Gateway to the future: Milwaukee celebrates its next transformation with groundbreaking of The Couture
First proposed in July 2012, The Couture was nearly a decade in the planning, with the timetable for completion by fall 2023. Located at 909 E. Michigan Street, the Couture was designed to include a multimodal transportation hub incorporating pedestrian walkways and bridges, the County’s Bus Rapid Transit line, bikes and the The Hop.
Over The Edge 2021: Taking a leap of faith to help the Milwaukee Rescue Mission fight local poverty
The Milwaukee Rescue Mission (MRM) held an “Over The Edge” fundraising event on June 17 at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center, where participants rappelled from the 20th floor of the hotel to support the organization’s work. The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was a chance for many to face their fear of heights.
Bus driver shortage causes MCTS to suspend special service routes to summer events in 2021
The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) announced on June 14 that it will not be able to offer special summer service to Summerfest, the Wisconsin State Fair, or lakefront cultural festivals this year due to a shortage of bus drivers. However, festivalgoers and...
Local pioneers honored: Milwaukee prepares for Juneteenth with celebration of history and heritage
Milwaukee is home to one of the oldest known Juneteenth celebrations in the country, and this year marks the 50th annual Juneteenth Day festivities in the city. As part of the celebration, Northcott Neighborhood House and the Juneteenth Planning Committee hosted the...
New Federal Holiday: Congress to formally recognize Juneteenth as the nation’s “second” Independence Day
The Senate unanimously approved a bill on June 15 that would make Juneteenth, or June 19th, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. The bill would lead to Juneteenth becoming the 12th federal holiday. It is expected to easily pass the...
Celebrating Freedom: Why Juneteenth Day commemorates the end of slavery in the United States
Juneteenth is considered the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. It was originally celebrated on June 19, the day that Union soldiers in 1865 told enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War had...
Megan O’Halloran: Wisconsin has a golden opportunity to meet the unprecedented needs of our students
I joked in 2020 that I longed for the “precedented.” Nearly everything about 2020 was unprecedented and not in a good way. However, I was recently filled with hope when I read that the projections for state tax collections have been revised upward by an unprecedented...
Equity Principles: Elmbrook School District’s plan to address inclusivity sparks backlash from parents
In the year of reckoning following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, conversations about race, equity and belonging have gained momentum in some Wisconsin school districts. In several, that meant reassessing the presence of school...
Dual Pandemics: Milwaukee schools continue to fight the coronavirus and inequality
June 1 was the day the city of Milwaukee lifted its mask mandates, but you would not know it watching the Milwaukee school board meeting that same night. On camera, all board members were in different rooms with masks. Superintendent Keith Posley and his staff sat in...
On speaking the truth: The Freedom Struggle will not be deterred by lies
“It is probably true to say that there would be no crisis in race relations if the Negro continued to think of himself in inferior terms and patiently accepted injustice and exploitation. But it is at this very point that the change has come. For many years, the Negro...
Wisconsin’s response to the pandemic foreshadows the national battle against vaccine hesitancy
The fight against the coronavirus hit a milestone in the United States when the Biden administration announcing more than half of adult Americans are now fully vaccinated. But big issues remain and perhaps few states illustrate the struggles ahead better than...
A world of disinformation: How countries used COVID-19 as an excuse to crackdown on press freedom
By Sara Torsner, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Freedom of the Media, University of Sheffield; and Jackie Harrison, Professor of Public Communication, Centre for Freedom of the Media, University of Sheffield A government’s fear of scrutiny and criticism...
