Author: Correspondent

Wisconsin ranks 32nd nationwide in funding programs that prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit, according to a report released on December 13 by leading public health organizations. Wisconsin is spending $5.3 million this year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is just 9.2 percent of the $57.5 million recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report challenges states to do more to fight tobacco use, the nation’s leading cause of preventable death, and make the next generation tobacco-free. In Wisconsin, 8.1 percent of high school students smoke, and 2,600 kids become regular...

The 34th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration, coordinated by the MLK Steering Committee, will be held on Sunday, January 14, 2018 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. The program will begin at 1:00 p.m. in Uihlein Hall and highlight our youth who interpreted Dr. King’s works through art, speech and writing contests. The only cities that have celebrated Dr. King’s Birthday annually since 1984 are Atlanta, Georgia and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The theme for this year’s program is “Take a Stand for Truth & Justice.” Young people who are involved in the performing arts will...

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele is urging Milwaukee County residents to stay warm this winter by applying for Energy Assistance, a federally funded program that provides eligible residents with a one-time annual payment to help make energy bills more affordable. The amount of the energy assistance payment varies depending on a variety of factors, including the household’s size, income and energy costs. In most cases the energy assistance benefit is paid directly to the household’s energy supplier. “This year, we are proud to again provide Energy Assistance to our residents who want to be resourceful with their income and...

The Wisconsin Historical Society has listed the West St. Paul Avenue Industrial Historic District, in Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley, on the State Register of Historic Places. This district consists of 22 industrial buildings along 10 blocks between 11th and 21st streets. Each of these properties is now eligible for historic tax credits, which help offset costs associated with restoring historic buildings. The West St. Paul Avenue Industrial Historic District represents a period of industrial growth and prominence of the Menomonee Valley from the 1880s to the 1950s. The district was built by booming manufacturing businesses that produced a wide range...

The campaign challenges nurses who “have what it takes” to apply to be mental health nurses for Milwaukee County. Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele announced that the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division (BHD) won a Platinum Award for Strategic and Integrated Communications. The “Nurse Recruitment Campaign” received the highest honor possible from the 2017 MarCom Awards, an international competition that recognizes excellence in marketing and communications. “With a national shortage of nurses affecting us in an extreme way, we knew that we needed to prioritize finding great talent to care for those with the most acute mental health needs...

After a warm November, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele announced that the Parks Department will kick off the ice-skating season at Slice of Ice in Red Arrow Park on December 15, with free skate rentals from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Officials from Milwaukee County and from WaterStone Bank, the event’s presenting sponsor, will offer opening remarks before skaters take the ice. “Thanks to the continued generosity of our partners at WaterStone Bank, Pepsi, Starbucks, and The Ability Center, families who may not have otherwise been able to come out to skate can enjoy Slice of Ice—our own Rockefeller Center,”...