Author: Correspondent

The ACLU of Wisconsin and attorneys Issa Kohler-Hausmann and Avery Gilbert, with pro-bono assistance from Wisconsin law firms Quarles & Brady LLP and Foley & Lardner LLP, filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court in Madison on April 30. The effort seeks to halt unconstitutional refusals to release parole-eligible people sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes they committed while they were children. The United States Supreme Court has held that states must give most juveniles sentenced to life in prison a chance to earn parole release based on a standard of rehabilitation and reform. The suit reveals that the...

The Division of Youth and Family Services of the Milwaukee County Department of Health & Human Services joined with Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele on May 6 to call for the State of Wisconsin to take a more transformative approach to youth justice reform. Milwaukee County submitted a proposal for $41.1 million of state funding in response to the grant’s March 31 deadline to support the construction of a new Secure Residential Care Center for Children and Youth (SRCCCY). This application was based on meeting the stipulations outlined in Act 185, the state mandate to close Lincoln Hills and...

Held on the grounds of the Milwaukee Art Museum, Lakefront Festival of Art celebrates its 57th year from June 21 to 23. The weekend-long festival features 180 national artists, hands-on activities, food and live entertainment along the shore of Lake Michigan. Lakefront Festival of Art (LFoA) is organized by Friends of Art, the longest-running volunteer support organization of the Milwaukee Art Museum, as a fundraiser for art exhibitions and the acquisition of works for the Museum’s Collection. “We are so proud to support the Museum and working artists from all over the region with this wonderful festival,” said Annette...

A bipartisan group of more than two dozen members of the U.S. Senate, including Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin, introduced a bill on May 8 to lower taxes on Gold Star families. The Trump tax law made a change that resulted in children who lost a parent serving in the military paying more taxes on Survivor Benefit Plan benefits, an annuity administered by the Department of Defense. “Wisconsin’s Gold Star families have sacrificed so much for this nation and the freedoms we all cherish,” said Senator Baldwin. “This bipartisan legislation is a much-needed fix to the 2017 law that unfairly raised...

John Gurda became Milwaukee’s best-known historian somewhat accidentally. He has written 22 books about Milwaukee institutions, neighborhoods and history, including the iconic “Making of Milwaukee,” which also became an Emmy-award-winning Milwaukee PBS series. Among other projects, he provides the historical perspective on Wisconsin neighborhoods and towns for Milwaukee Public Television’s Around the Corner with John McGivern, the highest-rated locally produced show in its time slot nationally, and lectures extensively. “I can’t think if anyone who knows Milwaukee’s past better than John Gurda,” said David Haynes. “For more than 20 years, he’s been telling the stories of the city’s history...

Governor Tony Evers stood in the rotunda of Milwaukee City Hall on May 2 and said that he planned to push for an expansion of Medicaid in Wisconsin, despite new statements from Republican leaders that they intend to strip the plan from the state budget. Just the previous afternoon on May 1, the Republican chairs of the state budget committee released a statement saying they will remove all “non-fiscal” items from the governor’s budget proposal, including the Medicaid expansion. The expansion is particularly important to the Governor’s two-year spending plan, as his administration has estimated the expansion would free...