News
Longtime home run leader and former Milwaukee baseball player “Hammerin” Hank Aaron dies at 86
Hank Aaron, who endured racist threats with stoic dignity during his pursuit of Babe Ruth’s home run record and gracefully left his mark as one of baseball’s greatest all-around players, died on January 22. He was 86. The Atlanta Braves, Aaron’s longtime team, said...
Multiple projects with a total output of 2.2 Gigawatts are speeding Wisconsin’s transition to solar energy
Wisconsin is seeing a rapid conversion to solar energy as a growing number of utilities set goals to go carbon neutral by 2050. The investment comes despite challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. New solar installations nationwide are expected to increase 43...
Wisconsin developer creates mobile app that teaches people how to recycle and track their composting
A Wisconsin-made smartphone app that helps people recycle better and track their composting is expanding its reach. Michelle Goetsch launched Betterbin in May 2018. The Wausau-based company’s app allows people in participating communities to scan barcodes on...
Rise and Thrive: Five Lessons of Storytelling and Resilience in Milwaukee
Do you remember a time when you stood in the sunlit silence of the woods, caught your breath at a fleeting sunset, or waded into the ocean only to be completely surprised at the strength of the waves? It can be difficult to express why moments like these matter. And...
Anti-Displacement Funds program offers Milwaukee neighborhoods a lifeline against rising assessments
When property taxes increase, the likelihood of displacement does as well. This reality is all too familiar to those who live in Milwaukee neighborhoods such as Halyard Park, Harambee, Brewer’s Hill, and Walker’s Point. It is this issue at the heart of MKE United’s...
New alumni-funded scholarship links Cristo Rey Jesuit High School graduates with Ripon College
A new endowed scholarship will link graduates of Cristo Rey Jesuit, a high school in Milwaukee, and Ripon College. The Franzen/Cristo Rey Endowed Scholarship is named for Ripon College graduates Mark Franzen ’83 and Janice Heinz Franzen ’83 of New Berlin who are...
The problem with Americans: Too many have surrendered the ability think for themselves
“One of the first things I think young people, especially nowadays, should learn is how to see for yourself and listen for yourself and think for yourself. Then you can come to an intelligent decision for yourself. If you form the habit of going by what you hear...
Wisconsin National Guard troops helped ensure safety in Washington DC during presidential inauguration
More than 550 Citizen Soldiers and Airmen from the Wisconsin National Guard were on hand at the 59th presidential inauguration in Washington DC on January 20 after mobilizing over the weekend to assist with safety and security efforts at the inauguration. Wisconsin...
Inaugural Address: President Joe Biden gives hope to millions of Americans who stutter
By Rodney Gabel, Professor and Founding Director, Binghamton University, State University of New York President Joe Biden called for American unity after four years of political divisiveness and the “raging fire” it provoked. He promised to be a president for all...
The Hill We Climb: Amanda Gorman delivers inspirational inaugural poem
As the nation’s first national youth poet laureate, Amanda Gorman made history on January 20 as the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. Gorman summoned images dire and triumphant as she called out to the world “even as we grieved, we grew” during the...
Ending this Uncivil War: Unity is impossible without accountability
President Joseph R. Biden Jr. took the oath of office shortly before noon Eastern time on January 20, and in his low-key manner ended an era in which the evil in the U.S. government could not be underestimated, and started a new one that promises to be better. It is...
Democracy is not a spectator sport: Americans have finally woken up but still have a lot of work to do
About a year ago, I wrote that 2020 would be the year that determines whether or not American democracy survives. And here we are. Our system has never lived up to its fullest potential, but until recently, its aspirations have driven us to fight to perfect it,...
