Tom Tiffany. (Public Domain).

It was back in the mid-1990s that then-Gov. Tommy Thompson made his famous comment in a tour of Wisconsin to sell a subsidy for the Milwaukee Brewers stadium. No one knew better the biases of some outstate voters, who see Milwaukee as a place to be avoided, with too much crime, diversity and taxes. Noting that most of the subsidy would be paid for by Milwaukee taxpayers, Tommy declared “stick it to them.”

Gov. Scott Walker, running to save his job in the recall election of 2012, offered a more blatant attack, warning voters that “we don’t want Wisconsin to become Milwaukee.” Though he was from Milwaukee County and served as the county executive, he was a suburbanite who won both the county and state races by attacking Milwaukee leaders and government benefits. Incredibly, he ridiculed a regional development and promotional plan for metro Milwaukee pushed by business leaders in 2005, declaring that “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”

So it’s no surprise that Republican Tom Tiffany, in his campaign for governor against David Crowley, has relied on “the typical Republican playbook of Milwaukee-bashing,” as conservative columnist James Wigderson described it. Tiffany’s ads and those by third-party groups have hammered him relentlessly for raising taxes and cutting services as Milwaukee County Executive, painting a dark portrait of Milwaukee and its county administrator.

The ads are misleading in many ways, not just about Crowley but about Urban Milwaukee, which does more coverage of county government than any other publication. One third-party ad declares that David Crowley passed the “Largest Property Tax Hike in 15 Years” and “Slashed Health & Transit Services,” crediting a Nov. 11, 2025, story by Urban Milwaukee.

The ad makes it look like these were headlines in Urban Milwaukee. They are not. Nor is there anything in the story saying this was the largest property tax hike in 15 years. Or that health services were “slashed.”

An earlier story by Urban Milwaukee does say this was the largest tax hike in two decades, but as another UM story noted, this came after a large reduction in the county property tax rate in 2024, so the rate for 2025 still left the property tax rate lower than it had been in 2013.

Another anti-Crowley ad says he raised property taxes five times. Actually, it was four of five years and during that time county property taxes went up less than state property taxes.

But by far the bigger issue is that when Crowley took over as county executive in May 2020, it was like becoming captain of a sinking ship. The county had been decimated by the lucrative 2000-2001 pension plan that has cost taxpayers some $1.3 billion, forcing cutbacks in services, particularly the county transit and parks systems. Crowley was forced to deal with a problem created when he was 14 years old.

Add to this a two-decade trend of the Wisconsin Legislature cutting funding for state-mandated programs and general state aid, which cost the county some $1 billion in lost funding, and you begin to see why the county was teetering on bankruptcy when Crowley took over. While this trend encompassed some years when Democrats controlled the Legislature, it spiked to higher levels once the Republicans took over leadership in 2011. And for 10 of those years Tiffany served as a legislator and voted for the Republican budgets that continually underfunded the county.

Crowley’s predecessor, Chris Abele, who served for nine years as county executive, tried his best to find ways to cut back the pension costs and to push the Republican-run Legislature to increase state shared revenue payments, but had little luck, finally resigning from the post.

Crowley spent more than two years romancing Republican legislative leaders to increase the county sales tax and was eventually joined in this effort by Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, who sought a city sales tax. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos conceded that state shared revenue had to be increased, and Republicans understood the Crowley had inherited a financially distressed government.

Small wonder Crowley celebrated finally getting the sales tax hike, which pro-Tiffany ads have used to suggest he loves taxing people.

Back in July conservative County Supervisor Steve Taylor noted that Crowley was well respected by Republicans: “If you went to Madison and you polled every Republican state senator and state rep and said you’re going to get one of these [Democratic candidates for governor] … Who would you choose? I bet Crowley gets 90 percent of the vote.”

In short, members of both parties understand that Crowley is not responsible for the county’s financial problems. It would be more accurate to run ads blaming the late County Executive F. Thomas Ament, under whose leadership the county pension plan was passed, or Republican legislators like Tiffany, who repeatedly underfunded state-mandated programs run by the county.

There have been concerns that a Black candidate cannot win statewide office after the defeat of Mandela Barnes for U.S. senator in 2022. The counterargument is that Barack Obama won the state twice, in 2008 and 2012. The Republicans are clearly hoping that a hailstorm of anti-Milwaukee and anti-Crowley ads will defeat another Black candidate. It may in fact be the only way Tiffany can win, given his high negatives with voters.

But Wigderson’s column notes a theory floated by the Substack blogger Purple America, who argues that the euphoria over the Milwaukee Brewers playing in the World Series could change the mood across the state. “This may be the unique year where bashing Milwaukee backfires big time,” the blogger writes.

Crowley has been reminding voters that he helped pass the financing package to provide more funding for the Brewers to help ensure the team stayed in Milwaukee. No one may be rooting harder for Milwaukee to win the World Series than its county executive.

Completed Dredged Material Management Facility in September 2026. Photo from MMSD.

Milwaukee has a new 42-acre addition to its lakefront, and the massive facility is expected to play a critical role in cleaning up more than a century of pollution.

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) announced Tuesday that construction of the Dredged Material Management Facility (DMMF) is complete, ahead of schedule and $26 million under its initial budget.

The facility, located along Lake Michigan near the southern end of the Hoan Bridge, will permanently contain contaminated sediment dredged from the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers.

Its completion clears a major hurdle for a $450 million federally backed cleanup initiative intended to restore the region’s waterways and eventually eliminate Milwaukee’s designation as one of the Great Lakes’ most polluted areas.

“Today marks a major milestone made possible through strong partnership across local, state, and federal agencies,” said MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer in a statement. “The DMMF is a generational project that gives us the secure, long-term infrastructure needed to restore the health of our rivers and communities for generations to come.”

The facility, effectively a giant bathtub extending into Lake Michigan, can accommodate 1.9 million cubic yards of sediment. That’s equivalent to approximately 13 football fields filled to a depth of 50 feet.

MMSD awarded a $115.4 million construction contract to Brownsville-based Michels Construction in 2024 after the firm submitted the lowest of three bids. The district previously estimated the overall facility would cost $149 million and the final cost is estimated to be $123 million.

Construction began in 2024, with completion originally anticipated in late 2026 or early 2027.

The facility is located immediately north of an existing 50-acre Confined Disposal Facility, constructed in 1975, that is now nearly full. Portions of that earlier facility have been repurposed for the Lake Express ferry terminal and the South Shore Cruise Dock.

Unlike routine dredging operations that remove accumulated sediment to maintain shipping channels, the new facility is specifically designed to safely contain material contaminated by generations of industrial activity.

The facility also eliminates the need to dry contaminated sediment and haul it to landfills. Instead, much of the material will be removed using hydraulic dredging equipment and pumped directly to the storage site. MMSD previously estimated the approach would save approximately 1 million gallons of diesel fuel while reducing truck traffic and road deterioration.

“The facility will keep hundreds of dump trucks off our roadways, keeping our roads in better shape and reducing emissions,” said Tia Torhorst of Harbor District. “As a partner in centering what is best for Milwaukee area residents during this project, we are ready to support the next steps in the cleanup now that the containment facility is complete.”

To avoid stressing the structure, the facility will not be drained before being filled. Instead, water will be removed as it is slowly filled with material.

A Generational Cleanup

The DMMF is a critical component of the Milwaukee Waterway Restoration Partnership, a coalition of local, state and federal agencies working to clean up the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern.

The estuary received the federal designation in 1987 because of extensive historical contamination, including polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, petroleum compounds and heavy metals such as mercury and lead.

The designated area includes Milwaukee’s Inner Harbor and portions of the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers, with an expanded area extending farther upstream into Milwaukee County and neighboring communities.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a $275 million commitment in October 2023 to support what it described as the largest cleanup project ever funded under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Local and state partners committed about $170 million.

The broader effort includes dredging contaminated sediment, restoring aquatic habitat and addressing other environmental impairments that have restricted recreational opportunities and harmed fish and wildlife populations.

“The DMMF is a key piece to addressing pollution in the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern,” said Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Karen Hyun. “Cleaning up and safely containing this toxic material in the years ahead will improve water quality, restore healthy fish and wildlife and ensure safe enjoyment of these waterways.”

The cleanup is intended to eventually remove the federal Area of Concern designation, signaling that the environmental problems that prompted the designation have been sufficiently addressed.

But completing the storage facility does not mean the cleanup itself is finished. The new structure provides the infrastructure necessary for the removal of contaminated material from the waterways in the years ahead.

And the facility’s useful life will extend far beyond the initial cleanup.

MMSD estimates it will take at least 30 years to fill the DMMF, followed by another 10 years or more for the sediment to settle and compress.

The City of Milwaukee, through Port Milwaukee, will own and operate the facility. Port officials, during a Harbor Commission meeting, announced two weeks ago that the facility was complete and the city had formally taken ownership.

Eventually, the newly created lakefront land could be repurposed. City officials previously identified recreational opportunities or port-related development as potential future uses, though any redevelopment would need to comply with Wisconsin’s Public Trust Doctrine.

The DMMF under construction in May 2025. Photo by Urban Milwaukee staff.

3327-3329 W. Center St. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Residents in the Metcalfe Park neighborhood will soon have a new tool to invest in their community: a self-taxing district that could generate as much as $90,000 annually.

The district is intended to support neighborhood beautification, prevent blight and displacement, reduce vacant properties and encourage residents to take shared responsibility for their community.

“We want to use the money that is pooled through our assessments to cultivate resources and reduce vacancy,” said Koren Dennison, a neighborhood resident who operates My Kousin’s House, an intergenerational community space, from her home.

The district will charge single-family homeowners $50 annually and commercial property owners up to $1,000. Fees are to be doubled for vacant properties.

The district covers the area bounded by N. 27th Street on the east, N. 38th Street on the west, W. Center Street on the north and W. North Avenue on the south. The same area is served by the nonprofit organization Metcalfe Park Community Bridges.

“The community has really been involved in making this happen,” said Danell Cross, executive director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, during a Sept. 10 meeting of the Community and Economic Development Committee.

A five-member board, subject to election, will govern the district’s budget.

The Common Council unanimously approved the district’s creation on Sept. 22, following a resident-led organizing effort and petition drive. Mayor Cavalier Johnson signed the legislation Oct. 2.

How Much Will Property Owners Pay?

The district will use a tiered assessment system that charges higher fees for vacant properties.

Unlike a business improvement district (BID), which assesses commercial property owners, a neighborhood improvement district (NID) can also assess residential properties.

An occupied single-family home will be assessed $50 annually, compared to $100 for an unoccupied home. An occupied duplex will be assessed $75, while a vacant duplex will be charged $150.

Larger residential buildings will face assessments based on their occupancy and number of units, with a maximum annual charge of $1,000 for vacant buildings with eight or more units. Vacant lots will be assessed $25.

Commercial, manufacturing and mixed-use properties will generally be charged $250 annually, or $500 if vacant.

“Essentially, we wanted to do $50 per household,” said Dennison.

The higher assessments for vacant buildings are designed to get the properties repaired and occupied. It’s also meant to penalize absentee property owners.

“If you can afford to hold the house for many years vacant, you can afford a little fee every year,” said Dennison.

Organizers acknowledged that determining which properties are vacant will present challenges.

Melody McCurtis, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges deputy director, told the City Plan Commission on Aug. 17 that the organization intends to survey properties every summer, relying on visual indicators such as boarded-up windows, broken windows and missing roofs.

“We are really going based off of look,” said McCurtis.

A final determination is due Oct. 1. Property owners can appeal the decision.

Tax-exempt properties, including those owned by the city, will not be assessed.

The first assessments are expected to appear on property tax bills issued in December and due in January, with revenue becoming available to the district in mid-March.

Metcalfe Park’s organizers hope to collect between $40,000 and $90,000 annually.

Resident-Led Investment

Metcalfe Park Community Bridges helped organize the district, but Cross emphasized that residents, rather than the nonprofit organization, will control its direction.

“Metcalfe Park Community Bridges is the support of the NID, not the driver of the NID,” said Cross.

The district will be governed by a board of five to nine people who must own or occupy property within its boundaries. Board members will serve one-year terms and be elected annually.

McCurtis said five candidates were running for the initial five seats. Dennison is among them.

The district’s boundaries were intentionally drawn to match those of the existing neighborhood.

“NIDs do not always have to align with other drawn maps, but we decided that ours should just to simplify that process,” said Dennison.

The proposal received unanimous approval from the City Plan Commission on Aug. 17, followed by the Community and Economic Development Committee on Sept. 10 and the full Common Council on Sept. 22.

“I can tell that there was a lot of hard work that went into this application process,” said Ald. Sharlen P. Moore.

Ald. Russell W. Stamper, II, who represents the area and lives just a couple blocks outside of the district, gave his full support to the district.

Milwaukee had 10 active NIDs before Metcalfe Park’s addition. The largest, the Brewery District, had a $278,000 budget in 2026.

NIDs are commonly used to fund improvements and maintenance of shared neighborhood amenities, including small parks and public spaces. Metcalfe Park’s organizers envision using the financing mechanism more broadly to strengthen neighborhood conditions and support existing residents.

In an Oct. 2 statement, Johnson praised the organizing effort, which also resulted in approval of a zoning change to enable the proposed Metcalfe Park Liberation Hub at 2600 N. 38th St.

“These changes are happening because of resident-based community organizing focused on collaboration,” said Johnson. “I signed these files because I believe in and support strong and unified neighborhoods where people can look out for each other and utilize resources to build the future they envision for generations to come.”

Image courtesy of Present Music.

For Urban Milwaukee members, we have a limited number of free tickets available for Present Music’s celebration, Forty Something!

It’s a concert and party, as Present Music kicks off its 45th season by pushing sonic boundaries. The night features a distortion-friendly piano concerto with Michael Mizrahi, a world premiere by Alex Temple, Donnacha Dennehy’s Limina, some funky Mozart, and surprises. Stay after for live music with the Extra Crispy Brass Band.

Urban Milwaukee members may get up to two tickets, worth $38 per ticket, while supplies last.

Members can visit the product page to reserve ticket(s), while supplies last, for the Friday, Oct. 30 concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts, Bader Hall, 2419 E. Kenwood Blvd., Milwaukee.

Members must be logged in to claim tickets. You will receive e-ticket(s) from the UWM Peck School Box Office.

Not a Member, But Still Want To Go?

Urban Milwaukee offers the city’s most robust membership program, with many perks like this one. By becoming a member, not only will you help support Urban Milwaukee’s journalism, but you’ll help us continue to grow our publication, which publishes more than 75 stories and 100 press releases per week.

This event is only one of the great perks of becoming an Urban Milwaukee member. Here are just a few others:

• Completely ad-free content on our website and a configurable email newsletter
• Bypass the paywall and get access to all Urban Milwaukee stories
• Free access to News Bulletins with insider scoops of interest to anyone following the Milwaukee scene.
• A chance to provide the support that assures Urban Milwaukee can continue focusing on smart, substantive news coverage rather than clickbait
• Free tickets to concerts, festivals, and other great events as they become available through our partners
• A 10% discount on all merchandise at Urban Milwaukee: The Store
• The ability to comment on articles
• A faster photo browser

All of this is just $9/month, or $99 per year. Signing up is easy, and you are welcome to cancel at any time. Join us today.

Miller Lite logo. Image provided.

The company might no longer be headquartered in Milwaukee, and the Milwaukee Brewers might no longer play at Miller Park, but Miller Brewing is still ready to celebrate what was long its hometown team.

Molson Coors is offering Wisconsin residents a free Miller Lite on Friday, Oct. 23, to celebrate the Milwaukee Brewers’ first World Series appearance in 44 years.

The promotion coincides with Game 1 of the World Series, which will be played Friday at American Family Field.

Wisconsin beer drinkers 21 and older can receive a rebate of up to $8 for the purchase of one Miller Lite beer, provided it is a 16-ounce or larger can, aluminum pint or draft pour.

The purchase must be made Friday within Wisconsin. Customers will then have until Nov. 4 to submit a receipt showing proof of purchase to claim the rebate.

The beer giveaway is one of two promotions the company plans to celebrate the Brewers’ playoff run.

Molson Coors will also offer free tours of its brewery, 4251 W. State St., on Friday.

The brewery will host two complimentary 75-minute tours, starting at noon and 12:30 p.m. The first 120 people in line at the Miller Brewery Visitor Center will receive free admission, with 60 spots available for each tour.

Participants will also receive a commemorative Miller Lite Brewers hat. The first 30 fans who don’t secure a tour spot will still receive a hat, while supplies last.

The tours, which normally cost $20, include three beer samples for guests 21 and older with valid identification.

“As a longtime neighbor, supporter and proud beer sponsor of the Milwaukee Brewers, Miller Lite is raising a glass to this historic moment alongside Brewers fans across Wisconsin,” said Alison Hanrahan, community affairs manager for Miller, in a statement. “We can’t think of a better way to toast the Brewers’ incredible run than with beer and tours of the brewery we proudly call home.”

The celebration comes nearly two decades after Miller Brewing lost its status as a Milwaukee-headquartered company. The formation of MillerCoors in 2008 resulted in the company’s headquarters shifting to Chicago, though the Miller brewery continues to operate in Milwaukee and members of the company’s C-suite have been based in the city.

The company’s name also disappeared from the Brewers’ stadium in 2021. Miller Park, which opened in 2001 under a 20-year naming rights agreement, became American Family Field after Madison-based American Family Insurance secured the naming rights.

But Miller Lite remains the official beer of the Brewers, and the brand continues to have a substantial presence at the ballpark.

And with the Brewers headed to the World Series for the first time since 1982, it’s still Miller Time in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Brewers closer Trevor Megill takes the field for the 9th inning of game one of the 2026 National League Championship series Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wis. Megill pitched a scoreless inning to complete a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Angela Major/WPR

Natasha Moser is a diehard Milwaukee Brewers fan.

The West Allis resident attended the first two games of the National League Division Series in Milwaukee, but decided to stay home and watch the National League Championship Series at home to save up for World Series tickets this year.

Late last week, the Brewers swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in that series, punching their ticket to their first World Series appearance in over 40 years.

“When the World Series tickets came out and we saw the pricing, it was insane,” Moser said. “Having four teenage kids, it’s expensive.”

Moser’s husband is a master plumber and she had an idea — what if someone with tickets to the Fall Classic would trade those tickets for plumbing services?

“That could be a way that we might be able to go to a game, just one game, whatever it is, I don’t care where we sit,” Moser said. “To be in that stadium, have that experience, is once in a lifetime.”

Moser is just one of the Brewers fans who are hoping to trade services or items for a chance at seeing the team’s first home World Series games in over four decades.

“It’s just such a big dream of ours to go and to experience it live,” Moser said.

Milwaukee Brewers fans watching from Major Goolsby’s, a Milwaukee bar, react as the team beats the Los Angeles Dodgers to advance to the World Series on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Milwaukee, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Waterford resident Casey Kusch is trying to trade his 20-foot pontoon boat for tickets to a home game.

“I figured, hey, you know, what the heck? Maybe I can get some tickets in exchange for selling my pontoon,” Kusch said.

Kusch grew up a Brewers fan, going to games with his dad at County Stadium, the club’s former ballpark. Now, he wants his daughter to experience a World Series game with him.

“Pontoons come and go, but taking my daughter to the World Series and creating a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity … well, for me, it’s way more valuable than a pontoon,” he said.

As of Monday morning, the cheapest tickets for Game 1 and Game 2 of the World Series were around $2,800, according to Keith Pagello, the founder of TicketData.com.

“If those prices held, those would be the two most expensive World Series games ever,” Pagello said.

“Even if they came down all the way down to say $2,000, they would still be the most expensive World Series games ever,” he added.

Wisconsin residents got special access to purchase World Series tickets last week.

“Demand for postseason tickets has been extraordinarily high, and the inventory of seats for individual purchase for possible World Series games at American Family Field will be extremely limited,” said Rick Schlesinger, the team’s president of business operations, in a statement about the presale.

The Milwaukee Brewers won a franchise record 103 games during the 2026 regular season. Evan Casey/WPR

Brewers fan Todd Feiter of Oshkosh went to a World Series game in Milwaukee in 1982, the last time the series was in the city. He said he paid $18 for that ticket.

This year, he’s offering up his Green Bay Packers tickets for a chance to get inside American Family Field.

“I thought maybe there’s somebody out there that would be very interested in making a swap,” Feiter said.

Feiter is unsure if someone will take him up on the offer.

“We’ll see what happens,” Feiter said.

“But I get it — everybody wants to go, and supply and demand, and it is what it is,” he said. “And I’ll be in front of the TV pulling hard on Friday.”

The Eau Claire-based folk rock band Them Coulee Boys made a post on social media, joking they would trade their van for tickets to a home game.

“We’re huge fans, and we thought it was funny to capture that optimism in desperation,” said Soren Staff, the guitarist and singer of the band. “I think everybody wants to be there, and we would definitely want to be there too.”

The World Series will return to Milwaukee on Friday. The Brewers will face the Tampa Bay Rays.

If Moser is able to get into the stadium, she said she’ll be thinking of loved ones who have passed away who shared her love of the team. She said getting tickets “would be nothing short of a miracle.”

“Being in that stadium for that series would be me thinking of them and being able to represent their love for the game as well,” she said.

Plumbing help for World Series tickets? Brewers fans are getting creative in quest for seats was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Relic Ensemble. Photo from Early Music Now.

Early Music Now’s concert season includes many of the world’s preeminent early music artists and ensembles. The season opens Saturday with a new group, the Relic Ensemble, which has made an impact in its first three years. Critics have praised the ensemble for its “clarity and transparency” and “fleet, precise, and often virtuosic playing,” calling it an “airtight ensemble” and an “exceptional, sonically rich continuo group.”

University education in the United States over the past half-century has introduced “historical performance” into its curriculum, preparing fresh sets of performers steeped in the details of 15th- to 17th-century period instruments and music. More recently, a well-endowed program created by Juilliard in 2009 was home to six artists who decided after graduation to establish the core group of the Relic Ensemble.

The Relic Ensemble’s program for this concert takes as a starting point music likely to be heard in 17th- and 18th-century Peru. Lima, Peru, was the seat of the Spanish viceroyalty, an administration that included large parts of Spanish Latin America from Ecuador to Bolivia and east to Argentina. The influences included sacred and secular music representing composers with European careers and a few South American residents who were introduced to Spanish Baroque traditions by Jesuits who administered a network of churches.

The concert framework draws on a colonial opera that premiered in Lima. Heavily defined by Italian and Spanish influences, La Púrpura de la Rosa (The Blood on the Rose) by Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco tells the story of Venus, who is rescued by Adonis, a mythical but mortal hero, from an attack by a wild boar. The attack, the love affair, the jealousy of Mars (god of war and lover of Venus), the untimely subsequent death of Adonis and the transfiguration of Venus and Adonis by Jupiter are told in chapters. Each chapter is introduced by lyric poetry from the opera, followed by selections of music matched to the emotions of each scene. Taken together, the concert draws from a variety of Baroque composers, mostly Spanish, many of whom spent some time in Peru.

Baroque styles influenced by the villancico infused even Spain’s sacred music with dance forms, folk rhythms and popular texts. The villancico became the favorite genre of Spanish and colonial Latin American worship in the 17th and 18th centuries. The concert’s program extends beyond this core, recognizing the broad influence of Spanish composers across the Spanish colonial empire.

Even though much of the music was written for voice, this concert is entirely instrumental, with many pieces transcribed for this concert by ensemble members, primarily cellist Cullen Coty O’Neil (identified as the group’s “agent,” effectively the artistic director).

The core group that founded the Relic Ensemble works as a collective, sharing program development and direction. Eight bowed string players are supplemented by harpsichord, theorbo, guitar, bassoon, recorder and percussion.

Relic Ensemble YouTube recordings reveal an energized concert style that contrasts with the sometimes cautious playing of groups that perform on gut strings. Performances, even for 12 players, are accomplished without a conductor. That focused communication adds to the excitement of the music.

The ensemble’s stated mission, to perform in all 50 states, reflects its chartered intention: to maintain the quality and focus of the founding group’s experience at Juilliard in concert performances. After three years, with many states to go, this exciting new ensemble is building an audience.

Two Milwaukee connections complete the story. Sue Yelanjian, a double bass player, grew up in South Milwaukee and was involved in the Milwaukee Symphony Youth Orchestra before studies in Boston and Ohio led to her settling in Cleveland. Learning of historical performance after her formal education, she now performs with Apollo’s Fire and, like her colleagues, with a number of other groups around the country. Baroque double bass is rarely represented in early music ensembles, but it adds strength to the common bass line of the period — the basso continuo.

Héctor Alfonso Torres González graduated from the classical guitar program at UW-Milwaukee. He plays the theorbo (a long-necked bass lute) with the ensemble but switches to Spanish guitar for many pieces.

This Early Music Now concert is scheduled for Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, 914 E. Knapp St. in downtown Milwaukee, at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24. A pre-talk is offered at 4:00 p.m. Tickets are available online or at the door. Parking is available in the school lot across the street from the church.

Next, a Christmas concert on Dec. 12 will feature a medieval vocal group, Concordian Dawn, at Saint Joseph’s Chapel.

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul is facing Republican Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney in the race for Wisconsin Attorney General. (Official candidate photos)

As Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul and Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney face off again this year in a rematch of their 2022 race, the issues shaping the campaigns are different than they were four years ago.

Kaul, a Democrat, is running for his third term as attorney general after two years in which he joined other state attorneys general in suing the administration of President Donald Trump more than 70 times. Those lawsuits have included challenges to Trump’s efforts to end birthright citizenship, restrict healthcare access for transgender youth, freeze federal funding and make last-minute changes to federal voting rules.

“Unfortunately we’re in a place where protecting the freedoms of Wisconsinites, in significant part, means standing up to the federal government,” Kaul told the Cap Times.

In comments on the campaign trail, Kaul has said standing up to overreach from the White House is one of the most important roles he can fill at the moment.

“We have consistently fought back, and we have won case after case, and what that has meant is that those funds either are not illegally conditioned or they’re not frozen or ultimately cut,” Kaul said of Trump administration changes to federally funded programs. “Instead they can come to our communities and support critical programs in Wisconsin.”

Toney has argued that Kaul has been distracted from his job as top lawyer for the state by federal fights with the president and accuses Kaul of being too partisan for constantly challenging Trump.

“Unfortunately, what we’ve seen from the attorney general is it depends on who is in the White House, who’s in the governor’s office when he makes those types of decisions,” about joining federal lawsuits, Toney said when the two debated on WISN’s UpFront earlier this month.

Toney has pointed out that when Kaul first came into office, he was critical of former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel’s lawsuits against the Obama administration.

“He campaigned against all of the political lawsuits when he first ran, and now that’s effectively what he’s running his entire campaign on is those lawsuits where he’s putting politics over public safety,” Toney said.

But in an election cycle in which Trump’s record low popularity is threatening to kneecap Republican chances, Kaul has countered by saying Toney wouldn’t do anything to protect Wisconsinites from Trump’s actions.

During the debate, Toney was pressed on what, if any, lawsuits he would have joined. Toney said he would have signed on to a lawsuit against West Virginia’s ban on transgender girls playing sports.

“One of the federal lawsuits I would have joined was out of West Virginia to protect women and girls sports that the attorney general failed to stand up and protect,” Toney said.

Kaul said Toney was “ducking saying if he’ll stand up to Donald Trump.”

In 2022, the two men ran shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and abortion was a major issue. Kaul had brought a lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s 1849 abortion ban. In the years since, the Wisconsin Supreme Court sided with Kaul in that lawsuit, restoring abortion access for Wisconsinites. Toney argued in the 2022 race that Kaul’s lawsuit was a “stunt” but has said he wouldn’t try to change the state’s abortion policy if elected.

Toney has previously said he supports the state’s current 20-week limit on abortions and tied the issue to Republican efforts to restrict access to gender-affirming care for transgender people and limit the ability of trans kids to play sports. In an interview with Wisconsin Watch, he tied his beliefs on abortion to a fight over trans locker room access in the New Richmond school district that has become a frequent GOP campaign reference this year.

“We have five-month, or 20-week, protections in the law right now,” Toney said. “I’m not advocating for any changes to that, and if there is going to be any change, that needs to be something that’s voted on by the people and not decided on by politicians in Madison. We know how difficult this decision can be for women and girls and their families, and we need to make sure here in Wisconsin that we’re creating a supportive environment for women and girls that I hope life may be the choice that they decide to make. And that support has to extend beyond that as well and making sure that we’re protecting women and girls’ private spaces, bathrooms, locker rooms and sports. And we’ve seen the attorney general has failed to stand up in New Richmond, Wisconsin, where we’ve seen the school district allowing biological boys in the girls bathrooms.”

The 2022 race was also much closer to the racial justice protests of 2020, the pandemic-era increase in crime rates and the subsequent backlash against proposals to reassess police authority. Toney is running with the support of county sheriffs and police unions from across the state, but with crime at its lowest level in more than a decade, and the George Floyd protests six years in the past, the issue is not as much of a flashpoint statewide.

This year, Toney has criticized Kaul for an increase in homicides since he first took office in 2019.

“If we want to talk about crime data we’re seeing under this attorney general’s watch since he’s taken over, homicides are up over 30% in Wisconsin. We’ve seen on his watch record drug deaths,” Toney said.

Meanwhile, Kaul has blamed Toney for a recent increase in violent crime in Fond du Lac County.

“We’ve been making important progress on crime statewide,” Kaul said. “Crime overall is at its lowest number in decades, and violent crime is the lowest number since 2011, but we also have more work to do.

Under the Trump administration, the White House has often focused heavily on allegations of election fraud and aggressively stepping up immigration enforcement — including in Wisconsin where the federal government has sought to obtain the private information of Wisconsin voters and Immigration and Customs Enforcement has made record numbers of arrests.

Toney has previously supported both efforts.

In an interview with Wisconsin Watch, he said the state needs to do more to root out non-citizens who are registered to vote — an issue that Republicans have repeatedly raised without much evidence.

“We need to have a similar process that reviews noncitizens that could be on our voter rolls,” he said. “We have people that are lawfully in the country that are noncitizens, whether it’s for work or school, that may get a driver’s license or an ID card, and we don’t know what that problem could be because there’s no process in place to review it. And that’s where I’d like to see a similar process that we use for felons for that noncitizen process, just to make sure that people have confidence in those results. And if somebody is doing that, that they’re being prosecuted.”

He has also testified before Congress to argue for stepped up immigration enforcement.

Toney has focused on delays in testing at the state’s crime laboratories, which the attorney general is responsible for managing. Crime lab backlogs have often been a major issue in Wisconsin’s attorney general races. Kaul was first elected in 2018 after a controversy over a backlog of untested sexual assault kits.

Toney has pointed to data that shows it’s taking longer for the state labs to test DNA evidence and blamed Kaul for the slowdown, saying he’s “passing the buck” on his responsibilities.

Kaul has blamed the Republican-led Legislature for failing to provide proper funding to fully staff the labs. In the 2023-25 state budget, Kaul requested 16 additional crime lab positions while the final budget granted him three. In the most recent budget signed into law last summer, Kaul requested 19 additional crime lab staffers and received none.

Throughout the year, the criminal justice issue drawing the most public attention has been the increased scrutiny of law enforcement’s use of Flock license plate reading cameras. The AI-powered cameras are able to track the movement of people and vehicles through communities, drawing complaints that their use is an invasion of privacy and a violation of people’s rights.

Both Kaul and Toney have said the cameras can be useful, but that there need to be guardrails on their use.

“It’s clear that we need more action from the Legislature and the governor’s office, and until then local municipalities are the ones that are having to make these decisions with local sheriffs and chiefs that are having to maintain that public trust,” Toney said, pointing to a homicide case he’s working on in which the cameras were used to identify a suspect.

Kaul said the cameras have been helpful in finding missing persons, but the technology should not be misused.

“I want to make sure there’s a limit on the disclosure of data, so it’s being limited by law enforcement. I don’t want to see this going to private entities. And then there should be regular auditing in place and punishments if folks are misusing the technology,” Kaul said.

Every four years, the race for attorney general is largely overshadowed by the race for governor. In most cycles, the party that wins the governor’s race also wins the attorney general’s race.

The last time the two races diverged was in 2006 when Wisconsin elected Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.

In 2022, Toney performed better than Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels, earning about 30,000 more votes, but still losing narrowly.

“I’m running my own race from when I got into this back in October of 2025,” Toney told PBS Wisconsin. “I talked about the forensic testing failures, the fentanyl epidemic and how partisan our attorney general has become. I mean, we have driven home issues that affect people in all 72 counties. And that’s what I’ve been focused on, is what our Department of Justice can do to help protect everybody in Wisconsin by putting public safety over politics.”

Kaul acknowledges he’s been elected by thin margins in two nail-biter elections, but is confident his record will be enough to carry him to victory again.

“The results tend to be fairly close, but in Wisconsin we have a lot of close elections, and so sometimes those small differences can make a big difference in the outcome,” Kaul told PBS. “But I’m running based on my record and my time as AG, and the focus can be different. My top priority as attorney general has been public safety, and we’ve made significant progress on really important public safety issues.”

Kaul, Toney face off in rematch attorney general election was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.

Members of the Wisconsin Rapids Planning Commission look out at the crowd, as local after local stood up to speak firmly against the data center proposal for the small community. Not a single person spoke in support. Avery Martinez/WPR

In a packed auditorium in Wisconsin Rapids, speaker after speaker berated the local elected officials over their actions — or lack of actions — on the latest community issue: data centers.

“Now it is time to write the strongest ordinance that Wisconsin has seen on the data center, and you go into the moratorium to do that,” Kaitlyn Federwitz said at the podium of the Aug. 10 meeting, almost drowned out by applause from the crowd.

She’s a co-founder of the South Wood County Neighbors for Responsible Development organization, leading the charge against data center proposals in Wisconsin Rapids.

Kaitlyn Federwitz, a Wisconsin Rapids resident, speaks about her strong opposition to a data center proposal in the small community. Her demand for a moratorium was met with thunderous applause. Avery Martinez/ WPR

“A lot of people are very blanketly saying, ‘no data centers,’” Federwitz told WPR after the meeting.

There were MAGA shirts, rainbow pins, young fathers, retired scientists and dairy farmers sitting in the gallery. They took turns shouting opposition to comments from city staff, and the eight elected members of the Wisconsin Rapids Planning Commission sat stone-faced against the onslaught of opposition to the data center plan.

Opposition to data centers is widespread and bipartisan. In the most recent Marquette Law School Poll, 74 percent of Wisconsin voters said they believe the costs outweigh the benefits of building data centers — 57 percent of Republicans, 83 percent of independents and 90 percent of Democrats.

Nationally, some observers have asked whether the backlash against data centers could turn voters away from conservative candidates, given President Donald Trump’s strong advocacy for them.

An anti-data center sign in the yard of a home in Wisconsin Rapids, WI. Avery Martinez/WPR

But even as Wisconsin candidates are speaking out on data centers, polling shows it may not be a major issue for most voters in races for Congress or the race for governor.

Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll, called it a “real paradox” that many people are against them, yet few consider it their primary — or even secondary — issue this election. Only about 5 percent of people said data centers were their top election issue.

Among a list of  10 key issues this election, data centers consistently fell behind affordability, the cost of living and immigration and economics in the poll results, Franklin said.

“Campaigns have put some bet on this being an important issue, but I remain skeptical that it’s the pivotal issue this year,” Franklin said.

As local debates rage, state races focus on other issues

Shortly after Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley’s come-from-behind victory in the Democratic primary for governor, his GOP opponent, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany of Minocqua, launched a series of attacks on Crowley, claiming he was too supportive of the data centers.

In response, the Crowley campaign pointed to Tiffany’s record of pro-data center votes as a Congressional representative, including a provision of Trump’s 2025 spending bill that gave tax breaks to companies building data centers.

But as the campaigns near November, the importance of data centers has fallen behind other concerns, according to the Marquette poll results. Voters listed their top issues as cost of living, immigration and border security, the economy and jobs.

Even so, communities across Wisconsin are seeing strong grassroots movements to try and stop data centers from setting up shop.

A protester holds a sign outside of a Meta data center announcement Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, in Beaver Dam, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

In Wisconsin Rapids, Federwitz proudly said the entire community is united in their opposition to a proposed data center on the site of a historic paper mill, built in 1894. It closed in 2020 and was demolished in 2025.

“I didn’t have a say in the (closure of the) original mill, and I had family members work there their entire lives,” Dani McDonald told the Planning Commission. “What legacy do you want to leave Wisconsin Rapids?”

For over a century, the mill, which sat on the banks of the Wisconsin river, churned out the paper — most recently, specializing in slick magazine paper.

Wisconsin Rapids residents Tanya Plantico, right, and Andy Martinez, left, fish near the Verso paper mill Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. Plantico was surprised when she learned the mill was closing. “It was a huge part of the community,” she said. Angela Major/WPR

It was Wisconsin Rapids’ largest employer and a major part of local identity — until it closed in the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the mill shut its doors, 1,000 people were left without jobs.

“It’s a prime spot,” Federwitz said. “We’re not surprised that they want to come here.”

Data center developers are particularly interested in the old paper mill because of the site’s existing electrical and manufacturing infrastructure. But she said locals want a development on the site that will create more community jobs and raise fewer questions about future impacts to local economics, electricity, water and the environment.

The resulting debate has caused neighborhood arguments, tense public meetings and hours of public testimony over the data center proposal.

“It really has the chance to tear apart the community,” Wisconsin Rapids Mayor Matt Zacher told WPR.

Wisconsin Rapids Mayor Matt Zacher speaks to residents of the city, as they discuss the future of a proposed data center at a meeting in August 2026. Avery Martinez/WPR

In some ways, it already has. Since the proposal, Federwitz’s group has organized a strong push to show opposition, offering anti-data center signs, rallies and large turnouts at local meetings.

At the podium, Patrick Durkin urged city leaders to slow down development.

“Six months ago, I probably would have thought this was a great idea,” he said. “With each day, there’s a new revelation, and none of it’s good.”

Developers see opportunities, locals stand in opposition

Dozens of Wisconsin communities have faced a similar situation. From Milwaukee to Superior, local leaders have considered moratoriums on development proposals, while communities like Menominee and Wisconsin Rapids fight to halt projects already underway.

“Data center development is accelerating nationwide, (and) that is why a moratorium matters,” resident Karen Wolf told Wisconsin Rapids leaders. “Not because we’re against progress, but because the ground that we are on is shifting.”

A Wisconsin Rapids woman records a video of multiple locals speaking out against the data center proposal at a city meeting. Avery Martinez/WPR

After the developer PNK submitted paperwork and the city of Wisconsin Rapids created a conditional use permit for their data center proposal, the company hosted a number of public sessions to try and address resident concerns.

One August forum was led by former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and residents didn’t like it.

“I think PNK deciding to bring on Eric Adams and have him come to town, was a poor decision,” local Emily Oetzman said. She noted he was booed from the moment he started talking.

Oetzman was against the project from the first moment she heard about it.

“If we like it or not, folks, data centers are gonna be here,” Adams said, and shortly after, the meeting devolved into heckling and jeering.

After the meeting, opposition only seemed to grow in the city. Anti-data center signs popped up across the yards of citizens. Over 250 people signed a petition to recall a city leader over his comments on anti-data center signs, and a local man with no political experience stepped up to run as a potential replacement, Federwitz said.

This email was sent by sitting Alderman Michael Timm to a Wisconsin Rapids business. He publicly shared the email.

“We are doing a lot of work,” Federwitz said. “We feel like we are moving forward in the right direction to keep our city safe.”

At the end of that meeting, city leaders voted to have staff draft a 12-month moratorium for data center operations — though it would not affect the current project by PNK, only future developments.

The applause from their actions were deafening, but many residents were still critical about the situation involving the active data center proposal.

Citizens of Wisconsin Rapids stand up to give a standing ovation for speakers against the data center proposed for the small community in August of 2026. Avery Martinez/WPR

“I think what happened tonight was important,” said Zacher, the city’s mayor. “Everybody needs to get this stuff out.”

Oetzman said she felt the only reason data centers were an issue was because state leaders offered developers tax breaks.

“But Wisconsin doesn’t need them. The U.S. doesn’t need them,” Oetzman said. She thinks the AI bubble is “on its way to bursting,” and little towns with data centers will be left picking up the pieces.

‘Most bipartisan’ issue isn’t top of voters’ mind

Earlier this year, data centers seemed to be front and center of Wisconsin’s elections, especially after Port Washington’s voters approved a first-of-its-kind referendum giving citizens more input over data center development, which made national headlines.

“Rarely has an issue rocketed up out of obscurity and captured the mind of the public with the speed and intensity of data center development,” the Wisconsin Policy Forum stated in the summary of their Data Center research paper.

Protesters against planned data center projects in Wisconsin gather in Milwaukee on Dec. 2, 2025. Evan Casey/WPR

The industry website Data Center Map lists a total of 53 data centers across Wisconsin. The majority are in southern Wisconsin, and the highest number — 19 — are in Milwaukee. There are two operations in Green Bay, one in Wausau, two in Eau Claire and at least 10 in Madison.

The far north of the state, however, is empty.

Opposition to data centers is the most bipartisan issue Franklin’s seen in 15 years of polling, he said.

“I think this is the biggest change in the shortest amount of time,” he said.

Marquette’s poll first asked about data centers in 2025, and at the time opinion was divided 50/50 over whether community costs were worth the benefits.

“But when we interviewed again in February, that had jumped up to 70 percent saying costs outweigh the benefits,” Franklin said. “It’s remained at about 70 or above ever since.”

A sign advocating against a proposed data center is displayed in the lawn of a home located across the street from the former Janesville GM Assembly Plant on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, in Janesville, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Despite the widespread opposition, Franklin said only a small portion of voters feel like they’ve actually heard a lot of information about data centers.

Only 36 percent, according to poll results.

Still, the opponents of data centers make up the largest percent, Franklin said. Roughly 25 percent do not see anything good in data centers.

“And that’s a little surprising to me,” Franklin said.

Opposition to data centers mainly comes from people’s distrust of tech companies and fears about the impacts of artificial intelligence, according to Franklin.

At the packed meeting in Wisconsin Rapids, Oetzman noted that not one person in the audience stood up to speak in support of the data center.

“That is something I really hope that the planning commission took away from tonight: There was not a soul offering public comment in support of the project,” she said.

Wisconsin Rapids locals have criticized the lack of transparency from developers, the city’s actions surrounding the project, and questions about mysterious agreements behind closed doors — and local leaders’ attitudes over the development proposal.

It’s a common criticism, echoed across Wisconsin communities of every size. Despite that consistent opposition, each community has picked their own path on data center development.

Some have opened up, with data centers working in the community, like Beaver Dam. But even there, criticism surrounds how the project may affect energy prices.

Construction is underway at the site of Meta’s future data center Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Beaver Dam, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

But, overwhelmingly, the people of Wisconsin’s villages, towns and cities have stood against data center development in their communities.

Residents in Wrightstown have been vocal about their anti-data center stance and potential community impacts. Menominee locals successfully pushed the local leaders to release hidden guidelines on a 320-acre project.

Milwaukee crafted a proposal to prohibit large data centers, and regulations on smaller operations earlier this year. Kenosha residents have pushed local leaders to pause a Microsoft data center project.

But, overwhelmingly, Wisconsinites want a moratorium.

“A possible one-year moratorium on data center construction is favored by 68 percent,” the Marquette poll results state, noting numbers had barely changed since August.

A village of Wrightstown resident speaks out at a listening session the village hosted on May 19 about data centers. Joe Schulz/WPR

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers earlier this year introduced bills that would have regulated data centers in Wisconsin. One, focused on power grids and data centers, was the first bill in Wisconsin to attempt regulation on data centers. It died in the state Senate, but some politicians have considered reintroducing legislation in 2027.

Franklin said the September Marquette poll found that no matter where people were in Wisconsin, they were equally opposed to data centers.

Superior passed a moratorium this summer, without having any active data center proposals at the time. In April, Manitowoc County approved their own moratorium, and Bayfield County recently passed an 18-month pause.

Listen to the WPR report

Wisconsin voters hate data centers, but they may not be an election priority was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Elon Musk speaking at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. Photo by Gage Skidmore. (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Groups funded by Elon Musk have spent around $4.6 million on behalf of Wisconsin Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden during the closing months of his reelection campaign against Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke.

The funds were part of a record-large surge of donations Musk has given nationally to groups tasked with defending GOP majorities in Congress.

This month, Musk told the New York Times he’s given more than $276 million since July to Republican groups trying to keep Democrats from flipping slim GOP majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. The bulk of Musk’s donations went to the GOP’s Senate Leadership Fund, while another $76 million went to Musk’s America PAC and $20 million went to the Congressional Leadership Fund.

Eric Petry is an attorney focusing on elections and government with the Brennan Center for Justice. He told WPR Musk’s spending this year is unprecedented.

“That’s on top of over $100 million that he had already committed to the midterm,” said Petry. “So all in, we’re talking over $360 million. That is way more than we’ve ever seen from an individual donor in a midterm election.”

Federal campaign finance reports show that since July 1, some of the groups that received Musk funds have spent nearly $4.6 million to help Van Orden, a Republican from Prairie du Chien.

The race for Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District seat between Van Orden and Cooke has drawn tens of millions of dollars in spending as both parties see it as a key to their plans to either take or hold the House. It’s by far the most expensive House race in Wisconsin.

Since the beginning of July, the Congressional Leadership Fund has spent nearly $4.1 million on third-party ads attacking Cooke. Musk’s America PAC has spent more than $488,000 on ads attacking Cooke and boosting Van Orden. A corporate political action committee for Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies gave Van Orden around $10,000 in September.

In an August social media post, Cooke attacked some of the Musk donations to Van Orden, claiming he’s “selling out our communities to big tech” so they can build AI data centers in Wisconsin. Van Orden responded with a post of his own accusing Cooke of taking maximum donations “from just about the ENTIRE America hating George Soros Family,” claiming she’s “bought and paid for” by radical socialists.

Between the August primary and late September, a WisPolitics analysis showed third-party groups had reserved more than $25 million in ads in the 3rd District race, with groups backing Van Orden holding the edge. During Cooke’s unsuccessful bid against Van Orden in 2024, groups backing her outspent their GOP counterparts.

When comparing just the two campaigns, Cooke has outraised Van Orden, according to their last three campaign finance reports. Between July 23 and Sept. 30, Cooke also outspent Van Orden.

Petry said money doesn’t automatically “equate to a win” but it has an impact on races, “especially close races.”

“So, I think what you can expect to see in these races that are getting flooded by money from big donors across the country is a barrage of ads at the last minute,” said Petry. “We know from history and past experience that most ads, most spending is concentrated in the weeks and days just before the election.”

Musk is no stranger to Wisconsin politics. He spent tens of millions of dollars backing former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel in last year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Musk even doled out multiple $1 million checks to residents who signed a petition, one of which he personally handed to the chair of the Wisconsin College Republicans days before the election. After Schimel lost the race by nearly 11 percentage points, Musk said he would be spending “a lot less” on political campaigns.

Groups backed by Elon Musk have spent millions helping Van Orden was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Street light outage on S. Lenox St. in Bay View. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Brazen thieves are plunging Milwaukee neighborhoods into darkness, leaving city officials struggling to keep up with repairs and searching for ways to stop a crime wave that has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The problem is particularly acute in the neighborhoods surrounding N. 10th St. and W. Capitol Dr., where thieves are ripping live electrical wires out of the city’s street lighting system.

The Department of Public Works (DPW) recorded approximately 180 theft incidents over the past year, including 75 in August alone. The city has spent an estimated $600,000 to $650,000 repairing the damage.

Thefts of copper wire from construction sites are nothing new, but the latest crime wave involves a more dangerous approach.

“What is different and what started last September is theft of live wires in the ground,” said City Engineer Kevin Muhs during a Sept. 30 meeting of the Public Works Committee.

Thieves are opening electrical junction boxes at the base of streetlights and pulling out the underground wiring, disabling entire stretches of the lighting system. In one particularly brazen incident on Sept. 29, thieves dug around a junction box and used a vehicle to pull out the equipment.

“That had to be a pretty big operation,” said Alderman Robert Bauman, drawing an affirmative nod from DPW Commissioner Jerrel Kruschke.

“This is a heavily concentrated activity. The hub is essentially 10th and Capitol,” said Muhs.

The area is represented by Alderwomen Andrea Pratt and Milele A. Coggs. But incidents have occurred as far west as N. 43rd St. and W. Congress St. and as far east as the Milwaukee River.

At the end of August, about half of the incidents had occurred in the Arlington Heights and Borchert Field neighborhoods.

Coggs said she requested the discussion after noticing streetlights repeatedly going dark in certain areas of the city.

Pratt said she was participating in a neighborhood walk when a resident approached the group to report an active theft.

“Someone was there pulling wires out of a box as we were walking,” she said.

The outages are more than an inconvenience, Pratt warned. They are creating safety concerns for residents navigating darkened blocks.

“People are scared when they are coming home,” she said.

Pratt said she was initially advised not to publicize the thefts because others might try to replicate them. But she decided residents needed to know what was happening and how to report it.

Meanwhile, the volume of thefts has overwhelmed the city’s electrical workers, who are already responsible for maintaining a notoriously unreliable street lighting system. Recent rain further delayed repair work.

The city has also struggled to protect the underground wiring from increasingly determined thieves.

Junction boxes have tamper-resistant locks, but the thieves apparently obtained a tool capable of opening them.

“Previous to them getting the proper tool, they were just sledgehammering them open,” said Muhs.

DPW has attempted to reinforce the boxes with additional metal plates, but the effort did not deter thieves. Officials are exploring other protective measures, but Kruschke declined to publicly identify them out of concern the information could help thieves defeat the safeguards.

“It’s something that the whole industry is struggling with, and there is not a foolproof solution,” said Muhs.

The city has consulted with officials in Los Angeles and St. Paul, where similar thefts have been occurring for years.

“It’s been going on for longer in those cities and they continue to struggle and chase the issue,” said Muhs.

One potential solution involves replacing copper wiring with less valuable aluminum.

“We have started transitioning to aluminum, just because it’s less valuable, but it’s still being stolen,” said Kruschke.

And even if it worked, it wouldn’t be a silver bullet.

Muhs said switching materials requires changes to the electrical system. “It’s not a simple swap out,” he said.

Even when thieves make off with the wiring, officials aren’t certain where it ends up. DPW has contacted area scrap metal recyclers, but the stolen wiring, which is marked as city property on the insulation, reportedly has not surfaced. Kruschke suspects it is being sold in Illinois.

Theft of live electrical wires also poses a potentially deadly danger.

“I would imagine to be stealing live wire, that’s very risky,” said Coggs.

“It’s very risky,” responded Kruschke. “You would have to know a little bit of something to not hurt yourself.”

“Could they die?” asked Ald. Lamont Westmoreland.

“Absolutely,” said Kruschke. Muhs said it has occurred in other cities.

Muhs acknowledged that electrocutions have occurred during similar thefts in other cities.

Despite the increasing frequency of the crimes, relatively few arrests have been made.

Muhs said he believed the Milwaukee Police Department arrested an individual in 2025.

“My understanding is that this year there have been three to four arrests,” said Muhs. He suggested the scale of the operation indicates more than one person is involved.

Bauman expressed frustration with what happens after an arrest.

“Arresting people is one thing, but unless they are charged, they are right out the back door,” he said.

Kruschke said it is a felony theft offense.

New Penalties Proposed

The crime wave has prompted discussion of tougher penalties, though council members have yet to agree on a solution.

A proposed ordinance sponsored by Ald. Russell W. Stamper II would increase the maximum municipal fine for certain thefts involving copper and wire from $1,000 to $5,000.

The proposal is intended to address lower-value incidents. Under Wisconsin law, theft of property worth more than $2,500 is generally a felony, while theft involving $2,500 or less is generally a misdemeanor. For scrap metal theft, the calculation can include damage to property caused by its removal.

The committee held the proposed ordinance as Coggs, Pratt and other council members explore additional approaches.

“There is a series of other files that will come up in the next couple of meetings on things that have been suggested,” said Coggs.

The thefts are the latest challenge for a street lighting system already plagued by aging infrastructure and frequent outages.

Approximately one-third of Milwaukee’s streetlights were powered by aging series circuits when city officials announced a change in their replacement strategy in 2023. The city had allocated $20 million in federal pandemic relief funding to replace the worst-performing circuits, but a shortage of electrical contractors forced DPW to pursue a different approach, combining LED upgrades with in-house circuit replacements.

Now those same electrical workers are being diverted to repair wiring damaged by thieves.

Kruschke said increased public reporting will be a critical part of the response.

“If you see something, please call it in, so we can help the entire city,” he said.

Food and beverage spread at Fiserv Forum. Photo by Lauren Hafeman on Oct. 19, 2026.

As the Bucks’ home opener on Friday has been moved from a 7 p.m. to a 3 p.m. tipoff, Fiserv Forum‘s new food and beverage offerings will also launch a few hours earlier than planned.

Marlene Duke, the senior executive chef of Fiserv Forum and Deer District, told Urban Milwaukee she is ready and looking forward to the launch, even though it is happening earlier than planned.

“I’m proud of everything we do here,” Duke said. “How can you not be excited working in a sports entertainment venue? It’s a huge accomplishment what my team has done.”

The new menu includes “chef-inspired items, featuring bold flavors and premium ingredients,” Duke said, adding that the “elevated” menu aims to “go beyond traditional arena fare and deliver an even more memorable experience for fans.”

So what’s new? Here are the standouts: 

Spicy chicken sandwich: Chicken patty, red chili sauce, pickled cucumbers and jalapeño crisps.

Half-court smash tacos: Ground beef, cheese, signature smash sauce, dill-onion relish, lettuce and flour tortillas. Duke said the tacos are a creative approach to the question, “How do we innovate a burger?”

French onion burger: Two beef patties, cheese, signature sauce, caramelized onions and crispy cheese. Duke identified this creation as her favorite on the list.

Cream City smash burger: Beef patty, cheese, signature sauce, dill pickle, tomato and lettuce.

Brisket elote: Smoked brisket, barbecue sauce, street corn and pickled red onions.

Duke said after reviewing fan surveys from previous seasons, “it was very obvious on our end that we didn’t have enough dessert offerings.” This year, she and her team have increased sugary-sweet choices in the arena by 30 percent.

Campfire funnel fries, which are funnel cake strips topped with marshmallow crème, chocolate sauce, cinnamon sugar and mini marshmallows, are set to debut.

In a new partnership with King’s Hawaiian, churro bites made with fried sweet dough, condensed milk and cinnamon sugar, will launch alongside shareable salted pretzel bites.

Like the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, Fiserv Forum is jumping on viral trends. It is set to launch two dot cake-inspired cheesecakes and an in-house dirty soda concept called Fizz.

The “Shark Attack” dirty soda features Sprite, blue curaçao, grenadine and whipped cream, while the “Strawberry Breeze” features Sprite, strawberry syrup and creamer. Strawberry and turtle cheesecakes will be served in a tall cup at The Spot in section 104, mimicking the presentation of dot cakes, which are single-serving layered cake desserts that went viral over the summer.

Popcorn, a top-selling item year after year, is getting an upgrade, too. A new basketball-shaped bucket with a miniature hoop and retractable catapult along the bucket’s rim turns enjoying the buttery snack into a basket-scoring mini game. A new beverage cup, featuring a similar spring-to-hoop game, is also set to debut. Both the game bucket and cup are take-home keepsakes meant to remind fans of the Bucks game-day experience.

“We’re excited for our fans to experience everything new that we have, from Taylor Jenkins to our exciting, young, competitive players to all these new food items,” said Dustin Godsey, chief marketing and sales officer at the Bucks, at a press event.

Godsey noted that tickets are still available for Friday’s home opener on the team’s website.

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Community Advocates (left). Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley (right).

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley is being attacked by Wisconsin Republicans over his wife’s employment with a longstanding community agency that receives funding from the county.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, causing a global economic recession. In April that year, Crowley was elected county executive. Two months later, his wife, Ericka Crowley, was hired by Community Advocates, a social services nonprofit founded in 1978 by former Catholic priest Ramon Wagner.

So why are Republicans using this to attack Crowley and his campaign for governor? On Oct. 12, the Daily Caller, a right-wing news outlet founded by former Fox News broadcaster Tucker Carlson, published a piece with the headline: “Dem Candidate Approved Tens Of Millions To His Wife’s Employer While In Office.” The publication has been categorized as an unreliable source of information by the Wikipedia community.

The millions in the headline were federal rental assistance funds to support housing stability and prevent mass evictions during the pandemic. In 2021, the federal government started releasing billions in rental assistance funding to local governments through the Emergency Rental Assistance program. That year, the county provided Community Advocates $40.8 million, according to public tax documents and financial statements.

U.S. Congressman Tom Tiffany pounced on the Daily Caller story, releasing a statement insinuating the payments may constitute corruption by the Crowleys. “Did his family personally profit from this aid?” he said in a press release.

During a press conference Tuesday, Oct. 13, Crowley responded: “His campaign must be going to a new low when he’s attacking my wife. I want to be very clear, Community Advocates has been contracting with Milwaukee County since… County Executive Scott Walker.”

The county’s partnership with Community Advocates stretches back to the 1980s, according to a statement from Community Advocates, which encompasses the leadership by five county executives who served before Crowley took office. Milwaukee County was listed as a major source of revenue for the nonprofit, alongside the City of Milwaukee and state and federal agencies, in a copy of the organization’s 2007 annual report that can be found online. Community Advocates told Urban Milwaukee it operates on a “diverse mix of funding sources” that also includes private philanthropy, foundations, corporations and individual donors.

The variety of funding sources is borne out in public tax records and consolidated financial statements, which also show the agency spends the vast majority of annual revenue directly on services (91% in 2024). The biggest service run by Community Advocates is the Basic Needs program. The program provides direct financial assistance for low-income families behind on utilities or rent; helps settle disputes between landlords and tenants and helps residents access resources to prevent or divert eviction proceedings; offers intensive case management services for children; helps people find jobs; and provides financial management services to protect people with disabilities.

The county’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has provided the nonprofit grants to run programs providing energy assistance to low-income households; help seniors apply for Social Security payments; and run substance abuse and youth programming. The nonprofit also acts as a fiscal agent for the county’s emergency housing operation run by the Housing Division, said Jill Lintonen, a spokesperson for DHHS.

In 2016, DHHS first contracted with the nonprofit to provide emergency rental assistance. After the pandemic hit in 2020, the county received federal funding through the CARES Act that had to be spent down by the end of the year. In a bid to get rental payments out the door as fast as possible, DHHS turned to its old rental assistance contractor, Community Advocates, and offered it a no-bid contract to disburse the federal rent assistance payments, Lintonen said. County ordinances include an exemption from contracting rules when there is a public emergency. 

A public request for proposals “would likely have delayed the first rental assistance payments to late 2020 or early 2021,” Lintonen said.

In 2021, the county began to receive the first federal funding through the Emergency Rental Assistance program. It continued to disburse rental assistance through Community Advocates, which had to hire more staff to keep up with the huge demand for rental assistance.

In May that year, Crowley’s administration went to the Milwaukee County Board seeking retroactive approval of all actions required to administer an emergency rental assistance program with $21,076,502 in federal stimulus funds that had already been received. Accompanying the request for approval was a letter from Crowley disclosing his wife’s employment with Community Advocates.

“Community Advocates was chosen as a community partner and vendor for the disbursement of Rental Assistance Funding due to the long-standing ties between Milwaukee County and their organization… My wife’s employment did not in any way influence the decision to award Community Advocates,” Crowley wrote. “I have consulted with Milwaukee County Corporation Counsel, who advised me that the contract remains proper, and I plan to sign that contract within the next week.”

In 2021, Community Advocates received approximately $40.8 million from the county. It spent a total of $41.65 million on direct payments for housing, according to publicly available financial statements.

By July 2023, the county’s support for emergency rental assistance — funded almost entirely by federal stimulus funds — had amounted to approximately $80 million in payments to 22,600 unique households, according to James Mathy, county Housing Services Administrator.

“Community Advocates is an organization that we rely on to help people with their energy bills, stay housed… This is an organization that we rely on heavily, and we have for a long time,” said Supervisor Shawn Rolland, who chaired the county board’s Committee on Health Equity, Human Needs and Strategic Planning from 2022-26.

Ericka Crowley joined Community Advocates in 2020 after nine years working for the Social Development Commission. She was hired as a rental housing operation coordinator, according to her LinkedIn page. She was promoted to director of the Rental Housing Resource Center in 2024, at which time the county funding had significantly wound down and financial support was consistent with pre-pandemic levels.

The RHRC was created in 2020 to connect landlords and tenants to trustworthy resources for preventing eviction and stabilizing housing as the pandemic sent the global economy into a recession, according to the Urban Economic Development Association of Milwaukee, a partner organization in the effort.

“As a practice, we do not publicly discuss specific personnel,” Community Advocates told Urban Milwaukee in a statement. “Our entire team, including Ericka Crowley, is talented, dedicated, and works to the best of their ability each and every day.”

1037 W. McKinley Ave. in 2016. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

A company founded in Milwaukee in 1872 is returning to the city after several decades in the suburbs.

DHI Corp., the home products company behind the Design House and Leick Home brands, has relocated its corporate headquarters to the former Pabst Brewing Company complex.

The company reports it has moved into a 4,500-square-foot office at 1037 W. McKinley Ave. in The Brewery District. Approximately 25 employees, including the company’s leadership, merchandising and marketing teams, will be based at the new location.

DHI, which previously operated as the Butter Company, moved its headquarters to Mequon in 2002 after being located in Germantown and Menomonee Falls.

“Milwaukee is an important part of DHI’s history, and we are proud to make it part of our future,” said JP Drevline, the CEO of DHI Corp., in a statement announcing the relocation. “This move is an investment in our people, our growth, and the community where our company began. Milwaukee gives us access to the talent and business relationships that will help DHI continue to grow and compete.”

The four-story McKinley Avenue building is part of the historic Pabst Brewery complex. Originally known as Building 14, it was used for research and development by the brewing company.

Milwaukee Film last occupied the second-floor space DHI now inhabits. The nonprofit organization opened an office in the building in 2018 but later vacated the space as it consolidated its operations at the Oriental Theatre.

The property is owned by Jonja Holdings, an entity affiliated with CSA Commercial and filmmaker John Ridley. The partners acquired the property in 2018 as part of the development of Nō Studios, an arts and culture hub that includes a partial fourth floor.

DHI’s return brings another office tenant to The Brewery District, where the former brewery buildings have been redeveloped for residential, commercial, hospitality and institutional uses.

“DHI Corp’s return is a meaningful addition to Milwaukee’s business community and reflects the momentum taking place across the city,” said Lafayette Crump, Department of City Development commissioner, in a statement. “We welcome the company’s investment in the Pabst District and its commitment to creating opportunities for Milwaukee-area workers.”

DHI traces its history to Gustav A. Butter, who opened a tinsmith and hardware business in Walker’s Point in 1872.

The business subsequently operated as Butter Hardware and the Butter Company, remaining in the Butter family for four generations. It introduced the Design House brand in the late 1980s, expanding into a broad range of home improvement products. The company ran into financial problems in 1999 after a series of debt-financed expansions and declared bankruptcy. Its assets were purchased in 2001 by DHI, a new entity made up of some of the prior leadership team, and the company was reconstituted in Mequon.

In 2020, DHI acquired Sheboygan-based Leick Home, a furniture company with its own four-generation history.

DHI sells lighting, bathroom furniture and accessories, hardware and indoor and outdoor furniture through national retail, e-commerce and distribution partners.

Image courtesy of Present Music.

For Urban Milwaukee members, we have a limited number of free tickets available for Present Music’s celebration, Forty Something!

It’s a concert and party, as Present Music kicks off its 45th season by pushing sonic boundaries. The night features a distortion-friendly piano concerto with Michael Mizrahi, a world premiere by Alex Temple, Donnacha Dennehy’s Limina, some funky Mozart, and surprises. Stay after for live music with the Extra Crispy Brass Band.

Urban Milwaukee members may get up to two tickets, worth $38 per ticket, while supplies last.

Members can visit the product page to reserve ticket(s), while supplies last, for the Friday, Oct. 30 concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts, Bader Hall, 2419 E. Kenwood Blvd., Milwaukee.

Members must be logged in to claim tickets. You will receive e-ticket(s) from the UWM Peck School Box Office.

Not a Member, But Still Want To Go?

Urban Milwaukee offers the city’s most robust membership program, with many perks like this one. By becoming a member, not only will you help support Urban Milwaukee’s journalism, but you’ll help us continue to grow our publication, which publishes more than 75 stories and 100 press releases per week.

This event is only one of the great perks of becoming an Urban Milwaukee member. Here are just a few others:

• Completely ad-free content on our website and a configurable email newsletter
• Bypass the paywall and get access to all Urban Milwaukee stories
• Free access to News Bulletins with insider scoops of interest to anyone following the Milwaukee scene.
• A chance to provide the support that assures Urban Milwaukee can continue focusing on smart, substantive news coverage rather than clickbait
• Free tickets to concerts, festivals, and other great events as they become available through our partners
• A 10% discount on all merchandise at Urban Milwaukee: The Store
• The ability to comment on articles
• A faster photo browser

All of this is just $9/month, or $99 per year. Signing up is easy, and you are welcome to cancel at any time. Join us today.

Site of Happy Dough Lucky, 2691 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. Photo taken Dec. 21, 2023 by Jeramey Jannene.

Are chicken wings and doughnuts what sweet and savory dreams are made of? Manny Ramirez certainly believes so.

In a new collaboration, Ramirez, the owner of 3rd Street Market Hall‘s Mr. Wings, is expanding to Bay View this fall, serving his wings and funky fry recipes at Happy Dough Lucky, 2691 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., a colorful, vintage-themed bar that specializes in unique miniature doughnut creations.

“We wanted to do something fun for the Bay View area,” Ramirez said. “We thought it would be a cool pop-up with the salty-sweet aspect of wings and doughnuts, and Happy Dough Lucky is a great space to enjoy that combo while watching some Packers football or the Brewers in the World Series.”

Thus, for some 20 hours each week in a doughnut shop where the walls appear to be built of Legos and mini Pac-Man machines sit near the ordering window, Mr. Wings will add to the atmosphere, offering five-piece and 10-piece bone-in, boneless and veggie wing options. As for sides, Ramirez will serve his fry creations, which include sauced, cheese, pickle and bacon-cheese options. Corn ribs and bacon mac and cheese are also on the menu.

These choices will accompany Happy Dough Lucky’s signature doughnut offerings, which include s’mores, Nutella banana, birthday cake, caramel apple crunch and puppy chow to name a few.

“If you have ever been to Happy Dough Lucky, you know how cool the environment is with all the cool art and graphics. It gives you that neat vibe of traveling back in time,” Ramirez said. “We want our customers to support Happy Dough Lucky and vice versa.”

The pop-up hours are Thursday and Friday from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Saturday from 4:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

“We extend to a late-night cook on Saturdays for Happy Dough Lucky’s DJ set,” Ramirez said. “It’s all about getting actively involved.”

Ramirez said they plan to run the pop-up through the fall season, which “is a great time to get things going because the Bucks kick off soon, summer is out of our way and people tend to head indoors around this time.”

Mr. Wings’ vendor spot at 3rd Street Market Hall will continue to operate as always, on Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Happy Dough Lucky is open Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday through Saturday 10 a.m. to midnight.

Bob Donovan at his election night party at McKiernan’s Irish Pub. Photo April 2022 by Graham Kilmer.

Call it the luck of the Irishman.

Bob Donovan has often been dogged by issues that would have defeated other candidates, yet managed to survive. In his first successful run for Milwaukee alderman in 2000, it came out that he received a 1992 citation for disorderly conduct for peeking through a hole in the partition between restroom stalls in a men’s room at UW-Milwaukee. But it was a brief item buried in a Journal Sentinel story about many candidates facing legal issues that came out just a week before the election and got little notice. So Donovan won.

Years later, in a run for Milwaukee mayor in 2016, he told reporter Dan Bice, who died this year, that the whole thing was a misunderstanding.

It would not be the first such misunderstanding. In 2002, six years into his long tenure as alderman, it was reported (in a story I did for Milwaukee Magazine) that Donovan had used his position as alderman to help get $50,000 in foundation grants to create the Milwaukee Alliance, whose initial mission was to connect community groups, churches and businesses in his district to the city. That is, by definition, what an alderman is paid to do anyway. So why was Donovan using foundation money to create this group, and why was the Alliance in turn paying for the heat and electricity for the neighborhood alderman’s office that Donovan maintained? 

More troubling questions were later raised by the Journal Sentinel’s Georgia Pabst, who reported that Donovan had pushed to get a federal grant for the Milwaukee Alliance, though he was its unpaid president and chairman, and his grown stepdaughter was a part-time employee of the Alliance for four months. Stephen Biskupic, then serving as the U.S. attorney for Milwaukee, investigated Donovan and found that the alderman’s wife Kathy Donovan had received nine checks of $300 each from the Alliance, that there was a blurring of interests between the Alliance and Donovan’s campaign fund, and that records regarding payments to his wife were falsified.

In December 2005, Donovan paid a fine under a settlement that Biskupic described as a “middle ground” agreement akin to a misdemeanor charge, while Donovan insisted the agreement proved his innocence. In fact, Donovan had agreed to a settlement with several penalties for him, but somehow his claim of innocence stuck. When Donovan ran again for mayor in 2022, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did a story wrongly reporting the charges against Donovan were dropped by Biskupic.

Then came another controversy after Donovan won election as a Republican member of the Assembly. He had moved to a Greenfield condo he described as just “perfect for Kathy and I” and won election to the 84th Assembly District in 2023. But after redistricting, he had to run for the 61st district and won again.

But there was one problem. That perfect condo with the garage he loved was not in his new district, so Donovan rented an apartment in the 61st District. A story by Bice in July 2025 reported that Donovan’s campaign finance filings showed that, beginning a month after his election to the new district, Donovan began paying himself $850 a month from his campaign account for “staff lodging” at his old house: “In all, he paid himself $5,950 in the seven months after the election.”

Donovan did not respond to requests from Bice to comment on this, but soon tried to cover his tracks: the legislator revised his campaign finance report and deleted the reported payments to himself, except for the $850 payment in December of 2024, the story reported.

However, his attempt at a cover-up looked fishy, as the liberal group A Better Wisconsin found: After Donovan deleted the cash payments, the total cash-on-hand balance in his campaign remained the same and did not increase by the more than $5,000 in payments for staff lodging that were supposedly cancelled. Since Donovan refused to discuss this, it’s difficult to know precisely what was going on.

Drake Bentley, in writing about this controversy recently for the Milwaukee Courier, raised another question about the situation: Is Donovan actually living in the district he represents?
“According to voter records, Donovan registered to vote from the new apartment, but his wife, Kathleen, voted from the Greenfield residence outside of the district,” Bentley noted. “Donovan also used his old address for financial reports submitted to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.”

Once again, Donovan did not respond to requests for comment.

Donovan has done very well in his runs for Assembly, as Marquette University Law School research fellow and numbers cruncher John Johnson told Urban Milwaukee. “Bob Donovan is the Assembly Democrats’ white whale,” he noted via email. “In 2022, he won his district (then the 84th), despite Tony Evers winning it by over 53%. In that year, the Democratic candidate LuAnn Bird outspent Donovan by $327,000. After the 2024 redistricting, Donovan and Bird found themselves running in a rematch in the new 61st District. This time Bird outspent Donovan by $1.14 million. Despite this, Donovan’s vote share actually increased, from 51% to 52%.”

In 2026 Donovan is once again the white whale Democrats hope to harpoon, buoyed by dreadful approval numbers for President Donald Trump. But Republicans are spending massively on Donovan, who has reserved more than $2.8 million in television advertising, as Jesse Opoien has reported.

Donovan, as his Democratic opponent Ben Brist has complained, “dodged a candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County on Oct. 12,” and has refused to answer questions about his residency or who is paying the rent for that apartment.

If Donovan does get around to discussing this, you can bet he will call it a misunderstanding.

State Assembly candidates Republican state Rep. Todd Novak, top left, Democrat Ben Gruber, bottom left, Republican state Rep. Ben Franklin, top middle, Democrat Brandy Tollefson, bottom middle, Republican state Rep. Bob Donovan, top right, and Democrat Ben Brist, bottom right. Source: Candidate campaigns and Hope Kirwan/WPR

Every vote counts, but residents in a handful of Wisconsin Assembly districts will have more say than most when it comes to deciding who controls state government next year.

All 99 Assembly seats are up for election every two years. But for most of the past two decades, Republican-drawn legislative maps gave the GOP a stronghold on the chamber.

That changed under new, competitive legislative maps in 2024, when Democrats flipped 10 seats even as Republicans maintained their majority.

This year, in a cycle that is widely expected to favor Democrats, either party could plausibly win control of the Assembly for the first time in well over a decade.

Republicans head into this election with a 54-45 GOP majority, meaning Democrats would have to flip five seats to capture a majority.

To get there, they’ll likely need to defeat a few Republicans with long records of defying the odds. Here are a few of the top races.

Jump to the 61st Assembly District, 51st Assembly District, 88th Assembly District and other districts to watch.

In the Milwaukee suburbs: Republican Bob Donovan vs. Democrat Ben Brist

Republican state Rep. Bob Donovan, left, and his Democratic challenger Ben Brist. Both are vying for a seat in the 61st Assembly District. Source: Donovan and Brist campaigns

The Green Bay Packers were into the first quarter of their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a recent Sunday when state Rep. Bob Donovan walked into McKiernan’s Irish Pub & Grill.

The full bar quickly turned its attention from the televisions to the longtime southside Milwaukee Republican, who has a wall dedicated to him in the bar.

At McKiernan’s, Donovan, 70, is a legend. Behind the bar is a framed plaque that reads “The Mother of All Permits.” Donovan issued it to Gene McKiernan in 2010, when the bar owner was tired of getting calls from city inspectors asking him to complete more tasks before being allowed to open.

“I used to say I was trying to address concerns before they become full-blown problems, and so yeah, I’m proud of my record,” Donovan said.

A plaque hangs in McKiernan’s Tavern in Milwaukee. The owner says Republican Bob Donovan helped the business get up and running when he was a Milwaukee alder in 2010. Corrine Hess/WPR

Donovan is one of a handful of Republicans who’ve outperformed expectations in past elections but face more daunting challenges in 2026. President Donald Trump’s record-low approval rating is expected to hurt Republicans’ chances in races up and down the ballot across the country.

But if Donovan is worried about his chances this year in Wisconsin’s 61st Assembly District, he doesn’t show it.

“Whenever you’re in public service, some people are going to like you, some people aren’t, and you just have to have the courage of your convictions,” Donovan said.

His Democratic challenger, Ben Brist, 32, concedes that Donovan is well-known, but he says people are tired of his approach to politics.

“People know his name, and whether they like him or don’t like him, or know him personally or don’t, they know his name, and they know he’s the old southsider,” Brist said. “But what they don’t know is how radical he is. And about the way he’s protected and supported a very conservative Republican agenda in the Republican Legislature.”

Brist, who won a three-way Democratic primary in August, is an Army veteran who served seven years on active duty as an officer in the paratroopers. While in graduate school, he interned with Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

Brist says he decided to run for state office because it should be easier for young families to “put down roots” in Wisconsin and for retired adults to stay here.

“I think there are people that are mad, and they have a right to be mad,” Brist said. “I’ve met retired people who have come out of retirement and had to go back to work because they can’t keep up with the cost of living.”

Donovan, who spent 20 years as a Milwaukee alder before being first elected to the Assembly in 2022, has the financial backing of the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee. So far, the committee has given him about $1.3 million

Brist says that puts him at a monetary disadvantage, but it has also gotten the political newcomer out in front of more voters.

“They’re spending a ton of money in this race,” Brist said of Republicans, “I think part of it is they see we have a real opportunity to flip this seat … So they’re trying to drown it out with money and TV ads. We are out here seven days a week, actually meeting people.”

Donovan says he has always been a conservative, saying he has great respect for law enforcement and thinks America is the greatest country on earth. He concedes being labeled a “conservative” could hurt him at the polls this year, but he’s not about to change his approach now.

“What happens, happens, and if I win, I’m excited about the opportunity to continue,” Donovan said. “If I lose, I figure God has something else planned for me. So we’ll see how things turn out on Nov. 3.”

In southwestern Wisconsin: Republican Todd Novak vs. Democrat Ben Gruber

Republican state Rep. Todd Novak, left, and his Democratic challenger Ben Gruber. Both are vying for a seat in the 51st Assembly District. Source: Novak campaign and Hope Kirwan/WPR

The 51st Assembly District is a largely rural part of southwest Wisconsin, covering Iowa, Lafayette, and parts of Grant and Dane counties.

That can make talking to voters a challenge. But it hasn’t stopped political newcomer Ben Gruber from hitting the road in his 1980s pickup truck to knock on doors.

“Out here, people just feel like their voices haven’t been heard,” Gruber said while navigating country roads outside of Muscoda. “It’s really great to say, ‘Hey, listen, I grew up out here too. I also live in a place where nobody comes and asks what we need.’”

Gruber’s vintage truck has appeared in local parades and the dozens of videos he’s posted to his campaign’s social media.

He’s running as a Democrat, but he’s quick to say he identifies as independent. He’s a state park conservation warden and previously worked as a firefighter, paramedic and police officer before moving back to his hometown of Arena.

If elected, Gruber said he would focus on bringing more state funding back to communities by fixing the school funding formula and increasing shared revenue for local governments.

He points to school closures and the loss of police departments in his village and nearby communities as evidence that residents are struggling.

“The state funding hasn’t kept up with inflation,” Gruber said. “We’ve cut and cut and cut funding to local communities in order to give tax breaks to billionaires.”

Driving around the district, Gruber said he sees far fewer yard signs supporting Trump than he did two years ago. He believes it’s a visible sign of residents’ frustrations with Trump’s failure to bring down consumer costs, and the increase in gas prices since the president launched the war in Iran.

He thinks that will have an impact on his Assembly race.

“Right, wrong or indifferent, people look to the person knocking on their door, running for office, to help them solve those problems,” he said.

The incumbent in the race, Republican state Rep. Todd Novak of Dodgeville, said who residents are picking at the top of the ticket doesn’t define down-ballot races like his.

“I help Democrats and Republicans,” said Novak, who has represented the district since 2015. “Friends that I’ve helped don’t vote for me. I know that, and they’re still my friends. That’s a key at this level.”

Novak is no stranger to representing a swing district. He’s regularly a top target of Democrats, and he’s eked out close wins before.

Novak acknowledged that on paper, his district looks like it should be held by a Democrat. In 2024, Kamala Harris won nearly 52 percent of the vote in the district.

But so did Novak.

“I’m proudly a moderate,” Novak said. “I’m a dying breed at the Capitol. So that’s something I’m really proud of, and my constituents know that and they like that.”

Novak said he’s known for being a consensus builder in the Assembly. He’s also the first openly gay Republican elected to the state Legislature.

He generally stays out of the spotlight, sticking to the local press and occasionally posting pictures from the campaign trail on social media.

But Novak said people in his district know him, and have held on to their political independence despite an increasingly partisan landscape.

“If they know you and they like you, and you aren’t overtly partisan, they will vote for you,” he said.

Another candidate in the race, Nathan Tataje, is running for the American Solidarity Party, but his campaign has raised less than $700.

When asked about his record in office, Novak highlighted the funding he’s secured for road projects and local initiatives in his district. He also pointed to his support for making the state’s Office of School Safety a permanent program, a priority of state Attorney General Josh Kaul — a Democrat.

Novak said he hopes it will be enough to hold on to his seat, even if voters in the district are supporting Democrats higher up the ballot.

In Brown County: Republican Ben Franklin vs. Democrat Brandy Tollefson

Democrat Brandy Tollefson, left, and her Republican challenger state Rep. Ben Franklin. Both are vying for a seat in the 88th Assembly District. Source: Tollefson and Franklin campaigns

The reason candidates across the state are campaigning on what they’ll do to address rising costs is that voters are feeling the crunch.

That includes Layla Juntunen, a single mother of two and De Pere resident. She’s working two jobs just to make ends meet.

“It’s just me,” Juntunen said. “I don’t have a second income coming in from another party, so it’s just a lot more weight here.”

Juntunen spoke at an affordability roundtable in September. The Marquette Law School poll released that month found that 45 percent of Wisconsin voters cited inflation and the cost of living as their most important issue this election cycle.

Candidates running for the 88th Assembly District seat say they want to reduce household costs, with both identifying property tax relief as a priority.

The district includes the Brown County communities of De Pere, Allouez and Bellevue, as well as portions of Green Bay, Ledgeview and Rockland.

Republican state Rep. Ben Franklin is running for reelection against Democrat Brandy Tollefson. Both live in De Pere.

Franklin narrowly won the race for the district in 2024, taking just over 50 percent of the vote. Tollefson currently serves as treasurer of the De Pere school board.

In the 50/50 district, Franklin said voters don’t necessarily care about political parties — they care more about results. He said he worked to get 10 bipartisan bills signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat.

“That takes a lot of work — it’s a little bit more than maybe I was initially anticipating,” Franklin said. “But we worked very hard with our legislative council, the Fiscal Bureau, Democrats and Republicans in both chambers of the Legislature (and) the governor’s office.”

Tollefson is challenging Franklin after serving three years on the De Pere school board. She said her time on the board gave her a firsthand look at the problems with school funding.

She said part of the reason she ran was that the last state budget included no increase in general state aid for schools, leaving districts to hike property taxes to cover their costs.

“It just felt so disingenuous that I heard Madison politicians saying that they were fighting for our schools, and then they were doing this in our budget,” Tollefson said. “It felt like the right place for me to step up at the state level and really go in and try and get the work done.”

Both candidates agree that the state needs to rework its school funding formula to better support districts and provide property tax savings to residents. But they’re divided over a partial veto from Evers two years ago.

The so-called “400-year veto” allowed districts to increase their per-pupil spending by $325 annually through the year 2425.

Tollefson said the veto gives school districts more long-term certainty in budgeting because per-pupil increases have been too inconsistent with Republicans running the Legislature. She said a lack of state aid is what forced districts to raise property taxes, not the veto itself.

Tollefson said the veto came after years of school districts turning to referendums to raise additional funding through property taxes.

“Referendum fatigue is happening, and we are hearing that over and over again that they can’t keep being asked to put more on their own property tax statements when Madison isn’t responding and actually fixing our schools,” Tollefson said.

Franklin said he understands the thought process behind the 400-year veto. But he said the $325 per-pupil increase across the roughly 800,000 students in Wisconsin’s K-12 education system translates to more than $250 million each year.

An increase that large, he said, is “going to affect your taxes in some way,” but he also said Wisconsin needs to rethink how it funds K-12 education.

“We all need to get in one room. We need to sit down. We got to hash this out,” he said. “We got to get it figured out because what we can’t continue to sustain is increased property taxes year after year.”

A handful of other districts could tip the balance

Marquette University Law School research fellow John Johnson considers the Donovan, Novak and Franklin seats to be true “toss-ups.” If Democrats win all three, he said, they’ve probably had a good night.

If they lose even one, he said it would complicate their path to a 50-seat majority. And in any scenario, they’ll need to win at least a couple more districts across the state.

Open Seats

There are two open seats Johnson thinks Democrats should be able to win “easily”: the 21st Assembly District in Oak Creek and the 53rd Assembly District in Neenah. These are districts Kamala Harris won in 2024, where popular incumbent Republicans retired.

• In the 21st, where state Rep. Jessie Rodriguez, R-Oak Creek, decided not to run again, Republican Dylan Pfaffenbach faces Democrat Daniel Bukiewicz. Harris won the district by 4.2 percentage points in 2024.

• In the 53rd, where Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, decided not to seek reelection, Republican David Daniels faces Democrat Becky Nichols. Harris won here by 4.4 percentages points.

Seats that lean Republican

Johnson views another bloc of seats as potentially winnable by Democrats — the 30th, 85th and 92nd Assembly Districts. Trump won all three in 2024, but he didn’t run away with them.

• In the 30th, located in the suburbs of the Twin Cities, state Rep. Shannon Zimmerman, R-River Falls, faces a challenge by Democrat Kevin Knoke. Trump won this district by 4.5 percentage points two years ago. Zimmerman won it by 8.5.
• In the 85th, which includes part of Wausau, state Rep. Pat Snyder, R-Weston, faces Democratic challenger John Kroll. Trump won the district by less than 1 percentage point two years ago. Snyder won it by 6.5.
• In the 92nd north of Eau Claire, state Rep. Clint Moses, R-Menomonie, faces Democrat Jeremiah Fredrickson. Trump won the distinct by 7.1 percent two years ago. Moses won it by 6.6

Democrats on defense

Winning a majority also means Democrats need to defend seats they already have. Four seats — the 26th, 89th, 91st and 94th Assembly Districts — are potentially in play.

• In the 26th, state Rep. Joe Sheehan, D-Sheboygan, faces a challenge from Republican John Belanger. Harris won this district by 2.7 percentage points in 2024. Sheehan won it by 2.9.
• In the 89th, state Rep. Ryan Spaude, Green Bay, faces Republican challenger Bobby Lindsey. Harris won here by 2 percentage points in 2024. Spaude won that year by 2.8.
• In the 91st, state Rep. Jodi Emerson, D-Eau Claire, faces Republican Bruce Stabenow. Harris won this seat by 4.6 percent in 2024. Emerson won it by 3.2.
• And in the 94th near La Crosse, state Rep. Steve Doyle, D-Onalaska, whose district is seemingly always in play, faces a challenge from Republican Keith Purnell. Trump won Doyle’s seat by 2.2 percentage points in 2024. Doyle won by 0.6 percentage points.

Both parties are also vying to win control of the governor’s office and the state Senate, where Democrats would need to flip two seats to capture a majority.

This is the second election under the new, competitive legislative maps, but because only half of the Senate is up for election every two years, Johnson said this is the first time since 2010 that both parties have a plausible chance to win the full Legislature.

“The party that gets the most votes is going to win,” Johnson said. “It hasn’t been that way for a long time.”

Listen to the WPR report

A handful of districts will decide which party controls the Wisconsin Assembly was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

A simple cycle natural gas power plant is seen in Minnesota. Photo courtesy of Invenergy

State utility regulators have signed off on an energy developer’s proposal to build a pair of new natural gas power plants in southern Wisconsin tied to rapidly growing electricity demand from data centers.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin on Thursday unanimously approved Chicago-based Invenergy’s applications for the Foundry Ridge Energy Center in Walworth County and the Red Oak Ridge Energy Center in Kenosha County.

Together, the projects will be able to generate roughly 1.5 gigawatts. Invenergy hopes to bring the smaller, 324-megawatt Walworth County plant online in 2028, and the larger, nearly 1.2-gigawatt Kenosha County plant online in 2030.

The Kenosha County plant would be the second-largest of the state’s 29 existing natural gas power plants, while the Walworth County plant would be the 12th-largest, according to a report from researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The project faced opposition from environmental groups, who expressed concern about the potential climate and health impacts of building more fossil fuel generation in Wisconsin. It also faced pushback from some locals.

State law allows private, non-utility developers to apply for permits with state regulators to build energy generation projects. According to the PSC, this was the first time the commission has had to approve natural gas projects through this method.

And in many ways, state regulators said their hands were tied when it came to judging the two projects in accordance with state law.

“Due to existing specific limitations related to air pollution impacts, and because merchant development project review is limited and confined by governing statutes, the Commission is limited in what we can consider when reviewing these projects,” said PSC Chair Summer Strand. “These deficiencies in the current framework are ripe for legislative action.”

The approval comes as utilities are racing to meet an expected 40 percent spike in Wisconsin’s electricity demand by 2032, driven by the expansion of data centers.

In a statement, Daniel Runyan, senior vice president of development for Invenergy, thanked the commission and “all who participated” in the process.

“Invenergy is proud to provide practical solutions to increase domestic energy supply and keep Wisconsin’s economy growing,” Runyan stated. “Foundry Ridge and Red Oak Ridge will join solar, battery storage, and wind power across the state, generating reliable power and good-paying jobs for the bright future ahead.”

Invenergy filed documents with the Public Service Commission last year to build the projects.

We Energies has applied to acquire the natural gas plants as part of a plan to add new generation resources to the grid to meet rising electricity demand.

The cost of acquiring and building both natural gas plants is more than $2 billion, according to the utility’s applications.

We Energies spokesperson Brendan Conway said in an email that the PSC’s approval of Invenergy’s applications was “an important step in the public process.”

“These projects represent critical investments in Wisconsin’s energy infrastructure that will strengthen the grid and support reliable service for customers for years to come,” he said.

Although the project’s supporters argue the gas plants will help ensure reliability and meet growing demand from data centers, opponents pointed to potential health harms tied to natural gas.

The UW-Madison report found air pollution from the gas plants could contribute to more than 100 premature deaths over the projects’ lifespan and lead to higher air pollution exposure across the Upper Midwest.

Maria Chavez, senior energy analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement that the approval would leave Wisconsin families “stuck paying billions of dollars for dirty, expensive methane gas plants that may not even be needed.”

“These projects, driven by growing data center demand, threaten to increase electricity bills, worsen air pollution and contribute to devastating climate impacts,” she said Thursday.

Chavez said the approval also highlights “a serious flaw” in the state’s energy planning process that allows developers to secure approval without requiring regulators to fully consider whether the plants are needed or whether other alternatives exist.

While ultimately voting to approve the projects, PSC Commissioner Kristy Nieto questioned whether existing state laws “give regulators the tools they need to fully evaluate the costs and consequences our fellow Wisconsinites are being asked to shoulder.”

“We can’t ensure the best energy future possible for Wisconsin by looking at these projects one at a time, that is certainly a growing drumbeat across our state, and for good reason,” she said.

The number of applications for new natural gas plants in recent years has also alarmed environmental groups.

On top of the two Invenergy plants approved Thursday, We Energies also received approval last year for a pair of new natural gas plants in Oak Creek and the town of Paris. And the utility hopes to build another gas plant in Outagamie County.

Invenergy also wants to build a pair of gas plants in Calumet County that would be able to generate a combined 1,900 megawatts.

Nieto said concerns about new fossil fuel plants in Wisconsin extend beyond the two projects approved Thursday, and reflect broader questions about how Wisconsin is planning for rapidly growing electricity demand.

“We are seeing growing demand for electricity, particularly due to data centers and artificial intelligence,” Nieto said. “I have concerns about the pace at which we are adding fossil fuel generation to meet that demand — gas for AI, you can call it.”

State regulators approve 2 southern Wisconsin natural gas plants was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Sarah Godlewski and David Varnam.

It’s only happened twice in the last 50 years, but Wisconsin lieutenant governors can become governor.

The Sept. 12 plunge of a plane carrying the Republican candidate for governor, Tom Tiffany, into Lake Wausau was a reminder of how an accident, death or resignation moves a lieutenant governor from a ground-floor Capitol office to the first-floor governor’s office. Tiffany swam to shore and suffered minor injuries.

In 1977, Lt. Gov. Martin Schreiber became governor when Democrat Patrick Lucey became ambassador to Mexico. In 2001, Lt. Gov. Scott McCallum became governor when Republican Tommy Thompson resigned to become secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Who are the candidates for lieutenant governor and running mates to gubernatorial candidates Tiffany and Democrat David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive?

The short answer is Republican David Varnam, a three-term mayor of Lancaster, and the far higher-profile Democrat Sarah Godlewski. She is the secretary of state, a former state treasurer and a 2002 candidate for U.S. Senate. Lancaster is a small city with a population of about 4,000 located in southwestern Wisconsin.

Varnam and Godlewski disagree on many things, including abortion.

“Wisconsin women’s fundamental freedoms are on the ballot,” Godlewski said at an Oct. 6 Milwaukee event with Crowley and Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin. “David Crowley and I will always defend a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, free from political interference. Full stop,” she added. “The same billionaire network bankrolling Tom Tiffany has spent years funding the national assault on reproductive freedom.”

In Facebook posts in July, Varnam described himself as a “Christian conservative running for lieutenant governor” and a “pro-life, 2nd amendment conservative.”

Varnam, 47, became a statewide political player this year while Godlewski, 44, ran her first statewide campaign in 2018.

In his answers to a Janesville Gazette candidates’ questionnaire before the August primary for lieutenant governor, Varnam called himself a “stay-at-home dad” who came to Wisconsin 15 years ago so his wife, Jessica, a physician, could practice medicine in Lancaster. They have two daughters.

In that primary, Varnam defeated Will Martin, who had the endorsement of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Before the primary, Varnam noted in his Gazette answers that he — and not Martin — had “held an elected office” and added, “That is important in a position where it is possible I could become Wisconsin’s chief executive.”

On his campaign website, Varnam adds, “My two most important titles are husband and father. I am concerned about my two daughters’ future and the path Democrats are taking Wisconsin down.”

According to the biography on his website, Varnam was first elected mayor of Lancaster in April 2016 after serving nearly three years as a member of the Common Council. He touts his mayoral successes: standing up for taxpayers by “vetoing a 40% stormwater fee increase, defeating a proposed wheel tax, and keeping Lancaster the city with the lowest property taxes in Grant County.”

Other titles he has held: past president of Grant County Economic Development; U.S. congressional aide; and federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family, an evangelical Protestant organization founded by James Dobson.

Godlewski, an Eau Claire native and a popular speaker at Democratic rallies, got 1.3 million votes when she was elected state treasurer in 2018. She won the job after leading a campaign to keep it from being abolished.

The state treasurer has little power. Its most important role is being a member of the Commission on Public Lands. But the position raised Godlewski’s political profile, prompting her 2022 run for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat of Republican Ron Johnson. Before the August primary, she joined two other Democrats — Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson — in ending her Senate campaign.

That gave the Democratic nomination to former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who lost to Johnson.

Godlewski got another Capitol job, however. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers appointed her secretary of state in March 2023, succeeding Doug La Follette, who resigned months after winning another four-year term.

The stay-at-home Republican dad or the Democrat running statewide for the third time won’t be elected governor on Nov. 3. But they will be as close as you can get to that job.

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

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, left, and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany face off in the race for Wisconsin governor. (Andy Manis for Wisconsin Watch and Zoey Elwood / Wisconsin Watch)

On Wednesday night, the candidates for Wisconsin governor will face off in their only debate ahead of the Nov. 3 election — and based on how the campaign has gone so far, a lot of claims and accusations will fly.

To help voters sort through the noise, Wisconsin Watch and our partners at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have been fact-checking claims about the candidates.

Do you know whether Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the Democratic nominee, supports releasing half of Wisconsin’s prison population, or whether homicides have increased 57% under his watch?

How about U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican nominee? Do you know whether he voted to defund the police or for a $68 billion tax break for data centers?

Before you watch the debate at 7 p.m. Wednesday on WISN.com, read on to know the facts.

And before you vote, check out our other Fact Briefs and our comprehensive voter guide too.

Claims about Crowley

Does David Crowley support releasing half of Wisconsin’s prison population?

No. Tiffany cited Crowley’s 2019 support for Gov. Tony Evers’ goal as support for his claim that Crowley “wants to let half the prison population out in Wisconsin.” Evers’ goal was aimed at gradually achieving the 50% reduction.

Did Milwaukee juvenile homicides increase 57% under David Crowley?

No. The number of juvenile homicide victims in Milwaukee County has ranged between 19 and 27 annually, with no clear trend upward or downward, since Crowley took office. Plus, most law enforcement in the county is done by city and village police departments; they are not under the control of the county executive.

Have major Milwaukee County taxes generally increased under David Crowley?

Yes. Milwaukee County sales and property taxes have increased while Crowley has been county executive, though property taxes have increased less than the statewide average.

Did David Crowley approve providing tablets to jail inmates?

Yes. Crowley gave final approval to a 2022 contract requested by the Sheriff’s Office and approved by the Board of Supervisors that provides communication tablets to inmates and approved a three-year extension in 2025.

Claims about Tiffany

Did Tom Tiffany receive more than 90% of his campaign donations from 3 billionaires since July 2026?

Yes. Of the $26 million from July to September 2026, 93% came from Diane Hendricks, Richard Uihlein and Elizabeth Uihlein.

Has Tom Tiffany supported defunding the police?

No. Crowley claimed Tiffany voted six times to defund the police. None of those House votes would have taken money away from law enforcement.

Has Tom Tiffany voted five times against ending the Iran war?

Yes. Against five U.S. House resolutions from March through July directing President Donald Trump to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran.

Did Tom Tiffany vote to give data center operators a $68 billion tax break?

No. Congress did not vote up-or-down on giving data center operators a $68 billion tax break. An attack ad cited Tiffany’s vote for the Big Beautiful Bill Act. It contains business tax breaks, including 100% depreciation, but they are available broadly, including for data centers, to deduct the cost of many investments.

Has Tom Tiffany supported Donald Trump’s positions the vast majority of the time?

Yes. Various measures show Tiffany has rarely diverged from supporting Trump since Trump began his second term in January 2025.

Did Tom Tiffany try to overturn the 2020 presidential election result?

Yes. Tiffany took several steps in a failed attempt to reverse Democrat Joe Biden’s win over Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

Claim about both candidates

Have David Crowley and Tom Tiffany both expressed support for data centers?

Yes. Both have emphasized how they would regulate artificial intelligence data centers, but they also have spoken favorably of them. Crowley: Wisconsin can “become an AI and a data hub not only for the entire country, but for the entire globe.” Tiffany: Data centers are “exciting new technology.”

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

On the left, U.S. Rep Bryan Steil greets a voter at a rally in Waukesha Tuesday, Oct. 13. On the right, Steil’s Democratic challenger, Mitchell Berman, speaks to supporters in Milton, also on Oct 13. (Wisconsin Examiner photo illustration. Steil photo by Baylor Spears, Berman photo by Erik Gunn)

In front of a friendly crowd at a small-town community center last week, Democratic 1st Congressional District candidate Mitchell Berman launched into the pitch he’s made countless times in the last several months.

“Growing up in rural Wisconsin, I never saw running for Congress on my bingo card,” Berman told the room full of supporters in the Rock County community of Milton.

The son of a roofing contractor and a foundry worker, a first-generation college graduate and an emergency room nurse, he wove together stories from his daily work and his own family’s experience grappling with the healthcare system.

Berman ticked off a litany of priorities he’ll pursue in the House of Representatives if he is elected and if Congress returns to a Democratic majority in November. Those included restoring funds cut from federal healthcare programs, supporting union organizing, raising the minimum wage and taking steps to shore up Social Security in the face of threatened cuts in less than a decade.

“Well, we only have 21 days to go. We are in the final stages of this race,” Berman said. “We have always looked at this district as having an opportunity. But right now we’re one point up in the polls.”

A cheer and applause burst from the crowd.

“We are continuing to build momentum,” Berman said. “We are filling rooms like this across the district because people are sick and tired of the partisan politics. They are ready for people to go to Washington and actually get things done.”

Berman is the latest in a string of Democrats who have hoped to turn the 1st CD back to a Democratic seat after decades of Republican representation, including by U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Janesville) for the last eight years.

Steil is a former corporate lawyer and one-time aide to his popular predecessor, former House Speaker Paul Ryan. When Ryan gave up the seat in 2018 after two decades, Steil easily topped the Democratic challenger, union activist Randy Bryce, whose candidacy drew national attention.

While the margins have narrowed in the ensuing three reelection campaigns, Steil has continued to maintain a solid advantage — leading the Cook Political Report to label the district “likely Republican” for most of the current term, until recently shifting it to the less-definitive “lean Republican.”

In 2026 Democrats are leaning harder into their campaign to wrest the district from its long-time GOP dominance.

Berman’s campaign sees in the polling trends and the Cook Political Report shift evidence that the seat is winnable thie year. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added Wisconsin’s 1st District to a list of races targeted for special attention — and some party spending — this fall.

U.S. Rep Mark Pocan, who has endorsed Berman and spoke at the Milton rally, says this year’s cycle has changed the dynamic of the district, and the race.

In his previous terms, Steil “did his very best to be as flavorless as possible,” Pocan says. “He wasn’t upsetting anyone and he’s a nice guy but he didn’t have positions.”

Steil joins Tiffany rally

Steil’s campaign declined to make him available for an interview despite repeated requests over the last week. The campaign also declined to respond to a list of questions about criticisms that have been lodged against him in the race.

Steil has continued to cultivate an upbeat presence in the district, documented on his office’s social media with visits to local fire departments, healthcare facilities and factories.

He also joined last week’s Waukesha County rally with Republican candidate for governor Tom Tiffany, sponsored by the GOP-aligned Hunter Nation organization, whose members are lobbying for passage of legislation that would create a controversial sandhill crane hunt.

Taking his turn at the podium, Steil excoriated “how radicalized the Democratic party has become, where they are going after all aspects of our culture” — zeroing in on controversies over whether trans girls should be allowed on girls’ sports teams.

“They want to come after our hunting rights,” Steil said, although not spelling out specifics. Steil also condemned “higher taxes on the Democratic side.”

“This is not your grandfather’s Democratic party anymore,” Steil said. “This is a radicalized, activist socialist party that we are seeing on the left.”

Drilling home the Tiffany rally’s get-out-the vote message, Steil urged the crowd to “run on the assumption that the Democrats are going to vote in full strength in the liberal core cities in Wisconsin.” To counter that, he said, “We need to get that message out to our friends, our family, our neighbors, our coworkers, folks in church on how important this election is and how important it is that people like us get out and vote.”

Pocan interprets the shift in Steil’s profile during his latest term as an attempt to advance within the Republican party. “So instead of quietly rubber stamping Donald Trump, he’s now doing it more vocally,” Pocan says.

Drawing a contrast

While Steil has emphasized an image of Democratic radicalism, Berman’s campaign is drawing a contrast between the Democrat’s working-class background and the Republican incumbent’s history as a corporate lawyer and his voting record in Congress.

“My dad owned a small roofing business that he built from the ground up,” Berman told the Milton crowd. “My mom, she worked long hours in the foundry. But they instilled in me the values of hard work, perseverance, and they taught me to always stick up for the little guy.”

He pointed to a resume that included working part-time at UPS — a union job — to help make ends meet in college, working off student debt after he graduated, and then making a career in healthcare, including 11 years as a Veterans Administration nurse — a job he had to quit because he couldn’t run for political office as a federal employee.

It was at the VA “where I started to recognize that a lot of these issues that we were having didn’t stem from me and my coworkers not having the capability to deliver the type of care that patients deserve,” Berman said. “But we were being handcuffed at the bedside by bad policies that were trickling down from Washington.”

Cuts to the VA health system early in President Donald Trump’s second term exacerbated those issues, he said. “That’s when I realized it was going to take somebody from the ground floor, from the bedside, standing up and fighting for change if we actually wanted to succeed.”

Berman said an insurance company denied his mother a colonoscopy in her late 40s despite a doctor’s recommendation because she wasn’t yet 50. At 49 she got the procedure in an emergency, he said, and was diagnosed with late stage colon cancer.

“So that same insurance company that denied that preventive procedure then began increasing our premiums,” Berman said. “At that point they could no longer afford insurance. Medicaid was the safety net that caught my mom.”

The massive tax and spending bill — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — that Trump and the Republican majority in Congress enacted in mid-2025, with its cuts amounting to nearly $1 trillion over the next 10 years to Medicaid, along with other provisions, are a key talking point for Berman, who points out that Steil voted for the cuts.

The war in Iran that has driven up gasoline and diesel fuel prices and tariffs that have hobbled farmers also contribute to escalating difficulty for families in the 1st District, the state and across the country, Berman told voters in Milton.

He blames Steil for not voting to block the tariffs or end the war.

“You know, I don’t think it’s too much to ask for all representatives to be in Washington working for us, making Washington work for working people, because that’s what they should be doing,” Berman said. “So, while he’s making it more difficult for us, we’re here at home, struggling, trying to put food on the table, trying to make rent.”

Spotlight on Steil’s record

With increasing tenure, Steil has advanced to new leadership roles, expanding his opportunity to advance his legislative priorities. His higher profile has also made him a bigger target for Democrats.

In January, as chair of the Committee on House Administration, which oversees federal election-related policies, Steil introduced the Make Elections Great Again Act.

Federal law generally delegates election administration to the states, minimizing the authority of the federal government. The Steil legislation would impose new national requirements on states, including mandating photo IDs in all states and setting new restrictions for what qualifies as a legal ID.

Among many other requirements, the bill would also compel states to check every 30 days on whether existing registered voters are still eligible. It would “improve voter confidence, bolster election integrity, and make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat,” Steil said when he introduced the legislation.

The bill has not advanced. The Trump administration and Republican leaders instead focused on the SAVE America Act, which included similar requirements for voter citizenship verification and other limits. The SAVE America Act stalled in the U.S. Senate after passing the House.

Voting rights groups condemned the SAVE Act and also rejected Steil’s bill.

“Election officials — including in Wisconsin — have shown again and again that elections are secure,” said Samuel Liebert, Wisconsin state director for All Voting Is Local, when Steil introduced his measure. “Codifying suspicion into law doesn’t strengthen democracy; it undermines public confidence and puts election workers in harm’s way.”

Oversight, votes and campaign donations

Steil also chairs the House Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence — a panel that, among other things, oversees the crypto currency industry.

Earlier this month, the crypto PAC Fairshake launched a pro-Steil ad in the Milwaukee media market, reserving $735,914 in airtime for the ad, WisPolitics reported. According to Tech Influence Watch, an independent organization that tracks tech political spending, crypto interests have spent $1.3 million to support Steil in the 2026 election, a mix of campaign donations and independent spending.

In a post on X earlier this month, Steil wrote approvingly of a Commodities Futures Trading Commission announcement of advanced rulemaking on regulations for crypto transactions and crypto asset markets.

Steil “advocates for clear digital asset regulations, emphasizing consumer protection. His support may influence regulatory frameworks moving forward,” reported the outlet Coinfomania, which covers the crypto industry.

Steil’s campaign did not respond to a question about what his call for “clear regulations emphasizing consumer protection” would mean in concrete terms.

He is one of a bipartisan group of 21 lawmakers who cosponsored legislation on regulating the crypto industry that the industry had sought. After passing the House, the bill foundered in the Senate, in part due to Democrats’ objections over President Donald Trump’s profiteering from crypto transactions, HuffPost reported.

At Berman’s Milton rally, however, Pocan suggested the outcome of the proposed legislation would be looser regulation for crypto businesses — “making sure they don’t have enough regulation so they can continue to operate in that dark realm.”

The Milwaukee Courier linked Steil’s votes to campaign donations from interested industries. The bills involved were not enacted. The donors included Blackstone, a corporate owner of rental housing nationwide, which made its contribution around the time Steil voted on bills cutting rental assistance and increasing mortgage fees; banking and credit businesses around the time of a vote to reduce regulations including on banking firms; and mortgage companies around the time of a vote that would have raised fees for borrowers.

Steil’s campaign did not respond to a question about the donations and bills identified in the Courier reports.

The Berman campaign has highlighted the findings. A TV ad also highlighted earlier reporting on Steil’s votes for federal tax breaks for data centers and donations totaling $300,000 to his campaigns from related industries.

Curbing Congressional stock trading

Besides the issue of the crypto industry’s pro-Steil ads, the Berman campaign has targeted the spot’s message, crediting Steil with writing a bill “banning members of Congress from trading stocks.”

A measure Steil authored, the Stop Insider Trading Act, prohibits members of Congress and their families from buying new stocks and hikes the penalties for violating an existing law against failure to disclose stock purchases and insider trading.

After passing the U.S. House, Steil’s bill stalled in the Senate when it failed to clear 60 votes to move forward to a vote in the chamber. In a Facebook post, Steil blamed Democrats for blocking the bill.

But Pocan says that when Steil’s bill was introduced, it effectively halted the momentum for a stronger, bipartisan measure banning members and their families from buying, selling or owning stock.

Their bill was on a trajectory to garner enough support to force a House vote on the measure, Pocan says. That stalled after Steil introduced his bill, which would allow members to continue to own or sell stock and included a provision that allowed them to buy stock if they were reinvesting dividends.

“That is the opposite of a stock ban bill, but he’s taking credit for it,” Pocan told the crowd in Milton.

Even in the face of repeated Democratic disappointments in the district that go back decades, Pocan contends the 2026 race offers a new context. Voters’ disenchantment with Trump is part of that, but Democrats are also betting on a message that highlights the incumbent’s record in terms that resonate with people this year.

“I think those are all stances in a year that corruption is a big issue,” Pocan says. With his status as an outsider rather than a politician, “I just think Mitchell Berman in many ways is the right candidate right now.”

Lilly Goren, a political scientist at Carroll University in Waukesha, sees too many unknowns to offer a clear prediction.

“I think the potential things that could make a difference — and I don’t know if they will — are that the map is slightly different, and whether the Blue Wave, if it comes to pass, will be sufficient to bring an upset to such a consistently Republican district,” Goren says.

There have been anecdotal reports that Trump supporters are ignoring survey calls, which could mean pollsters aren’t hearing from voters who could make a difference in the result.

On the other hand, Trump’s record-low approval ratings “suggest that Republican support is not necessarily out there and enthusiastic,” Goren adds. “The question becomes, also, whether people come out and vote, or whether they stay home.”

Baylor Spears contributed to this report.

In Wisconsin’s 1st District, after easy wins, Steil faces a challenge on his record was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.

A a Flock Safety camera is aimed toward traffic traveling near a gas station Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in Stoughton, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin is latest group to challenge law enforcement’s use of Automated License Plate Reader cameras.

The group filed a petition last week, asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take up its case directly.

Across Wisconsin and the country, police departments use ALPR cameras, which are made by companies including Flock, Axon and Gentec. Those cameras capture images of every vehicle that passes by, including images of license plates, bumper stickers and other identifying features. That data is often shared with other law enforcement agencies.

“Placed along neighborhood streets, highway corridors, and city centers, ALPR cameras create inescapable surveillance chokepoints,” the ACLU’s petition says. “Residents navigating Wisconsin roads cannot conduct ordinary daily errands, attend medical appointments, visit places of worship, attend political protests or meetings, or travel home without being repeatedly photographed and logged into a centralized repository.”

When they access that data without a warrant, the lawsuit alleges, police are executing an illegal search. According to the ACLU, that violates a provision in Wisconsin’s Constitution, which prohibits “unreasonable searches and seizures,” and is nearly identical to the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The ACLU brought its suit on behalf of the Wisconsin Council of Churches. That’s because people have a reasonable expectation of privacy when they’re driving to those places of worship, ACLU attorney Wes Haslam said.

“Churches do things like 12-step recovery programs, for example, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous,” Haslam said in an interview with WPR. “They do programs to assist victims of domestic violence. Some churches do political gatherings.”

The suit names the cities of Milwaukee, Green Bay, Racine and Kenosha as defendants. Officials with those cities have not provided comment on the suit in a response to an inquiry from WPR.

Across the state, a slew of enforcement agencies have recently ended their contracts with Flock, the most well-known ALPR provider. Others have pledged to add safeguards to prevent misuse. In Wisconsin, multiples officers have been charged with or convicted of using ALPR databases to stalk their exes and romantic partners.

Across Wisconsin, Haslam says the approach to ALPR use has been varied. That’s part of why he says intervention from Wisconsin’s Supreme Court is needed.

“What we have is … a piecemeal of various solutions throughout the states,” he said. “None of which meet the the constitutional requirements of conducting a search.”

Law enforcement leaders have said that ALPR cameras are invaluable when solving crimes. But Haslam notes that the ACLU’s lawsuit is not seeking to outlaw the cameras entirely.

Rather, the group argues that, if police want to access a driver’s location history through one of those databases, they need to get a judge to sign warrant. Or, if they can’t get a warrant in time, they need to prove that there are emergency “exigent” circumstances at play, the lawsuit argues.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a conservative group, made similar arguments in a lawsuit that it filed in Waukesha County last month.

WILL is arguing that warrantless searches of Flock and other ALPR databases violate the U.S. Constitution.

ACLU Wisconsin sues over warrantless use of Flock cameras was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

The bar at Mason Street Grill. Photo by Michael Horne.

Major League Baseball players visiting Milwaukee are usually housed at the Pfister Hotel, the region’s oldest, in operation since 1893. It appears they often do not sleep well. In 2001, Dodgers player Adrian Beltre was so disturbed by mysterious poundings and bangings that he took a bat with him to bed.

Mookie Betts, the current second baseman for the Dodgers, simply stays in an Airbnb when he’s in town, which was last Monday and Tuesday when his team lost the first two NLCS games to the Brewers. What’s got them — and many others — spooked? It’s the Pfister ghost(s), disturbing the peace since 1927 and now the stuff of legend and headlines.

On Tuesday afternoon, the team was about to take the field for Game 2 of the series, while I took a seat at the Pfister’s Lobby Lounge to watch the first pitches on screens set up on the east wall. Here I was seated in the Dodgers’ bad mojo epicenter, where I hoped they had spent an unsettled night. I thought I would send my lose-this-game vibes their way.

The lounge opens at 11 a.m. daily. It hosts a curved marble bar with eight padded seats, a mirrored wall stacked high with expensive spirits, a large open seating area with six round tables, and a number of sofas. Beers range from $5 to $7, with seven draft lines and a dozen bottled varieties. (A THC-infused seltzer will run you 18 bucks.)  There is a fireplace, a grand piano, a marble bust of Guido Pfister, and a tall case clock, whose dial was approaching 4 p.m. That is when the Mason Street Grill was set to open in the base of the hotel’s 1962 tower addition. I was just warming up.

Mason Street Grill Turns Twenty

In 2007, the Marcus Corporation undertook a large remodeling of its landmark property, adding a basement spa where a restaurant had been and replacing some leased retail space on the first floor with the Mason Street Grill, designed as a high-end destination steakhouse. If you enter through the revolving door at 423 E. Mason St., the first thing you encounter is a black-and-white photo of Ben Marcus [1911-2000] and his wife Celia K. Marcus [1913-2000], her dress colored a vivid yellow, the two standing behind a seated Maria Callas in an opulent setting that was not the Pfister Hotel, yet setting the stage nonetheless for the opulent restaurant beyond. This is not where you are headed. Turn right and enter the bar instead.

Photo by Michael Horne.

Beneath a coffered ceiling is a long marble-topped bar with a wooden rail, surrounded by about a dozen comfortable, padded seats. Beyond are cocktail tables and banquettes set in window niches. As is the case with any public space here, there is a piano and a fireplace. At the west end of the bar, drinks are prepared for both tavern and restaurant customers, with uniformed waiters using a passageway between the two. A number of televisions are placed for ease of viewing. As I entered, it was the bottom of the first inning, and the score was tied 1-1. Better get my mojo fired up if we’re going to beat these guys.

From 4-6:30 p.m., it is happy hour here, where drinks and appetizers at this swanky joint are available at better-than-dive-bar prices. For four bucks you can get your choice of any tap beer; well drinks or wine by the glass will set you back five; and bar snacks are $11 — that’s a $6 discount on the marinated steak forks. I ordered a “House Bubbles” sparkling wine. It arrived in a Schott Zwiesel flute. The service was prompt and attentive. I talked to the server and mused about the customer base here. There are the visitors staying in the hotel, of course, and then the office workers once released from their duties, perhaps some conventioneers, but also people of means who now live Downtown, possibly in a high-rise tower within sight of the place. I also noted that the bartenders here serve restaurant customers that they never see in person. That’s an odd disjunct. I focused on the game, as did the staff whenever there was a chance. (There was a lot of glass-polishing going on.)

The Brewers were leading and were on the way to win all four games of the seven-game series. The Dodgers won’t have to fret about staying at the Pfister anymore this year.

The Hotel in History

Guido Pfister [1818-1889] and Fred Vogel Sr. [1823-1892] settled here from Germany before Milwaukee was a city or Wisconsin a state. Their families had been tanners in the old country, and the business partners plied their trade here, backed by a $12,000 loan from Jacob Schoellkopf, a Buffalo tanner and Vogel’s cousin. By 1865 each partner of the Pfister & Vogel Tannery declared an income of $42,221 from the business — nearly $900,000 today. This left plenty over for investments.

Vogel handled the tannery operations, located on Virginia Street, where he made his home. Pfister was interested in the finished goods, which he marketed locally and nationally. Pfister also accumulated much real estate, including over 1,000 acres of tamarack in Kewaunee County (destroyed in the Peshtigo wildfire of 1871 and converted to a pig farm), about 75 acres of Milwaukee County farmland, and a plot in Downtown where he dreamt a hotel should be, just south of his house, now the site of the Mason Street Grill. Death was to rob him of the chance of seeing his dream realized when the hotel opened in 1893. It was run by his bachelor son, Charles F. Pfister [1859-1927]. Born Charles Frederick Weisert, he and his elder sister Louise Francesca Pfister [1857-1948] were adopted by Guido and Elisabeth as children in 1870.

Fortunate Orphans Charlie Pfister and Sister Louise

In 1876, when she was 18 and he was 25, Louise Pfister married Fred Vogel Jr. [1851-1936]. This created an entirely new family dynamic, perhaps unique among Milwaukee’s giant industrial concerns of the late 19th century.

Upon Guido’s death in 1889 at 71, his widow Elisabeth received $400,000. The siblings split the remaining $1.6 million. Charles remained with his mother in the family home, while Louise spent $50,000 on a Cass Street mansion for her brood in 1891. This was $20,000 more than the three spent that year to build the German English Academy, the nation’s first secondary school to be equipped with a gymnasium. Dedicated to Guido’s memory, it remains standing at 1120 N. Broadway.

Elisabeth died on Dec. 26, 1896. She suffered a heart attack the day before during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony at her daughter’s home. She left $1.5 million in cash to her two children, along with the real estate portfolio Guido had accumulated. The siblings had a decision to make.

Land Swap

With five children ranging from a newborn to a 19-year-old, Louise Pfister Vogel had no interest in running a hotel, nor did Charles have time to manage the family’s country properties on the East Side. Guido’s dairy farm of over two decades was bounded by Hartford Ave. on the south and Edgewood Ave. on the north; Maryland Ave. on the west and Downer Ave. on the east. Shortly after Elisabeth’s death in 1896, they donated 10 acres to Downer Seminary. (Louise was eventually to donate 55 acres to what is now the UW-Milwaukee campus, where a building was named in her honor in 1919, a rarity for a living woman at the time.) On Feb. 28, 1899, the siblings swapped their respective shares in the hotel and the land, which also included parcels with lake frontage, including the Milwaukee Country Club golf course and its clubhouse in the old family summer home. This parcel was later to become the Elmwood and Lake Dells subdivisions, some 20 acres that Louise would ultimately develop into exclusive residential properties, including the southernmost lakefront dwelling in Shorewood, a new home for her and Fred Jr.

Charles Pfister went on to control the city’s street railways, the tannery and the First National Bank (run by Fred Jr.), while also serving as the undisputed boss of the Republican Party of Wisconsin for 25 years. When the Milwaukee Sentinel started snooping into his political dealings in 1901, Charlie bought the paper, which he held until selling to Hearst in 1923. When Pfister died in 1927, he was eulogized as “a commanding figure in the city’s greatest bank, a director of its largest tannery, the owner/manager of its best hotel and the publisher of its only morning newspaper.”

His sister was his heir. For the third time in her 50 years she had inherited millions. The entirety of a great fortune was to pass through her hands, with much devoted to educational institutions, hospitals — and, significantly, orphanages.

Oh, and to finish our tour of the bar:

Photo Gallery

12►

The Verdict

• Name: Mason Street Grill
• Location: The Pfister Hotel, “A Palace for the People,” 424 E. Wisconsin Ave., City of Milwaukee
• Neighborhood: Juneau Town
• Subdivision: Plat of Milwaukee in Sections 28-29-33, Town 7N Range 22E, Block 19, Lots 1-6
• Phone Number: (414) 273-8222
• Website: https://www.thepfisterhotel.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MasonStreetGrill
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/masonstgrill/?hl=en
• Description: Milwaukee’s oldest operating hotel has three restaurants: The Lobby Lounge, Blu atop the tower, and the Mason Street Grill at its base. The high-end steakhouse also is an intimate bar where out-of-towners mingle with occupants of glassy high rise towers, whether residential or commercial.
• Restrooms: Terribly fancy ones down the hall
• Year Established: The northeast corner of the building has been styled as the Mason Street Grill since 2006
• Year Building Constructed: 1893
• Annual Rent: Operator owns building
• Property is assessed at $3,240,000 for the 43,200 s.f. lot [$100/s.f.] and $45,104,600 for the building, for a total assessed valuation of $48,344,600
• Property taxes: $1,085,120.03. Payments are current on the installment plan
• Property Owner: Pfister LLC
• Trade Name: Pfister Hotel & Tower
• Business Owners: Marcus Hotels Hospitality LLC 100% owner
• Agent: LaMarvon Jackson D.O.B. 08/27/1986
• Business: Full Service Restaurant, Hotel, Cafe/Coffee Shop, Banquet Hall, Cocktail Lounge, Tavern
• Source of Sales: Alcohol 13.85%, Food 32.73%, Entertainment 2%, Other 53.42%
• Capacity: Bar area could handle about 40
• Walk Score: 98, Walker’s Paradise. City Average: 62
• Transit Score: 69, Good Transit. City Average: 49. Many intersecting bus routes, easy streetcar access
• Bike Score: 85 Very Bikeable. City Average: 58
• Bike Rack:  Yes
• Entertainment: Live music Monday-Saturday 6-10 p.m. No cover
• Aldermanic District: 4th; Robert Bauman
• County Supervisor District: 3rd; Sheldon Wasserman
• Police District: 1
• Hours of operation: 4-9 p.m. Monday–Saturday, 4-8 p.m. Sunday

Congestion. File photo by B137, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

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.

Progressives won’t always push stated priorities: Beth Osborne of Smart Growth America writes that even though progressives and liberals often claim to be the champions of safe streets and active transportation, their legislative actions often land far below their stated objectives. While governors like Inslee and Newsom or states like Oregon claim to be climate champions, their actions and actual budget spending on transportation often went against these stated goals. (Beth Osborne)

Can an urban development thrive in Utah’s sprawl? A new dense development on a former industrial site in Vineyard Utah is taking off next to a commuter rail stop. But newly elected leaders are trying to scale back the project to be more car oriented and don’t like the public subsidies helping the development move forward. The new mayor even claims no one wants density along the Wasatch Front. But former officials believe that it’s easy to get folks angry about things and tear something down that takes time to build. (Leia Larsen | Salt Lake City Tribune)

Tradeable mobility credits: David Hensher at the University of Sydney has created a system he believes is more equitable for building a congestion pricing system. By using tradeable credits that act similar to climate cap and trade programs, transportation system users would be given a base rate of mobility credits then be able to purchase or sell them to others based on increasing travel needs or savings. Instead of a system of disincentive alone, this one would create rewards in addition to constraint. (David Hensher | University of Sydney)

Stadiums to housing: As sports teams cajole cities to build new stadiums, the old ones and their usually urban land are being eyed for redevelopment as housing or other uses. While some like Candlestick Park in San Francisco were demolished for a completely new site plan, some are being flagged for partial preservation such as Salt Lake City’s which uses parts of the old stadium as part of the development plan. Larger projects like Houston’s Astrodome face headwinds from private investment but the potential is there to build something interesting. (Ben Ikenson | Dwell Magazine)

How China became rich: Works in Progress writers suggest that China’s cities played a large roll in the country’s wealth creation, acting as boosters and entrepreneurial enterprises trying to win at a great national level competition for resources and prestige. Some of the country’s most recognizable brands from electric cars to drones were encouraged through special economic zones or city investments. And bureaucratic officials are scored on their success meaning more economic wins will elevate them to higher positions. (Ben Southwood and Robin Rivaton | Works in Progress) 

Quote of the Week

We need short-term welfare solutions so that no one lives in precarious conditions. But rather than tackling problems after they arise, governments need to shape the housing market in advance. Impose conditions on developers, curb speculators and build a social housing sector large enough to set construction terms, as Vienna has done.

-Italian American economist Mariana Mazzucato discussing in El Pais why housing is a human right and how she would approach the problem.

This week on the Talking Headways podcast we’re joined by the director of UNC Charlotte’s school of Architecture Blaine Brownell. We talk about the role architecture and urbanism play in population decline, the need for permeability in walkable neighborhoods, and a revolution in building materials.

Want more links to read? Visit The Overhead Wire and signup.

Protesters hold signs at James Madison Park as cars pass by Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, during a No Kings protest in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Hundreds of people turned out for a No Kings protest in Madison Saturday afternoon, the crowd marching from the Wisconsin State Capitol to the city municipal building.

The event was one of dozens around the state as part of a nationwide “day of action.” It was the latest of a series of No Kings protests held over the last two years in opposition to actions by the Trump Administration.

Saturday’s event was focused on encouraging people to vote early for the upcoming midterm elections.

Information on early voting and the upcoming midterm election is shared during the Vote Early Fair on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, outside the Madison Municipal building in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

The Forward Marching Band performs protest songs as a No Kings protest begins Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, at James Madison Park in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Angie Dickens of Madison was at the protest. She said she was motivated by “just a deep, deep concern about the state of our country and our democracy. And also understanding that historically, we need people to be speaking out and doing wherever we can to fight against what is happening right now.”

Dickens said she is “hopeful but nervous” about the upcoming election, saying she wants to see a shift in Congress.

“We really need to get more congressional oversight,” she said. “Our government is (designed to have) checks and balances in place and we need that to be happening.”

In Wisconsin, the high-stakes Nov. 3 election could radically shift the balance of power in state government. Polling shows Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany and Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley are in a tight race for the governor’s office, with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers stepping down after two terms.

Protesters who oppose President Trump make their way to the Wisconsin State Capitol on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, during a No Kings protest in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Protesters hold signs in support of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, during a No Kings protest in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

In the state Legislature, new legislative maps put in place two years ago through a bipartisan agreement are more competitive, giving Democrats a chance of picking up seats and breaking Republican control of the state house.

All eight U.S. House of Representative seats in Wisconsin are up election in November, but only two of those races are believed to be competitive.

No Kings protesters march near the Wisconsin State Capitol to encourage people to vote early and to elect Democrats in the upcoming midterm election Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

No Kings events around Wisconsin work to get out the vote was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

1. Wisconsin Wins $218 Million Grant To Extend Hiawatha To Madison

Hiawatha West project would extend existing Amtrak service to Pewaukee, Watertown and Madison.

Oct 16th, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene

2. Murphy’s Law: Top Republican Has Turned on Donald Trump

R.J. Johnson, longtime Republican consultant, condemns raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home.

Oct 12th, 2026 by Bruce Murphy

3. Blighted South-Side Building Will Become New Cafe

New Halo Cafe will brighten street in Historic Mitchell Street Neighborhood.

Oct 12th, 2026 by Lauren Hafeman

4. Retired Pro Athlete, Realtor Bet On Bay View Building

With zoning now updated, the Walls hope to rehab a rundown tavern near Humboldt Park.

Oct 15th, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene

5. Viral Pizza Pop-Up Is a Hit, Chef Seeks Solo Storefront

Experienced chef who’s appeared on Food Network finds success in Riverwest.

Oct 12th, 2026 by Lauren Hafeman

6. MKE County: Parks Finishes Road-to-Trail in Wauwatosa

Trail expands county bike trails, reduces pavement and costs.

Oct 13th, 2026 by Graham Kilmer

7. Back in the News: Wisconsin Has Nation’s 4th Highest Hospital Prices

The highest in Midwest and 26% higher than Illinois. Report looks at why, how to fix it.

Oct 13th, 2026 by Bruce Murphy

8. Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha Train Awaits Federal Funding

Commuter rail plan advancing, could serve numerous cities, connect to Chicago Metra line.

Oct 14th, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene

9. Proposed New York Style Pizzeria Back on Track

After building purchase finalized, owner says licensing and renovations underway.

Oct 13th, 2026 by Lauren Hafeman

10. Redevelopment Plans Revealed For Site of 100,000 Parts

Developer working on library redevelopment plots new apartment complex on Kinnickinnic.

Oct 13th, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene

Press Releases

Most popular press releases in the past week.

1. New Wisconsin Poll: Crowley Leads Tiffany 46% to 42% in Governor’s Race

Statewide survey also finds overwhelming support for school choice and accountability: 76% want greater access to public school options, and 85% want the same standards for all publicly funded schools.

Oct 15th, 2026 by City Forward Collective

2. Daily Caller: David Crowley Approved Tens of Millions to His Wife’s Employer While in Office

 

Oct 13th, 2026 by Tom Tiffany

3. Brewers Announce Details for World Series Ticket Sales

2026 World Series Tickets On Sale to Wisconsin Residents and General Public on Thursday, October 15

Oct 14th, 2026 by Milwaukee Brewers

4. Gov. Evers, DWD Announce $6.6 Million in New Grants to Train Over 3,800 Wisconsin Workers in Advanced Manufacturing and AI

84 employers receive grants to help train workers within in-demand, fast-growing industries to bolster Wisconsin’s 21st-century workforce and economy

Oct 13th, 2026 by Gov. Tony Evers

5. In a Victory for Voting Rights, Honig V. WEC Ensures That Voters Cannot Be Disenfranchised by Government Errors

 

Oct 13th, 2026 by Law Forward

6. MKE Celebrates Completion of New Air Cargo Center

New facility strengthens Wisconsin’s cargo capabilities and supports regional economic growth

Oct 14th, 2026 by Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport

7. Gov. Evers Appoints Delani Dow to UW Board of Regents

 

Oct 8th, 2026 by Gov. Tony Evers

8. Digital Bridge Marks Earth Month With Workplace E-Waste Drives Across Wisconsin

 

Apr 21st, 2026 by Digital Bridge of Milwaukee

9. CBRE Named Exclusive Sales Agent for Pinnacle Office Portfolio in Brookfield, Wisconsin

 

Oct 14th, 2026 by CBRE

10. Embattled Republican Incumbent Bob Donovan Dodges Candidate Forum

 

Oct 13th, 2026 by Ben Brist

A 2011 photo shows an exhibit at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum that commemorated the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act in August 2010. (FDR Presidential Library & Museum | via Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Wisconsin retirees will see higher monthly Social Security payments next year.

The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2027 is 3.6 percent, or roughly $75 per month on average. It’s the largest increase since 2023.

But the program’s cost-of-living adjustment may not keep up with higher costs for food, gas, housing and other items due to inflation.

The latest Consumer Price Index data shows the costs of goods in September rose 3.7 percent compared to the same time last year.

The COLA is intended to keep pace with inflation as costs rise. But it can sometimes lag because it’s calculated from prices earlier in the year, said Devon Christianson, director of Brown County’s Aging and Disability Resource Center, on WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”

“(COLA) doesn’t equate to financial security,” she said. “In our area and in many parts around the state, we see housing costs are rising much higher, food costs, medical expenses, transportation programs, utilities, all those add up together to create incredible pressures where older adults have to make choices that are less than favorable.”

Social Security bases its COLA on consumer price data. But according to Lindsay Jacobs, assistant professor at the La Follette School of Public Affairs, the costs for retirees don’t always line up with those calculations.

While some Americans have other sources of income in retirement like a pension or 401(k), other retirees can have very little to fall back on outside of their monthly Social Security benefits. Christianson said that challenge can make some people stay in the workforce longer or come out of retirement for extra income.

“People are making choices that are really difficult,” Christianson said. “They’re not about whether to have another cellphone; they’re about whether they’re going to be able to afford food that week because their medical expenses have increased.”

Medicare premiums are also likely to rise next year, Jacobs said. And that added cost could eat into any increase from Social Security adjustments.

Jacobs said the average Social Security check is about $2,100 a month before next year’s increase.

The long-term financial strength of the program is also a concern. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the trust fund paying retirement benefits could run out of funds to meet its current obligations by 2032 without action by Congress. Jacobs said people could see their benefits cut by at least 20 percent if nothing changes.

“We’re already taking in less than is going out in benefits,” Jacobs said. “The goal is to avert this very sudden drop for the 80 million beneficiaries that we’ll have.”

Christianson said people looking for assistance should check the Department of Health Services’ ADRC list to see which program covers their region of the state.

Jacobs said local ADRCs can work with older adults to help them find ways they can lower their expenses for costs like healthcare and housing.

Wisconsin retirees see Social Security boost in 2027, but inflation hikes costs was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

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.

Former Johnson Controls CEO Sells Condo [Short Take]

Park Terrace Bluff Homes condos. Photo by Urban Milwaukee staff.

Former Johnson Controls CEO Alex Molinaroli has unloaded his Beerline condo.

Molinaroli sold his penthouse unit overlooking the Milwaukee River for $2.135 million, according to state real estate transfer records.

After making several upgrades since acquiring it in 2015 for $814,900, the unit was measured at 5,730 square feet. Spread over four levels, it includes four bedrooms, six bathrooms and an in-ground pool.

Molinaroli sold the property, 801 E. Reservoir Ave., to David and Nicole Sether. Dave is the president of Revi Design, Nicole is the business development director.

The condo is part of the Park Terrace Bluff Homes development, a series of townhomes on the north side of E. Commerce Street. The Molinaroli condo is at the western end of the row.

The unit was listed with Peter Mahler.

Molinaroli gave a Florida address for his current residence.

– Jeramey Jannene, October 15 6:31 pm

More: See our 2015 House Confidential column for more

Council Shows Its Support for the Milwaukee Brewers [Scene on the Street]

Council members give their support to the Milwaukee Brewers. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The Milwaukee Common Council is climbing aboard the bandwagon.

Council members posed with Milwaukee Brewers paraphernalia after their meeting Tuesday morning

Baseball fans that watched the first game of the National League Divisional Series against the San Diego Padres might have already caught Mark Chambers, Jr. on the broadcast in a crowd shot.

– Jeramey Jannene, October 13 7:30 pm

Bay View Fitness Saved From Closure [Reporting Update]

Bay View Fitness isn’t closing after all.

Days after announcing that the independent, 24-hour gym would close Nov. 30, owner John Andrews Jr. announced that a longtime trainer would take over the business.

Ryan Givens, who has worked as a trainer at Bay View Fitness for more than four years, will become the new owner and operator of the gym, 2121 S. Kinnickinnic Ave..

“Due to personal circumstances, I had decided to move on from BVF and the fitness industry, however I was contacted by one of our trainers, Ryan Givens, and he will be SAVING BVF!!!” wrote Andrews in a message to customers.

The announcement reverses plans to close the gym after 19 years in business.

“I am extremely grateful for him saving a business I have poured my soul into over the last 14 years,” wrote Andrews. “If it were not for him, there would have been a huge hole in the Bay View neighborhood.”

Andrews said he hoped the news of the gym’s survival would spread as widely as the original closure announcement.

“Please come support Ryan and keep BVF going strong for another 19 years!” he wrote.

Bay View Fitness occupies the northwest corner of a three-story condominium complex at the intersection of S. Kinnickinnic Avenue and E. Becher Street.

– Jeramey Jannene, October 13 4:19 pm

New Protected Bike Lane Will Appear This Week [Short Take]

The Department of Public Works is filling a gap in the city’s growing network of protected bike lanes, moving closer to a true network of safe streets for cyclists and scooter riders across Downtown.

N. Jackson Street between E. Michigan and E. Wells streets will be closed Wednesday, Oct. 14 and Thursday, Oct. 15 so a contractor can repave the street, according to an announcement from DPW.

A two-way protected bike lane will be installed on the west side of the street. E. Michigan Street between N. Jackson and N. Jefferson streets will also gain painted bike lanes.

The new, four-block north-south protected lane will link with the existing east-west protected lanes along E. Wells Street near Cathedral Square Park. The east-west lanes on Michigan Street will facilitate a southern connection with the recently completed two-way protected bikeway on N. Jefferson Street that runs from E. Michigan Street south to the southern tip of the Historic Third Ward.

The Wells Street protected lanes link with the two-way N. Van Buren Street protected bikeway, which runs north to the Holton Street Bridge and Brady Street, as well as linking with the protected lanes on E. Kilbourn Avenue that span most of Downtown going east-west.

– Jeramey Jannene, October 12 3:21 pm

New Sandwich Shop Now Open in 3rd Street Market Hall [Reporting Update]

The 3rd Street Market Hall’s first in-house vendor concept is now open.

Clutch Sandwich Co., under the direction of the market’s culinary director Cullen Moffatt, is now offering specialty deli-style sandwiches and salads.

Menu options feature pulled pork, smoked turkey, Genoa salami, roast beef and pulled chicken deli meats on toasted Kaiser buns, grilled sourdough, sub rolls and Texas toast. An arugula, spinach and basil pasta salad joins a dill potato salad as side options.

“The Gardener” sandwich showcases a roasted cauliflower base, while the “Clutch Club” is the shop’s take on a classic club, swapping mayo for a herbed Dijon aioli.

The sandwich shop’s stall is located a few steps inside the building’s main entrance. It is open Sunday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

– Lauren Hafeman, October 12 2:30 pm

More: https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2026/08/13/3rd-street-market-hall-plans-two-in-house-concepts/

Midwest SAD Confirms It Won’t Return to Walker’s Point [Reporting Update]

Midwest SAD is coming home.

The bakery is permanently closing its Walker’s Point location at 601 S. 6th St., owner Sam Sandrin announced Sunday in a social media post. The announcement follows a late-September update that Midwest SAD would “pause things” at the larger location while returning to its original home at 770 N. Jefferson St.

“We tried to make it work and we couldn’t, and that’s okay,” Sandrin wrote. She said she was grateful to still have the original location operating and to continue the business downtown.

Sandrin thanked the Walker’s Point community, her team and the bakery’s regulars, saying their support helped Midwest SAD make it through the challenges. The southside opened in fall 2025. “This isn’t goodbye,” she wrote, inviting customers to visit Downtown for the things they loved at the Walker’s Point location.

The bakery is holding a moving sale at the Walker’s Point shop Monday, Oct. 12, from 2 to 7 p.m. Customers can buy décor, equipment and other items. Midwest SAD will accept cash or card.

The downtown bakery is open 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. It first operated in the lower-level food court at the 770 Building in 2024 before moving to Walker’s Point a year later. The downtown location resumed service Sept. 26.

Midwest SAD specializes in small-batch, handmade baked goods. Sandrin previously said the move Downtown would give the business a chance to refocus on its original goals after running the larger Walker’s Point space became a matter of survival.

– Jeramey Jannene, October 12 11:00 am

More: See our Sept. 24 report

Milwaukee County Zoo. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The Milwaukee County Zoo‘s new entrance was an expensive project, but it has proved a success.

In April, the zoo finished construction on the first phase of a $15.3 million redesign of the entrance and ticketing operation. The new entryway allows visitors to breeze into the zoo’s parking lot and pay for admission at the main entrance in the U.S. Bank Gathering Place.

The project is also an example of the sort of infrastructure improvements that directly impact local quality of life and county officials often struggle to fund. The government’s structural budget gap — the result of a disastrous pension plan adopted more than 20 years ago and two decades of flat state aid — has left county policymakers cutting budgets for many years. The budget gap in 2027 is estimated at about $50.8 million.

The zoo project solved a major safety concern for zoo officials. Before the redesign, visitors paid for admission and parking at a gate shortly after getting off the roadway. That setup created a bottleneck and frequently caused a long line of vehicles backed up into W. Blue Mound Road, which the Wisconsin Department of Transportation will tear up for repaving in 2028.

Two pedestrians have been killed along this section of the roadway in recent years, Adam Walter, a design consultant with Strand & Associates working on the project, told county officials in 2025. One of the individuals was a friend of Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis McBride, who supported the project on the border of his municipality.

The county’s structural budget challenges and a backlog of infrastructure projects estimated at about $1 billion over five years meant the project almost didn’t make the cut in recent budgets. But Sup. Shawn Rolland started pushing for funding in 2023 and managed to secure funding for construction in the 2026 budget.

The first phase of work included the build-out of improvements to the parking lot and the implementation of a new QR code system for parking. Visitors now scan a code and pay for parking while walking into the zoo. Admission is paid at the front entrance. Both transactions used to occur at the vehicle gate.

“So now you drive right into the zoo where you used to have to stop and talk to a gate attendant. Everyone just drives right in,” Megan O’Shea, communications manager for the Milwaukee County Zoo, told Urban Milwaukee. “It’s a free flow system, and you park wherever you want.”

The new parking system has effectively eliminated wait times to get into the zoo, said Andrew Stockel, director of operations for the Milwaukee County Zoo. The zoo entryway now easily handles twice as many visitors an hour as it did before, Stockel said.

The second phase of the zoo’s entrance project will redesign the lanes leading in and out of the parking lot and add a signalized intersection at N. 99th Street and W. Blue Mound Road. The goal of the second phase is to slow traffic around the entrance and allow vehicles to approach without first crossing two or four lanes of uncontrolled traffic.

Rolland said he was “thrilled” with the results of the new parking system, adding that he hopes in the long run it will also boost zoo revenue, now that it’s easier and requires less time to visit.

“It just makes a family’s day that much better, right, where you can spend more time enjoying the zoo and less time stuck in lines dodging cars,” he said.

The project wasn’t an easy budget lift. Rolland managed to find support for the project, but there were more than $100 million in project requests the county couldn’t fund. Roughly 50% of the county’s infrastructure backlog is in the Milwaukee County Parks system, one of the most public-facing aspects of county government. At a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony for a county-owned trail in Wauwatosa, McBride said it was “sort of a miracle” that the county managed to find the money to build it.

“There are examples like this up and down the list of things that would make our lives more fun or safer or better. In order to fund them, we just need the dollars to be able to make them happen.”

U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden and Rebecca Cooke. Angela Major/WPR and Hope Kirwan/WPR

Democrats running for Wisconsin’s 3rd and 1st U.S. House Districts have outraised Republican incumbents Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil, according to the latest federal campaign finance reports.

The reports spanning from July 23 through Sept. 30 continue to show the 3rd District rematch between U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, and Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke of Eau Claire is by far the most expensive federal race in Wisconsin. It’s Cooke’s third run for the seat. In 2024, Van Orden defeated her by less than 3 percentage points.

Cooke, a former Democratic fundraising consultant, reported raising around $3.4 million over the roughly nine-week period, while Van Orden raised around $1.3 million. Cooke spent about $4.3 million, while Van Orden spent about $3.8 million.

Of Cooke’s fundraising total, roughly $3 million came from individual donors. Around $730,000 of Van Orden’s haul came from individuals.

In a social media post, Van Orden claimed “coastal elites are trying to buy this seat” for Cooke, who he referred to as “The Crooked One.”In a statement, Cooke said she’s grateful for the support she’s received from “every corner of West Central Wisconsin.”

“This is a people-powered campaign, backed not by Corporate PACs but grassroots donors who want leaders who will lower costs, improve health care, and fight for an end to forever wars,” said Cooke.

With the 3rd District race considered a tossup and linchpin to efforts by Democrats to flip Republicans’ slim majority in the U.S. House, both candidates have received plenty of money from political action committees. For Cooke, around $225,000 of her most recent fundraising came from PACs, while Van Orden received around $207,000 in PAC money.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee emeritus political science professor Mordecai Lee told WPR the “campaign spending inflation” in current congressional races “boggles the mind.” But he said the fundraising figures in the 3rd Congressional District are evidence that both Van Orden and Cooke are “really players.”

“They’re both roughly politically even, and so what that means is that the constituents who live in that district are getting to see what a competitive race is, and they’re getting the message that their vote will count,” said Lee. “In other words, this isn’t a district that will automatically, even in a snowstorm, go Republican or go Democratic.”

Democrat Mitchell Berman outraises Republican Bryan Steil in 1st District, but Steil spending more

Wisconsin’s 1st District race hasn’t gotten the same attention as the rematch between Van Orden and Cooke, but Democrats have become more confident about ousting Steil, the Republican incumbent from Janesville, during a midterm with President Donald Trump’s approval ratings near historic lows.

Last month, House Democrats’ campaign committee added Berman to its “Red to Blue” program aimed at flipping GOP seats.

That’s resulted in a surge of new fundraising for first-time Democratic candidate Mitchell Berman, an ER Nurse from Raymond. From July 23 through Sept. 30, Berman raised around $897,000, while Steil brought in around $784,000.

Still, Steil dominated when it came to spending and cash on hand. The Republican reported spending close to $3 million during the reporting period and ending with about $4 million in the bank. Berman spent around $711,000 and ended September with around $338,000 in cash.

Lee said in a normal election cycle, the 1st District would likely be considered “solid Republican,” but the fact that Democrats are sending more money to Berman suggests there’s internal polling showing a shift. “Now, two years ago, some people thought that the 1st CD was going to be competitive,” said Lee. “It turned out not to be.”

Republican Michael Alfonso leads fundraising against Democrat Fred Clark in race for open 7th District seat

In the race for northern Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District seat being vacated by Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany as he runs for governor, 26-year-old Republican Michael Alfonso reported raising around $397,000, while former Democratic state lawmaker Fred Clark raised around $300,000.

Alfonso reported spending more than twice as much money as Clark during the period.

Alfonso has faced criticism for receiving multiple large donations from executives and lobbyists representing transportation industry companies regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Alfonso, who is the son-in-law of former 7th District congressman and current U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, reported receiving nearly $185,000 in donations from PACs between July 23 and Sept. 30, while Clark received a single $5,000 PAC contribution.

Democrats outraise GOP incumbents in Wisconsin’s 3rd and 1st US House Districts was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Candidates for the 8th Congressional District, Democrat Rick Crosson, left, and Republican Incumbent Rep. Tony Wied. Photos courtesy of the candidates’ campaigns

Republican Tony Wied of De Pere is running for reelection to represent northeast Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District against Democrat Rick Crosson of Green Bay.

The district includes Brown, Outagamie, Door, Waupaca, Oconto Kewaunee, Shawano, Menominee, Marinette and Calumet counties, as well as a sliver of Winnebago County.

Wied was elected in 2024, after entering the race as a political unknown with an endorsement from President Donald Trump. A former small business owner, Wied ran a local chain of Dino Stop gas stations and convenience stores. He sold the business in 2022.

In his first term, Wied said his office “opened and closed over 3,000” constituent services cases and he voted for tax cuts that were included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“I’m coming into this as someone from the private sector. (I want to) continue to utilize those talents to hopefully make some changes in Washington, D.C. and be a good leader in the community,” he said.

Though he took nearly 60 percent of the vote last time around, he is seeking reelection in a challenging national political environment for Republicans.

But a Democrat hasn’t won the district since 2008, the same year Barack Obama was first elected president. And Cook Political Report ranks the 8th District as “solid Republican” in its forecast of 2026 House races.

Crosson, Wied’s opponent, is hoping to beat the odds.

He served for 20 years in the U.S. Army, where he spent most of his career flying helicopters. After the military, he worked for a trucking company in Green Bay before spending nine years running a logistics firm in central Wisconsin.

More recently, Crosson served on the Green Bay School Board from 2024 to 2025. He said he’s running for Congress because he’s unhappy with the “state of our country.”

“I can bring some leadership and some stability and some restoration to bear — things that our country needs,” he said.

Candidates differ on Trump’s agenda and immigration enforcement

Crosson said one of the main reasons he’s running is because he feels current members of Congress, including his opponent, aren’t doing one of their most important jobs.

“That is to be a check and balance on the powers of the presidency and a check and balance on the Supreme Court,” he said. “What I see happening is Congress is acquiescing to the whims — and, in a lot of cases, the erratic whims — of the current occupant of the White House.”

While Crosson wants to provide a check on the Trump administration, Wied has closely aligned himself with Trump’s agenda and campaigned with the president’s son two years ago.

Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, left, shakes hands with a member of law enforcement on Oct. 5, 2026. Joe Schulz/WPR

This election cycle, Wied has said he wants to continue working to advance the “America First agenda.”

“We’re focused on ‘America First,’ and we’re seeing great investment now in this country, but it takes time,” he said. “There’s more work to do, and I’m going to continue to fight for people.”

He touted an endorsement from several sheriffs at a press conference in early October, where he reiterated his support for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and promoted a bill he introduced that would strip federal funding from state and local governments that the Trump administration deems to be “anarchist jurisdictions.”

“It’s really important that we support federal law enforcement, that we have a border,” Wied told reporters after the press conference. “You can’t have a country without a border, and in order to have that, you have to have law enforcement professionals at the federal level.”

Crosson said he’s familiar with the situation at the southern border from his time in the military doing “counter narcotics work” in Mexico. But he said he feels ICE has “ballooned into this paramilitary organization” that has gone “well above its intended original charter.”

“There needs to be a reimagining and a reassessment of what it is that that organization is supposed to be doing compared to what it is doing,” Crosson said. “Nobody is for lawlessness or disorder.”

Democrat Rick Crosson, right, speaks with a voter during his campaign for Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District. Photo courtesy of the Crosson campaign

Wied responds to criticism over taxpayer-funded ads, stock trades

Wied has presented himself as a fiscal conservative, calling for cutting government waste and fraud, previously pushing for an investigation into the defunct anti-poverty nonprofit Newcap’s mishandling of taxpayer dollars.

But he has faced criticism this election cycle for using congressional funds to buy television ads promoting his work in Congress. He’s using a process called “franking” that allows members of Congress to use taxpayer money to inform constituents of their work.

Wied isn’t the only federal lawmaker spending that money on TV ads. Axios reports lawmakers from both political parties have “blanketed the airwaves with taxpayer funded ads this election cycle.”

Wied said he bought the ads because the local, state and national media are “anti-Republican” and “completely biased.”

“It is very, very negative, so it’s something that everyone is able to use, and I think it’s a good way to be able to communicate with our constituents,” he said.

But Crosson said he believes Wied’s franking ads served primarily as campaign ads rather than communications informing constituents.

“That is not the intent of those funds to use taxpayer money to de facto promote yourself as a political candidate,” he said.

Wied has also faced scrutiny over his stock trades.

A recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report found he bought and sold stocks in industries overseen by congressional committees on which he serves, though the newspaper reported there is no evidence he violated congressional rules.

Aidan Strongreen, a spokesperson for Wied’s congressional office, said in a statement that Wied had “zero involvement in his stock trading.”

“All of his investments are managed solely through an independent financial advisor, and he has no role in any of their decisions,” the statement read.

Wied also blasted the Journal Sentinel in a statement, calling the report, “yet another bogus story.” He also accused the newspaper of pushing an “unfounded and untrue narrative.”

In a statement, Crosson said the Journal Sentinel’s reporting raises questions about whether Wied’s work in Congress serves his constituents or his portfolio.

“Something is wrong when a congressman’s financial picture is improving dramatically while the people he represents are falling further behind,” Crosson stated.

Voters in the 8th Congressional District will have the opportunity to hear Crosson and Wied debate the issues on Thursday, Oct. 22. The debate will be hosted and moderated by local CBS affiliate WFRV-TV.

The station will livestream the event from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and air it on television at 7 p.m. that evening. They will rebroadcast the debate at 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 25.

Republican incumbent Tony Wied faces Democrat Rick Crosson in northeast Wisconsin Congressional race was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

The Couture and US Bank Center. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

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Planned site for Buffalo Wild Wings GO, Sequoia Center on W. Brown Deer Road. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Are the days of dining in on game day at Buffalo Wild Wings over? Is ordering B-Dubs’ honey BBQ wings and enjoying three sports games at once a lost art? Maybe in Milwaukee it is.

According to a commercial alteration permit, a Buffalo Wild Wings GO is planned to open at 6841 W. Brown Deer Rd., a space located in a strip mall near the Freedom Village neighborhood.

Unlike the traditional sit-down, table-service approach that helped turn Buffalo Wild Wings into America’s largest, and perhaps most beloved, sports bar chain, its “GO” quick-service restaurant (QSR) spinoff prioritizes takeout, a limited menu and narrow in-house seating options. Though the “GO” locations carry the iconic winged-buffalo logo, their interiors are designed around counter service rather than a lively sports bar experience.

If approved, the Brown Deer Road “GO” location will become Buffalo Wild Wings’ third in Milwaukee. Kardo Rasha is listed as the owner. Rasha also owns the “GO” location at 2900 N. Oakland Ave. and two Milwaukee Dunkin’ locations. He is the president of Kardo Group, which operates more than 40 stores across multiple brands, according to its website.

Buffalo Wild Wings’ only remaining full-service restaurant in Milwaukee is at 3636 S. 27th St., after the closure of the N. Water Street location in 2022.

Buffalo Wild Wings launched its “GO” spinoff in Atlanta in 2020, aiming to reach customers who wish to enjoy wings at home. The idea has since expanded across the country, reaching 219 locations in 2025. Meanwhile, the brand closed five of its traditional sports bar locations that same year.

Buffalo Wild Wings isn’t the only restaurant chain branching into a QSR model. McDonald’s launched CosMc’s in 2023, and Pizza Hut has been on a years-long journey to move away from “Red Roof” dine-in venues and towards a scaled-down delivery and carryout approach.

W. Brown Deer Road’s Buffalo Wild Wings GO would join Boost Mobile, a nail salon, Anytime Fitness and a tobacco and vape shop in the Sequoia Center strip mall.

A Microsoft data center, named “Fairwater,” under construction in Mount Pleasant, Wis., photographed on Sept. 24, 2026. (Andy Manis for Wisconsin Watch)

Wisconsin’s statewide economic development agency has signed at least five nondisclosure agreements with developers of artificial intelligence data centers, adding a previously unknown level of secrecy to the billion-dollar projects.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., a quasi-government state agency, signed one of the NDAs nearly two years before a proposed data center in Menomonie was announced to the public and six months before the city signed its own NDA.

Wisconsin Watch previously revealed that at least five communities signed local NDAs, keeping the public in the dark about data center proposals for months.

The newly released state agency NDAs show that in some cases, the proposals were hidden from view even longer. Also, three of the NDAs signed by the state agency are for projects proposed in communities that didn’t have a local secrecy pact.

The agreements, provided to Wisconsin Watch under the state public records law, show the gap in time between when the WEDC NDAs were signed and when the data center proposals were publicly announced:

• Menomonie — 23 months: The August 2023 NDA, signed with a shell company called Balloonist LLC, was done 23 months before the city announced the data center proposal, which is pending.
• Beaver Dam — 19 months: The NDA for the Meta data center now under construction in Beaver Dam, also signed in August 2023 by Balloonist, was done 19 months before the project was announced to the public.
• DeForest — 8 months: The NDA was signed in February 2025 with QTS Data Centers, eight months before the public announcement of the proposal, which was later dropped.
• Mount Pleasant — 2 months: Microsoft’s NDA was signed in January 2023, two months before the village announced the proposed data center complex that is now under construction.
• Port Washington: The July 2025 NDAs signed for the OpenAI/Oracle/Vantage project under construction were done six months after the city announced the proposal.

WEDC replied to an interview request with a statement saying “the agency is committed to transparency and compliance with Wisconsin’s public records laws and has long been recognized for its strong commitment to reporting.”

“Wisconsin law recognizes that certain information related to pending economic development projects may need to remain confidential to protect their competitive nature,” the agency said. “NDAs are one tool used to facilitate the exchange of business information while companies evaluate potential investments, expansions, or relocations in Wisconsin. These agreements help Wisconsin compete for economic opportunities while remaining consistent with applicable public records laws.”

Told about WEDC’s use of NDAs, state Rep. Clint Moses, R-Menomonie, said he would add the state agency to legislation banning data center NDAs that he plans to introduce in January, after a new governor and Legislature take office.

His original bill, introduced in January but given no hearings, would have applied only to local governments.

“I would assume they wouldn’t like it,” Moses said of the WEDC. “I know certain groups … kind of frown on any time you start banning NDAs. But these data centers are such a big issue, and there’s so much unknown about them still, that we need to be doing something.

“I think regardless who the governor is and who has control of the Legislature, I think it’s popular,” Moses added. “I think it will get support, regardless.”

Behind the WEDC and confidentiality

WEDC is the state’s lead economic development agency. It aims to attract new businesses to the state by allocating tax credits, awarding grants and loans and authorizing local governments to issue bonds.

The state law that created WEDC in 2011 says agency records are open to the public — except for “pending grants, loans, or economic development projects that, in the opinion of the corporation, must remain confidential to protect the competitive nature of the grant, loan, or project.”

That means proposed data centers costing billions of dollars and covering hundreds of acres could be quietly explored long before local residents are informed.

“It just seems like really bad practice,” said Port Washington Ald. Michael Beaster, who opposed his community’s data center and made public records requests about it before being elected in April. “A state agency is not accountable to the local government.”

The NDA record requests

Wisconsin Watch sought to obtain all NDAs signed by WEDC for hyperscale data center proposals. However, the agency was unable to produce all NDAs in its records in response to a general public records request for them.

The agency initially provided NDAs for three data centers that it certified for a state sales tax exemption and are under construction — Microsoft’s in Mount Pleasant, Meta’s in Beaver Dam and OpenAI/Oracle/Vantage’s in Port Washington.

Mount Pleasant and Port Washington replied to previous public records requests from Wisconsin Watch saying they did not sign NDAs for their data centers. The Beaver Dam Area Development Corp., a quasi-government group, signed an NDA for the Beaver Dam data center.

Wisconsin Watch then followed up with a request for any NDAs that WEDC signed with at least 16 companies that Wisconsin Watch identified as making data center proposals in the state. That prompted WEDC to provide its Menomonie and DeForest NDAs.

No data center NDAs were turned up by public records requests Wisconsin Watch made to the state’s nine regional economic development agencies.

Six of the regional agencies said the public records law doesn’t apply to them. But three of those six, plus three others, said they had no such NDAs.

NDAs helped usher in massive economic development

The NDAs helped pave the way for multibillion-dollar developments, but also public backlash.

Microsoft’s plans have grown to $20 billion worth of data centers in Mount Pleasant, south of Milwaukee in Racine County. The OpenAI/Oracle/Vantage project is worth $15 billion in Port Washington, north of Milwaukee in Ozaukee County. Meta’s data center investment is $1 billion in Beaver Dam, 40 miles north of Madison in Dodge County.

Data centers have also been worth billions of dollars to Wisconsin businesses that serve them. Earlier this year, just three Wisconsin companies had already done more than $1 billion in data center business, Wisconsin Watch reported.

“Non-disclosure agreements are an essential part of doing business in a competitive economic development climate,” the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce said in a statement to Wisconsin Watch. “Companies considering major investments don’t evaluate locations singularly. They compare us with communities across the country, and they expect legitimate trade secrets and proprietary business information to remain confidential while making those decisions. If we make it harder to protect that information, we put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage and risk losing that investment altogether. That means a loss of jobs, tax base and economic momentum. To our knowledge, not a single state prohibits its economic development arm from utilizing NDAs.”

A Microsoft data center, named “Fairwater,” is under construction in Mount Pleasant, Wis. The Foxconn High Performance Computing Data Center Globe can be seen in the background. The Microsoft project was subject to a nondisclosure agreement between the developer and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. two months before it was publicly announced. (Andy Manis for Wisconsin Watch)

Another measure of data centers’ impact is the sales tax exemption, part of the 2023-25 state budget. It means that generally, data centers certified by the WEDC, including the three facilities under construction, don’t have to pay sales taxes on construction materials, computer servers and other equipment. The exemption is estimated to be worth more than $2 billion and has been targeted by Democrats and Republicans for modification or elimination.

The $1.6 billion data center proposal in Menomonie in western Wisconsin, where $25 million in land has already been purchased, was paused in September 2025 after local opposition mounted. The city is still drafting zoning regulations. The city signed an NDA in February 2024, six months after the WEDC secrecy agreement.

QTS had planned to spend $12 billion on a data center in the Madison suburb of DeForest. The village, which said it did not sign an NDA, reached a wide-ranging community benefits agreement with QTS, but village officials dropped the plan over local opposition. Wisconsin Watch obtained records showing village officials were in talks with QTS around the same time WEDC signed a nondisclosure agreement and months before village officials initially told the public they were aware of the project.

At least two Wisconsin communities have restricted data center NDAs. The Columbia County Board prohibited its members from signing data center NDAs. The Beloit Town Board barred town board employees from signing them without board approval.

Both candidates for governor in the Nov. 3 election, Democrat David Crowley and Republican Tom Tiffany, have expressed support for banning data center NDAs.

More data centers being considered

Data center proposals that are pending include one for a former paper mill in Wisconsin Rapids, north of Madison, where a decisive city council vote could come this month. The city said it did not sign an NDA.

In Kenosha, which signed an NDA in May 2024, residents are seeking a data center moratorium as the city considers a data center plan from Microsoft. The technology giant terminated the local NDA in June 2026.

That stemmed from Microsoft’s announcement three months earlier that it would no longer sign data center NDAs with local governments and would seek to terminate the ones it had signed, calling it an effort to build trust.

The announcement didn’t mention state-level NDAs. A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment on state NDAs.

“We continue to hear these data centers and tech companies talking about wanting to be a good neighbor,” said Beaver Dam data center opponent Maily Kocinski. “This is not something a good neighbor does.”

Disclosure: The OpenAI Foundation recently awarded a grant to Wisconsin Watch but has no control over its editorial decisions. We will update our funding page to reflect the grant. A list of donors and funders through 2025, as well as our donation acceptance policies, can be found here.

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

We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant. Photo taken Aug. 30, 2025 by Graham Kilmer.

Wisconsin is facing another major test of how it plans its energy future.

We Energies has proposed a new 750-megawatt natural gas plant in Wrightstown, the Fox North Energy Center. If approved, it could begin operating around 2032 and run for 30 years or more. With Fox North added to the queue, We Energies now has roughly 4.25 gigawatts of methane gas generation awaiting Public Service Commission approval.

The utility says the buildout is needed to meet rapidly growing electricity demand and maintain reliability. Data centers are a major part of that growth.

But projected demand does not make new gas plants inevitable.

Wisconsin is being asked to make decades-long energy decisions based on electricity demand forecasts that are changing faster than our regulatory system. That is exactly why new methane gas plants must first prove they are the cleanest, lowest-cost, lowest-risk option before customers are committed to paying for them.

Before Wisconsin commits customers to decades of fuel costs and long-lived infrastructure, regulators should ask a more important question: What combination of resources can meet that demand reliably, affordably and with the least long-term risk?

That means comparing new gas plants not just with one solar farm or one battery project, but with complete portfolios of solar, wind, storage, energy efficiency, transmission, distributed resources, nuclear power and demand flexibility.

Other states, including Minnesota and North Carolina, have already shown that regulators can challenge utility assumptions and require closer examination of alternatives rather than treating new gas plants as the default response to projected load growth.

Wisconsin can do the same.

That approach is already gaining support in Wisconsin, including among labor leaders who see comprehensive energy planning as an opportunity to create good-paying jobs.

Climate Jobs Wisconsin, whose leadership includes representatives of Wisconsin building trades and construction unions, recently advanced a “35 by ’35” clean-energy and good-jobs agenda. The proposal envisions roughly 35 gigawatts of new clean-energy resources by 2035, including storage, utility-scale solar, wind, nuclear generation and networked distributed power. A plan developed by the PSC would map what gets built, where and when, establish resource targets and create a grid-investment roadmap.

That is exactly the kind of planning Wisconsin needs.

Whether policymakers ultimately adopt those exact numbers is less important than the principle behind them: Evaluate the whole system before locking customers into decades of costs.

And expanding clean energy does not have to mean sacrificing Wisconsin’s best farmland or open space.

Renewable development can be directed toward brownfields, marginal and previously disturbed lands, rooftops, parking structures, industrial parks, sites near substations and existing infrastructure. Solar can also be integrated with agricultural production through agrivoltaics, allowing farming and energy production to coexist rather than compete.

Wisconsin should be able to protect prime agricultural land while dramatically expanding clean energy. Those goals are compatible if we plan carefully.

The jobs case matters, too.

Climate Jobs Wisconsin’s agenda is built around creating clean-energy careers with prevailing wages, registered apprenticeships and local hiring. It proposes tying those labor standards to PSC approvals and expanding Wisconsin’s ability to build new energy infrastructure with skilled union labor.

That is important because Wisconsin’s energy transition should not be framed as a choice between workers and the environment.

Done well, it is an industrial green growth strategy.

It can create careers for electricians, operating engineers, laborers, carpenters, pipefitters and other skilled trades while reducing exposure to volatile fuel costs and strengthening Wisconsin manufacturing.

The rapid growth of data centers makes this kind of comprehensive planning even more important.

Wisconsin families, farmers, manufacturers and existing businesses should not become the financial backstop for those investments.

If a gas plant is justified largely by projected data-center demand, regulators should determine how certain that demand really is, what alternatives were considered, who will pay for the plant and who bears the stranded-cost risk if forecasts change.

Transparency is equally important.

That means disclosing projected electricity and water use, infrastructure requirements, tax arrangements and long-term impacts before commitments become difficult to reverse.

It also means using transparent Community Benefit Agreements, so benefits are public, measurable and enforceable.

Transparency is not anti-development. It is how responsible development earns trust.

Wisconsin does not have an electricity shortage. It has a planning challenge.

The choice before us is not new gas or reliability. It is whether Wisconsin evaluates all available resources together before committing customers to another generation of long-term fossil fuel infrastructure costs.

The Fox North proposal gives Wisconsin another opportunity to get that right.

A new gas plant should have to prove it is necessary. It should not be treated as inevitable.

John Imes is Co-Founder & Director of Wisconsin Environmental Initiative

Madison residents fill out ballots Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at the Madison Senior Center in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

If federal law enforcement shows up at polling sites this November, the head of the polls should alert their local clerk, who will in turn involve lawyers and election officials, according to new guidance adopted by the Wisconsin Elections Commission Thursday.

In a special meeting Thursday morning, five of the six commissioners — three Democrats and two Republicans — voted to advise clerks that law enforcement, in most cases, “should not be present at polling places unless they themselves are voting” or responding to election officials’ requests for help.

The guidance memo says that, if law enforcement does arrive, the polling place leader — referred to as a Chief Inspector — should alert their local clerk. The local clerk should then contact “their local counsel, their county clerk, and Commission staff.”

Election officials should also ask to review their warrants and badges, request that their actions take place outside of the voting area and document the interaction, per the memo. It also encourages clerks to involve local law enforcement if outside agents are present nearby.

Bob Spindell, a Republican commissioner who is often at odds with the other members of the elections commission, voted against adopting the guidance, arguing that it is unnecessary.

“I think this guidance is only going to scare away some people from the polls … when this law enforcement guidance hits the news,” Spindell said. “I personally think this guidance is unnecessary, as we have not seemed to have needed this for the last 201 years.”

The measure comes as voting rights group have expressed concern that federal law enforcement, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Department of Homeland Security agents, will be present at the polls during next month’s midterm elections.

Wisconsin elections are administered locally by some 1,800 local clerks, reporting to 72 county clerks. Commissioner Don Millis, a Republican, said that he and Wisconsin’s elections administrator, Meagan Wolfe, have met with many of the county clerks, “and I don’t think there’s alarm about this, but I do think they’re getting lots of questions from (local) clerks.”

“I don’t think that this is going to raise the (concern) level any more than you’re already seeing,” he said. “I think the message should be … we’ve had observers before. We’re going to continue to have observers, and if you have a problem, these are the things to do.”

While armed federal agents are not allowed at polling sites, unless there is an armed attack by foreign agents, President Donald Trump has demurred when asked whether he’d send ICE agents to polling sites. And DHS has launched investigations into voter fraud, ostensibly tied to voters’ immigration statuses.

Several civil rights groups and unions have filed lawsuits aimed at preventing that possibility. They’ve argued that the presence of law enforcement can intimidate legal voters.

On Thursday, Wisconsin’s election officials said they’d prefer any law enforcement at the sites wear plain clothes to avoid that possibility.

A spokesperson for DHS previously told NPR that ICE “is not planning operations targeting polling locations,” but added that, “if an active public safety threat endangered a polling location, they may be arrested as a result of that targeted enforcement action.”

Wolfe said she did not anticipate “anything unusual” on Nov. 3.

“By no means are we looking to make anybody feel panicked or anything about this,” she said. “I see this just like any other contingency planning that we do to assist our clerks, which is to provide some framework for them to have conversations and build relationships with their local law enforcement, so that they’re able to tackle any sort of uncertainty that comes their way.”

Elections Commission: Clerks should call lawyers if federal law enforcement shows up at polls was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Milwaukee Brewers fans watching from Major Goolsby’s, a Milwaukee bar, react as the team plays the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Milwaukee, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

At long last, the Milwaukee Brewers are heading back to the World Series.

The Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series Thursday night, securing their ticket to the final round of the Major League Baseball Postseason. Thousands of fans erupted in cheers at an American Family Field watch party as Jackson Chourio caught a long fly ball to left field to end the game and sweep the Dodgers in four games.

The club will now play in their first World Series since 1982. The franchise, which has been in Milwaukee since 1970, has never won a World Series.

This year’s National League Championship Series (NLCS) was a repeat of last year’s matchup, when the Dodgers swept the Brewers in four games. But some fans had a feeling this year would be different even before their crew gave the Los Angeles team a taste of its own medicine.

Jimmy Williams came to the watch party from Fond Du Lac. He believed the team had a good chance to sweep the series.

“This is just spectacular, just being in the stadium, watching the (video) board,” Williams said. “I feel like we’ve got a really good shot to win tonight.”

The Brewers have won the National League Central Division title four years in a row and set a franchise record for wins last season and again this year. But they failed to come up clutch in the postseason. Until this year.

The team beat the San Diego Padres in four games in the best-of-five National League Division Series, then the Brewers took the first two games of the NLCS at home. They won the next two games in Los Angeles, behind lead-generating home runs from first baseman Jake Bauers in the 7th inning of Game 3 and centerfielder Garrett Mitchell in the sixth inning Thursday.

The Milwaukee Brewers have the 12th lowest payroll in the MLB, according to USAToday. In fact, the Dodgers’ $338 million payroll is more than double the $143.5 million the Brewers spend on salaries.

Milwaukee is also baseball’s smallest media market, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Dodgers, on the other hand, have won three World Series in the past six years and are in one of the biggest markets in the sport.

But the Brewers notched a franchise-record 103 wins during the regular season, thanks in part to the success of likely National League Cy Young award winner Jacob Misiorowski and a breakout season from Bauers.

The club was tied for the second-fewest home runs in the regular season, with 154. But they had the second highest runs scored of any team in the MLB and the second-lowest earned run average.

Bob Nightengale, MLB columnist for USAToday, said the Brewers have become a “model franchise.”

“They draft well, they develop exceptionally well, and just make the right decisions,” Nightingale said. “They know when to move on from a player, and when they do, they seem to get the right players back.”

Nightengale said the Brewers play what he calls “old school baseball.”

“In the sense where they just do the little things to win,” Nightengale said.

Those little things include getting players on base and moving them over on the basepaths, Nightengale said. That can mean building runs through walks and stolen bases, not just flashy home runs.

“So they don’t have those superstars to carry a team,” Nightengale said. “They just rely on a lot of little guys to do it, play good defense.”

But the Brewers mashed their way to a World Series berth in the NLCS, hitting several big home runs in key moments. Chuck Freimund, host of the “Locked on Brewers” podcast, said that didn’t necessarily surprise him.

“Baseball’s a funny game, right,” Freimund said. “They were one of the worst home run-hitting teams in baseball all season long, and here they are.”

“Nothing they do is protocol,” he added. “They always are doing things that you don’t expect them to do. They win in so many different ways. They find so many different ways to get the job done.”

The World Series will return to Milwaukee on Friday, Oct. 23 for the first time since 1982. That year the team lost the series to the St. Louis Cardinals.

This year the Brewers will face the Tampa Bay Rays or the Cleveland Guardians.

The cheering fans at American Family Field Thursday night are counting on the Brewers to find a way to get the job done this time.

“Wisconsin Life” is a co-production of Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin. The project celebrates what makes the state unique through the diverse stories of its people, places, history and culture.

Listen to the WPR report

Brewers heading to the World Series  was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Silver Mill Shopping Center at 6063-6159 N. Teutonia Ave. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

In a commercial corridor on N. Teutonia Avenue, culinary traditions mix freely. Jamerican Jerk Center specializes in Caribbean-American fare, while Big Shark Fish and Chicken serves up platters from both land and sea. Now, in line with the area’s fusion focus, a new Mexican-soul food spot plans to join the mix.

A liquor license filed with the city shows Tipsy Taco plans to open at 6107 N. Teutonia Ave., steps away from the corridor’s other globally inspired offerings.

Though the application provides limited insight, a Facebook post announcing the restaurant shares the details.

According to the post, Tipsy Taco plans to offer premium tequila, handcrafted cocktails and tacos Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. On weekends, the restaurant will host “Soul Food Days,” featuring meals prepared by Gloria’s Kitchen.

Gloria’s specializes in smothered chicken, catfish fillets, ribs and fried pork chops, while offering soul food classics such as collard greens, cornbread and mac and cheese.

“Get ready for a one-of-a-kind dining experience,” reads the announcement, noting that Gloria’s will bring “homemade flavor, comfort and tradition to every bite” and the tacos will be “signature” and “flavorful.”

The restaurant’s application lists Sylvia Evans as the owner.

According to the application, delivery will be available and one amusement machine is planned for the space. The restaurant opted for a “service bar only” designation, meaning alcoholic drinks will be served directly to tables and customers cannot sit at a bar.

The application is pending before the Milwaukee Common Council.

350 S. Water St. Renderig by Korb Architecture.

A complicated development site in Milwaukee’s Harbor District has become the subject of a lawsuit, with the developer of an $11 million office building alleging that We Energies is illegally withholding electrical service to obtain permanent rights to its property.

Pontis LLC, an affiliate of the Moede family, filed suit against Wisconsin Electric Power Co., We Energies’ electric subsidiary, on Sept. 25 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

The lawsuit alleges that We Energies is attempting to force the developer to grant a permanent easement for an underground electrical duct system that crosses the property at 350 S. Water St., despite the utility not having a legal right to maintain the infrastructure on the site.

The underground system, which extends beneath the Milwaukee River, serves customers in the Historic Third Ward, not the proposed office building.

We Energies denies the allegations.

“We are reviewing the filing. We strongly deny the claims and will respond through the court process as appropriate,” said a spokesperson.

The dispute centers on an easement dating back to 1911. According to the lawsuit, We Energies maintains that the easement gives it the right to operate the electrical infrastructure beneath the development site.

But Pontis alleges that the easement applies to a city-owned alley approximately 100 feet from the property. The developer argues the utility has failed to produce documentation establishing its legal right to maintain the equipment at 350 S. Water St.

When asked for comment, developer Peter J. Moede, via email, responded with “1 Samuel 17.” The Bible verse is about David fighting Goliath.

Pontis, in the lawsuit, said it has attempted to resolve the dispute for approximately 18 months, including offering to accommodate replacement infrastructure if the utility paid for the work, assumed maintenance responsibilities and compensated Pontis for the permanent property rights.

The lawsuit alleges that We Energies instead sought to shift some relocation costs and infrastructure ownership to the developer.

Pontis submitted formal applications for electrical service in November 2025. But the utility’s service team stopped discussing the applications in May 2026 while awaiting an agreement on the disputed easement, according to the complaint.

The developer alleges that the utility is improperly tying service for the new building to a separate underground system that does not serve it.

Pontis also says it has spent substantial time and money redesigning the proposed building’s foundation to accommodate both the existing infrastructure and a potential replacement location. The changes include additional structural piles, pile caps and grade beams.

The developer is asking the court to declare that We Energies has no legal right to maintain the underground system on the property, order its removal and award damages in an amount to be determined at trial.

The lawsuit adds another complication to a project already facing an unusually constrained development site.

The Moede family is planning a boutique office building that would house its own operations on one floor, with additional space leased to other tenants. The project, designed by Korb Architecture, would include indoor parking, office space and rooftop amenities overlooking the Milwaukee River.

The family, which operates Center Pointe Yacht Services and previously redeveloped The Tannery and River Place Lofts, has extensive real estate holdings in the surrounding area.

The 0.33-acre property is bordered by a historic, windowless grain elevator to the north and a narrow, railroad-owned parcel to the south. The site measures just 41 feet wide along the river.

In addition to the disputed We Energies infrastructure, the property is encumbered by a 20-foot-deep easement held by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. An adjacent railroad trestle and the landing for the Third Ward Swing Bridge further complicate construction.

“This site is incredibly complicated and encumbered by lots of utilities and a railroad trestle,” said city riverwalk project manager Alyssa Remington during a March meeting of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee.

“There is a lot that we have been working around to make this work,” said project architect Ali Kopyt during an earlier city review.

The project also includes a publicly funded segment of Milwaukee’s riverwalk that initially would not be open to the public.

The city plans to use tax incremental financing to help fund the riverwalk and dockwall construction. As proposed in March, the public contribution was approximately $350,000.

The riverwalk segment would be only 29 feet wide because of the neighboring railroad property. There is insufficient room for an accessway from S. Water Street, and the new segment would not connect to any existing publicly accessible riverwalk.

Instead, access would initially be limited to building occupants, with public access becoming available when a neighboring property is redeveloped.

The City Plan Commission unanimously endorsed the riverwalk design in January, granting a temporary exception to the city’s longstanding requirement that new riverwalk segments be publicly accessible.

“[It] would be the first proposal in 33 years where public access will not be provided when the segment is constructed,” said Department of City Development planning manager Tanya Fonseca at the January hearing.

RACM subsequently endorsed a financing plan that would support the riverwalk and other infrastructure projects in the surrounding area.

The project also received a dimensional variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals in October 2025.

An investment group affiliated with the Moedes, Haven Funds LLC, acquired the property for $450,000 in 2019. It transferred the site to Pontis in May 2025.

Renderings

Current Site

350 S. Water St in 2019. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The lawsuit was first reported by Addison Lathers.

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

A historic Walker’s Point building that has evolved from a carriage factory to a machine shop to a collection of restaurants and other businesses is for sale.

The four-story building at 524 S. 2nd St. is being offered for $2.5 million, nearly 30 times what its longtime owner paid for the property.

Dieter Wegner, who acquired the building in 1996 for $82,500, has listed the property with Alex Anderson of The Collaboration, a real estate brokerage affiliated with Compass.

The 14,828-square-foot building is fully leased, with Vendetta Coffee Bar occupying the first floor, Glassnote Candle Bar on the second floor and two apartments on the upper floors.

According to the listing, the four rental units collectively generate $192,000 in annual gross rent. The listing markets the property as an opportunity for an investor seeking an established income-producing building in the heart of Walker’s Point.

The property occupies a 6,970-square-foot lot on the east side of S. 2nd Street

It isn’t the only Walker’s Point property Wegner is attempting to sell.

Wegner’s holdings also include the building at 726-734 S. 6th St., which most recently housed the bar Promises. That building is also on the market, currently with an asking price of $775,000, a reduction from its original listing price.

From Carriages to Coffee

The S. 2nd Street building has a long history reflecting the transformation of Walker’s Point from an industrial neighborhood into one of Milwaukee’s most prominent dining and entertainment districts.

Constructed in 1897 for George Grady and Brothers Carriage, the building spent much of its existence housing industrial businesses.

Early occupants included Transpak and Automatic Screw Machine Products Co. From the 1950s through the 1970s, Milwaukee Tool & Machine Co. operated in the building. Despite its name, the company was distinct from the better-known Milwaukee Tool power tool manufacturer.

The building’s transition toward commercial and hospitality uses began during Wegner’s ownership.

In 1999, Adambomb Gallerie began operating on the first floor. Wild Grove Roastery & Coffee House followed in 2006, with Fuzion Cafe & Lounge arriving in 2008.

The next restaurant, INdustri Cafe, opened in January 2011. Operated by Robert Klemm and Chris Miller, it offered an upscale dining experience in a casual setting, drawing inspiration for its name from the building’s industrial history.

INdustri closed in 2014, making way for Spanish tapas restaurant Movida, which opened that August.

Movida became a fixture of Walker’s Point’s growing dining scene before relocating to Hotel Madrid, 600 S. 6th St., in 2020. The original space subsequently operated as the Carriage House, a private event venue.

Vendetta Coffee Bar opened in 2022, bringing an Italian-style cafe with espresso drinks, pastries and cocktails to the space. The business has a second location in Wauwatosa.

Photos

Amtrak Hiawatha Service train. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

A proposal to restore passenger rail service between Milwaukee and Madison has secured a major federal grant, moving the long-planned connection substantially closer to reality.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Gov. Tony Evers announced Friday that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) awarded more than $218 million to the Hiawatha West project.

The grant, awarded through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program, is expected to cover approximately 80% of the project’s capital costs and fund final design and construction. The State of Wisconsin will need to provide $54.5 million to access the grant for the $273 million project and an additional operating subsidy to run the twice-a-day train line.

The project would extend two of Amtrak’s seven daily Hiawatha Service round trips from Milwaukee to Madison, with intermediate stops in Pewaukee and Watertown. The trains would operate through to Chicago, creating the first regularly scheduled passenger rail connection between Madison and Milwaukee in decades.

The funding represents a major milestone for a project that Amtrak officials have characterized as one of the most promising passenger rail expansions in the country.

“Expanding passenger rail means more safe, easy ways to get to and from work or school, more tourists coming into our communities and buying things in our shops, and more good-paying jobs across our state,” said Baldwin in a statement.

The senator, who advocated to the Trump administration for the grant, said the project would also improve freight rail operations for Wisconsin manufacturers and agricultural businesses.

“We’ve been working hard to build the safe, reliable 21st-century infrastructure needed to support Wisconsin’s growing 21st-century economy and workforce, and we’re excited to move this critical project forward to do just that,” said Evers.

The federal grant will support rehabilitation of tracks, bridges and railroad crossings, capacity improvements and construction of new passenger stations. Much of the western part of the corridor is owned by the State of Wisconsin.

In June, Amtrak officials said they were preparing to finalize a service-development plan that would establish a more definitive cost estimate and outline the necessary infrastructure investments.

At the time, the project was estimated to cost between $215 million and $275 million.

Amtrak anticipates that the extension would generate approximately 260,000 additional passenger trips annually, building on the 681,600 trips taken on the existing Hiawatha Service during the 2025 fiscal year.

An initial analysis also estimated the extension would generate $46.3 million in annual economic impact and support 200 permanent jobs.

What’s Being Built?

The largest infrastructure investments would occur west of Watertown, where the state owns approximately 35 miles of railroad tracks leased to Wisconsin and Southern Railroad.

The tracks currently allow freight trains to operate at speeds of up to 30 mph. The passenger rail project would increase the operating speed to 59 mph, with certain infrastructure improvements designed to accommodate an eventual increase to 79 mph.

Eleven of the corridor’s 26 bridges would need to be replaced, while 52 of 61 road crossings would require safety improvements.

Thirty-five crossings would receive gates, lights and bells, while equipment at another 17 crossings would be upgraded.

East of Watertown, the line uses tracks owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City that already accommodate passenger trains traveling up to 79 mph. That section would require more limited improvements to accommodate additional passenger trains alongside existing freight traffic.

The project also includes three new passenger stations.

In Pewaukee, the proposed station would be at Duplainville Road and Marjean Lane. Watertown’s station would be on the east side of S. 3rd Street near Hyland Street, while Madison would initially use a city-owned site on Wilson Street.

The stations are intended to serve as temporary facilities until permanent stations can be developed. An overnight train storage facility would also be established in Madison.

The initial schedule is designed to allow Madison-area travelers to reach Chicago by 9:30 a.m. and return home the same evening. The trip between Madison and Chicago is projected to take approximately three-and-a-half hours.

What’s Next?

The grant resolves a major funding question, but the project still faces additional steps before passengers can board trains.

Amtrak and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation must complete environmental review, finalize engineering and design, and coordinate construction with the railroads that own or operate the tracks.

The project is also expected to require state matching funds and an ongoing operating subsidy.

Preliminary estimates identified a $2.5 million annual operating subsidy for the Madison extension, in addition to the approximately $5.6 million Wisconsin spends annually to support the existing Hiawatha Service.

In June, Amtrak officials identified 2029 as a best-case scenario for launching the service. The project’s actual opening date will depend on completing the remaining approvals, design and construction work.

The Hiawatha West project would build on the success of the Borealis, the Amtrak service connecting Chicago, Milwaukee and the Twin Cities that launched in May 2024.

It would also represent a first step toward a larger passenger rail network that could eventually include service to Eau Claire and other western Wisconsin communities.

Hiawatha West service map. Image from Amtrak presentation.

Becky Frankiewicz and Jonas Prising. Photo provided.

Milwaukee-based ManpowerGroup is preparing for a leadership transition, with a new CEO set to take over at the start of 2027.

The global staffing and workforce solutions company announced Thursday that its board of directors elected Becky Frankiewicz as its next chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1.

Frankiewicz, currently the company’s president and chief strategy officer, will succeed Jonas Prising, who has led ManpowerGroup since 2014. Prising will become executive chair of the company’s board of directors.

Frankiewicz will be just the fifth CEO in ManpowerGroup’s nearly 80-year history. She will also join the company’s board of directors.

The transition follows a long-term succession planning process, according to the company.

Frankiewicz joined ManpowerGroup in July 2017 as president of its North American operations. She subsequently served as chief commercial officer and was promoted to president and chief strategy officer in June 2025.

In her current position, she has led the company’s commercial strategy, including efforts to integrate artificial intelligence and emerging AI technologies across its operations. The company operates through three primary brands: Manpower, Experis and Talent Solutions.

Before joining ManpowerGroup, Frankiewicz led Quaker Foods North America, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Earlier in her career, she worked for Procter & Gamble, Deloitte and Andersen Consulting. She has also served on the board of directors of Energizer Holdings since January 2020.

“As we enter our next chapter, we have a significant opportunity to accelerate our strategy, expand our AI capabilities, and deliver greater value through our ‘Human First, Digital Always’ approach,” said Frankiewicz in a statement announcing her appointment.

Prising, who has spent 12 years as CEO, endorsed his successor.

“Becky and I have worked closely together on ManpowerGroup’s ongoing transformation, and I’ve seen firsthand the exceptional leadership, strategic perspective and deep commitment she brings to the Company,” said Prising. “I have every confidence in Becky as she leads ManpowerGroup into its next chapter.”

Julie Howard, lead director of ManpowerGroup’s board, credited Prising with expanding the company’s workforce management capabilities and making its operations more digital and diversified.

“Following an extensive succession planning process, we are very pleased to endorse Becky as the next CEO for ManpowerGroup,” said Howard.

The leadership announcement came alongside the company’s third-quarter earnings report, which showed improving revenue and profitability.

ManpowerGroup reported $4.84 billion in third-quarter revenue, an increase of 4.4% from the same period in 2025. Net earnings nearly doubled to $34.1 million, compared with $18 million a year earlier. Earnings per diluted share increased from 38 cents to 71 cents.

The company attributed the revenue growth to stronger performance by its Manpower staffing brand, particularly in the United States, while its Experis technology staffing business returned to growth in the U.S. market. Northern Europe also experienced improved results.

For the first nine months of 2026, ManpowerGroup reported $14.2 billion in revenue, up 7% from the prior year. Net earnings totaled $90.1 million, compared with a $43.5 million loss during the same period in 2025.

“Our performance to date reinforces our confidence that 2026 is an inflection point for the business,” said Prising in the earnings release. The company said its ongoing restructuring and transformation efforts remain on track to generate $200 million in cost savings by 2028.

ManpowerGroup operates in more than 70 countries and territories, providing staffing, recruitment and workforce management services to employers while connecting workers with job opportunities.

Flock camera in Carver Park. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Now that Flock Safety cameras in Milwaukee County Parks have been covered up, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) is planning to acquire traditional surveillance cameras to replace them.

County Executive David Crowley signed legislation Monday that codifies a ban on Flock Safety cameras on county parkland, citing the need to balance privacy and public safety. The MCSO opposed removing the Flock cameras and is looking to replace them with county-controlled surveillance cameras.

Flock’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras can passively scan and store license plate numbers in a database searchable by law enforcement personnel. The cameras and the database belong to Flock and law enforcement agencies pay for access. The company faces mounting public backlash over incidents of improper use and transparency regarding how the company uses and shares data. Political and law enforcement leaders have ended agreements with Flock, citing an inability to trust the company.

Three Milwaukee Police Department officers have been investigated for using the system to stalk people, two have been charged and one has already pleaded guilty. Similar episodes have occurred across the country.

MCSO opted out of sharing data collected on its licensed cameras with law enforcement outside of Milwaukee.

No sheriff’s office personnel have been investigated or charged with improperly using the system, according to the MCSO. In 2022, the MCSO deployed Flock cameras to 11 county parks where data showed higher rates of violent crime. The camera technology is also credited with helping the agency solve violent crimes in and around county parks, the MCSO says.

On Tuesday, District Attorney Kent Lovern told the budget committee, “My belief is that the community is asking all the right questions right now about the use of license plate reader technology… But the use of that technology, frankly, has been essential in the solving of the cases we’re talking about, the non-fatal shootings and the homicides.”

The sheriff’s office plans to purchase cameras from Johnson Controls (JCI), which are already in use on county buildings like the historic courthouse at 901 N. 9th St. The move aligns with legislative language adopted by the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors authorizing the MCSO to replace the cameras.

During a budget meeting before the board’s Committee on Finance Monday, the MCSO said it is requesting about $150,000 to install up to 15 JCI surveillance cameras in county parks. The budget figure is equivalent to the cost of the Flock contract. In his proposed budget, Crowley did not include funding to renew the Flock contract, which expires in December.

The smaller number of JCI cameras won’t cover the same area as the 35 Flock cameras recently covered: 26 ALPR cameras and nine Condor cameras, which do not have plate-reading technology but can be controlled by MCSO personnel to track people or objects.

“It’s not going to make it completely whole,” Chief Deputy Brian Barkow said. “But it will allow us to put it in… the more vulnerable areas where we continue to see acts of violence.”

Supervisors on the Finance Committee expressed support for funding JCI cameras. Sup. Steve Taylor, the committee chair, suggested the board should consider adding funding for more cameras. Halving the number of cameras in parks “doesn’t sit well with me,” he said. 

Sheriff Denita Ball said the agency was trying to be mindful of the county’s budget challenges — Crowley’s administration had to close an estimated budget gap of about $50 million — when it requested only enough funds to replace the Flock contract.

Sup. Shawn Rolland said he was looking into whether the county could issue bonds to cover the cost of new cameras, sparing the county’s property tax levy.

“Like if we’re gonna not have Flock cameras, I think we should resolve to have cameras because that’s what we said; at least many of us said we were gonna do so,” he said.

Tom Tiffany and Donald Trump.

How loyal has Tom Tiffany been to President Donald Trump? In 2025, according to Congressional Quarterly, Tiffany supported Trump’s position on 99% of the votes taken.

Some Democrats have derided Tiffany as a “puppet” of Trump, but that underplays the strength and philosophical consistency of Tiffany. According to a rating system widely used by political scientists, Tiffany is the most conservative of the state’s eight U.S. House members, and one of the most right-wing members of the House from Wisconsin in modern history.

It’s because they agree on so many issues that Tiffany has been so loyal to Trump. And on those rare occasions where they have disagreed, it’s because Tiffany’s view was even more conservative. His opposition to Trump’s Gold Card program and providing more visas for Chinese students showed Tiffany was even more opposed to immigration than Trump. And while Trump has opposed abortion, with some exceptions, Tiffany backed a national abortion ban that American Journal News said could “make getting an abortion legally tantamount to committing murder,” eliminate access to safe abortion nationwide, and threaten fertility treatments like IVF. The ban provided no exceptions for rape, incest or life of the mother.

Meanwhile the number of issues where they have agreed is remarkable. Tiffany voted to overturn President Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania and Arizona in the 2020 election. Tiffany was the only Wisconsin Republican to sign the Texas brief that sued to overturn the election results in four swing states, including Wisconsin.

In the years since then, he continued to push the issue, supporting FBI investigations in Wisconsin that turned up nothing. He also supported the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund Trump sought to create that could have rewarded the Jan. 6 rioters who tried to overthrow the U.S. government. “I would want to take a look at, what was the harm that was done to those victims?” Tiffany said. “If it’s significant enough, perhaps they should receive compensation.”

By far the most important Trump policy Tiffany supported was the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” which cuts taxes by $4.5 trillion over the next decade, primarily with $2.3 trillion going to the richest 10% of Americans by income. To pay for this, the legislation cut more than $1 trillion from health programs – the largest rollback of federal support for health care in American history. These cuts will result in an estimated 10 million people losing their health insurance coverage.

The legislation also slashes at least $120 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, reducing food assistance for low-income families. The entire package is a dramatic illustration of the priorities of both Trump and Tiffany.

Tiffany voted seven times to protect Trump’s tariffs even as Wisconsin companies and consumers paid approximately $3.5 billion in tariffs between March and December 2025. He continued to support them even while admitting their negative impact. “There have been some people that have been hurt by the tariffs, there’s no doubt about it,” he said.

He voted five times against ending the Iran War, including twice after declaring it was time to wrap up the war, even as it became clear the result was skyrocketing gas prices. Tiffany also backed Trump in voting against a bill to provide aid to Ukraine and sanction Russia.

In September, he supported Trump’s $1 trillion-plus pitch to send $5,000 checks to every American adult if Republicans retain control of the U.S. House and Senate in the midterm elections. No president in history had ever tried to pay off voters for supporting his candidacy.

Tiffany, since his days as a state legislator, has had a nasty edge to his politics, as a story by Wisconsin Public Radio and a Wisconsin Examiner column by Bill Lueders revealed. Trump’s style, his frequent actions to intimidate and terrorize opponents, may appeal to Tiffany. Certainly the congressman has never offered any criticism of this.

“He has always been at my side,” Trump declared in his statement endorsing Tiffany’s campaign for governor. He “has my Complete and Total Endorsement.” Tiffany responded with equal warmth and repeated praise, declaring “I’m especially honored to earn President Trump’s endorsement.”

Indeed, Tiffany hopes to ape Trump’s style as governor, declaring at a forum in July that “we’re going to set out an aggressive agenda from day one, and we are going to put out a whole series of executive orders, not unlike what President Trump has done.”

Tiffany has been so loyal to Trump that a recent Politico story on Republicans breaking away from Trump (“he is kryptonite”) led with the Wisconsin congressman, who has suddenly begun to differ with the president.

“Tiffany responded to Trump renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America” by declaring “the Great Lakes are the Great Lakes,” brushing aside the edict,” the story noted. He “criticized the easing of tariffs on beef imports, and deflected questions on the president’s proposed mail-in ballot reforms that the Supreme Court blocked earlier this week. And after years of questioning whether the 2020 election was rigged against the president, including supporting an FBI probe into Wisconsin’s votes in May, he’s now taken to sidestepping the issue.”

Why the change? Trump’s approval rating has sunk so low nationally and in Wisconsin that it’s become political suicide for Republicans, even in some red states, to run a pro-Trump campaign. The latest Marquette poll shows 60% of registered voters in Wisconsin disapprove of the President, including 81% of independents.

So Tiffany has no choice but to distance himself from Trump. But the real Tom Tiffany, the guy who served as legislator for nine years and as congressman for six years, is a politician who loves Trump’s policies and political style. That’s the kind of governor he will be if he’s elected.

Tom Tiffany throws a signed football into the crowd gathered in Stein’s Aircraft Services in Waukesha for the get-out-the-vote rally hosted by Hunter Nation, a national nonprofit for hunters, anglers and outdoor enthusiasts. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre spent the majority of his time on stage in Waukesha on Tuesday night talking about his time playing football. But when the conversation turned to the election, Favre was blunt about what he would say to hunters, Christians, veterans, farmers, factory workers, truck drivers and school teachers who aren’t planning to vote.

“You can’t sit it out. You can’t sit it out,” Favre, a Mississippi native, said. “You can’t bitch if you don’t vote.”

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running against Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, came on the stage with Favre, who signed a couple of footballs and handed them to Tiffany. The congressman threw them into the crowd gathered in Stein’s Aircraft Services in Waukesha for the get-out-the-vote rally hosted by Hunter Nation, a national nonprofit for hunters, anglers and outdoor enthusiasts.

The event also featured a presentation on delisting the grey wolf, an auction of a Ted Nugent guitar signed by Favre — claimed by the only person who bid at the starting bid of $5,000 — and a performance by Mark Mackay, a country musician. After talking about the importance of being on the “good side of this battle,” he introduced a song called “I Am Love,” saying that’s what musicians should be talking about instead of politics.

Tiffany told the Examiner there was no “greater icon in Wisconsin” than Favre and he was glad he could be there to speak on voting and hunting issues. He expressed no concern when asked how his campaign’s accountability and anti-fraud agenda matches up with Favre’s entanglement in a fraud scandal in Mississippi. Favre has repaid the state of Mississippi over $1 million for speeches he was paid for but didn’t deliver, and he is still a defendant in a civil case filed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services to recoup millions of dollars in misspent federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families welfare funds, some of which he allegedly used to build a volleyball stadium.

“He’s appeared before Congress and talked about how requirements need to be tightened up for these various programs,” Tiffany said. “I’m going to do that as governor. I mean accountability is a big part of our agenda to make sure that all agencies are audited and make sure that no one is stealing from the taxpayers.”

Tiffany hit on a number of his campaign priorities, including rooting out fraud and auditing state government, during the rally. One of the biggest cheers he received was for saying he’d sign a bill to open a hunting season on sandhill cranes.

“Yeah, baby!” one man yelled out in response.

A number of people in the crowd wore Favre jerseys. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Waukesha County, one of the historically Republican-leaning “WOW counties,” has trended a little less red in recent elections, including in the 2026 April state Supreme Court race.

Rep. Adam Neylon (R-Pewaukee), who is running for reelection to the Assembly and, simultaneously, for Waukesha County executive, said Tiffany has been putting in the work in the county to ensure people turn out and vote for Republicans there.

“He is everywhere. You would think he’s running for a local office in Waukesha County,” Neylon said. “He’s run a very aggressive campaign where he has really committed to the ground game. He’s also really strong at retail politics. He shows up, he listens and he speaks the language of Wisconsin.”

Attorney general candidate Eric Toney told the Examiner that Republicans “can’t take any area for granted.”

“Waukesha County, certainly has been crucial over the years with Republican voters or conservative voters in this area, and we just need people all across the state coming out to vote, and not just talking to folks that might live in their own city or county.”

Rep. Jim Piwowarczyk (R-Hubertus), who is seeking reelection to his Assembly district that represents parts of Washington County, said he thinks the election will come down to turnout. Recent Marquette Law School polling has shown Crowley up slightly ahead of Tiffany.

“We, as Republicans, if Tom Tiffany’s down three points, we actually consider that to be a good thing for our side. We think our candidates usually pull a little bit or actually end up doing a little bit better. I think it’s neck and neck right now. It’s very close. I think it’s going to come out to turnout,” Piwowarczyk said. “I’ve seen the polling myself and it’s very close.”

Piwowarczyk said the rally and other events are helping people get excited. He said he has been knocking doors in his district and has also been up to the other areas of the state, including the Green Bay area, a purple region that contains multiple competitive state legislative races.

“We have a lot of people excited to get out there. I think that they have been very frustrated by Tony Evers and the ever-increasing taxes, and they’re excited for Tiffany,” Piwowarczyk said.

U.S. Reps. Bryan Steil and Scott Fitzgerald also attended the event and warned that Democrats want to pursue a radical agenda most voters don’t agree with.

“When we see how radicalized the Democratic party has become, where they are going after all aspects of our culture from putting boys in girls sports to higher taxes… Their attacks on core aspects of our culture are real and substantive, and they will want to come after our hunting rights.”

Steil told the crowd not to underestimate turnout in Milwaukee and Madison, the state’s largest cities. His own seat, long considered safe, is a target for Democrats this year and Democrat Mitchell Berman is giving him a competitive race.

“Run on the assumption that the Democrats are going to vote in full strength here in the liberal core cities in Wisconsin,” Steil said. “Every single person in the state of Wisconsin, who has a world view like those of us in this room, who stays home in three weeks from today, is effectively voting for a Democrat, and we need to get that message out to our friends, our family, our neighbors, our co-workers, folks at church.”

A number of people in the crowd wore Favre jerseys, and his presence was part of what brought out Michael Harrell, a 74-year-old New Berlin resident. He told the Examiner with a smile that he attended the rally because he “wanted to see Brett Favre.”

“I don’t know Tom Tiffany’s voting record or any of that stuff, but I vote Republican regardless,” Harrell said. He said he’s voted for the party since former President Richard Nixon was elected.

“We’ve got God in our platform. We got common sense, and even though there are the RINOs, we got a lot of good people out there,” Harrell said. “We love America like the president does.”

President Donald Trump isn’t running this year, but in recent weeks, he has been on the campaign trail telling people to pretend he is on the ballot.

Neylon said Trump’s absence from the ballot has been a concern for some, but he’s seen enthusiasm growing for the midterms.

“Republicans are going to turn out,” Neylon said. “Republicans are over performing in Wisconsin compared nationally, and I think part of that is because we have really good candidates, and I think Wisconsin is going to be another example of why candidates really matter.”

Tiffany shakes hands with attendees at the October rally. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Trump has been a motivator for Republicans to get out to vote in recent elections but he has also fallen in popularity in Wisconsin. Tiffany has recently distanced himself from the second-term president, despite reliably voting for the president’s agenda in Congress and receiving Trump’s strong endorsement. This week he would not say in an interview with WMTJ whether he approves of the job Trump is doing.

“The president is doing what he believes is best for the United States of America,” Tiffany said.

Neylon said Tiffany has been able to insulate himself from Trump’s unpopularity by keeping on message and talking about lowering taxes, reducing regulations and protecting Act 10, the law passed under Gov. Scott Walker that restricted collective bargaining for public employees.

“He’s been really consistent and focused on a message that’s different than some of the national messages you hear from federal candidates, so I don’t think people are necessarily tying them together,” Neylon said. “When you look at how each person is spending their time, there’s differences, and people see that.”

The Wisconsin state Senate and Assembly are also up for grabs this year. The Republican Assembly members said the quality of the candidates running in competitive seats will be the thing that helps Republicans hold their majorities.

Neylon said people shouldn’t judge Wisconsin races by “national headwinds.”

“I’m more concerned that we lose majorities at the federal level than I am at the state level,” Neylon said.

Harrell said he thought Trump could help Tiffany get over the finish line. He said he thinks Trump has been doing a good job and that he isn’t too worried about high gas prices, which recently reached record highs.

“He’s gonna pull something here, I think, on the gas and this stuff. We’re gonna maybe see that before the election,” Harrell said. He added that he thinks Democratic candidate David Crowley has “flubbed up” Milwaukee and doesn’t want him to lead the state.

“There’s so many crazy people nowadays, you just, you don’t know. You don’t know what’s gonna happen,” Harrell said. “I mean you hope God intervenes and has already got it planned out, but all we can do is hope — hope, and pray.”

Republican Tom Tiffany seeks to boost turnout in Waukesha with an assist from Brett Favre was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.

Planned site for Lady Jean’s Bar & Grill, 1374 W. Wright St. Photo from Google Maps.

At the corner of W. Wright Street and N. 14th Street in the Lindsay Heights neighborhood, a building built nearly 120 years ago may soon become home to a new bar and restaurant.

April Juett has submitted a liquor license application to open Lady Jean’s Bar & Grill in the building, addressed as 1374 W. Wright St.

In addition to serving alcoholic drinks and food, the application signals Juett plans for bands, pool tables, DJs, karaoke, poetry readings, amusement machines and hookah service to provide entertainment in the space. For food items, she listed pizza and “polishes,” an apparent reference to Polish sausages.

Juett listed “adding a kitchen to the bar” as planned construction for the space.

According to city assessment records, Juett purchased the property for $60,000 in 2025 from Kew Properties LLC, which lists Eze Nwatuobi as its registered agent. The property is assessed at $101,600 and has two residential units.

Juett expects 40% of sales will come from alcohol, 50% from food service, 5% from entertainment and 5% from cigarettes, vapes and/or tobacco products.

A proposed opening date was not included on the application, but it lists the expected hours of operation as Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. and Friday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Juett did not respond to a request for comment.

Nearby businesses include Tastee Twist and WC’s Rhythm and Blues. The building is located across the street from Ezekiel Gillespie Park.

The application is pending before the Milwaukee Common Council.

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

The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) is reporting a significant increase in fare compliance after revealing last year that as many as one in three riders were not paying a fare.

Despite a large drop in total ridership, the number of paid passengers per hour has risen in 2026, MCTS President and CEO Steve Fuentes told the Milwaukee County Board’s Committee on Finance Monday.

The average number of paid passengers per hour is up 3%. The system was reporting a 20% decline in overall ridership in July. Fare evasion is down an estimated 25%, Fuentes said.

Fuentes said the improvement is driven by the fare compliance strategies the system implemented over the past year. In 2025, amidst a surprise budget crisis, MCTS revealed that an estimated one in three passengers were not paying a fare. It was estimated fare evasion cost the system as much as $9 million in recent years.

The county board pushed MCTS to address the problem. Sup. Shawn Rolland authored an amendment to the 2026 budget funding an expansion the system’s Public Safety Officer program.

The system started with public information campaign encouraging fare payment, posting signs and displaying messages on the destination sign along the front of buses. It also used passenger fare collection data to target deployment of the unarmed public safety officers to routes with high fare evasion. Then, in February, it repealed a fare policy that bus operators suspected contributed to the growing evasion problem.

In 2022, MCTS made it a policy not to ask passengers for fares. Fare disputes were the primary cause of conflict between bus operators and passengers. MCTS wanted to cut down on these incidents.

In the background of the expensive struggle to collect fares from every passenger is the system’s growing annual budget gaps. In 2026, MCTS made significant reductions to service to absorb a $9.3 million budget cut.

MCTS officials were planning to implement a 25% service reduction in 2027. The goal was stabilizing the system budget for three years, giving officials time to finish a redesign of the entire bus network and lobby the state for more mass transit operating aid.

State transit aid has been largely frozen for more than a decade. If it had kept pace with inflation since 2011, MCTS would have $34 million more in 2027. More than enough to close the projected $15.7 million budget gap.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley‘s recommended budget includes a $12.1 million withdrawal from the county’s debt service reserve, a fund set aside to pay back the county’s debt obligations, to maintain transit service through the end of 2027.

“The not-so-good news is that 2028 is about 14 months away, and in 2028, the comptroller predicts about an $18 to $20 million deficit for MCTS,” Fuentes said.

Milwaukee County Zoo. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

I don’t know about you, but these postseason Milwaukee Brewers games are really making us feel proud to be Milwaukeeans. And while we hope they keep up their winning pace, there are also plenty of events around the city this weekend that will make you feel proud to be a Milwaukeean.

Boo at the Zoo will allow families to trick-or-treat at the homes of their favorite animals, and Gallery Night MKE will invite guests to discover and experience art all throughout the city. Watch as Native American singers, dancers and drummers compete at the Hunting Moon Powwow, and enjoy polka and plenty of beer at MobCraft Beer’s Mobtoberfest.

October 15-25: “The Addams Family”

Catch everyone’s favorite spooky family on stage for Bombshell Theatre’s production of “The Addams Family.” The musical tells the story of how Wednesday Addams, daughter of Gomez and Morticia, has fallen in love with a normal boy at school. When she admits this to her father, he attempts to keep it a secret from his wife. Tensions rise when the family decides to host a dinner for the new boyfriend and his parents. For showtimes and to purchase tickets, visit the Bombshell Theatre website.

October 16-17, 23-24: Boo at the Zoo

The Milwaukee County Zoo is giving families a chance to trick-or-treat at the homes of monkeys, tortoises, bears and more as part of Boo at the Zoo. New to this year, Boo at the Zoo is offering a daytime experience on Saturdays. Show up in costume and traverse the zoo’s trick-or-treat trail and enjoy live music, pumpkin animal enrichment, light shows and more. Boo at the Zoo will run from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Milwaukee County Zoo’s website.

October 16-17: Gallery Night MKE

Milwaukee’s original gallery hop night returns for a fall edition, giving guests the chance to discover new galleries and purchase art from local creatives. Participating businesses throughout the Historic Third Ward, East Town, Walker’s Point and Downtown areas will host free-to-attend gallery shows and art sales. For an interactive list of participating businesses, visit the Gallery Night MKE website.

October 16-18: Hunting Moon Pow Wow 

The Baird Center will be filled with singing, drumming and dancing as part of Hunting Moon Pow Wow, a three-day celebration of Native American culture. Watch as the best Native American singers, dancers and drummers from all over the country compete for cash prizes, and immerse yourself in the magic of the powwow experience. Guests can also shop a variety of vendors. Hunting Moon Pow Wow is free to attend.

October 17: Mobtoberfest

MobCraft Beer’s spin on Oktoberfest, dubbed Mobtoberfest, will bring lederhosen, live polka music and plenty of beer to the brewpub. The festival will feature fun competitions like beer chugging, stein holding and sausage sculpting, and guests can enjoy bratwursts and soft pretzels as well as MobCraft’s full food menu. Mobtoberfest is free to attend and will run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

October 18-19: Milwaukee Paracon

Milwaukee is no stranger to ghost stories, so it makes sense that Milwaukee Paracon would make a return. Head over to Kochanski’s to learn about Wisconsin’s wildest and creepiest ghost stories, UFO sightings, cryptids and more. Researchers, artists and authors will be on site talking about their work, and guests can shop a variety of paranormal-themed vendors. On Sunday, be sure to swing by the Witches Faire, which will feature workshops, tarot readings, vendors and more. Milwaukee Paracon is free to attend and will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, visit the Milwaukee Paracon website.

Democrat Fred Clark, left, and Republican Michael Alfonso, the two candidates for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District in 2026. Source: Clark and Alfonso campaigns

The candidates for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District both say this election represents a choice.

Continue MAGA policies under the young, Trump administration-linked Republican candidate, Michael Alfonso? Or chart a new path under Democrat Fred Clark, who wants cooperation and accountability in Washington?

The two candidates in the mostly rural, heavily Republican district are practically polar opposites.

Clark is a veteran state legislator and business owner. If the 67-year-old wins, he’d be its first Democratic representative in 15 years.

If Alfonso wins, the 26-year-old America First politician would be the youngest member of Congress.

Seventh district congressional candidate Michael Alfonso answers questions from reporters Saturday, May 16, 2026, during the Republican Party of Wisconsin State Convention at Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in Baraboo, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

“Here’s the big difference between me and Fred,” Alfonso said. “I believe the citizens of the 7th make better decisions with their money than the government does. Fred doesn’t think so.”

Clark told WPR he wants the government to actually work for them, as opposed to big corporations. He also believes in working with everyone, not just people he agrees with.

“What I’m offering to people is to send an adult in the room to have a Congress that actually does its job and follows the Constitution,” Clark said.

Democratic candidate Fred Clark talks with locals in Rhinelander, as he campaigns for the 7th Congressional District seat. Avery Martinez/WPR

The sprawling 7th District covers much of northern Wisconsin, stretching over 26 counties and approximately 18,000 square miles of central Wisconsin, the Northwoods and northwestern Wisconsin.

Once a Democratic stronghold, the 7th District seat was won in 2010 by Alfonso’s father-in-law, Sean Duffy, in a Republican wave election. Redistricting the following year made the district more Republican — and the Trump-era shift of rural voters to the GOP has turned it into a solidly Republican seat. Duffy, who resigned from Congress in 2020, currently serves as President Donald Trump’s transportation secretary.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, succeeded Duffy. This year, he declined to seek reelection as he runs for governor.

The average age of a member of Congress is 58, and Alfonso’s youth was a target in the GOP primary for the seat. But, Alfonso said he doesn’t see his age as a drawback.“I think it’s my greatest advantage,” he said, because it gives him a fresh perspective on politics. If he wins, he said it gives different generations a seat at the table.

Alfonso said he shares the values of “everyone” in the 7th: hard work, faith and family.

And he criticized his opponent’s political record.

“Fred has a whole lot of experience,” Alfonso said. “He’s never seen a tax hike that he doesn’t like.”

Clark, however, said he just wants a working government.

He said he didn’t think voters cared much about a candidate’s age compared to their experience.

“I think voters deserve to send somebody to Congress who understands life in northern Wisconsin,” Clark said. “And has enough experience to just be able to make effective decisions.”

Alfonso highlights need to attract workers to Northwoods

As drills, welding torches and steam bounced around the plant floor of Sulzer Manufacturing, Alfonso was joking with shop leaders about the difficulty of pouring cement.

The plant — in rural Marathon County — was just one of the trade- and manufacturing-focused stops the young candidate made in visits across the district.

 Accompanied by a single aide, Alfonso passed a red folding chair that said, in large type on the back, “MAGA.”

“We have a real problem here in northern Wisconsin,” Alfonso told WPR during the visit. “We don’t have enough young people to replace these absolutely vital roles.”

Michael Alfonso, a candidate for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, attends a visit from President Donald Trump at Custer Farms in Chippewa Falls, Wis. on June 5, 2026. Angela Major/WPR

That’s why his main message as he traveled the state was for young people considering college to think about other opportunities in trades.

He chatted with workers at multiple stations, consistently talking about one of his two jobs before running for Congress — construction, where he poured cement.

The stop highlights another distinction between the two candidates. While Clark has focused on public rallies and meet-and-greets speaking to anyone who shows up, Alfonso has tended to hold private tours.

The president of the manufacturing plant, Gary Sulzer, told WPR he’s running two shifts, but he’d like to run a third. That’s why he was encouraged by Alfonso’s visit to his plant and hoped it meant more industry support if he’s elected.

“I think it’s good that he has an interest in the little guys,” he said. “He is young, but he seems enthusiastic, and I think if he listens to the people, he will do the right thing.”

But questions about the political interests funding Alfonso’s campaign have surrounded his campaign, as have allegations of nepotism made by his Republican primary opponents.

Some of the Alfonso campaign’s top donors include out-of-state companies with projects requiring regulatory approval from the Department of Transportation. Duffy, Alfonso’s father-in-law, leads that department.

When WPR asked Alfonso about these donations, Alfonso said those groups want to support a candidate sharing their values.“I’m out here talking about the trades,” Alfonso said. “Boeing needs more people who can manufacture. I mean the shop we just went to is manufacturing pieces for Boeing.”

Critics have charged that Boeing helped Alfonso’s campaign by funding a reality TV-style road trip documentary made by Duffy.

During their debate, Clark asked Alfonso about those donations.

“People want to support my campaign because everywhere I go, I have good ideas,” Alfonso said. “I’m telling the people of the 7th that we need to get the federal government out of the way of business.”

Alfonso said voters in the district want to meet the person running to represent them.

“They want to shake your hand, look you in the eyes, and really get to know you,” he said.

In a GOP stronghold, ‘independent’ Democrat proposes center path with accountability

For Shelley Spooner, that felt impossible.

“I think he’s only been in Rhinelander one time, walking the Fourth of July parade,” she said of Alfonso.

Spooner attended Clark’s rally held at the Cabaret Cove, a tiny tavern tucked off Rhinelander’s main highway. She said she could not find any public events listed on Alfonso’s campaign website.

“I’m sure (Alfonso’s) got the desire, but he doesn’t come with the experience and knowledge, or the protocols of talking across the aisle,” Spooner told WPR.

Clark said he is an “independent Democrat.” He’s willing to “buck” the party, and is focused on working across the aisle. Clark pointed to his past work in the Assembly, breaking with Democrats on concealed carry gun rights. He’s talked openly about strong border security and reforms within ICE.

He said he has not taken money from the national Democratic party and has support from mostly state organizations and elected officials.

As people funneled into the banquet room, Clark greeted visitors with a firm handshake as they came into the rally.

“This has been a Republican-leaning district, no question about it,” he told WPR. “But a lot of people are re-evaluating their politics.”

He said that was due to the decisions of the Trump administration and Congress being unable to stand up to it.

Clark said he’d held at least one public event in each of the 26 counties in the district, talking to anyone who stopped by.

“I think voters right now are exhausted by the extremism in our politics,” Clark said. “And people want to see Congress actually work together and get something done.”

Through those talks, Clark believes the Trump Administration’s recent decisions give him the chance to flip the seat blue.

People in the Northwoods have been hurt directly by the Trump administration’s decisions, Clark said. Filling up a diesel truck can cost $100 after diesel prices spiked from disruptions caused by the war in Iran, and businesses are struggling with tariffs, he said.

Despite his critiques of the Trump administration, Clark told WPR he is “not running against the president.” Instead, he said he wants to bring accountability to the administration.

“There’s so many voters who are seeing the chaos coming out of Washington and the corruption, and have had enough of it,” he said.

Alfonso: MAGA for ‘hard work, faith and family’

Alfonso champions a range of socially conservative policies. He expressed support for dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, reinforcing gender norms and bathroom-use rules and accused his Democratic opponent of being a “radical.”

Alfonso has said several times he’s an America First politician — a slogan used by Trump in his 2016 campaign — who looks at every piece of legislation through that lens.

His campaign website prominently displays Trump’s endorsement alongside a who’s-who of the Trump administration. (His father-in-law’s endorsement is notably absent from the site.)

“Michael Alfonso is on a mission to restore hope for Americans, preserve the country we love and deliver the MAGA agenda,” his website states.

Outside of his run for Congress, Alfonso’s other job has been as a producer on the conspiracy-minded conservative podcast, “The Dan Bongino Show,” whose host eventually became the FBI’s deputy director before stepping down in January.

Alfonso’s campaign includes many common MAGA stances — restoring state powers, anti-abortion advocacy, Second Amendment concerns, restrictive immigration policies, defending religious freedom and affordable homeownership.

Clark: Standing up, accountability and cooperation

Clark has stressed his desire to work with everyone in his district, across political lines. He said he is willing to break with party members on issues.

“I’m somebody who’s lived and worked in rural Wisconsin most of my career, so that means I’m going to take positions that aren’t always in the mainstream for my party,” he said.

Fred Clark served in the Wisconsin Assembly from 2009 through 2015. Photo: State of Wisconsin

Over the years, Clark has been a small business owner, a forester and politician. He served from 2009 through 2015 in the state Assembly. He served from 2004 through 2008 on the Wisconsin Council on Forestry and served on the state’s Natural Resources Board.

“The Northwoods is an incredible region with a lot of assets,” Clark said. “But we can only realize the benefits that are there for us with a government that’s working for us.”

He’s created a plan that he calls the “New Northwoods,” focused government support for farmers, loggers, manufacturers and tourism business to create a strong economy and affordable homes.

“The rules of the game need to be updated right now, and only Congress is in a position to do that,” Clark said.

A MAGA loyalist and self-described independent Democrat vie for 7th Congressional seat was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Planned site for Membars Only Social, 1101 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Photo by Lauren Hafeman on Oct. 10, 2026.

Private social clubs are fixtures in many cities, offering members places to network and mingle out of the public eye. Milwaukee has relatively few, but a new addition could soon join their ranks.

According to a liquor license application filed with the city, brothers Seth and Jake Dehne are planning to open Membars Only Social at 1101 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.

The application outlines a plan to convert 12,000-square-feet across two of the building’s floors into a “private social membership” bar, complete with private enclaves with cocktail tables, a mobile bar, couch seating areas and amusement machines.

The bar is planned to occupy the floors directly above 90s2K Cafe, which the brothers also co-own. Before opening 90s2k Cafe in the building, they operated Have A Nice Day Cafe, Suite and The Pub Club at the address.

“This building was home for both of us for a long time,” Seth told Urban Milwaukee in 2024.

The pair also co-own Red, White and Blue and The Lucky Clover across the street and a handful of suburban bars.

The application lists instrumental musicians and DJs as planned entertainment. The proposed hours of operation are Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. and Friday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. The brothers expect 60% of the bar’s revenue to come from alcohol sales and 40% to come from membership fees. The application did not outline membership qualifications.

The application did not include a proposed beverage or food menu. The renderings do not depict a kitchen.

Neither brother responded to a request for comment.

The application is pending before the Milwaukee Common Council. If approved, Dec. 15 is the proposed opening date.

2841 S. Howell Ave. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

A newly approved zoning change is intended to help Jobi and Abby Wall complete the redevelopment of a vacant, former tavern in Bay View.

“They envision reusing the structure and repurposing it as a mixed-use structure that it once was,” said Kristin Connelly, principal planner with the Department of City Development, to the City Plan Commission on Sept. 28. The zoning change would allow the first floor to be occupied by a “range of neighborhood-serving commercial uses such as a small cafe, retail shop or art studio.”

The two-story, 3,700-square-foot building, 2841 S. Howell Ave., sits across from Humboldt Park. A carriage unit is located behind the building.

“We moved to Bay View about eight years ago. Humboldt Park was a big draw for us,” said Jobi. “We love the neighborhood. And when we got the opportunity to buy this building a few years ago, we were really excited about the chance to add some value to the neighborhood and bring some local, small businesses into the mix. We’ve had a bit of a struggle getting the permitting figured out with the current zoning. It’s been more restrictive than we initially thought it would be.”

A previous owner proposed opening a cafe in the building in 2019.

The couple purchased the property in 2024 for $400,000. “We’ve had a number of conversations with potential tenants, but the building is very dilapidated currently. There is a significant amount of work that is needed before future tenants can see the vision for what they can do with it,” he said.

Abby said part of the reason the couple bought the building was that, when driving around the neighborhood with their children, they would see a number of vacant buildings and wanted to bring more life to the neighborhood.

Jobi said he has had conversations with neighbors, who support the couple’s plans to fill the vacant structure.

A rear duplex was renovated and leased out by the couple. A rear garage was previously demolished. The front building was constructed in 1910.

A grass lot on the south side of the building could be used as a patio by a future tenant. Abby said they would ideally like to see two tenants on the first floor.

Jobi is a general contractor and retired professional basketball player. Abby is a real estate agent.

The proposal was unanimously approved by the Common Council on Oct. 13. Mayor Cavalier Johnson has yet to sign the file, but the proposal was supported by his administration.

The building was constructed in 1910. In 1934, historic newspaper records show it was occupied by Walter’s, a bar and German restaurant.

Republican candidate for governor Rep. Tom Tiffany speaks Saturday, May 16, 2026, during the Republican Party of Wisconsin State Convention at Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in Baraboo, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany said, if elected governor, he would audit spending at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources before considering any fee or tax increases to support fish and wildlife management.

The Ashland Daily Press reported Tiffany made the remarks to an invite-only group of anglers and conservation advocates at an Ashland town hall on Oct. 1 hosted by the Friends of Wisconsin Fisheries.

A spokesperson for Tiffany’s campaign said he will audit every state agency, including the DNR.

Tiffany previously said he would create a “Taxpayer Accountability Plan” that would include hiring more state auditors, seeking to root out fraud and waste, similar to actions by the federal government.

As Tiffany seeks audits, the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau has already released an audit of the DNR’s fish and wildlife account. That audit ordered by state Republican lawmakers found the agency had spent money appropriately.

“Before asking Wisconsin families, hunters, and anglers to pay more, we must ensure existing funding is being spent effectively. The previous audit focused only on the Fish and Wildlife Account, and questions remain about how much funding directly benefits sportsmen and women,” the Tiffany campaign said.

State GOP lawmakers have highlighted that the audit’s findings show 49.8 percent of $92.9 million in state funding directly benefited hunters and anglers in fiscal year 2023-2024, which was down from 57.3 percent in a 2006 audit. The DNR has said 89.3 percent of the account’s funds benefited hunters, anglers and other users.

Tom Johnson with the Douglas County Fish and Game League, who was at the Oct. 1 meeting, said another audit would be redundant.“

“The department was already reviewed by an independent entity that was chosen by our Legislature, and they found only minor issues,” Johnson said.

The audit found about $303,100, or 0.3 percent of state funding, went to activities that didn’t directly benefit hunters and anglers.

The state’s fish and wildlife account has faced a roughly $16 million shortfall in recent years. This summer, the DNR closed the Brule and Osceola fish hatcheries in northern Wisconsin amid cuts to fish stocking due to a lack of access to the account’s funds. The deficit stems from rising costs, declining license sales and license fees that have remained largely flat since 2005.

In a statement, the campaign for Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the Democratic candidate for governor, said he knows hunters and anglers want their fisheries well-stocked and reopened.

“Wisconsin’s outdoor heritage depends on clean water, healthy habitat and good wildlife management. That’s why he will focus on giving it the tools to deliver for hunters, anglers and everyone who enjoys the outdoors,” a campaign spokesperson said.

Todd Berg, board member of Friends of Wisconsin Fisheries, said most voters have supported fee increases during spring hearings held by the Conservation Congress.

“We are not keeping up with costs,” Berg said.

Lawmakers have approved a $15 million transfer from the state’s forestry account in each year of the 2025-27 budget to address the ongoing shortfall. When the DNR forged ahead with cuts in April, the agency said it couldn’t access around $4 million for fish and wildlife management without approval from the Legislature’s finance committee. The committee voted to approve the agency’s request for funds a month later.

Despite that, the DNR has said it continues to face financial challenges with the account.

Federal data released this year shows that boating and fishing generates around $1 billion for Wisconsin’s economy.

Overall, the DNR is requesting more than $1.2 billion for the 2027-2029 budget. The agency’s request doesn’t include a funding solution for the ongoing shortfall in the fish and wildlife account. DNR Secretary Karen Hyun has said it will work with stakeholders and the Legislature.

If elected, Tiffany’s campaign said he will work toward “a sustainable, long-term solution that protects wildlife management and Wisconsin’s hunting and fishing traditions.”

Crowley’s campaign said he would work with groups “on a long-term plan to keep the fish and wildlife account on solid ground, instead of patching it with stopgap transfers budget after budget.”

Tom Tiffany says he will audit Wisconsin DNR before weighing any fee increases was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Ribbon cutting for new Air Cargo Center at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Construction on a massive $80 million air cargo facility at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport is wrapping up.

The 337,000 square-foot-facility was developed by Crow Holdings, a Dallas-based commercial real estate firm, and the airport. It was built in the MKE Regional Business Park on the site of the former U.S. Air Force Reserve 440th Airlift Wing base, which closed in 2008. Construction was led by ARCO/Murray.

Milwaukee Mitchell provided the land and Crow Holdings provided the financing. The 102-acre property was previously marketed to Foxconn executives as a secondary site in 2017, before the Taiwanese corporation landed on a site in Mount Pleasant for a massive manufacturing facility that never materialized as fully planned.

“It’s an investment in Milwaukee County’s future in Wisconsin businesses, and the continued growth of MKE Airport,” Airport Brian Dranzik said at a ribbon-cutting Wednesday.

The airport is calling the new facility the Air Cargo Center. It can accommodate up to five Boeing 747-400 aircraft, which each can carry the same amount of freight as 11 semitrailer trucks. Airport officials believe it has the potential to quadruple the air cargo traffic coming in and out of Milwaukee. The airport is also constructing $10.5 million in new taxiways to accommodate the large cargo planes moving in and out of the facility.

The airport, which is owned by Milwaukee County, expects to collect $1.3 million annually in airport fees and $1 million annually through a ground lease. The airport funds its operations and infrastructure projects through fees paid by air carriers.

The Air Cargo Center will provide a new, direct connection between southeastern Wisconsin and the international shipping industry, said Jack Rabenn, managing director with Crow Holdings. It will not replace the air freight infrastructure at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, but will instead act as a “relief valve” for international shippers and supply chains, Rabenn said.

“So the state with the highest concentration of manufacturing businesses and jobs will no longer need to leak goods, revenues, and services outside of the state just to facilitate the supply chain,” he said.

Completing the facility this fall will allow Crow to bid on 2027 freight contracts. The firm plans to contract with an operator to manage the facility, which could support up to 300 jobs, Rabenn previously said.

Air Cargo Center

Construction

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Renderings and Pre-Development Site Photo

A Microsoft data center in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin appears in a June 2026 photo. Photo courtesy of Microsoft

Microsoft is planning to build fewer data centers at its sprawling complex in Mount Pleasant.

In January, the Mount Pleasant Village Board approved the site plan for the company to build nine data centers as part of an expansion of its plans in the village. The company is now amending that down to seven data center buildings.

“We continue to refine the design and layout of our expansion parcels in the Village of Mount Pleasant,” a Microsoft spokesperson wrote in a statement. “The changes in no way reflect a reduction in our ambition, they have been made to ensure faster development, allowing us to access this increased capacity quicker. We will continue to evolve our design and keep the community updated prior to beginning any vertical construction.”

While there are fewer buildings in the updated plan, the total square footage of building space is greater. The updated plan has over 5.8 million-square-feet of building space, up from the just over 5.2-million-square feet in the plan approved by village officials earlier this year.

“There’s two fewer buildings than the last site plan you saw, but they are actually slightly larger in square footage,” said Samuel Schultz, the community development director for the village.

On Wednesday, the Mount Pleasant Plan Commission unanimously approved the amended site plan. The village board is expected to vote on it later this month.

As part of the updated plan, Microsoft plans to build an office and storage building, a guardhouse and two substations at the site.

Sean Ryan, a spokesperson for the village, said the 5.8 million-square-feet figure includes the data center buildings, as well as the offices and guard houses. It does not include the two utility substations, he said.

Schultz said Microsoft’s plans could continue to change. He said the square footage for the site, “will likely fluctuate, maybe up, maybe down, over time.”

The Mount Pleasant Plan Commission meets on Oct. 14, 2026. Evan Casey/WPR

The estimated taxable value per acre is also decreasing under the updated plan, down from around $10 million in the original plan, to around $7.7 million in the amended plan. Ryan said compared to earlier this year, “planners are using a more conservative estimate now for what the possible future value of the buildings would be.”

“And this is just a more careful way to approach this exercise and know that in the end, if these buildings are built, it would result in a net positive in terms of the financials for the community,” Ryan said.

“It would show that even under these more careful conservative predictions of the future taxes that these buildings would generate, the potential property tax revenue still far exceeds the cost of service,” he added.

The plan commission approved the updated site plan with more than a dozen conditions Wednesday. Village Trustee Nancy Washburn, a member of the plan commission, made a motion to add a condition for Microsoft to look to add “noise protection” to a portion of the site.

In June, Microsoft announced its first data center facility in Mount Pleasant, known as “Fairwater,” was operational. Construction on Microsoft’s second data center in the village is expected to be completed in 2028.

Microsoft was sued in July due to noise complaints from residents who live nearby. Some people who live near the development have also complained about construction noise and dust, light pollution, traffic and a changing rural landscape.

The company also plans to build a data center project on around 240 acres in Kenosha about 8 miles away from the tech giant’s campus in Racine County.

Microsoft planning to build fewer data centers at sprawling Mount Pleasant campus  was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.