Author: Guest

The year was 1921. Milwaukee and the United States were coming out of what would be called World War I into a decade of relative prosperity. But it was also a time of distress for some newer Americans because the World War had fostered a rise in nativism that had some of this nation’s ethnic communities on edge. To Milwaukee’s Jewish community, it was the end of a period that had found that group almost tripling in size from an estimated 7,000 in 1907 to around 22,000 in 1922, with most of the growth coming from immigration, largely from...

Six Americans seem to have died from vaping. Maybe as many as 450 people in the US now have lung-related illnesses from using e-cigarettes, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are on the case, launching a multi-state investigation of severe pulmonary disease among vapers. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is proposing to ban flavored e-cigarettes that he worries are enticing children. It’s not a shock that a largely untested and unregulated industry based on inhaling various mysterious substances might have health consequences. Still, Trump’s announcement of a total ban on flavored e-cigarettes seems a little extreme. If he...

More than 500 delegates and visitors to the United Church of Christ General Synod took to the streets of Milwaukee on August 7, joining more than 100 local activists in a rally calling for a change in policies that separate immigrant families. Delegates first voted that morning to delay the start time of the afternoon session to allow all Synod-goers to participate in the mile-long march from the Wisconsin Center to the local office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. UCC advocates, chanting, “Don’t be a hater; Love your neighbor,” “Classrooms, not cages,” and “UCC is loud and clear;...