue working on removing the remaining liquid from the trench,” said Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner in a statement.

Environmental groups are urging the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to do more in response to the spill, including demands for an independent investigation and revocation of permits for Enbridge’s $1 billion reroute of Line 5. Evan Feinauer, senior staff attorney for Clean Wisconsin, said he hopes the agency is actively exploring its options.

“The number of issues have now started to add up to a point where it’s problematic and concerning about what are other issues that are going to happen as they continue construction, both at the valve site where they had the leak and the other areas as well as on the reroute itself,” Feinauer told WPR.

On Friday, the National Wildlife Federation was among nine groups that called on the state to revoke permits for Enbridge’s Line 5 reroute in a letter to Gov. Tony Evers, the DNR and other state agencies.

“We call on Governor Evers to use the authority he already has,” the letter states.

The governor’s office referred questions to the DNR, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Groups also said the state must ensure the National Transportation Safety Board is involved rather than solely Enbridge or PHMSA, which is investigating the incident.

PHMSA has issued a corrective action order to Enbridge that requires the company to submit the failed section of pipe to a third-party lab for mechanical and metallurgical testing. Enbridge must also submit a third-party analysis on the cause of the line’s failure and whether similar conditions exist elsewhere on Line 5.

An NTSB spokesperson said it doesn’t appear the agency is investigating the incident at this time, noting the NTSB does not investigate every pipeline leak or explosion.

Environmental advocates also want to see state agencies have a more active role in air, water and groundwater monitoring at the site.

In an update, Enbridge said soil and water monitoring plans are in place in addition to plans for testing and properly disposing of soil. The company has said sampling of surface water and a nearby residential well showed no impacts from the leak, and monitoring wells have also been installed at the site. Monitoring has also shown safe air quality outside the evacuation area.

Enbridge said most of around 2,000 barrels, or 84,000 gallons, of natural gas liquids have dispersed at the site of an Aug. 25 leak in Iron County. The Canadian energy firm brought in equipment to burn off the remaining gas in a controlled manner. Photo courtesy of Enbridge

DNR Secretary Karen Hyun has told WPR and PBS Wisconsin that the agency has not yet been granted permission to access the site by PHMSA due to safety concerns. Beth Wallace, Great Lakes Climate and Energy Director with the National Wildlife Federation, said it’s “unheard of” that state agencies can’t access the site.

“We have major concerns that there may be an effort to preempt state oversight in this moment, and spill response absolutely requires state authorities to be part of the unified command,” Wallace told WPR.

Enbridge is now working on building a 1,500-ft long temporary bypass around the leak with a goal of restoring the pipeline to operation by Sept. 12. Wallace questioned whether an emergency order or approvals have been issued and by which agencies, adding the pipeline should remain shutdown until an investigation is done.

At least five releases of drilling fluid have occurred on the Line 5 reroute after another frac-out occurred on Sept. 2. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported 100 gallons was released as the company drilled under the Potato River. Up to 1,900 gallons spilled during similar drilling in late June.

Crews are building a 1,500-ft. long segment around the site of Enbridge’s gas leak in Iron County. Photo courtesy of Enbridge

Line 5 typically carries up to 23 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids daily from Superior to Sarnia, Ontario.

Enbridge has been building a new 41-mile segment of the 73-year-old pipeline around the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The tribe and environmental groups have mounted legal challenges against state approvals for the project.

In 2020, Enbridge proposed the reroute after the Bad River tribe sued the company in 2019 to shut down and remove Line 5 from tribal lands where Enbridge lacked easements for the pipeline.

Three years ago, a federal judge found the company was trespassing and ordered Enbridge to pay roughly $5 million and shut down or reroute Line 5. The tribe and Enbridge appealed the decision. In August, a federal appeals panel ruled that Enbridge has been trespassing and must remove the pipeline from the Bad River reservation. However, it gave the company more time to complete the Line 5 reroute.

The company has completed construction on roughly two-thirds of the project, which employs around 700 workers.

Federal data shows Enbridge leak is the largest reported oil and gas spill in Wisconsin was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden

James Wigderson is a conservative Republican who doesn’t support Donald Trump. That has turned him into an embattled Don Quixote of the right, tilting at MAGA windmills and defending traditional conservative policies.

Wigderson wrote a column for more than a decade for the right-leaning Waukesha Freeman and the arch-conservative MacIver Institute. He then served as a full-time reporter for the conservative Wisconsin Watchdog before becoming editor of Right Wisconsin, “Wisconsin’s one source for Conservative news and opinion.”

He served as editor from 2017 to 2021, only to pull the plug on the online publication after enduring ever-increasing complaints from readers for his non-MAGA style of politics, as he told Urban Milwaukee in 2024.

“I still had the same political views. I hadn’t changed,” Wigderson lamented. “But everyone else had.”

Since then Wigderson has written a column on Substack that continues to back conservative policies and bash Democrats, including numerous blasts at Francesca Hong, but has also attacked Republicans like Rep. Tom Tiffany as an unpatriotic choice for governor.

Wigderson has condemned “Tiffany’s decision to side with the violent insurrectionist mob of Trump supporters” on January 6 and vote “against certifying the election results for Pennsylvania and Arizona,” and his repeated comments denying the 2020 election of Joe Biden.

One column noted that Tiffany was consulted by James Troupis when Troupis and Kenneth Chesebro created the fake electors scheme in Wisconsin.

“If Tiffany were elected governor, this would present the tricky problem of a sitting governor possibly being called to testify in the fake elector case,” Wigderson wrote. “Of course, Tiffany could always follow the example of Trump and pardon anyone involved in the fake elector scheme… it would not surprise anyone if he chose the Trump pardon path.”

Would Tiffany consider pardoning Troupis and Chesebro? That’s a good point, and a question moderators might want to ask at the Tiffany and Crowley debate.

Wigderson can be funny and once took a whole column to drolly arrive at the conclusion that Tiffany “has less moral character ‘than a breadstick at the supper club salad bar.’” Yes, you have to read the column to get the reference, but then you also get to enjoy Wigderson blowing through the blather of blogger David Blaska, a former Tommy Thompson speechwriter turned Tiffany touter.

Wigderson’s attacks on Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who represents the state’s 3rd Congressional District in western Wisconsin, have been pretty withering, including a column calling him “a disgrace to the House of Representatives.”

“He never should have been elected and, given his participation in the march on the Capitol on January 6, he never should have been seated,” Wigderson charged. “Not only was he at the Capitol on January 6 for the violent insurrection, he spent campaign funds to be there after losing to Rep. Ron Kind (D) the November prior. Van Orden denies that he broke the law on January 6, but the Daily Beast reports Van Orden would have had to cross several security barriers for the above photograph [showing Van Orden at the Capitol] to be taken.”

“The congressman attempts to use his past military service as a shield for his conduct, attacking people who have never served in the military for daring to criticize him.

“I have pointed out to Van Orden and his online supporters that Benedict Arnold also had an exemplary military career until he decided to become a traitor. Van Orden, by participating in the unconstitutional attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, is no patriot.”

The column continues:

“I woke Monday morning to this post from Van Orden:

Screenshot from X.

It’s the kind of nasty comment Van Orden loves to do, perhaps emulating President Donald Trump.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a congressman in Wisconsin try to bully anyone in Wisconsin like that,” Wigderson wrote and added this:

“But I’m going to surprise Van Orden…I’m going to be traveling through his district on Labor Day, and I can meet him in Eau Claire or La Crosse between 11:00 AM and Noon. I will tell him, to his face and in front of witnesses, that he is no patriot, and he is no hero.”

Sure enough, on Labor Day Wigderson drove to Eau Claire and offered to talk face-to-face with Van Orden but never heard back. Here is his post on X:

“Driving through @derrickvanorden’s district. Wish I could say to him – “to my face” as he demanded – he is not patriot, no hero, and betrayed his enlistment oath when he used campaign funds to be at the Capitol on January 6th. But he’s hiding out instead.”

Van Orden has been criticized for avoiding any public town hall meetings in his district, instead opting for tightly screened virtual meetings and screened Zoom calls. Some might say the former Navy Seal lacks the courage to address anyone who disagrees with him.

A counselor responds to calls and chats to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin in Green Bay, Wis., on Sept. 3, 2026. The service has received more than 345,000 texts or calls since it launched in July 2022. (Astrid Code / Wisconsin Watch)

Every year, millions of people in crisis dial three numbers — not 911, but 988, the national suicide and crisis lifeline. People like Cadence Van Beek, who used the lifeline as a sophomore at Melrose-Mindoro High School in Melrose.

During a mental health crisis, Van Beek worried she would be placed on a waitlist or hurried through the process. Instead, a  counselor patiently  helped her de-escalate her feelings. At the end, she informed Van Beek about local resources in Jackson County.

“It didn’t feel rushed … She took her time with me, and she was very kind – just a kind soul,” she said.

Van Beek’s conversation is one of over 345,000 texts or calls to the state lifeline since its launch in July 2022. A recent JAMA study found that in the first two and a half years, suicides among 15- to 34-year-olds were 11% lower than expected, corresponding to nearly 4,400 fewer deaths.

Yet despite the line’s proven success and increased demand, long-term funding remains uncertain. Unlike other states, Wisconsin has not passed legislation to permanently fund the service. And Wisconsin trails most states in the share of calls answered in-state.

In May, Van Beek visited the state Capitol and presented lawmakers with a solution: Fund 988 like 911.

Since 2009, Wisconsinites have paid a telecommunications fee on their phone bills for 911, currently 75 cents per month. Twelve states, including Illinois and Minnesota, have enacted a 988 fee to fund the service.

Illinois and Minnesota had in-state response rates of 90% in July — compared with Wisconsin’s 81%. The rest of the calls are routed to a national backup center, which can mean less knowledge of local resources and longer wait times.

Cadence Van Beek presents her 988 funding recommendation at the state Capitol in Madison with the Office of Children’s Mental Health in May 2026. (Courtesy of Cadence Van Beek)

When Van Beek visited Madison with the Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health, she set up a posterboard with her research and told legislators her peers rely on 988.

“988 has always kind of been a given,” she told Wisconsin Watch. “We always kind of assume that it’ll be there … The possibility that there might not be enough counselors on the line because of funding for 988 and funding for those counselors just makes me a little worried.”

State struggles to keep up with increased demand

Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin operates Wisconsin’s 988 line. Senior Vice President Tana Koss said the crisis team planned for a moderate to high level of calls when the three-digit number was launched in 2022.

“Still, Wisconsin has blown all numbers out of the water and continues to … The demand from Wisconsinites for this service has surpassed every model of projection that was available to us,” Koss said.

Family Services is still recruiting counselors to keep up with the need. Koss attributes the increase to lingering mental health effects from the COVID-19 pandemic and the lifeline’s accessibility. She celebrates more people using the service, which she views as a reflection of reduced stigma.

Even though Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin is located in Green Bay, the state’s 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline counselors work remotely from home offices across the state. (Courtesy of Family Services)

Wisconsin received over 11,200 calls in July alone – and responded to just over 9,000 of them in-state. Only eight states had the same or worse in-state response than Wisconsin.

“The longer a person waits on the line, the more likely they are to disengage … When you’re in queue, our primary center gets an opportunity to answer. If we’re not able to, then our backup center gets an opportunity to answer. And then, if they’re not able to, it goes to national backup,” Koss said. “So the sooner in that process you can have the staff available, the more likely you are to engage that caller.”

Still, the state has improved its answer rate over the past few months — growing from 74% in January to 81% in July as demand increased.

“Purely from the administration of the service … we want (the answer rate) to get to 90%, and had the growth not gone up even a little bit more than anticipated, we would have been there.” Koss said.

So, should Wisconsin officials enact a 988 fee, a recurring appropriation or even consider legislation that Ohio and Illinois lawmakers have introduced to fine AI companies for failing to address suicidal ideation? Koss doesn’t care, as long as it means Wisconsin won’t have to depend on federal funding or the state’s biennial budget cycle.

“I’m not personally attached to any route,” she said. “I think the request that I would have and advocate for is sustainability over the long haul because what we’re projecting is this growth hasn’t stopped.”

The case for state funding

Every two years, the National Alliance on Mental Illness’s Wisconsin chapter pushes for 988 funding in the state budget, said Julia Polk, the group’s advocacy coordinator. Last year, Gov. Tony Evers’ budget recommended $12.2 million for the lifeline, but lawmakers approved $7 million.

“What we would love to see is that we can educate our legislators on why 988 is so important and why it’s important to fund it long term, and get them in the next state budget to say, ‘we’re going to permanently fund this,” Polk said.

Polk also said delays from the Trump administration in making grants available are part of why advocates want to secure reliable state funding for the lifeline.

“It’s a lot of us and other advocates, and the 988 Lifeline and the state government having to just trust and hope that those grants will become available,” she said.

Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin operates the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for the entire state of Wisconsin. The organization is based in Green Bay but employs remote counselors throughout the state who respond to 988 calls, text messages and chats. (Astrid Code / Wisconsin Watch)

Waiting for confirmation on an anticipated federal grant last year left officials fearing the funds had disappeared. In response, state Rep. Ben Franklin, R-De Pere, and state Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, authored a bill that would have required the state to provide grants to agencies that administer the 988 Lifeline.

“988 has proven to be highly effective and used frequently amongst Wisconsinites and is a vital service we should be funding,” Franklin said during a committee hearing on the bill in June 2025.

However, the bill included no funding attached. It failed to pass in the Senate and did not come up for a vote in the Assembly.

The federal government announced a grant funding opportunity in January and provided Family Services about $4.5 million per year for the next three years, according to Koss. But that still leaves a gap, since the state needs $12.2 million per year to fund the service.

Officials included  $7 million for the lifeline in the 2025-27 biennial budget, but Koss said Family Services needs the next budget to match that. She knows a $6.195 million deficit is coming in 2028.

“We didn’t slow down with recruitment, but administratively, it’s stressful when you have these delays on giant parts of the funding,” Koss said.

Franklin’s Democratic opponent in the November election, Brandy Tollefson, is a De Pere School Board member. The issue is personal to her, and not just because she hears about the youth mental health crisis from school social workers, counselors and teachers.

“I myself went through the experience of having my stepbrother die by suicide years ago, so I know what happens to a family when this happens and the impact it has on families,” Tollefson said. “I fully support working with any Democrat or Republican who wants to get this permanently funded.”

Tollefson echoed other Democrats’ criticisms that Assembly Bill 303 lacked the critical funding needed to ensure 988 would get financial support. Franklin did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.

“There was a lot missing from it to make it a bipartisan bill that people could get behind, because the details just weren’t there,” Tollefson said.

Connecting with younger generations

Megan Zimmerman, NAMI Fox Valley’s outreach program director, educates local schools about mental health and promotes 988. She said many people hesitate to call 988 because they fear emergency services will get involved, but in reality, law enforcement or emergency services respond to only 0.4% of callers in Wisconsin. Counselors resolved the other 99.6% of calls by providing support, coping strategies and resources.

“Even outside of 988, I think when someone expresses that they have suicidal ideation – like they’re having thoughts about it – I think that scares people,” Zimmerman said. “They almost immediately triage to like, ‘OK, this person needs to be hospitalized.’”

Zimmerman noted the person who calls 988 doesn’t have to be the one who is in crisis, as she often calls 988 with her clients.

“If I can get an individual to agree to have that conversation on the phone with someone, and I’m there to support them in whatever way they need, that is just as good of an outcome as telling them to go home and call it themselves, which they may or may not follow through on,” she said.

Cards used to spread awareness about the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline are seen at the Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin’s office in Green Bay, Wis., on Sept. 3, 2026. (Astrid Code / Wisconsin Watch)

Van Beek, who always considered herself the “therapist friend,” often recommends 988 to peers who confide in her. Once, when a friend shared distressing details about her home life, Van Beek quickly realized she wasn’t equipped to handle the conversation.

“I just realized I’m a high school kid, and I can’t take this on,” Van Beek said. “I don’t have the knowledge to help you get to where you need to be with the situation. So that’s an instance where I recommended calling or texting 988 and just going through with that. And she did.”

The 24/7 chat feature, introduced in 2024, particularly appeals to her generation and was helpful when she had to use it.

“Gen Z in general, we’ve always been behind a screen,” Van Beek said. “988 gives youth the option to text it, and I always have liked that, because talking or maybe even going in person can be overwhelming for youth, and I can personally relate to that.”

Amid increasing reports of generative AI enabling suicides, proposed legislation in Illinois would fine AI companies for not addressing suicidal ideation and deposit the money into a 988 trust fund. Companies under the legislation would face a penalty of up to $15,000 per day if they don’t refer users to crisis services like 988 when they express thoughts of self-harm.

Zimmerman said the chat feature of 988 has led her to encourage students to message the lifeline instead of an AI companion.

“Every suicide prevention presentation I give, especially in a school, I just always stress (that) I know it’s easy to bring up ChatGPT or your Claude or your Gemini or whatever it is, and start essentially texting or chatting that feature,” Zimmerman said. “But I always really encourage people to instead think about 988 … because then you’re getting a real live human being.”

Having graduated as president of her high school’s Raise Your Voice mental health advocacy club, Van Beek recently began studying psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where she wants to continue raising awareness about mental health.

“The events that I participate in, whether it’s through NAMI or NAMIWalks — the mental health walk that we do — it has never felt like a chore to me,” Van Beek said. “I’ve always felt like that’s my purpose.”

This story was produced as part of the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab, a consortium of five news outlets.

This article first appeared on Wisconsin Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

An absentee ballot. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Absentee ballots are on their way to some Wisconsin voters, even as President Donald Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting is in the courts.

As of Monday, almost 50,000 ballots were on their way to Wisconsin voters, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The day before, President Donald Trump once again asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on his order to restrict mail-in voting.

The high court previously cleared a path for his order, which would require states to turn over data about voters who request to vote absentee, and give the U.S. Postal Service authority not to deliver ballots to certain voters.

But they did not weigh in on the order itself. In the meantime, the Postal Service published a rule explaining how it would carry out the order.

A lower federal court has twice blocked that rule, which would essentially give the postal service control over a list of who is — and isn’t — allowed to vote absentee.

As the Supreme Court considers the Trump administration’s emergency request to lift that injunction, Wisconsin’s clerks, who locally administer elections, are sending out ballots under the usual process. Last week, the Wisconsin Elections Commission issued guidance saying the new federal rule is not in effect.

Many communities have already begun to send out absentee ballots, including the city of Madison, the Madison city clerk’s office announced Tuesday.

Attorneys for the Trump administration noted that timing in requesting the Supreme Court’s weigh in.

“Once those ballot envelopes enter the mailstream, there is no retrieving them,” Solicitor General John Sauer said in the filing. “And while the injunction allows the Postal Service and the States to continue taking steps to ensure that their envelopes satisfy the Rule’s requirements … each day the injunction is in place risks sowing confusion and chaos because the injunction makes those preparatory steps voluntary, rather than mandatory.”

The Supreme Court is not expected to rule on the Trump administration request until after Wednesday afternoon.

Wisconsin is not the only state that has said complying with these changes — which would also affect envelope design, requiring municipalities to buy special printers — would be impossible this close to the November elections.

State law also has a strict deadline for mailing ballots to overseas and military voters. Those must be in the mail within 48 days of the election — which this year is Sept. 17.

Wisconsin voters can use the My Vote Wisconsin website to request an absentee ballot, and track its status.

Absentee ballots on their way to Wisconsin voters, as Supreme Court considers Trump’s restrictions was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Site of Carnitas Mi Pueblo, 831 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

For seafood lovers, the new place may be a paradise.

The owners of El Paraíso, a southside Mexican food truck, have opened a brick-and-mortar storefront at 831 S. 16th St. (formerly Cesar E. Chavez Dr.), which opened to the public on Aug. 29 under the name El Paraíso Aguachiles.

“Hoy damos este gran paso y nos llena de emoción poder recibirlos en nuestro propio espacio,” the restaurant wrote on its official Instagram account in a post capturing its grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony. Translated to English, it reads: “Today we are taking this major step and we are thrilled to welcome you to our own space.” 

Owner Ma Guadalupe Cabral Villarreal has been searching for a permanent location for her seafood-inspired concept since 2023. In 2024, the Milwaukee Common Council denied the restaurant a liquor license, which shuttered plans to open at 4068 S. Howell Ave. After that denial, Ma Guadalupe Cabral Villarreal pivoted and opened as a food truck later that year. 

The truck was commonly found along S. 16th Street, not far from the storefront where the restaurant is now located. The business already had a relationship with the space it will now call home. While the restaurant space was operated as Carnitas Mi Pueblo, the El Paraíso food truck was used the restaurant as a base kitchen.

The move to a more permanent location came after the truck received a 10-day license suspension in June following unpaid parking citations. 

The restaurant describes itself as having “Milwaukee’s best fresh seafood.” (“Los mejores mariscos frescos de Milwaukee”)

El Paraíso, translated, means “paradise.” Aguachile is a traditional Mexican seafood dish made with raw shrimp or scallops, featuring a chili-lime marinade.

The restaurant did not respond to an inquiry about its official hours or whether the food truck would still be operating.

Electric car charging station. (CC0 Public Domain)

Wisconsin will be getting another 42 electric vehicle charging stations under a federal program temporarily halted by President Donald Trump’s administration.

The money was unlocked by a federal judge after Wisconsin and 15 other states sued to restore the congressionally authorized funds.

A Tuesday statement from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers says the 42 charging stations will be built at gas stations, hotels and and grocery stores near major interstates from Hayward to Racine.

The $25 million in grants for the latest round of stations comes from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program created under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021. No Republicans from Wisconsin’s congressional delegation voted for the law.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, 25 charging stations have come online. The Evers administration states a total of 120 fast chargers have received funding through the federal program.

“The stations provide fast charging at convenient locations where drivers can also take care of other errands while charging up,” said state DOT Secretary Kristina Boardman. “We’ve seen strong use of the 25 chargers that are operational now, and we’re so pleased this program is bringing people into communities to support local businesses like fuel retailers, grocery stores, hotels, and restaurants.”

Shortly after the start of Trump’s second term, his administration froze the congressionally authorized federal EV infrastructure program funding. U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, R-De Pere, introduced a bill to repeal the program. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, who is now running for governor, signed on to the bill as a cosponsor.

Wisconsin joined 15 other states in suing the administration last year. The lawsuit claimed it was “deprived of access” to $62 million that had already been awarded to build its EV charging station network.

In January, a federal judge agreed with the states and ruled that the U.S. Department of Transportation “defied the will of Congress” by withholding the funding and ordered the DOT to release money.

In his statement, Tuesday, Evers said Trump “has repeatedly threatened this important funding” and the state fought hard make sure it gets to Wisconsin.

“Today, we’re proud to see this program continue to support our network of clean energy EV charging stations to help meet the needs of Wisconsinites and the demands of a 21st-century economy,” said Evers.

Clean Wisconsin spokesperson Amy Barrilleaux told WPR the additional $25 million for another 42 charging stations will help the state wind down its reliance on fossil fuels.

“This is an important step, and we’re seeing all across the world people making the transition in other countries to electric vehicles. We don’t want to get left behind in Wisconsin or anywhere else,” said Barrilleaux.

Barrilleaux notes that in order to accept the federal funds, Wisconsin lawmakers passed two bills in 2023 with nearly unanimous support.

With the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law expiring at the end of September, Evers is now calling on Congress to continue its funding levels for future transportation projects.

After legal fight, more EV charging stations coming to Wisconsin was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Lauren Hafeman.

Lauren Hafeman joins the Urban Milwaukee team as its newest staff reporter. She will mainly cover restaurant and bar openings and closings, as well as selected arts and culture and business news.

Before moving to Milwaukee in August, Lauren interned for Isthmus, a community news organization in Madison. There, she covered a little bit of everything, from art exhibitions to restaurant openings, from immigrant-owned businesses to the performing arts.

In addition to reporting for Isthmus, she contributed freelance stories to Wisconsin People & Ideas Magazine and the Shepherd Express.

Lauren graduated from UW-Madison in 2024 with a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism, specializing in reporting. She also holds minors in African studies and integrated liberal studies. In college, she worked as a writing fellow at the university’s writing center and studied abroad at the University of Ghana in Accra, Ghana.

Following Lauren’s college graduation in 2024, she embarked on a six-month freelance reporting trip across Africa. She visited and wrote stories in Morocco, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

“I am honored and excited to begin reporting on Milwaukee’s restaurant and bar scene for Urban Milwaukee,” Hafeman says. “To my new Cream City neighbors, I will keep you updated on openings and closings, fresh ideas, shattered dreams and expansion plans in the city. I want to know, and will share with all of you, what’s on the way out and who’s on the way in.”

For news tips, questions or comments, email lauren@urbanmilwaukee.com.

Follow her on Instagram @lauren.hafeman.

MCTS bus on W. Wisconsin Avenue. Photo taken Thursday, June 4, 2026 by Graham Kilmer.

In the coming months, Milwaukee County residents will have an opportunity to see concepts for a completely redesigned Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS).

MCTS has scheduled five public meetings in September and October to preview concepts for a redesigned bus network and gather feedback. Planning consultants will also hold 20 public meetings across the community to collect feedback. A full list of meetings is available on a webpage for the project, which is being called MCTS Forward.

Earlier this year, MCTS contracted with Jarrett Walker + Associates (JWA) to complete a redesign of the bus network that would be financially sustainable in the long term and even allow MCTS to scale up service in the future, provided additional revenue is secured.

The redesign project was motivated in part by the transit system’s financial reality. A structural budget deficit, largely caused by frozen state mass transit aid that has not kept pace with inflation, left the system with a $9.3 million budget deficit in 2026. The gap in 2027 is projected at $15.7 million. To close the gap in 2027 and stabilize the system’s budget for at least three years, MCTS leaders are planning to implement a 25% service cut in next year’s budget.

The system redesign will incorporate the 25% service cut. It will also hew to one of two conceptual models for the system’s ultimate design: a coverage-focused design or a ridership-focused system. A coverage system would emphasize the geographic reach of bus routes, but would limit bus frequency and cause longer wait times between buses. A ridership system would prioritize high-frequency bus service with shorter travel times and shorter wait times, but at the expense of geographic coverage. Because the system has a limited, finite budget for bus operations, it will not be able to fully prioritize both.

“MCTS affects everyone in southeast Wisconsin, whether it means less congestion on their daily commute or a reliable connection to work, which is why we want to hear from everyone in Milwaukee County,” MCTS President and CEO Steve Fuentes said in a statement. “Whether you ride the bus, drive a car, own a business or work for MCTS, the future of public transportation will impact all who share Milwaukee County roads. Your input will help us build a bus network that is stable, financially sustainable and scalable so we can continue to serve the county.”

The redesign project began in the spring and is expected to take 12 to 18 months to complete. The input gathered through surveys at upcoming public meetings will be shared with elected officials and the public before the end of this year, according to MCTS.

MCTS Forward Public Meetings

• MCTS Forward Open House
  Thursday, Sept. 24, 4-6 p.m. 
  Cudahy Family Library, 3500 Library Drive, Cudahy
• MCTS Forward and Transit Plus Paratransit Open House
  Wednesday, Sept. 30, 1 p.m.-3 p.m.
  Independence First, 540 S. 1st St., Milwaukee
• MCTS Forward Open House
  Thursday, Oct. 1, 4 p.m.-6 p.m. 
  Wauwatosa Public Library, 7635 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa
• MCTS Forward Open House
  Friday, Oct. 9, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
  Milwaukee Public Library, 2727 W. Fond du Lac Ave., Milwaukee
• MCTS Forward Open House
  Tuesday, Oct. 13, 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
  United Community Center, 1028 S. 9th St., Milwaukee
  Meeting will be accessible for Spanish speakers

International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/Spaceengine/M. Zamani, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

UW-Milwaukee is looking deep into space, some 1,560 light-years away, for its new symbol of Panther pride.

UWM is designating Gaia Black Hole 1, a binary star system containing the closest known black hole to Earth, as the university’s official star.

The system, known as Gaia BH1, includes a sunlike star orbiting a black hole. UWM says the pairing is particularly fitting: The visible star is gold, matching one of the university’s colors, while the black hole represents a field in which UWM researchers have gained international recognition.

Chancellor Thomas Gibson signed a proclamation naming Gaia BH1 the “UWM Star.” The proclamation will be read during a public talk about black hole discovery at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, at the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center on the UW-Milwaukee campus.

In a press release, the university credited the idea to its Astronomy Club.

Gaia BH1 was identified in 2022 by two independent teams of researchers. One team included UWM physics and astronomy professor Philip Chang.

Located in the constellation Ophiuchus, located about 1,560 light-years from Earth, the star is too faint to see with the naked eye, but can be observed using a telescope. The black hole itself cannot be directly seen because black holes do not emit or reflect light.

University researchers participate in several major international scientific collaborations, including the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, better known as LIGO, and the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves, or NANOGrav. Both study gravitational waves generated by astrophysical objects, including black holes.

UWM researchers also participate in the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration, which produced the first image of a black hole in 2019.

The university says its newly designated star is intended to symbolize both its scientific research and its aspirations for students — with a celestial twist on the familiar advice to keep reaching for the stars.

UW-Madison researchers have to date named several items, including a minor planet and an asteroid.

Josh Kaul and Eric Toney.

Add the two Wisconsin attorney general candidates to the list of skeptics of Flock Safety’s camera system.

More than 30 Wisconsin communities and law enforcement agencies have now canceled or announced their intention to terminate their agreements to use the automated license plate-reading system.

The latest wave of termination announcements came Friday after it was revealed that Flock had been packaging traffic data from the cameras for sale to private companies. The data sharing between cameras also led to an out-of-state law enforcement agency releasing records from an active Fond du Lac County investigation in response to an open records request.

The latest revelations come amid a growing chorus of privacy concerns regarding the pervasive nature of the camera systems, which can track vehicles across state lines, and alleged abuse by law enforcement personnel, including two Milwaukee Police Department officers who have been criminally charged.

At an appearance at the Rotary Club of Milwaukee on Tuesday, Attorney General Josh Kaul said he thought the Legislature needed to act on the issue.

“I would like to see state legislation on the issue,” said Kaul. “I think that our Legislature has the responsibility to step in here and ensure that there are clear guardrails in place for Flock. And not just for Flock, but for other technologies that may impact people’s privacy. … I don’t want to live in a surveillance state, and I don’t think anybody here wants to live in a surveillance state.”

The attorney general compared Flock’s sale of data to private companies to the Trump administration’s demand for data, including voter rolls, from states and said both violated individuals’ privacy.

“On the other hand, we also are going to live in a world where technology helps law enforcement do the work that it is doing,” said Kaul. He cited license plate-reading technology as helping find missing children, address Silver Alerts and track homicide suspects. But he said guardrails were necessary to ensure that the system isn’t abused and privacy is maintained. “At the Department of Justice, we don’t ourselves have Flock cameras; we do have access to data that is stored by Flock. And I like to think we were ahead of the curve. We have limited access to analysts at the department. When they access that data, it needs to be specifically mentioned with a specific case. And the system is regularly audited so you don’t see the kind of abuses that have sometimes occurred, or if they do happen, the people that commit them are held accountable.”

AG candidate and Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney gave his support for the latest wave of cancellations. “Based on what I learned from my local law enforcement this week, I fully support their decision to discontinue the use of Flock based on the risk to ongoing investigations, victim privacy and community privacy rights,” said Toney in a statement first issued last week. “Flock has been a tool to take dangerous criminals off our streets, but there must be legislative action to protect the confidentiality of investigations and the privacy of victims and community members.”

Kaul said statewide action was necessary because people routinely move across municipal lines. “It doesn’t do much good for somebody’s privacy if you have one carve-out here, one carve-out there, and cameras can still follow you everywhere else you’re going in the state,” he said. Kaul said the Legislature should hear from proponents and opponents and craft sensible policy, but that it should include regular audits, restrictions on who can use the data and strict limits on data sharing. He said he hasn’t fully considered the ramifications, but favored the policy also limiting data sharing to government agencies, and not to insurance providers or other private companies.

In response to a question from reporter A.J. Bayatpour, Kaul, a Democrat, also took aim at Congressman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany’s claim that he would prohibit the use of shared revenue to purchase Flock cameras until a task force review is completed. “Tom Tiffany has been all over the map on these kinds of issues,” said Kaul. “Just a couple months ago, he said he never heard of Flock cameras. When he voted for the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, he voted for a version of that bill that would create a 10-year moratorium on state regulation of AI.”

In addition to becoming a statewide issue, the Flock fracas has taken hold locally. Early last week, Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley announced sweeping changes to how Flock would be used in Milwaukee, and Chief Jeffrey Norman and Sheriff Denita Ball confirmed they were implementing the changes. All four indicated continued support for the technology, with restrictions, but the Common Council may try to terminate the city’s Flock contract.

Agencies to Announce A Contract Termination/Nonrenewal

• Altoona Police Department — Ended
• Appleton Police Department — Ended
• Chetek Police Department — Termination pending
• Dane County Sheriff’s Office — Ended
• Fitchburg Police Department — Winding down
• Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office — Suspended
• Fond du Lac Police Department — Suspended
• Fox Crossing Police Department — Suspended
• Grand Chute Police Department — Ended
• Kaukauna Police Department — Ended
• Kenosha Police Department — Ending
• Manitowoc Police Department — Suspended
• Menasha Police Department — Termination pending
• Middleton Police Department — Winding down
• Monona Police Department — Non-renewed
• Neenah Police Department — Termination proposed
• North Fond du Lac Police Department — Suspended
• Oshkosh Police Department — Ended
• Racine County Sheriff’s Office — Ending
• Ripon Police Department — Suspended
• Sheboygan Police Department — Termination pending
• Stevens Point Police Department — Suspended
• Stoughton Police Department — Ended
• Sturgeon Bay Police Department — Ended
• Town of Washington Police Department — Ended
• UW-Madison Police Department — Ended
• UW-Oshkosh Police Department — Suspended
• Verona Police Department — Ended
• Waupun Police Department — Suspended
• Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office — Suspended
• Winneconne Police Department — Suspended

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany speaks at the Milwaukee Police Association Offices. Photo taken Sept. 8, 2026 by Graham Kilmer.

During a law-and-order-focused campaign stop at the offices of the Milwaukee Police Association (MPA) Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany offered two different views when it came to getting tough on crime. On the one hand, he criticized Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley for his record on public safety issues and the use of tablets by inmates in the Milwaukee County Jail. On the other hand, Tiffany declined to take a position on President Donald Trump‘s decision to pardon and release federal prisoners convicted of the attack on the U.S. Capitol and Capitol police on Jan. 6, 2021.

The issue of jail tablets was raised during the past month after it was discovered that an inmate facing charges for a triple homicide used a jail tablet to attempt to intimidate witnesses in the case. Judge David Borowski, who is hearing the case, questioned why he was given access to a tablet in the first place.

Tiffany has seized on the issue to cast Crowley as soft on crime and during his campaign stop at the MPA, said, “David Crowley keeps looking for ways to make life easier for criminals. I believe our first responsibility is to protect victims’ families and the public.”

The congressman also slammed Crowley for votes during his time in the Legislature, saying he opposed tougher penalties for drunk drivers and intimidating domestic abuse victims. Crowley voted against a bill that would have allowed for permanent revocation of a driver’s license for repeat drunk drivers under certain conditions and another bill reclassifying the charge of intimidating a victim of domestic abuse as a felony. Under the previous state law that Crowley supported, such intimidation could only be charged as a felony if there were aggravating circumstances.

“This is David Crowley’s record,” Tiffany said. “Time and again, his policies put criminals ahead of victims.”

To push his campaign’s newest angle of attack, Tiffany pointed to recent cases where jail-provided tablets were allegedly used to intimidate witnesses and threaten police officers. In May, Amier H. Jones Jr. used a jail tablet to message a victim more than 1,500 times and threaten a police officer, stating he was on a “hit list,” as David Clarey reported. In August, Thomas Zollicoffer, facing three separate homicide charges, used a tablet to discuss threatening witnesses. In both cases, judges have since revoked the inmates’ use of tablets.

Tiffany argues that Crowley should have taken action to fix the problem and looked into the contract with the vendor to make sure it was not being violated. Tiffany also promised to ban tablets in state prisons for people convicted of violent crimes if he is elected governor. He would preserve access for nonviolent offenders, but they would have to purchase them, he said. The congressman further said he would look into restricting shared revenue for local government to make sure that this does not happen anywhere in the state of Wisconsin.

But Crowley’s ability to affect policy inside the county jail is constrained by state law, which puts administration of the jail under the authority of Sheriff Denita Ball.

Since 2021, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and the House of Correction (HOC), overseen by the county executive, have provided tablets to inmates through a contract with the Texas-based firm ICSolutions. The tablets are not connected to outside networks, nor do they provide inmates the ability to browse the internet, according to the sheriff’s chief of staff, James Burnett. They are used for messaging, accessing legal services and preloaded entertainment options. The latter must be paid for.

Approximately 20,000 people cycle in and out of custody at the jail every year, Burnett said. The MCSO provides tablets to all inmates unless a court commissioner or a judge orders that they do not receive one.

In order to communicate with someone outside the jail, the recipient of a message must first agree to receive it, similar to a collect call, Burnett said. “I genuinely don’t know how contact first initiated between that inmate and the victim in that case,” Burnett said, referring to the Jones case and the more than 1,500 messages sent to a victim. 

Tiffany and his campaign have also said the tablets were used to access “child pornography.” Burnett said that is technologically impossible. The MCSO did once catch an inmate using a laptop provided to access case information to search for pornography, Burnett said. That individual was savvy enough to bypass a firewall maintained by the county’s IT services, and the issue has since been fixed, he said.

Sup. Justin Bielinski, chair of the Milwaukee County Board’s Committee on Judiciary, Law Enforcement and General Services, called the Tiffany campaign “very disingenuous” for using the issue in political attacks, noting that jail inmates do not have in-person visitation and the phone and tablet services are the only method for them to access their constitutionally-required communication with attorneys and family.

Tablet technology has been widely adopted in local and state corrections systems across the country. The Federal Bureau of Prisons under President Trump recently launched a tablet program in prisons across the country. The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) launched a tablet program under former Gov. Scott Walker.

“Congressman Tom Tiffany is lying about David Crowley and conveniently omitting that he voted multiple times to fund the Dept. of Corrections, who administered this program that was started under Scott Walker,” said Phillip Shulman, a spokesperson for the Crowley campaign. “David is demanding full accountability from everyone involved here, demonstrating real leadership and proving why he is the only candidate who will keep Wisconsinites safe — unlike Congressman Tiffany, who has campaigned alongside creeps, voted to shield sex abusers in the Epstein files, and thinks violent January 6 rioters were ‘victims’ who deserve taxpayer-funded payouts.”

When asked by an Urban Milwaukee reporter about the Trump pardons for the January 6 rioters, Tiffany said he’d already made his position clear on this and he would discuss the issue with the reporter after the press conference. As a result his answer was not captured the TV news cameras covering the event. Here is what Tiffany said about the president pardoning the rioters:

“I didn’t take a position in regards to it. That’s something that is of the president’s authority. It’s the president’s authority to do that. I’ve always been tough on crime, and yes, those that beat up a law enforcement officer, that should have never happened, and they should be charged, and they should be held accountable. There’s no doubt about it.”

Among the Jan. 6 rioters who were pardoned or received a commutation by the president were more than 600 individuals charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. More than 100 Jan. 6 defendants also faced charges for using or carrying a dangerous weapon that day.

Tiffany has also expressed support for the president’s proposed “anti-weaponization fund” being used to give payments to some of the rioters, calling them victims. “I would want to take a look at what was the harm that was done to those victims. If it’s significant enough,” he said, “perhaps they should receive compensation.”

Photo by Jessica Ruscello on Unsplash

A Waukesha County judge has ruled a provision that allowed Milwaukee County to redirect funds slated for a state school library fund is unconstitutional.

The decision came after the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, or WILL, filed a lawsuit last year arguing the budget provision was an “unconstitutional carve out.”

The Common School Fund, which is managed by the Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, helps school districts pay for things like “library books and other instructional materials,” according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Wisconsin’s Constitution established the fund in 1848.

It’s funded by counties through some vehicle fines and forfeitures. But a provision in the 2025-27 Wisconsin budget allowed money from those fines and forfeitures in Milwaukee County to be diverted from the fund. The provision said the money would instead be used to pay for Milwaukee County district attorney positions.

WILL filed its lawsuit last fall.

“Historically, state law allowed counties to keep 50 percent of certain vehicle fines and forfeitures, while depositing the rest into the common school fund,” a recent statement from WILL said.

A prior statement from WILL said the provision allowed only Milwaukee County to keep 100 percent of those fines and forfeitures. That amount is estimated to be $2.2 million annually.

“Libraries in Milwaukee County will continue to receive funding from the Common School Fund despite Milwaukee County not contributing any fines or forfeiture revenue from motor vehicle law violations,” the lawsuit said.

Last week, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge J. Arthur Melvin, III, ruled the changes to the state law are unconstitutional and he ordered the changes be voided.

“This decision will end an unconstitutional and costly money grab by Milwaukee County,” Lauren Greuel, associate counsel for WILL, said in a statement.

On Friday, Melvin also denied a request from WILL for a permanent injunction.

Milwaukee County Treasurer David Cullen, who is named in the lawsuit,  was unable to be reached for comment. A spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction declined comment.

Judge rules against Milwaukee County diversion of school library funds was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Organist Michael Batcho prepares for the “Songs of Remembrance” concert. Photo by Rick Bate.

In the early days of World War I, British poet Laurence Binyon wrote the elegy “For the Fallen.” The poem’s most famous passage, “At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them,” has inspired local musicians to curate a concert honoring those who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “Songs of Remembrance” will be performed on Friday, Sept. 11, the 25th anniversary of the attacks, at All Saints’ Cathedral in downtown Milwaukee. The concert is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the American Guild of Organists Milwaukee Chapter and All Saints’ Cathedral, the performance will present organ and choral music that recalls the heartache of the attacks and reflective compositions evoking peace and faith. Musicians collaborating for the event are organists Michael Batcho, Lee Erickson and David Bahrke; trumpeter Carlot Dorvé; and APERI, an early music vocal ensemble in residence at All Saints’ Cathedral.

Also playing a role in the program are the cathedral’s Bells of Remembrance and Hope, a set of bells installed in 2007 and rung daily. The bells will peal and APERI will sing “Ode of Remembrance,” an anthem based on Binyon’s poem written for the dedication of the bells by local organist and composer Joseph Kucharski.

All Saints’ organist Lee Erickson will open the program with the work perhaps most associated with public mourning in America: “Adagio for Strings,” written by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) and transcribed for organ by William Strickland (1914-1991). Composed in 1936 for string quartet and subsequently arranged for string orchestra, the Adagio has often commemorated solemn occasions after it was broadcast in 1945 with radio announcements of the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. “If any music can come close to conveying the effect of a sigh, or courage in the face of tragedy, or hope, or abiding love, it is this,” wrote Johanna Keller in The New York Times.

Armenian-American composer Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000) described “Prayer of St. Gregory” as “a prayer in darkness.” Written in 1946, the piece depicts the fervent entreaties of the patron saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church, St. Gregory the Illuminator, during his 12 years of imprisonment in a burial pit in the third century. David Bahrke, director of music and organist at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, West Allis, and trumpeter Carlot Dorvé will perform the piece. Dorvé is on the faculty of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music.

Michael Batcho, organist at Christ Church, Whitefish Bay, has chosen compositions that communicate quiet comfort. The expressive “Chant de paix” (Song of Peace) by French organist and composer Jean Langlais (1907-1991) was written during World War II. “Prière” (Prayer) by Belgian organist and composer Joseph Jongen (1873-1953) conveys serenity.

APERI’s repertoire for this concert includes “Burial Sentences,” a moving 17th century choral work by Welsh composer Thomas Tompkins (1572-1656) based on the funeral liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer; “And I Saw a New Heaven,” a setting of Revelation 21:1-4 by British-born composer Edgar Bainton (1880-1956); and “Song for Athene” by John Tavener (1944-2013). The group is directed by Paul Thompson.

“Songs of Remembrance” begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, at All Saints’ Cathedral, 818 E. Juneau Ave. Admission is free. A freewill offering will benefit the Tunnel to Towers organization. Parking is available at Lincoln Center School, 820 E. Knapp St., and Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 1100 N. Astor St.

Gov. Tony Evers signs the 2021-23 biennial budget at Cumberland Elementary School in Whitefish Bay, after making 50 partial vetoes (screenshot | Gov. Evers Facebook video)

Gov. Tony Evers is taking his final back-to-school tour of the state, visiting K-12 classrooms across Wisconsin to meet students, families and staff and tout his record as the “Education Governor.”

If you don’t happen to live in one of the 72 Wisconsin school districts that went to referendum last spring, begging local property taxpayers to cover basic costs the state is not meeting, you might get the impression from Evers’ valedictory tour that he is leaving office having solved the urgent problem of chronic underfunding of Wisconsin schools.

“After a decade of disinvestment, Gov. Evers has spent the last almost eight years working to invest in public education at every level,” a statement released this week by the governor’s office declares. “During his time in office, Gov. Evers has enacted budgets to restore two-thirds funding for public schools for the first time in over two decades, provide the largest special education aid increase in state history, and bring per pupil aid to its highest level ever.”

Sounds like a strong record of accomplishment!

But wait, why does a lawsuit filed this year by the Wisconsin PTA, students, parents, teachers and communities across the state charge that Wisconsin “has seemingly abandoned its commitment to the education of Wisconsin’s public school children” and is violating its own constitution by failing to adequately fund public schools?

The short answer is that Evers, along with the Republican legislative leaders who are the targets of the lawsuit, are using misleading language to pass off austerity for schools as generosity.

Take Evers’ claim about restoring the state’s long-abandoned commitment to two-thirds funding for schools. That two-thirds number is based on counting money in the state budget that schools are not allowed to spend. While the money is technically allocated for education, the state did not lift school revenue caps, so it can only be spent for property-tax relief.

“Meeting the state’s two-thirds funding commitment doesn’t put a single new pencil in a classroom when you provide zero dollars in new spending,” explains Heather DuBois Bourenane of the Wisconsin Public Education Network, “and the current budget provided zero dollars in new spendable aid for both years of this biennium.”

Far from reaping a historic investment, students and teachers are starting the year in Wisconsin with no new money for schools.

The state’s share of special education funding, which fell from a high of 70% in the 1970s to hover around 30% in recent years, did get a bump in the last budget, reversing a dire drop-off. But the “largest special education increase in state history” only amounted to a jump from 30 to 35% last year — considerably less than the 42% reimbursement rate state officials originally projected.

Finally, in a sense, Evers did bring per-pupil aid to its highest level ever, but like his other claims, this is more a rhetorical victory than a concrete benefit to schools. Using his line-item veto, Evers extended school districts’ ability to raise $325 in revenue per pupil from local taxpayers for the next 400 years. This move infuriated Republicans, and they used it as a reason for not giving schools any new money in the current budget. But the $325 per pupil increase is not hard cash, it’s just revenue-raising authority granted to districts, which are allowed to raise property taxes by that amount if they choose to. Some, having exhausted the good will of local taxpayers with repeated referendum asks, have not done so.

All in all, schools in Wisconsin are in bad financial shape, and property taxpayers are weary of filling the gap left by the state abandoning its obligation to kids.

“The Legislature is selling kids short,” says Jeff Mandell of Law Forward, which is representing the plaintiffs in the school funding lawsuit. The Wisconsin Constitution guarantees every child an equal opportunity for a sound, basic education. But for years, the plaintiffs argue, the state has been breaking that promise.

Adams-Friendship school district, one of the parties in the lawsuit, used to have five elementary schools within its 500 square miles. Now, because of school closures due to low enrollment and shrinking budgets, it has only one K-12 school. Kids spend hours riding the bus to a single school building with aging infrastructure where many classrooms are unusable on hot days.

Huge challenges are also facing urban districts. In Beloit last year one in eight students was homeless.

“There is this fictitious idea that everyone has budgets, the schools just have to tighten their belts,” says Mandell. The reality is, even as the challenges schools face pile up, the state has steadily decreased funding, to the point where many now face an existential crisis.

The current lawsuit is not the first challenge to Wisconsin’s school funding formula based on the idea that the state is not meeting its constitutional obligation to provide a basic, free education to all children.

Back in 2000, a divided Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected a similar argument in the Vincent v. Voight case.

In that case, “the Court said the system is not bad enough right now to violate the constitution,” Mandell says. But since then, two full generations of kids have completed kindergarten through 12th grade, and conditions have deteriorated dramatically.

When Vincent v. Voight was decided, school revenue limits were still automatically pegged to inflation. A state law, abolished in 2003, still held that two-thirds of school funding should come from the state. A popular program, abolished in 2018, still kept class sizes small and offered extra supports to children living in poverty to help them succeed academically. Overall, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, school funding has not kept pace with inflation in Wisconsin since 2009, a major reversal from the early 2000s, when Wisconsin schools were among the best funded in the nation.

“The situation keeps getting worse and worse and worse, and we’re saying the court needs to give this another look,” says Mandell.

This is where the hopeful part comes in. Like the gerrymandering lawsuit that prompted the Legislature and the governor to pass fair voting maps in Wisconsin, Mandell believes the school funding lawsuit could trigger major legislative reform. As in the gerrymandering case, “the court’s job is to tell the Legislature, ‘What you have here is not good enough,’ and then give them a short window to fix it,” Mandell says.

It’s not the court’s job to come up with a new funding formula, but if the governor and the Legislature can’t agree, it could impose its own solution.

As the November elections approach, ushering in a new Legislature and a new governor, there’s a real opportunity for change.

“There is growing momentum and understanding of what the problem is, and what the issue is, on both sides of the aisle,” says DuBois Bourenane.

She and the other public school advocates in her organization are deeply disappointed that the governor and the Legislature failed to hammer out a deal to give more money to schools, after dangling the idea at the end of the last session. “It’s just criminal that they’re even willing to entertain the idea of sending these kids back to school with nothing again,” she says. “We’ve got 70-plus districts going to referendum again this fall … over a third of our districts went to referendum this calendar year.”

DuBois Bourenane agrees with Mandell that the lawsuit could spur a breakthrough.

“I’m just glad that everybody’s talking about it,” she says, “and I hope that they’re paying very close attention to what’s actually possible if we elect people who all agree that we have to fix this broken problem.”

Another broke back-to-school season begins with anxiety, hope for change was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.

Ruth Conniff is Editor-in-chief of the Wisconsin Examiner.

Cash. (CC0 Creative Commons).

Every year the media reports on the pay for the top 100 or 200 CEOs in America, and the figures get ever more outrageous.

But what about the rest of the chief executives? How are they doing? Beginning about five years ago, the AFL-CIO began doing a far more complete accounting, an annual report on not just the top 100, 200 or simply the CEOs atop the S&P 500 companies, but the top several thousand executives, including both the pay they earn and the ratio of that pay to what an average worker at the company earned.

This year’s report includes the pay going to more than 3,900 executives in America, including 47 in Wisconsin, and how many times more than the average worker they earned. The result is a far broader, more detailed picture of the growing wealth gap in America.

The top CEO you can probably guess. “In 2025, Elon Musk‘s $158 billion pay package at Tesla broke the CEO pay curve,” the report noted. It was 14 times higher than the total compensation of all other S&P 500 company CEOs combined and 2,522,203 times the median Tesla employee’s pay in 2025.

“Including Musk, S&P 500 CEOs received $340.1 million on average in 2025, about a 1,700% increase over the previous year,” the report noted. But even excluding Musk’s Tesla pay package, the average CEO pay at S&P 500 companies increased by a whopping 21%, rising from $18.9 million in 2024 to $22.8 million in 2025.

“Excluding Musk, the average pay ratio of S&P 500 companies increased from 285-to-1 in 2024 to 312-to-1 in 2025.”

So which figures are the more accurate picture of America’s wealth gap – with or without Musk?

Yes, Musk’s compensation is way off the charts compared to other CEOs. But in past years the pay for the top CEO was often far ahead of any other and looked like an outlier, yet it became the goal, the lodestar for future CEO pay.

The number two CEO in 2025, Shankh Mitra at Welltower, was paid more than $820 million, and the number three CEO, Kaz Nejatian at Opendoor Technologies, got more than $741 million. Just a few years ago this kind of pay would have seemed inconceivable. Now it’s the model for future CEO pay, and soon more executives will hit this level.

Or take Wisconsin, where the top compensation in 2025 went to Michael Lyons at Fiserv, whose pay was $70.3 million, and the second-highest compensation, $49.5 million, went to Kevin Conroy, CEO of Exact Sciences. Lyons earned 798 times more than the average company worker, and several other CEOs in the state earned well more than 400 times the average worker pay. (Lyons quit Fiserv this year and went to a company where his pay will be $57 million, as Urban Milwaukee has reported.)

Back in 1965, top CEOs in the nation earned 21 times more than the average worker, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Now it’s 312 times higher than the average worker for the top 500 companies (excluding Musk). In Wisconsin, 33 CEOs now earn at least 21 times the average worker, 22 of them make at least 100 times, and 11 make 200 times the average worker pay.

This has happened because top CEO pay has skyrocketed, rising by 1,094% from 1978 to 2024, as the EPI study found, while the average worker’s pay rose by just 26%.

We are not in this together. All boats are not rising. In Wisconsin, 34 CEOs earned at least $4.6 million in 2025, while the average worker pay in the state was $58,000.

Surveys show most Americans believe CEOs are overpaid. Only 16% believe CEOs are paid an appropriate amount relative to the average worker. Yet the typical American believes corporate CEOs earn $1 million, when the average (not including Musk) documented by this report is $22.8 million. All but two of the 47 CEOs in Wisconsin earned more than $1 million in 2025.

10 Top-Paid CEOs in Wisconsin in 2025

Rosa Yang, owner of Grandpa Khoua’s Farm, sells a bouquet of freshly picked flowers at the Walker Square Farmers Market on Aug. 9. (Photo by Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)

The Walker Square Farmers Market is tracing the blueprint of last year’s success while trying some new things to appeal to attendees of all ages and backgrounds.

A key component of that plan is to make the market, located at Walker Square Park, 1031 S. 9th St., more appealing to children and families.

Children can stroll through the park with a little shopping cart, receive a $2 coupon each Sunday to spend on goods, and participate in family and wellness activities like story time in English and Spanish and family yoga.

Eli Perez, 3, pushes his shopping cart at Walker Square Park during the Walker Square Farmers Market on Aug. 9. (Photo by Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)

Expanding programming is a way to attract busy families to visit the farmers market, said Elizabeth Lezama, who started working part time as the manager there in April.

She grew up south of the Walker Square neighborhood near Kosciuszko Park and wants to help families in the area access fresh food and new experiences that were not available when she was growing up.

“I just really want to be able to be as inclusive or as welcoming as we can be to people, especially people that have felt like there’s not a lot of opportunities for them,” Lezama said.

The Walker Square Neighborhood Association and Friends of Walker Square Park reestablished the neighborhood’s tradition of a summer market in 2025. It runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays through Sept. 27.

‘Having a ball’

Jasmine Perez, a mother of two, lives in Riverwest but stopped at the market while passing through the area to pick up some fresh vegetables.

“He’s kind of having a ball, so I’m letting him enjoy it,” Perez said of her 3-year-old son, Eli, as he wheeled around a mini shopping cart.

Lezama wanted to add activities that incorporate skills that families might be thinking about, like children’s financial literacy, early reading comprehension and expanding their diets and nutrition.

In growing her micro urban farm, Flor Y Raíz MKE, Lezama said she noticed her daughter would be more excited about trying a new fruit or vegetable they had worked on in the garden together than if she just cooked a new food and told her daughter it tasted good. This approach inspired the shopping carts.

“If kids have a little bit more autonomy or they can pick something, they might try something new,” Lezama said.

The market also added some resources for families with neurodivergent children.

“I’ve heard parents say … ‘Well, we can’t really go because we have our kid and they won’t enjoy it, it’ll be too much for them or it’ll be overstimulating, so we can’t go,’” she said.

There are two sensory bags families can check out during the market that are equipped with fidget toys, an augmentative and alternative communication card, headphones for noise reduction and a book.

Ue Cheng, florist at Cheng Siong Flowermarket, poses for a portrait with a freshly made bouquet during the Walker Square Farmers Market. (Photo by Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)

Community support

For the second year in a row, the Walker Square Farmers Market received an $8,000 Sprouts Grant from the Milwaukee Parks Foundation to support “música en el parque” every Sunday, according to Nicole Hertel Meirose, a co-leader of the Friends of Walker Square Park.

The Milwaukee Parks Foundation also supported the group in its application for the market’s second $25,000 grant from Bader Philanthropies to cover costs for a market manager and Hmong interpreter, permits, supplies, marketing, children’s activities and other projects and programming. 

“Our goal continues to be bringing people together in Walker Square to build community,” Hertel Meirose said.

Cultural relevance

Holly Kingsbury leads a children’s yoga class at Walker Square Park during the market on Aug. 9. (Photo by Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)

To further expand the market’s accessibility, Lezama also wants to add an American Sign Language story time and a Hmong storytelling or art activity.

Antonia Towns, a Walker Square resident, said she likes that the market is culturally relevant to her family.

“We’ve got horchata and agua fresca, and we can expose our kid to his culture and the music,” she said. 

She said she and her husband, Peter, and their son, had fun participating in the bilingual story time and family yoga.

“Before COVID, we would come and it was really big, and then it went away for a long time, and so we’re trying to support to help it come back,” Peter Towns said.

The Townses said they would like to see more food vendors and the market continue to grow.

Vendors at the market already sell fresh fruits and vegetables, prepared food and drinks. The market also features community resources and activities like tai chi.

More about the market

Walker Square Farmers Market accepts FoodShare/SNAP, WIC, Milwaukee Market Match and senior voucher payments.

While the market is at capacity for vendors this year, its organizers are looking for feedback on its music, activities and products, as well as volunteers to support setup, takedown and marketing. Learn more on its website and social media.

Amanda Nogueras, 4, pushes a shopping cart through the plaza at the Walker Square Farmers Market on Aug. 9. (Photo by Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

President Donald Trump arrives at a roundtable event Friday, June 5, 2026, in Chippewa Falls, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

This week, a few dozen Wisconsin Republicans will travel south to Dallas for their party’s midterm convention. There, they’ll join up with fellow Republicans from around the country, hear speeches from Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump, and attend events about policy priorities and the key races this November.

But this won’t be like two years ago, when Republicans from around the country came to Milwaukee to formally nominate Trump for reelection. In fact, it’s an event that hasn’t been held in this country in decades.

Instead, it’s more of a fundraiser and rally while Republicans are nervous about their chances in the November midterm elections, said James McCann, a political scientist at Purdue University.

“It’s a top-down, Trump White House-driven event that is meant to kind of pull the party together, to solidify it under President Trump, and to try to … promote it through all kinds of media sources,” he said. “President Trump is trying to reassert himself as the sort of key figure within the party.”

But some high-profile Wisconsin Republicans — similar to Republicans in other battleground states — won’t be attending.

Trump announced last September that Republicans would hold the convention. Details emerged only earlier this summer, with confirmation in late June that the event would be in Dallas.

On social media at the time, Trump described the convention as a “truly Historic Event,” and a chance to “celebrate our Nation, our achievements, and our bright future.”

Scheduled for Sept. 9-10, the convention comes as Trump faces record-low approval ratings. With Democrats eager to flip Congress, and midterm elections nearly always more favorable to the party out of power, some Republicans have expressed concern that cozying up to Trump right now only makes them more vulnerable.

That may be why early reporting suggests that some battleground Republicans won’t be attending. Plus, two days off the campaign trail can mean a lot in tight races, said McCann.

“Texas can be a long way away for people from Wisconsin,” said McCann. “A week spent in Dallas is a week not spent knocking on doors in Racine, Wisconsin, or wherever you are.”

Then there’s the matter of cost, with tickets going for $20,000 or more and add-ons, like photo ops with the president, reportedly costing tens of thousands more. For candidates, the entry fee is $25,000. The event is a party fundraiser, although it’s not entirely clear which entity will be pocketing those dollars.

The most competitive midterm elections will cost millions of dollars. Candidates may not want to pony up cash for a party in the middle of that, although some vulnerable Republicans will reportedly have their entry comped.

At the same time, Trump has a reported $400 million war chest at his disposal. The convention could therefore be a networking opportunity for candidates looking to eke out a win.

“The impulse is to respond to what is a widespread perception that this is not a favorable climate for Republican candidates to be running,” said McCann.

Some Wisconsin Republicans will be there. Some won’t.

A spokesperson for the Wisconsin GOP didn’t respond to WPR’s request for a list of delegates or lawmakers who would be in attendance. WisPolitics has confirmed that there will be 33 delegates in all. Because there is no nomination process, they are delegates in name only.

But one attendee will be Wisconsin GOP chair Brian Schimming.

“I look forward to leading the Wisconsin delegation in Dallas this September,” Schimming said in July. “Together, we put Trump over the top election night in 2024, and with the same grassroots unity and focus, we will win in 2026!”

U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a Trump ally who faces a competitive reelection bid for his western Wisconsin district, also said he will attend, because “the mainstream media has not told the truth about what Republicans have done.”

Republican Party of Wisconsin Chair Brian Schimming, right, shakes hands with U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, left, as he takes the stage Saturday, May 17, 2025, during the Republican Party of Wisconsin State Convention in Rothschild, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate for governor, will not be in attendance. His campaign says Tiffany has conflicting campaign events in Wisconsin. A close ally to Trump, Tiffany has attempted to put some air between himself and the president in recent weeks, breaking with him over plans to import foreign beef in the face of steep tariffs, and to rename Lake Ontario.

Tiffany has also repeatedly declined to say whether he wants Trump to visit Wisconsin and campaign with him directly, although at a dinner at the White House Wednesday, Trump shouted out Tiffany by name and promised to support him, Van Orden, and U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil “100 percent all the way to November.”

An unusual event for a turbulent election year

While nominating conventions date back to the 19th century, a midterm convention is a much rarer event. This one will be the Republican Party’s first.

Democrats held a handful in the 1970s and 1980s, but the party opted to stop in 1986. That year, the party’s chair called these “mini-conventions” a waste of time and money, and “places for mischief.”

Elaine Kamarck was at one of those Democratic events in 1978. Kamarck was a young staffer with the Democratic National Convention. Now a political analyst the Brookings Institute, she described an event that ended up going poorly for then-President Jimmy Carter.

Notably, the 1978 event took place immediately after the midterm elections — not beforehand. But that timing gave then Sen. Ted Kennedy the chance to give a speech that “wowed everybody,” Kamarck said — and angered the White House. The speech was credited with helping to jumpstart Kennedy’s insurgent primary against Carter in 1980.

There were some political similarities then and now. Gas prices were high, amid a national shortage, conflicts with Middle Eastern nations and upheaval in Iran. And Carter, like Trump, had low approval ratings.

“And guess what? A lot of elected Democrats decided not to come to … his convention,” Kamarck said. “When a president is in trouble, as this one is, the elected officials in the party don’t want to be seen with him.”

Wisconsin Republicans are heading to a midterm convention. What is that? was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Milwaukee students (from left) Ethan Molina Montes, Symone Smith, Brandon Johnson and Estella Yang. (Photo collage by Jonathan Aguilar)

Tiana Lancaster, 9

What are you most looking forward to about going back to school this year?

“Playing. I like to go on the playground, and I like painting.”

Nayaonna Morgan, 17

What are you most looking forward to about going back to school this year?

“I’m looking forward to graduating and going to college. I like talking to my friends and socializing. I have favorite teachers, so I do look forward to seeing them. I’m also looking forward to having a good year in volleyball and having a good year overall.”

What is something you wish parents understood about going to school in Milwaukee? 

“I feel like adults don’t realize that some schools aren’t how they were back then; it can be difficult.”

Estella Yang, 10

What are you most looking forward to about going back to school this year?

“Probably getting back to my normal routine, getting back to my friends, stuff like that.”

What is something you wish parents understood about going to school in Milwaukee?

“A lot of stuff happens, like having to go to the gym, having the teachers talk about stuff, having to take a lot of tests, and how hard it can be struggling with homework.”

Brandon Johnson, 16

What are you most looking forward to about going back to school this year? 

“I would say seeing my friends and trying to continue my healthcare field. I want to go into nursing, and then I’ll see what I’ll do after nursing.”

Any advice to share with your classmates in school?

“Make sure you choose what you really want to do. Don’t get peer-pressured. Choose the classes that you like.”

Tulio Hill, 10

What are you most looking forward to about going back to school this year?

“To make new friends and learn stuff that I didn’t learn last year.”

What’s your favorite subject in school?

“Reading. I like reading because there are so many different types of books that we could read about.”

Aubrey Jones, 14

What are you most looking forward to about going back to school this year?

“My goal is to have all my credits (for the year) by the end of ninth grade.”

What is something you wish parents understood about going to school in Milwaukee? 

“It’s not the same anymore. It’s different work than they had when they went to school.”

Ethan Molina Montes, 10

What are you most looking forward to about going back to school this year?

“What I’m looking forward to the most is improving my grades. I’m also looking forward to improving my soccer skills and joining new clubs to get to know more people.”

What is something you wish parents understood about going to school in Milwaukee?

“I wish that some adults understood that some schools need more resources, so they can grow bigger and more students can come because not everybody has the opportunity to go to school.”

Braylenn Johnson, 14

What are you most looking forward to about going back to school this year? 

“This school year, just the friends and getting past the year.”

What is something you wish parents understood about going to school in Milwaukee? 

“That there’s less diversity here than you would think; there’s not much here.”

Symone Smith, 11

What are you most looking forward to about going back to school this year?

“Having fun.”

What’s your favorite subject in school?

“Math.”

What is something you wish parents understood about going to school in Milwaukee?

“We get up too early.”

Alexis Trujillo, 13

What are you most looking forward to about going back to school this year?

“Being successful for my freshman school year in high school. I feel great because I get to meet new people, new friends, and I feel good about my teachers.”

What is something you wish parents understood about going to school in Milwaukee?

“Not everything is easy. Sometimes it’s difficult, and sometimes we suffer in classes because we don’t understand.”

Maurice Johnson, 11

What are you most looking forward to about going back to school this year?

“I’m looking forward to having a good day, having fun after school with sports, like track and football.”

Any advice to your classmates in school?

“Stay good. Stay well.”

Tamia Lewis, 12

What are you most looking forward to about going back to school this year?

“To get good grades, go to the next grade and make my parents happy.”

What is something you wish parents understood about going to school in Milwaukee? 

“It’s harder now; it just gets harder each day.”

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Josh Kaul and Eric Toney.

A July ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court will let the attorney general elected on Nov. 3 decide how to spend Wisconsin’s share of a national settlement of up to $17 billion with Meta Platforms over social media practices that targeted and addicted young users.

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, whose Justice Department joined dozens of other states in suing Meta, said in a statement Wisconsin would receive at least $219 million, and could get up to $313 million, over several years.

Kaul faces Republican Eric Toney, the Fond du Lac County district attorney, on Nov. 3. Kaul narrowly won a second term in 2022 when he beat Toney.

Praising the many safety reforms Facebook and Instagram must make under the federal settlement, Kaul said, “This resolution provides for several changes that prioritize kids’ well-being over Meta’s profits. This is a monumental step in changing the role of social media in kids’ lives for the better.”

If he is reelected, Kaul said he plans to spend the $219 million on mental health programs for youths but offered no specifics. He also said the settlement should send a “message” to other social media firms that “engage in conduct that harms our kids.”

Toney’s campaign website does not include any statement on how the Republican would spend the $219 million, if he is elected attorney general. Will he seek to make it a campaign issue?

Kaul said the Meta consumer protection settlement is the second biggest in Wisconsin history, after only the 1998 settlement with tobacco firms.

In a July decision, the state Supreme Court ruled that the attorney general has the sole authority to disperse federal settlement funds.

The decision ended a seven-year fight over whether the attorney general had authority to disburse settlement funds or whether the Legislature had oversight over those funds.

Before Kaul and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers took office in January 2019, outgoing Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans who controlled the Legislature tried to limit the powers of those two state officers. One change required the attorney general to deposit settlement funds in the state’s general fund, which is subject to the spending decisions of legislators.

In the July ruling, Justice Rebecca Dallet said the court’s five-justice majority found that state law “provides in its entirety that ‘[t]he attorney general shall deposit all settlement funds into the general fund.’”

“This simple, declarative sentence identifies a class of state money (‘settlement funds’) and imposes a single, narrow restriction on where that money must be deposited (into the state treasury, specifically ‘the general fund’),” Dallet said.

After that, however, Dallet added, “It says nothing whatsoever about where that money may or must be credited after it is deposited.”

Dissenting Justice Rebecca Bradley accused the majority of ignoring the law to side with the Democratic governor and attorney general.

“The majority refuses to apply the law, which favors the Republican-controlled Legislature,” Bradley wrote. “This is not the first time justice has taken a back seat to political interests.”

The Meta settlement is one of three large settlements Wisconsin has been a part of since 1998.

Under the biggest settlement, 45 tobacco manufacturers signed a Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) in 1998 that requires them to pay billions of dollars in perpetuity to dozens of states to treat smoking-related illnesses. The MSA also required new limits on advertising, promoting and marketing cigarettes.

The website of the National Association of Attorneys General estimates that Wisconsin has received $3.5 billion in payments under the tobacco settlement since 1999.

A summary from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau says Wisconsin’s payments under the tobacco settlement go to the state’s Medical Assistance Trust Fund.

The national opioid settlement was reached in 2021 in response to what the National Institutes of Health (NIH) calls “one of the most severe and devastating public health problems of the 21st century.” One million Americans died of drug overdoses since 1999, NIH reports.

The settlement calls for pharmaceutical manufacturers, medical supply distributors, pharmacy chains and retailers who misrepresented the effects of opioids, offered marketing incentives to physicians to prescribe them, and violated Medicaid rules, to pay billions of dollars to states and local governments over 18 years, according to the NIH.

The national opioid settlement meant that Wisconsin and local governments will receive $866 million between 2022 and 2038, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

The 2021-2023 state budget says 70% of those payments goes to local governments — primarily counties — and 30% goes to state government.

Steven Walters started covering the Capitol in 1988. Contact him at stevenscotwalters@gmail.com.

Celia Olson and McKenna Olson held a party in Milwaukee’s Humboldt Park to celebrate their family and the adoption of their two youngest children. (Courtesy of McKenna Olson)

McKenna and Celia Olson expanded their family by adopting four children, completing their South Side Milwaukee home. The adoption closed a chapter in their journey as foster parents with the Wellpoint Care Network.

McKenna and Celia, closed their foster care license in May after spending the past eight years fostering 10 children.

In June, the couple celebrated their 6, 5, 2 and 9-month-old children with an adoption party at Milwaukee’s Humboldt Park.

“We have four kids now and they’ve been with us since birth,” McKenna said. “This is our family unit now and we’re grateful to be alongside the kids as they grow.”

Adjusting to a new parenting lifestyle

As the Olson family has grown, McKenna and Celia have adapted to new parenting routines such as staying home when a child is sick, making multiple drop-offs to daycare or extracurricular activities and more.

“As the older kids are growing up, they’re getting more involved in things,” McKenna said. “We’re being aware of what works and understanding what’s best for each kid.”

McKenna said she’s also adjusting to no longer having to follow certain policies and procedures.

Last month, McKenna and Celia took the kids on vacation without going through an approval process.

“One part of being a foster parent is you have to get approval if you want to go out of state, and sometimes you might have to share your itinerary or birth parents have to get involved,” she said.

As they navigate new parenting routines, McKenna and Celia are excited to create memories as a family such as celebrating birthdays and capturing moments from the first and last days of school.

“In my dream ideal world, I would love to have so many people around the table during Thanksgiving and birthdays and that would include the birth families of my kids,” McKenna said. “I really just look forward to being a family, spending quality time and having our extended family come together.”

Celia Olson, left, and McKenna Olson pose with their four newly adopted children inside the Milwaukee County Courthouse. (Courtesy of McKenna Olson)

Feeling mixed emotions

No longer foster parents, McKenna and Celia still reflect on the bittersweet moments they’ve shared with other foster children.

“The kids that have left us, we still think about them and miss them,” McKenna said. “You’re in people’s lives for a reason during certain stages of their life.”

McKenna and Celia said they were grateful to care for all 10 children over the years.

“Every kid that came into our home, we open our hearts,” McKenna said.

Using resources to help with trauma

McKenna and Celia chose to become foster parents through Wellpoint Care Network because of its Trauma Informed Care Program, which teaches principles for responding to people who have experienced trauma.

“Children who experience trauma, their brains formulate differently than children who may have not gone through trauma,” said Emily Davis, Wellpoint foster care recruitment and retention supervisor.

In addition to supporting foster parents, the training has helped social workers, librarians, educators, police officers and others.

According to Julie Scott, Wellpoint director of trauma-informed strategy and practice, the organization developed the training after discovering its former residential boys group wasn’t receiving enough mental health support.

“We found that traditional mental health services and therapies weren’t enough,” Scott said. “Because of adversity and trauma there are particular needs that aren’t always met.”

Davis said there are five levels of foster parents, all of whom are required to take the free Trauma-Informed Care training to become licensed through Wellpoint Care Network.

“We don’t want children to be moved from home to home, and our biggest goal is to only have a child in one placement the entire time they’re in foster care,” Davis said. “Providing foster parents with the training allows them to have the knowledge and ability to be that one foster parent the child needs rather than multiple.”

The Olson family spends time at a Milwaukee Brewers game at American Family Field. (Photo provided by McKenna Olson)

The training helped McKenna and Celia understand that no parent is perfect and that they shouldn’t take a child’s response to trauma personally.

“It’s about being aware that everyone comes with their own story and situations,” McKenna said. “It’s all a work in progress because the kids are changing and you’re changing right with them.”

Scott and the Olson family encourage foster parents to meet children where they are instead of expecting them to reach a certain development stage.

“Be compassionate, understanding and stick around a little longer,” Scott said. “A child may behave a certain way because they don’t understand their trauma.”

McKenna wants aspiring foster parents to know that the process requires them to embrace change.

“If you’re entering a new world, you shouldn’t be going in the same person you were,” she said.

Information for new or aspiring foster parents

To become an eligible foster parent in Wisconsin applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Be at least 21 years of age.
• Pass a background check.
• Show proof of income.
• Meet all home safety requirements.
• Have car insurance with valid license.
• Have no past history with child welfare agency involving child neglect or abuse.
• Be willing to work alongside the child’s biological family.
• Demonstrate positive qualities such as patience and humor.

McKenna said she and Celia could always reopen their license if they wanted to. They are grateful for the support Wellpoint Care Network provided them as foster parents.

“Wellpoint Care Network has been a part of our life, and because of this nonprofit, our family is the way that it is,” she said.

This article first appeared on Wisconsin Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Apples (CC0 Public Domain).

Many Wisconsin orchards are preparing to open their fields to apple pickers across the state. But after a year of late frosts, drought and hail damage in some areas, many apple orchards are not expecting a large yield this fall.

Mark Christopher is an owner of Maple Leaf Orchard in Spring Valley. He said warmer temperatures in March and April caused the trees in his western Wisconsin orchard to start blooming earlier. When temperatures dropped again, it damaged the crop.

“We’re definitely in a reduced-crop situation, and the biggest reason for that is because of spring frost,” he said. “The (trees) that were in full bloom when the frost events hit, they got hit the worst, and so we don’t have the crop that we normally would have.”

Spring frosts occur when temperatures drop below freezing after plants have come out of their winter dormancy. For apple trees, the frost damages and reduces crop yield. Apple trees in the western part of the state tend to bloom earlier due to warmer temperatures.

“I am definitely seeing a pattern where we’re having warmer early springs, and that can set us up for this kind of a problem a little bit more,” Christopher said.

Paul Schwabe is a horticulturist at Johnson’s Nursery in Menomonee Falls. He said apple growers in the eastern part of Wisconsin tend to have cooler springs which makes the trees less susceptible to frost damage.

“Usually we bloom a little later in southeast Wisconsin because we’re by Lake Michigan.” Schwabe said. “It’s like a big, cold ice block, and it does offer us some protection in the spring from frost.”

Longer falls can also play a role in the apple harvest. This year a strong El Niño is expected to bring warmer temperatures to Wisconsin this fall and winter.

Amaya Atucha, a professor in the Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said growers have to adapt to these conditions.

“The trees are active for a longer period of time after harvest,” Atucha said about the rising fall temperatures. “How do we keep those trees healthy and not stressed so that they can go into winter well prepared to withstand the freezing conditions?”

Another side effect of a warmer fall: Fruits can ripen faster than normal. Christopher said this can mean growers have to frantically pick the apples before they fall off the trees. He said that has happened to his pear trees, and could happen to other varieties this fall.

“When varieties are really starting to come in that ripen all at once — boy, yeah, that causes that panic-picking,” he said. “You really have to just go at it full bore to get them off the trees before they hit the ground.”

Atucha said growers can reduce stress to their trees by providing irrigation or hailnets — but that can get expensive.

“There are things that we can do to reduce stress, but all of that, at the end of the day, adds up in the cost,” she said.

Despite the challenges, Atucha said many farmers were still able to produce a good yield. She encourages people to visit their local orchard this fall.

“Even though we have had a lot of challenges this growing season, the growers are amazing and incredibly resilient and they always manage to have a relatively good crop,” she said.

Warmer temperatures, spring frosts cause challenges for Wisconsin apple growers was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the Democratic candidate for governor, talks with La Crosse voter Margaret Wood during Democrats’ annual corn roast at the La Crosse Interstate Fair grounds on Sept. 2, 2026. Hope Kirwan/WPR

Polka music filled one of the buildings at the La Crosse Interstate Fair grounds last week, where people lined up for brats and roasted sweet corn, and stayed for a big helping of political stump speeches.

The annual corn roast event was first started by former U.S. Rep. Ron Kind’s campaign back in 2003. Now, it’s become a chance for Democrats to fire up their base in a part of the state seen as critical to winning the governor’s office and key races for the state Legislature.

“It just speaks to the camaraderie, it speaks to the spirit of the Democratic Party in western Wisconsin,” said Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley of the annual event. “I truly believe that if you’re running statewide for any race, there’s no way you can do it without stopping at the corn roast.”

Crowley and every other Democrat running for statewide office in November, along with two liberal hopefuls for next April’s Wisconsin Supreme Court race, spoke at Wednesday’s corn roast, which is now hosted by Democratic state Sen. Brad Pfaff of Onalaska.

The party leaders talked to voters about lowering grocery prices and making healthcare more affordable. And they urged residents to turn out their family and friends to vote.

“Everybody here, you have some of the most powerful ballots in the entire United States,” Ben Wikler, former chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, told the crowd Wednesday.

As evidence, Wikler pointed to what are sure to be some of the closest races in the state this November. Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s 3rd Congressional District is seen as one of only a handful of seats across the country that are up for grabs, with Democrat Rebecca Cooke again on the ballot after narrowly losing the 2024 race.

Democratic state Rep. Steve Doyle held onto his 94th Assembly District seat, covering parts of La Crosse and Trempealeau counties, by just a few hundred votes in the last election. His race against political newcomer and Army veteran Keith Purnell is once again considered a key race this fall.

Campaign signs for Democratic candidates line the front of the stage at western Wisconsin Democrats’ annual corn roast on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. Hope Kirwan/WPR

Ryan Huebsch, who challenged Doyle in the 2024 election and is now vice chair of the 3rd Congressional District Republican Party, agrees the 94th and several other legislative districts throughout the region will likely be “majority-making” races this fall.

“Western Wisconsin, it has a long history of voting for the individual over the party, and 2026 is not going to be any exception to that,” Huebsch said. “So the economy, affordability, that’ll be the most important issue each family is going to be dealing with, as well as the security of our streets.”

President Donald Trump is not on the ballot this fall, but his name was mentioned frequently at Democrats’ corn roast.

The candidates worked to tie U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate for governor, to Trump, whose approval rating has suffered since launching the war in Iran.

The latest Marquette Law School poll in August found 40 percent of surveyed registered voters approved of Trump, down from 44 percent at the start of the year.

Huebsch said Trump and other top Republicans “will always be” an important part of any race. But he thinks Democrats’ anti-Trump turnout strategy won’t carry as much weight among voters in the region.

Democrats fire up western Wisconsin voters as November election nears was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Site of Klement’s Sausage Factory, 2650 S. Chase Ave., Photo taken April 17, 2023 by Sophie Bolich.

The Klement Sausage Co. has a new landlord.

An affiliate of Fox Point-based General Capital Group purchased the 15.4-acre manufacturing complex, 2650 S. Chase Ave., for $13 million on Sept. 2, according to state real estate records.

The approximately 150,000-square-foot facility remains Klement’s production plant, and the company has a lease on the Bay View property that runs through 2036.

Klement’s sold the complex in 2021 for $12.2 million as part of a sale-leaseback agreement. An affiliate of Madison-based SARA Investment Real Estate acquired the property and was the seller in the latest transaction.

Klement’s consolidated its production operations at the Chase Avenue plant during the past decade.

The sausage maker launched a $7.5 million expansion of the facility in 2018 and subsequently listed its original factory, 207 E. Lincoln Ave., for sale. The company closed its outlet store inside the Chase Avenue plant in April 2023, saying it needed the space to accommodate manufacturing demands.

The ownership of Klement’s itself has also changed twice in the past 12 years.

The Klement family sold the company in 2014 to Tall Tree Foods, a portfolio company of California private equity firm Altamont Capital Partners. Chicago-based Amylu Foods acquired Klement’s in 2024 for an undisclosed price.

At the time of the latest corporate sale, Amylu said it would retain Klement’s approximately 300 employees and planned to add about 200 workers during the following two to three years. The company also said it anticipated investing approximately $10 million in the Chase Avenue factory and believed new equipment could quadruple the plant’s production capacity.

Amylu specializes in fully cooked chicken products, including sausages and burgers. Klement’s produces bratwursts, hot dogs, summer sausages, snack sticks and other meat products.

Klement’s maintains its corporate headquarters in The Tannery office complex, 700 W. Virginia St., in Walker’s Point.

The sausage company was founded in 1956 when brothers John, George and Ronald Klement purchased Badger Sausage Co. and its Lincoln Avenue factory. The Chase Avenue plant was added in 1988.

Klement’s sold the original factory and several adjoining properties to Caledonia-based Hintz Holdings in 2023. The nearly three-acre assemblage included the approximately 98,725-square-foot former factory, a parking lot and three houses on S. Austin Street.

A portion of that property is now slated for redevelopment. The Common Council approved a $2.1 million city subsidy in July for Austin Commons, a proposed 100-unit affordable apartment building that would replace the three vacant houses. Northernstar Companies and The Commonwealth Companies are pursuing the $33.4 million development.

General Capital already has at least one major investment near the Chase Avenue plant. In 2010, the real estate firm developed the 60-unit Hide House Lofts, 2615 S. Greeley St., on the opposite side of the Canadian Pacific Kansas City railroad tracks that form the eastern border of the Klement’s property.

The Couture and US Bank Center. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has released its latest batch of nationwide detention statistics that show Wisconsin arrests by ICE agents hit new highs in June and July.

The number of arrests jumped from at least 119 in May to 220 in June and were concentrated in the southeastern portion of the state. Since January 2025, the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, more than 2,100 people have been detained in Wisconsin.

That is all according to a new data analysis from Paul Kiefer, a fellow at Wisconsin Watch who focuses largely on immigration and data reporting.

The reporting showed that although 70 percent of these arrests happened in Wisconsin jails or prisons, there is an increasing number of arrests occurring in people’s homes, on the streets or at a courthouse.

“There was a flood of social media footage of officers pulling their targets out of cars, pulling up in their driveways in suburban Milwaukee,” Kiefer said on WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” “That was a departure from the prior year and a half of arrest patterns.”

To hear more about the impact of these arrests, WPR spoke with Erin Barbato, the director of the Immigrant Justice Center at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

The following conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity. 

Kate Archer Kent: We see this spike in June arrests in Wisconsin remaining elevated in July. How is this surge in ICE arrests impacting your clients?

Erin Barbato: From what I observed the number didn’t surprise me because we are deep into responding to many of the arrests and also serving the people that are detained here in Wisconsin.

But the fear that people have to live with — that they could be picked up off the street without having done anything wrong, just living their lives, going to work, taking their children to school — has been really difficult for our communities and harmful to families that live here in Wisconsin.

KAK: The data indicates that some people are being arrested at the Department of Homeland Security field office in downtown Milwaukee, where ICE agents arrest people during mandatory check-ins. What are these check-ins? 

EB: Some people who are in removal proceedings might be able to live in the community while those proceedings are going forward.

Because of the backlog in immigration court, it may take a few years for people to get in front of an immigration judge. During that time, they may have to check in with ICE just to confirm that they’re still here, they’re not a flight risk, they’re not doing anything nefarious. It used to be pretty routine, you would check in, make sure the officer knows your current address and if anything else has changed, like your job.

But now they’ve turned into a time when people are terrified to attend because there doesn’t seem to be any sort of rhyme or reason why one person may be detained and another is not. So people go in there quite blind in terms of what is going to happen to them. They could be leaving that day, or they could be leaving and returning to their family, or they could be put in detention and permanently separated from their family.

KAK: As for the data indicating more than half of the people detained from Wisconsin have a criminal record, some people would say, “Look, ICE is fulfilling its purpose here.”  What do you make of that argument? 

EB: If you look at it just on the surface, that argument makes sense. However, once people see what we’re considering as criminal records, many of these people have not done anything dangerous or not done anything that would make someone uncomfortable.

For example, people without status here in Wisconsin can’t obtain driver’s licenses. We do not have a vast public transit system here in Wisconsin, many people have to drive to work, and they can’t drive to work without driving without a license because they can’t get one.

KAK: I want to land on what detention might mean for someone. We saw Lianyong Wei, the Chinese immigrant, die in ICE custody on Aug. 23. It’s marking the 57th person to die in the care of government since the start of President Trump’s second term, and that’s according to ICE’s detainee death notifications. What are conditions like at detention facilities now? 

EB: The conditions at the detention facilities vary based on where you are. Some of the detention facilities can hold over 1,000 people. Some have space for much less. But some of the facilities — I recently visited one in Texas that is basically a tent city — they don’t have the infrastructure or protection that is humane or safe for people to live in.

We constantly hear worries from our clients that aren’t getting their medication. We have a client who has diabetes and she’s had a really difficult time getting her medication, which is terrifying and unfair and unlawful, in my opinion.

ICE arrests in Wisconsin hit new highs this summer was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

The 22-foot-tall concrete wall with guard towers that surrounds Green Bay Correctional Institution, built in 1921 to replace a wooden fence, looms over surrounding traffic and businesses in Allouez, Wis., on June 23, 2024. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)

As Wisconsin’s prison population hits record highs, Republican gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany said he is open to expanding and building prison capacity to address the rising number of people behind bars without releasing those in custody.

An Aug. 28 state Department of Corrections report showed 23,854 people were incarcerated in Wisconsin’s adult institutions, exceeding the previous record in 2019 by 28. The population grew to 23,870 as of Sept. 4. That was just over 6,000 beyond the capacity of the state’s facilities, which include the aging Green Bay Correctional Institution.

“I will work with lawmakers, corrections officials, and law enforcement to determine where we need to expand and build prison capacity so we can safely close Green Bay without releasing violent criminals back into our communities,” Tiffany said in a statement to Wisconsin Watch. “Every decision will be made with the safety of our communities and our corrections officers at the forefront.”

It has been 25 years since Wisconsin opened any new prisons. The medium-security Redgranite Correctional Institution and the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility, intended for probation and parole holds, both opened in 2001, according to DOC.

Tiffany faces Democratic nominee and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley in the open race for governor this November. When asked about Tiffany’s comments on expanding prison capacity, Crowley said in a statement that “violent criminals must be held accountable for breaking the law, but we have to give nonviolent offenders a second chance.”

“That means expanding mental health services, offering substance use treatment support, and providing job training and career readiness courses so we can save taxpayer dollars by providing a real pathway to rehabilitation,” he said.

Crowley pointed to Milwaukee County initiatives under his tenure as county executive that he said have “focused on prevention, intervention, healing, housing stability, behavioral health services, and pathways to opportunity for our young people.”

The candidates’ responses show a stark divide in how the next administration might approach criminal justice issues. Tiffany and Crowley recently clashed over allegations that a Milwaukee County inmate used a county-provided tablet to intimidate witnesses.

Wisconsin’s governor appoints the head of the Department of Corrections, the agency that oversees the state’s prisons. The governor also has the constitutional authority to grant pardons and commutations. Gov. Tony Evers has issued more than 2,000 pardons during his two terms in office and signed executive orders earlier this year to reinstate commutations.

Green Bay Correctional Institution in Allouez, Wis., pictured on June 23, 2024, is being eyed for closure under a bipartisan plan the Legislature could take up in the coming months. (Julius Shieh / Wisconsin Watch)

Tiffany and Crowley have also taken opposing views on commutations. Tiffany previously told Wisconsin Watch he would rescind those executive orders and said he would “not release violent criminals early.” Crowley said he would also not commute the sentences of those convicted of murder — a break from criteria Evers laid out that bars applications only from those previously convicted of several categories of sex crimes or child abuse. Crowley expressed support for using the governor’s executive clemency powers as a “tool to correct past wrongs” but said cases should be handled in a way that respects victims and communities.

The state’s next governor is likely to face prison problems that have gone unresolved during years of political gridlock at the Capitol between Evers and the Republican-led Legislature.

Evers in 2025 proposed a series of projects at a cost of $325 million that included closing Green Bay Correctional Institute and converting Lincoln Hills into an adult facility. Republican lawmakers objected to any plans that would reduce the capacity of the state’s facilities.

Republicans in the 2025-27 state budget approved just $15 million for Evers’ proposal and suggested a 2029 closure date for GBCI, but Evers partially vetoed the 2029 closure deadline without a detailed plan from the Legislature to do so. The state building commission in October signed off on releasing the $15 million to start the planning process for Evers’ proposed projects.

Rep. Benjamin Franklin, R-De Pere, told the Allouez Village Board on Sept. 1 that state agencies, the governor’s office and a bipartisan group of lawmakers have been working on draft legislation that would incorporate parts of Evers’ plan to revamp state facilities, close GBCI by 2031 and raise the statewide capacity by 530 beds to 18,503. The Legislature could act on the bill if Evers called a special session, Franklin said.

The estimated total cost of the projects in the legislation would be about $628.7 million, Franklin told the board members, but a “more solid number” is expected from the Department of Administration in the next 30 to 45 days, Franklin said.

“People have asked me as I’ve knocked doors and talked to people, attended the events, ‘Well, what about building a new mega facility somewhere?’” Franklin said at the meeting. “That would cost the state, by the estimates, anywhere between $1 billion to $1.3 billion. So, by adopting this plan again, that allows us to literally cut this approximately in half.”

Wisconsin Watch asked the Tiffany campaign whether the congressman supports the elements in the plan Franklin described. The campaign reiterated that Tiffany supports closing GBCI.

“As governor, he will work with corrections officials, law enforcement, legislators, and local communities to determine the best path forward. Closing Green Bay will require additional prison capacity, whether through new construction, expansion, or other options,” the campaign said in a statement. “Tom will pursue the solution that best protects taxpayers and public safety while ensuring violent criminals remain behind bars and capacity is not reduced.”

This article first appeared on Wisconsin Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

(Left to right) Cain Oulahan, Antonio Morales, Ana Morales and Christine Neuman Ortiz. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

The family of a man falsely and publicly accused by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of threatening the president’s life is preparing to sue the federal government for intentionally lying about their father, creating a climate of fear and setting off a wave of harassment.

On May 22, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Ramon Morales Reyes, 55, a Mexican immigrant living in Milwaukee. The agency made the arrest after receiving a handwritten note, ostensibly signed by Morales Reyes, threatening to shoot the president.

DHS posted his mugshot online alongside a message from then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem proclaiming, “Thanks to our ICE officers, this illegal alien who threatened to assassinate President Trump is behind bars.”

It turned out Morales Reyes was framed. He did not write the note. Shortly after Morales Reyes was arrested, investigators learned he neither read nor spoke English.

Once it became clear he likely did not write the note, they asked him who might be trying to hurt him. He could only think of one person, a man named Demetric Scott, who was then being held in Milwaukee County Jail, facing charges for stabbing and robbing Morales Reyes. As recorded jail phone calls later revealed, Scott wrote the threatening letter so Morales Reyes would be deported and his case might be dismissed. Scott has since confessed to framing Morales Reyes. DHS maintains the webpage accusing Morales Reyes of the crime.

When DHS announced they had caught a would-be assassin, law enforcement officials already knew he didn’t write the note, according to lawyers for the Morales family. DHS has still not taken down the public webpage claiming he threatened to assassinate the president. There is only a brief disclaimer explaining that he is no longer under investigation for threats against the president.

His daughter Ana Morales said the whole affair has been “heartbreaking” for her family. Her father can no longer live his life in peace. Anxious and depressed, he is afraid to leave the house, having been cast as a presidential assassin, she said during a press conference organized by the immigrant advocacy organization Voces de la Frontera.

“They knew it was a lie when they said it,” said Attorney Mark Thomsen, who is representing the family in their claim against the federal government. “So we have to ask ourselves, what are we doing that allows this lie to continue? Check it out, folks. These are two young people with the courage to stand up to the biggest government on the planet, the most powerful government on the planet, and say, ‘Do the right thing, America.'”

The Morales family is preparing a lawsuit against DHS and ICE for intentional infliction of emotional distress. They have filed a claim seeking damages. The federal government has six months to respond before they file the suit, Thomsen said. The federal government’s false claims about Morales Reyes kicked off a torrent of harassment against the family, much of it on social media.

“I really think that they knew what they were doing,” his son Antonio Morales said. “They wanted to do this to us. They wanted to do this to more immigrants, and they really want to keep terrorizing the community going forward.”

Morales Reyes has lived in the U.S. since 1986. He was working as a dishwasher at a Chili’s at the time of his arrest and had an open application for a U visa, which is a special visa for immigrants who have been a victim of a crime in the U.S. Since his arrest, the federal government has initiated removal proceedings against him. His immigration attorney, Cain Oulahan, said immigration courts have a massive backlog of U visa cases and it’s unlikely a decision would come before a court decides his deportation case.

“It will probably take around eight years to get a decision on [the U visa],” Oulahan said.

In the meantime, his family is seeking a total of $5.5 million in damages — $1.5 million for Morales Reyes and another $1 million for each of his four family members — for intentional infliction of emotional distress by the federal government.

“We’re asking for the federal government to do the right thing. That’s what we’re asking for,” Thomsen said. “They wanted to crush Ramon and his family as human beings.”

In the claim, filed Aug. 28, attorneys note that President Donald Trump sought damages of $230 million over the federal investigations into him. “It seems only fair that Mr. Morales Reyes and his family should be entitled to $5.5 million total based on DHS altering the course of their lives forever by proliferating the lie of a man who had previously stabbed Mr. Morales Reyes,” Thomsen and Oulahan wrote in the claim.

Emilio De Torre, executive director of the Milwaukee Turners, said the Morales Reyes case represented a clarion call for the community to do what they can to protect democracy and a free society. Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces, said DHS has been conducting a campaign of systematic abuse against immigrants and U.S. citizens across the country, violating constitutional rights, using excessive force and killing.

“We need meaningful accountability in our court system to protect ourselves from the abuses by DHS,” Neumann-Ortiz said. “If we do not force the government to respect our fundamental human rights and our constitutional rights, then anyone and everyone is at risk because of encroaching authoritarianism that is trying to consolidate its power over people and our legal system.”

After all the fear and harassment, and with a difficult legal battle still ahead of them, the Morales children are clinging to the hope they can some day return to a life something like it once was.

“We just want to go back to normal with our dad, to be honest,” Antonio said. “Just being with him, not having to worry about people recognizing us, which is going to be impossible now, I guess.”

1. Bay View Restaurant Evicted

Belli’s Bistro is the third Kinnickinnic Ave. restaurant to get booted via court system this year.

Sep 2nd, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene

2. Downtown Seafood Restaurant Shutters

Latest closing is part of dramatic change for Water Street entertainment district.

Aug 31st, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene

3. Mandel Group Selling More Than 40% of Portfolio in Complicated Deal

Leading Milwaukee housing company dramatically changes business.

Sep 4th, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene

4. Remembering Dan Petry

Marketing and development person, died at age 70, helped nearly every classical music group in town.

Aug 31st, 2026 by Bruce Murphy

5. Op Ed: Downtown Boulevard for I-794, Completing MARK Rail Plan Will Build City

Combined with gateway district for intermodal station, it could transform city’s economy.

Sep 1st, 2026 by Larry Witzling

6. Seven-Story Warehouse Partially Collapses

Century-old National Warehouse building in Harbor District will need to be demolished.

Sep 1st, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene

7. R.C. Schmidt, Who Built Milwaukee Hospitality Empire, Dies At 76

The entrepreneur started with a neighborhood bar and went on to build a business that spanned the region.

Sep 3rd, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene

8. MKE County: Federal Grant Will Upgrade Bike-Pedestrian Crossings and Bridges

$3 million will be used to replace two major bridges, improve 9 street crossings for bicycle trails.

Aug 30th, 2026 by Graham Kilmer

9. Walker’s Point Building Being Demolished

Development could follow, and there is precedent.

Sep 3rd, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene

10. Milwaukee County Judge Reverses Trespassing Citation in Lake Michigan Beach Walker Case

Paul Florsheim got a $313 trespassing citation for walking past a public beach in Shorewood.

Sep 4th, 2026 by Evan Casey

Press Releases

Most popular press releases in the past week.

1. Wisconsin’s Richest Person Maxes Out to Maga Billionaire Trained Jim Croft

 

Aug 19th, 2026 by A Better Wisconsin Together

2. David Crowley Thinks Milwaukee Is “Stolen” Land

 

Sep 3rd, 2026 by Republican Party of Wisconsin

3. Release From Historic Water Tower Neighborhood Association Regarding St. Mary’s Hospital

 

Sep 3rd, 2026 by Historic Water Tower Neighborhood

4. Boerner Botanical Gardens Enters an Exciting New Chapter Under New Leadership

New leaders for Boerner Botanical Gardens and Friends of Boerner Botanical Gardens unite around a shared vision to invest in Boerner and position the Gardens for generations to come.

Sep 2nd, 2026 by Friends of Boerner Botanical Gardens

5. Public Still in the Dark More Than a Week After Toxic Pipeline Spill

Incident appears to be the largest reported oil and gas pipeline spill in Wisconsin history.

Sep 3rd, 2026 by Clean Wisconsin

6. Rep. Fitzgerald’s NDO Fairness Act Passes House of Representatives

 

Aug 31st, 2026 by U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald

7. Packers Foundation Awards $1.6 Million in Annual Grants

More than $3.5 million awarded through Packers Foundation grants in 2026 to impact every county in Wisconsin

Sep 2nd, 2026 by Green Bay Packers

8. Medical College of Wisconsin Announces Dean of the School of Medicine

Brett Kissela, MD, GME ‘96, MS, named Executive Vice President for Health Affairs and Dean of the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Medicine

Sep 1st, 2026 by Medical College of Wisconsin

9. Clean Energy Advocates, Experts Call on PSC to Protect Ratepayers From We Energies’ Proposed Rate Hikes

Wisconsin families and small businesses could shoulder the cost of a $480 million rate hike over two years while the utility rakes in record profits

Sep 1st, 2026 by Clean Economy Coalition of Wisconsin

10. Five Charged in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Wisconsin With Illegally Voting, Fraudulent Registration in 2022 or 2024 Election

Defendants Include Two Illegal Aliens, Two Aliens, and One U.S. Citizen Who Was Charged with Aiding and Abetting

Sep 4th, 2026 by U.S. Department of Justice

Urban Milwaukee

You’re reading a weekly rundown of all of our short-format ‘bulletins.’ The members-only content allows us to provide additional news and analysis on topics we haven’t written full articles about.

Central Library Becomes Concert Venue [Short Take]

There it is.

Milwaukee Public Library‘s Central Library became a concert venue Thursday night, drawing several hundred attendees for the free “The Library Show.”

Those performing included DJ Sunny Lou, Djay Mando, r3algrl, 414BigFrank, Sabbath, Lightris & Sero and AyooLii.

The concert came a week after the Hi Hat Garage bar on Brady Street was revealed to have banned playing a substantial amount of hip hop music and any rap by Milwaukee artists. The bar is now closed as part of a sale.

– Jeramey Jannene, September 4 10:30 pm

AI Slop in Mandel-Cottonwood SEC Filing [Reporting Update]

Upper Midwest Investment Thesis from Cottonwood. Image from SEC filing.

Barry Mandel sent a shockwave through Milwaukee’s real estate scene Friday morning by announcing a deal to sell 40% of Mandel Group‘s portfolio to Utah-based Cottonwood Communities.

But let’s hope Cottonwood has actually been to Milwaukee. Its filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission raises the question of whether it has.

A skyline photo is clearly AI-generated, with a weird interpretation of the Milwaukee Art Museum backed by an inaccurate skyline. Mandel’s University Club Tower comes off mostly okay, but The Couture looks like a 1980s Sun Belt office tower, Northwestern Mutual‘s tower disappeared and the US Bank Center became some two-tower amalgamation.

– Jeramey Jannene, September 4 9:48 am

Federal Transportation Funding Extended to December, But Long-Term Cuts Still Loom [Reporting Update]

President Donald Trump signed a continuing resolution Wednesday, providing temporary funding for the federal government at existing levels.

The resolution maintained federal transportation funding at existing levels until Dec. 11. Meanwhile, Congress will soon return from recess and potentially take up a Republican-sponsored bill, the Build America 250 Act (BUILD Act), that would cut federal transit funding by approximately 14%.

The BUILD Act has worried local transit leaders, who are trying to stabilize the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) amidst unprecedented annual budget deficit.

Read our coverage.

– Graham Kilmer, September 3 12:32 pm

MPS Cancels Second Day of School [Short Take]

High temperatures will put Milwaukee Public Schools students quickly behind the eight ball.

The district is canceling the second day of classes, scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 2,  “due to the heat.”

“All before and after-school programs, athletic activites and recreation programs are cancelled,” said a message from the district.

– Jeramey Jannene, September 1 4:12 pm

Crowley Campaign Hires Democratic Party’s Political Director [Short Take]

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has hired Darrol Gibson II as political director for his campaign for governor.

Gibson is a seasoned political operative who most recently worked as political director for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. A political director is typically responsible for coordinating and mobilizing the various groups and constituencies needed for a winning coalition.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue doing work that I care deeply about building relationships, bringing people together, and making sure communities across Wisconsin have a meaningful voice in shaping our future,” Gibson said in a post on Linkedin.

Before taking over as the state Democrats’ political director, Gibson worked as the Wisconsin Coalitions Director for Vice President Kamala Harris campaign for the presidency. His previous experience also includes stints with Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT), Indivisible Project and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore‘s Office.

– Graham Kilmer, September 1 3:21 pm

Carl Deffenbaugh Leaving FOX6 News [Short Take]

FOX6 Anchor Carl Deffenbaugh is leaving the television station after a decade on the job.

Deffenbaugh announced Aug. 31 that Friday will be his final day at FOX6, saying changes in both the television news industry and his work schedule prompted the decision.

“The past ten years at the station are full of memories and experiences that made this an absolute dream job,” he wrote in a social media post.

But Deffenbaugh, who co-anchors the station’s WakeUp program, said the job itself has changed as television news increasingly shifts toward streaming, moving away from some of the work he most enjoyed. An impending schedule change also would have required him to start his workday even earlier.

The schedule appears to have been the deciding factor.

Deffenbaugh said the new hours would have further reduced the time he spends with his wife and three daughters, something his family was unwilling to accept.

FOX6 WakeUp begins airing at 4:30 a.m.

He does not yet have another job lined up, but said he and his family are staying in Milwaukee and that he hopes to continue telling local stories in some capacity.

“We’re parting on excellent terms, and I am beyond thankful to have had the best coworkers and friends here at FOX6,” he wrote.

Deffenbaugh said the station plans to celebrate his tenure during his final week, with more planned for his last broadcast Friday.

“It has been an absolute honor and privilege to bring you the news — and hopefully a laugh or two — every morning for all these years,” he wrote.

Deffenbaugh is married to Kim Streff, a vice president of litigation and risk management with Molson Coors.

– Jeramey Jannene, September 1 10:58 am

Scott Spiker, Pickleball Champion [Reporting Update]

Ald. Scott Spiker can add pickleball champion to his resume.

Spiker won the inaugural “Play Pickleball with Your Local Politician” tournament held Aug. 27 at Jackson Park, an event organized in conjunction with the Jackson Park Farmers Market.

The beginner-level tournament brought elected officials and residents together for an afternoon of friendly competition on the park’s pickleball courts near S. 43rd Street and the Kinnickinnic River Parkway.

Spiker was among a group of local and state officials scheduled to participate that included Common Council members JoCasta Zamarripa and Peter Burgelis, Milwaukee County Supervisors Anne O’Connor, Shawn Rolland and Sky Z. Capriolo, County Comptroller Liz Sumner, state Reps. Karen Kirsch and Priscilla Prado, state Sen. Tim Carpenter and West Milwaukee Village President John Stalewski.

The tournament was held alongside the weekly Jackson Park Farmers Market, where more than 30 vendors sell produce, prepared foods, baked goods and locally made products.

The farmers market launched in 2015 as a collaboration with the Jackson Park Community Association.

– Jeramey Jannene, September 1 9:48 am

Court Official Bound Over For Trial In Drug House Case [Short Take]

A suspended Milwaukee County Clerk of Courts official accused of allowing her home to be used for drug trafficking will face trial.

Court Commissioner Barry Phillips ruled Aug. 27 that prosecutors presented enough evidence to establish probable cause in the felony case against Samotria Matthews, 54. Matthews is an assistant chief deputy clerk in the Milwaukee County Clerk of Circuit Court’s office.

She is charged with maintaining a drug trafficking place as a party to a crime.

Milwaukee police searched Matthews’ home near N. 46th and W. Congress streets Aug. 11 as part of a narcotics investigation. According to the criminal complaint, investigators found more than a kilogram of fentanyl, multiple packages of cocaine and hundreds of grams of cocaine-fentanyl mixtures.

Police also reportedly recovered three hydraulic presses, scales, a handgun and approximately $2,000 in cash.

Matthews’ stepson, Terrion Matthews, faces several charges, including possession with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl. His case was also bound over for trial. Matthews’ husband, Rodney Matthews, has also been charged, but awaits appointment of an attorney.

Samotria Matthews was arrested Aug. 13 and suspended from her county job until further notice. If convicted, she faces up to three-and-a-half years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Matthews reports to Clerk of Courts Anna Maria Hodges.

– Jeramey Jannene, August 31 5:56 am

E-bike. (CC0 Public Domain).

Every day at The Overhead Wire we sort through over 1,500 news items about cities and share the best ones with our email list. Each week, we take some of the most popular stories and share them with Urban Milwaukee readers. They are national (or international) links, sometimes entertaining and sometimes absurd, but hopefully useful.

Bringing back buried streams: Many cities have covered their urban waterways in concrete in order to develop a city. In many instances people have no idea that there was once a stream there. But Luna Khirfan suggests there are a few ways that cities can potentially daylight urban streams if it makes sense. One way is through big projects like Seoul’s Cheonggyecheon project which removed a highway and others include small projects that will result in a larger program over time. (Luna Khurfan | The Conversation)

Transit scope creep: The benefits of transit are many, including environmental, social, and financial, yet we burden our transit systems with too many goals that impede the ability to transport a lot of people. Miriam Pinski argues that providing better transportation which gets people to change behavior in tiny measures will have a much larger benefit than requiring transit to fulfill a lot of other social, economic, and environmental goals. (Miriam Pinski | Works in Progress)

New e-bike subsidies: The City of Barcelona in Spain is putting four million euros towards e-bike subsidies that support the city’s climate and bike plans. The subsidy will cover 400 euro for city pedal assist bikes and 800 euro for freight bikes. The subsidies will add to an already booming bike infrastructure ecosystem with 270km of bike lanes and 1,200km of bike friendly routes. (City of Barcelona)

Carbon waves: In an excerpt published in MIT Press Reader, Professor Leah Stokes discusses how she came to the title of her new book “The Carbon Wave”. By creating waves through systemic change, people can wash away all the individual (carbon) footprints that came before. She discusses her understanding of climate change from her earliest memories as part of the movement and why she changed her mind away from small decisions to bigger ones. (Leah Stokes | MIT Press Reader)

Feedback loops: We have engineered driving into our housing policies, our transportation infrastructure decisions, and it impacts now at a deep level the decisions lawmakers and people make on a daily basis. In ArchDaily, Olivia Poston discusses these feedback loops and their impacts on our health. She calls it “the spatial consequences of our urban form” which reward further investment into more unhealthy systems. (Olivia Poston | ArchDaily)

Quote of the Week

Connecting cities that previously had no connection was a very big deal. Adding a lane to a highway that has run through town since the Eisenhower administration is less of a big deal. You just can’t squeeze much extra juice from that lemon.

–Stephanie Nakhleh in We Can Have Nice Things

This week on the Talking Headways podcast, we’re chatting with Dallas Developer, DART Board Member, and urban designer Patrick Kennedy about his recent publication, An Atlas of Intercity Highway Impacts (Available Free Here).

Want more links to read? Visit The Overhead Wire and signup.