The Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD) evolved from a volunteer force that was organized in 1837 by concerned citizens. In 1875, the firefighting force officially converted to a full-time and paid organization. Since 1996, the department has held a special ceremony annually to remember those who have fallen in the line of duty.
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Democrats in Milwaukee held a watch party in the Beer Garden outside of the Fiserv Forum on September 29, for the first presidential debate between Republican incumbent Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Roughly two dozen people attended the private event, social distancing and wearing PPE, to watch what CNN’s Jake Tapper called “a hot mess inside a dumpster fire inside a train wreck.” Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley spoke to the small crowd before the debate began, emphasizing the impact of the pandemic on the watch party. Trump’s failed response to COVID-19 has...
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Civil rights groups led by Forward Latino gathered in Kenosha on August 24 to offer words of support and healing to a traumatized community with a unified press conference, until altered plans by Kenosha Mayor John Antarmian threw the effort into turmoil. Social tensions became inflamed after a news conference with Kenosha Mayor John Antarmian, originally to be held in a park, was moved inside the city’s public safety building. Hundreds of protesters rushed to the building and a door was snapped off its hinges before police in riot gear pepper-sprayed the crowd, which included a photojournalist. Civil rights...
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Wisconsin’s governor summoned the National Guard for fear of another round of violent protests on August 24, after the violent police shooting of a Black man recorded on video turned Kenosha into the nation’s latest flashpoint city in a summer of racial unrest. Governor Tony Evers said 125 members of the National Guard would be in Kenosha by night with responsibility for guarding infrastructure and making sure our firefighters and others involved are protected. County authorities also announced an 8:00 p.m. curfew. “I know folks across our state will be making their voices heard in Kenosha and in communities...
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Following the string of police shootings of unarmed Black men this year, which culminated in nationwide and ongoing unrest after the death of George Floyd, a 22-year-old Kenosha man filmed the latest extrajudicial killing of an unarmed man of color by law enforcement. Raysean White saw 29-year-old Jacob Blake scuffling with three officers across the street, from his apartment window. The incident happened around 5:00pm on August 23. Kenosha police do not yet have body cameras, so White’s video is the only visual record of the shooting. I was just looking out and thought, I gotta record this. So...
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The John and Etta Jones collection is comprised of a family photo album stretching from the 1920s to 1960s.
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