Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Governor’s race has numerous ways it could make history
Every election makes history in its own way, and the 2026 midterms will be no different. This is a look at what stands out historically about Wisconsin’s biggest elections this year, and how they could break new ground. We’ll start with the November...
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Marquette admission swag features a tasty twist
M h hilwaukee Pretzel Company workers twisted hundreds of dough logs into pretzels, baked them in the oven, then placed the trays in front of industrial-size cooling fans. By day’s end, each Bavarian soft pretzel was popped into a box, along with a...
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Invasive mussels have now overtaken four Great Lakes
Last August, Lauren Isbell dove around Mott Island Dock at Isle Royale National Park, plucking invasive zebra mussels from the lakebed – sometimes with her fingers, other times with a credit-card sized piece of plastic attached to a lanyard on her...
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Federal cuts stall professor’s epilepsy research on the verge of a breakthrough
Avtar Roopra was riding high about a year ago. The University of Wisconsin-Madison neuroscientist was on the verge of a big breakthrough in epilepsy treatment. His lab found a drug used to treat arthritis halts damaging seizures in mice with epilepsy...
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‘They’ve worked so hard. They’re so close.’
The Milwaukee-area refugees passed their naturalization exams and were days away from swearing allegiance to the United States at an oath ceremony. It was the last step to becoming U.S. citizens. Then the news came: Their ceremonies were...
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Woodland Pattern focuses on arts in Bay View area
A Milwaukee cultural center focused on poetry and other artistic expressions is moving from its longtime home to Bay View – expanding its mission while joining that neighborhood’s literary landscape. • Woodland Pattern has operated in the Riverwest...
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Reducing the gap
At the age of 2, Jodel “JoJo” Allenwalton, a happy, exuberant and by all appearances very smart boy, loved books, could spell his name and had memorized the answers to his first lessons in basic addition. He would rattle off colors – purple, orange,...
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‘I’d rather take him over the money’
When Myangel Thomas thinks of her father, Keishon Thomas, she looks to the sky or points to her heart. That’s where Myangel’s mother, who shares the same name, says her father is now. It’s been nearly four years since Keishon died while in Milwaukee...
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Expats see capture of Maduro as necessary start to future
W h haukesha restaurant owner Francisco Mohamed remembers his native Venezuela before the economy collapsed, when foreigners visited the oil-rich country and life was easier. ● And, as inflation skyrocketed under the leadership of President Nicolás...
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Some farmers worry that farm aid won’t be enough
MADISON – After a year of navigating tariff trade wars, farmers are banking on a promised $12 billion in aid from the Trump administration. The question for Wisconsin growers now: Will the money be enough to save operations facing steep payments on...
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Maduro’s grip on power ends
Nicolas Maduro ruled Venezuela with a heavy hand for more than 12 years, presiding over deep economic and social crises and resisting pressure from domestic opponents and foreign governments for political change. His rule abruptly ended on Jan. 3,...
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REIMAGINING LIFE WITH DEMENTIA
A hrow of footprints followed John and Terri Cooper, both 70, as they carefully navigated an icy road near Sheboygan. They stopped at a row of concrete slabs. “This is our house,” John said, waving at the first snow-covered block. ● “It’s pretty big,”...
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On the horizon
One of Milwaukee’s biggest ongoing development stories of 2025 concerns a high-profile project that’s ground to halt – which ties directly to another big story. Meanwhile, two of the city’s bestknown sports venues, American Family Field and the...
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HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026
There is no print edition of the paper today, but you can find today’s puzzles, comics, national news and sports here in the eNewspaper.
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Ariens Nordic Center could forge Olympic biathletes
BRILLION – A company that makes snowblowers in the heartland of farm country might very well give us the next Wisconsin Olympic star – and spur on generations of growth for the sport of biathlon. • Ariens, the snowremoval equipment manufacturing...
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Homicide victims’ families mourn at annual vigil
With days left before the end of the year, over 140 people have been murdered in Milwaukee this year, a rise from two years of declining homicides. The increase comes as violent crime and nonfatal shootings dropped significantly throughout the year....
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Disabled crime victims fight to save a legal lifeline
For the past five years, Nick Battiola called his Disability Rights Wisconsin victim advocate, Pam Malin, any time he felt on the verge of a breakdown, whenever memories of the caregiver who became his abuser flashed through his mind. Malin always...
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A donor, a surgeon and God
For 26 years, long before there was the blue medical tent, we had one man – towel over shoulder, medicine bag in hand – running onto the field. Whenever a Green Bay player went down with an injury – and all of Packer Nation held its collective breath –...
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STRANDED AND ON THE HOOK
Wisconsin residential and business utility customers owe nearly $1 billion on “stranded assets” — power plants that have been or will soon be shut down. • That total will likely grow over the next five years with additional coal plants scheduled to...
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Report flags China’s missile buildup
WASHINGTON – China is likely to have loaded more than 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles across its latest three silo fields and has no desire for arms control talks, according to a draft Pentagon report which highlighted Beijing’s growing...
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Gesu Church completes $10 million renovation
Parishioners of the Church of the Gesu at Marquette University will be celebrating Christmas in a spruced-up worship space. Now comes the second half of the parish’s renewal: reaching out more to the neighborhood around Gesu, especially by serving...
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The Rep is thriving. What’s its secret?
Milwaukee Repertory Theater could hardly have scripted a better conclusion to 2025. In October it unveiled the remodeled and upgraded Checota Powerhouse Theater, the centerpiece of an $80.1 million fundraising campaign so successful it funded several...
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Free airplane hangar — with a catch — at Mitchell
Facebook Marketplace, the social media giant’s digital equivalent of a garage sale, has gained a reputation for the eclectic items people hawk on the platform – furniture, cars, clothes, even aircraft. But Waukesha resident Ryan Luetzow’s listing...
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Judge Dugan found guilty in split verdict
Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was found guilty of a felony count of obstructing federal agents seeking to make an immigration arrest outside her courtroom, a precedent-setting case that has been closely watched nationally and drawn passionate...
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A rogue judge, or good public servant?
Hannah Dugan is a judge who took the law into her own hands or she was a hard-working public servant struggling to follow unclear guidance from the chief judge. Those sharply different views of Dugan emerged in closing arguments delivered Dec. 18 in...
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Chief judge texted Dugan day of courtroom arrest
Milwaukee County Chief Judge Carl Ashley testified that he texted Judge Hannah Dugan immediately after he learned a defendant in her courtroom had eluded federal agents. “My message was pretty short: Give me a call,” Ashley testified Dec. 17 in...
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Dugan case could be most public of judge’s career
As Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan’s obstruction trial gets underway, attention from across the nation will turn to an ornate courtroom on the third floor of the federal courthouse downtown. But don’t expect the atmosphere in that courtroom to be...
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One year after shooting, Madison is still recovering
Dr. Adam Brinkman heard only the echo of his footsteps as he made his way down the stairs from his clinic to the emergency room on the morning of Dec. 16, 2024. Each step advanced a surge of thoughts that boiled down to one: What am I going to do when...
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HOUSING FOSTER HOPE
Aaron Whitlock grabbed a pair of fresh white Nikes to match the pink sweatshirt and acid-wash jeans laid out on his bed in his new apartment. Whitlock’s senior year at Washington High School was a month away, but that wouldn’t stop him from choosing...
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‘Devastating’ fire totals Bass Bay Brewhouse
Initial assessments show Bass Bay Brewhouse, S79 W15851 Aud Mar Drive, is a total loss after a massive fire broke out on the property in the early morning hours of Friday, Dec. 12, the Muskego Police Department said in Facebook post. Muskego police...
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‘I would describe this as a scar on the Driftless’
GENOA - Many people in Wisconsin’s Driftless region abide by a shared ethos: love for their small communities, respect for the land and a desire to live away from disruption. In their eyes, a high-voltage power line proposed to cut through the area...
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Black, retro yellow plates unveiled
It was a long road to bring blackout license plates to Wisconsin. First, a constituent who saw the black-and-white design explode in popularity in Iowa alerted a lawmaker. Two years in a row, he introduced a bill and got public hearings, but momentum...
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Wright home to undergo $800,000 restoration
Acentury-old Milwaukee home designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright is undergoing an $800,000 restoration. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Burnham Block Inc., a nonprofit that preserves the Wisconsin-born architect’s Milwaukee homes, is beginning work on...
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Buffalo herd helps tribe to connect with history
Tribal leaders from across Turtle Island (North America) converged on the Menominee Reservation this fall to celebrate the return of buffalo to the tribe. • The Nov. 20 event drew chairpersons and council leaders from different tribal reservations,...
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Rogue buoy
Rogue buoy gathers first data on winter ice, waves Winter is a quiet time for Great Lakes research, at least out on the water. Research vessels remain secured to their docks; most monitoring equipment is ashore. But last winter, a basketball-sized...
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From El Salvador to Milwaukee and back. The story of an immigrant seeking safety
After 14 years in Wisconsin, the last four months of it in the public eye, Yessenia Ruano is back in her native El Salvador. She’s far from the young woman who escaped harassment from gangs. She has a husband and their twin daughters with her. She has...
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Worth the wait
It’s been more than four years since Steve Tilton told city officials about plans to build a new lighthouse for one of Milwaukee’s most unusual homes. That work is now finally underway, and should be done by year’s end at the boat-shaped home, known...
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A CELEBRATION OF MILWAUKEE
A big Hollywood movie premiere with one of Hollywood’s biggest stars made its way to Milwaukee’s east side Dec. 2. Hugh Jackman was at the Oriental Theatre, along with filmmaker Craig Brewer, for the Milwaukee premiere of their new movie “Song Sung...
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South side residents urge railroad company to address illegal dumping
Rats, cockroaches and piles of trash are frequent sights for some neighbors living near Pulaski Park on South 15th Place on Milwaukee’s south side. The alley behind their homes and the train tracks beside the alley have become an illegal dumping...
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MPS wraps lead-paint work at 100 schools
On the day before Thanksgiving at Milwaukee’s Congress School off the Lincoln Creek parkway on the city's west side, students were out for fall break but the school was abuzz. Workers in yellow wove painting carts around desks, applying final touches...
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Crime victim assistance hurt by push against DEI
This fall, dozens of nonprofit leaders across Wisconsin gathered to write their federal grant applications with one major consideration in mind: mentioning any programs tailored for people of color or LGBTQ+ people could put a target on their...
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DUGAN CASE SET FOR TRIAL
Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan appeared in federal court on her obstruction charges on Nov. 26, as both sides argued details of jury selection, audio recordings that could be crucial, and who will take the stand at trial. It was the first time...
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‘This is just so hurtful’
In its final year, St. Rita Catholic Church drew about 150 worshippers a week. But at its final Mass, it was full to the brim, about 1,400 people packed into pews and lining the walls. “This hasn’t happened in decades,” said Dave Grunwaldt, director...
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING
There is no print edition of the paper today, but you can find today’s puzzles, comics, national news and sports here in the eNewspaper.
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Shopping
The holiday shopping season “came really fast” for Jazzmin Rogers and her family this year. Browsing the toy section at a Kohl’s store in Brookfield, Rogers was looking for a birthday gift for a young family member. “Stuff is really expensive now, so...
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Big role in fire department for aging fleet’s mechanics
During a recent shift meeting at the Milwaukee Fire Department’s Fiebrantz Avenue repair garage, shop manager Aaron Nash rattles off the day’s tasks. One truck that went through August’s historic floods needs work. Another needs lighting replaced. And...
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'WE WANT TO TELL YOU'
As Paul McCartney belted out “Carry That Weight” at Minneapolis’ U.S. Bank Stadium, I wrapped my arm around my son Aiden’s chest and felt his heart beating so fast, it seemed like it could burst. Aiden, 14, is obsessed with the Beatles. To know that...
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Trial
“It reinforces a belief, maybe, that the system doesn’t work and doesn’t work for sexual violence, in particular,” he said. The judge’s decision caused months of fallout. The man who had pleaded guilty still has not been sentenced, as his attorneys...
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Cuts to MCTS bus routes may create transit deserts
Nick Czaplewski relies on the bus every day. Czaplewski, 40, was legally classified as blind when he was a teenager after being diagnosed with a genetic eye disease. A blind spot in the center of his vision prevents him from driving, leaving him...
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Student use of campus food pantries soars Even before benefits delay, visits outpacing past years
Milwaukee Area Technical College student Jordan Jones knows how to stretch — both on the basketball court and with his food assistance benefits. Jones, 20, said he gets about $300 in monthly benefits to feed him and his father. The assistance was...
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THE LEGEND LIVES ON
A half century after the Great Lakes’ most famous shipwreck came to rest on the floor of Lake Superior, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald’s grip on the public imagination has waned little. • It sank on the second day of its final voyage of the season, in the...
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County restores some services; transit cut questions remain Budget includes funds to mitigate route reduction
Milwaukee County’s Board of Supervisors adopted a $1.4 billion 2026 budget on Nov. 6, including amendments that sought to scale back some of the sizable cuts to transit and health and human services initially proposed. During a three-hour meeting, the...
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OFFERING HOPE
Every evening for the past week, Cassandra Ortega has collected large Amazon boxes and grocery bags left on her porch by family, friends and community members. The boxes and bags are filled with items like canned soups and vegetables, packages of...
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A warm welcome on the Ice Age Trail
JANESVILLE — He arrived in Wisconsin in mid-September, a 50-pound backpack strapped to his shoulders and his itinerary to hike the 1,200 mile-Ice Age Trail still in flux. He was upfront about this when he posted on the trail’s Facebook page. ● “Some...
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‘He was much more than vice president’
WASHINGTON – Richard Bruce Cheney was the most powerful and the most controversial vice president in American history. h Cheney, 84, died surrounded by family members on the evening of Nov. 3, of complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular...
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Trump to restore partial funding for food programs
MADISON – The Trump administration said Monday it would provide partial funding for food assistance programs that are set to go dormant while the federal government shutdown continues. The administration reversed itself on whether to release the...
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Fondy Farmers Market is ‘taking it week by week’
When Milwaukee resident Zakiya Courtney saw a Facebook post advertising free grocery vouchers for food assistance recipients, she knew to drag her family members out to Fondy Farmers Market on Nov. 1. Courtney, a 72-year-old retired educator, does not...
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SEEDS OF HOPE
For years, the famed tribal foresters of the Menominee Tribe thought they might succeed where all others had failed. The emerald ash borer, first detected near Detroit in 2002, had spread to surrounding states, like the insect equivalent of a wildfire....
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Beyond the field
The 2025 Badger football season is one fans already want to forget l but the negative economic impact could be felt well beyond the final game on Nov. 29. If the team’s poor performance continues, it could reduce the program’s profit by $20 million...
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A modern-day Stonehenge
FOUNTAIN CITY - Kinstone is a peaceful, contemplative place overlooking the Mississippi River whose giant stone structures look like Wisconsin’s answer to Stonehenge. But founder and creator Kristine Beck says the comparison doesn’t quite sum up...
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JAMAICA REPORTS DAMAGE, OUTAGES
Hurricane Melissa churned over Cuba as a Category 2 storm Oct. 29 as authorities in Jamaica began surveying the extensive damage left in its wake as the strongest tropical cyclone of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season. Melissa reached Jamaica on Oct....
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Eight years of construction about to start for I-94
If Interstate 94 traffic already gives you a headache, it’s about to get even more snarled as construction begins on a major freeway expansion. The $1.7 billion I-94 East-West corridor expansion project will begin construction on Nov. 3. That...
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Meat raffles are part of Wisconsin tavern culture
WEST ALLIS – There are two rules at the Burnsie’s Bar & Grill monthly meat raffle: • Don’t touch the meat. • And no complaining about how often the tickets get mixed around in the drum. • Other playful jeering is fair game, including when a winner...
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Animal sanctuary? Or roadside zoo?
By 10 a.m. on a recent Saturday, the parking lot at Shalom Wildlife Zoo in Washington County was already full. Employees waved cars toward spots in the grass. Families lined up for golf carts to carry them across the zoo’s 100 acres. Nearby, several...
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Journal Sentinel’s dining critic Rachel Bernhard shares the best restaurants of the year
Milwaukee, I’m full. h After a year of eating my way through the city, I’ve devoured dozens of appetizers, eaten so many entrees and doubled down on desserts. h It’s a lot of meals. But it’s also a lot of fun. The not-so-fun part, though, is narrowing...
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Underly hit over handling of teacher grooming claims
MADISON — State Superintendent Jill Underly is under fire over how the state education department handles allegations of grooming and sexual misconduct by licensed school staff and faces bipartisan criticism for skipping a Capitol hearing on the...
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A SEAT AT THE TABLE
When Canna Bloom Farmacy’s owners were building their cannabis business in 2019, co-owner Justin Letizia said they quickly noticed Wisconsin had become “a dumping ground for low-quality, untested products.” Absent robust regulations, cannabis and hemp...
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He took medical leave for chemo, was fired afterward
Cliff Kaplan, 65, was in his sixteenth year working at a beverage distribution company in New Berlin when he was diagnosed with stage four esophageal cancer. While he went through chemotherapy, he took unpaid leave through the company’s Family Medical...
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Healthy food harder to find or afford in Metcalfe Park
Metcalfe Park area residents are adapting to life without a full-service grocery store following the closure of the North 35th Street Pick ‘n Save in July. The shuttered store has left a huge hole in the neighborhood — literally and...
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Bucks hope to shine in championship ‘window’
With the 2025-26 NBA season set to tip-off on Oct. 22 for the Milwaukee Bucks, they are by some measures, navigating uncharted waters as they seek to maximize the team’s potential around superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Of the five other champions...
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MPS offers bonus for retirees to return
With 83 teaching jobs still unfilled at Milwaukee Public Schools over a month into the school year, district officials are trying something new: offering $1,000 bonuses to retired teachers who are willing to return to work full-time or in part-time job...
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