Author: Staff

Voice the Vote: Milwaukee nonprofits work to make voting more accessible for people of color

Wisconsin Conservation Voices and their partners held a “Voice the Vote” press conference on National Voter Registration Day to bring awareness to the work they are doing in helping communities of color and young people around Milwaukee register to vote. The partner organizations have built lasting relationships with their communities and are using those deep connections to encourage voter participation, and urge people to register to vote. Walnut Way and Wisconsin Conservation Voices are running an ongoing walkthrough voter registration site in the Lindsay Heights neighborhood. Progressive Community Health Centers is texting their patients with voting information. The American...

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Surge in youth related COVID-19 infections causes Wisconsin to extend statewide mask mandate

Governor Tony Evers declared a new public health emergency in Wisconsin on September 22 due to recent surge in cases among young people and issued a new face coverings order effective immediately. Executive Order #90 and Emergency Order #1 went into immediate effect and will expire after sixty days or with a subsequent superseding order. The governor previously declared a public health emergency under Executive Order #82, which remains in effect. “We continue to learn more about this virus, but what we do know is that we are facing a new and dangerous phase of the COVID-19 pandemic here...

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Wisconsin Election Commission ordered by court to improve procedures for safe voting in November

A coalition consisting of Disability Rights Wisconsin, Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC), and three registered Wisconsin voters won a significant legal victory on September 21, when a federal court ordered the Wisconsin Election Commission to ensure that voters have safe and equitable access to cast ballots during the November general election. The Court, among other things, extended the deadline for receipt of absentee ballots until Nov. 9 for all mailed ballots postmarked on or before November 3, which had been the deadline for receipt of ballots; extended the deadline for online and mail-in registration by one week, to...

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Milwaukee’s 2021 Budget: Economic hardships felt from COVID-19 and Wisconsin’s broken funding formula

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett presented his proposed 2021 budget in an address on September 22, outlining how million of dollars in cuts were required due to the financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Common Council President Cavalier Johnson follow with a statement about how the State of Wisconsin’s funding formula was broken and was adding to the city’s economic hardships. Mayor Barrett’s 2021 Executive Budget Address – September 22, 2020 Council Members, Treasurer Coggs, Comptroller Sawa, City Attorney Spencer–We all recognize that we are living in very uncertain times, and as a result this is going to be the...

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Milwaukee County rolls out grant program aimed at helping minority small businesses hard hit by COVID-19

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley announced the launch of the Small Business Initiative Grant program on September 17 to relieve local businesses adversely affected due to COVID-19, and the Community Resource Navigator Employment program to get Milwaukee County residents back to work. Business owners facing immediate financial emergencies due to COVID-19 can immediately apply for the Small Business Initiative Grant program. Awards will be made to qualified businesses, with eligibility based on accurate and complete submission. “At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, very few of us expected to still be in such an intense fight against the disease...

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Hip-Hop Week MKE adapts to 2020 conditions with plan to stream educational summit on voter suppression

Educating the Milwaukee public about voter suppression and other key issues in advance of the November 3 General Election will be the focus of the Hip-Hop Political Education Summit on September 22, a day-long streaming event that will feature key rap artists and other prominent voices in the fight for systemic change. Alderman Khalif J. Rainey sponsored legislation that created Hip-Hop week in 2018 to honor the cultural influence of the revolutionary music genre, but also as an educational platform for the Milwaukee community. For its third year, the popular event was forced to adapt to the necessary social...

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