Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Growing a ‘Green Ramadan’

The energy inside the Milwaukee Islamic Dawah Center during its nightly community iftar was lively and joyful, spilling out into the foggy night each time someone opened the door. People gathered on a weeknight earlier this month following the sunset...

Domes

The $51.6 million first phase of Milwaukee’s Mitchell Park Domes redevelopment project – which includes taxpayers’ dollars – is taking some steps forward. Preliminary plans have been filed with city building inspectors for renovations to one of the...

American Family Field left off stadium show circuit

Luke Combs, Ed Sheeran, AC/DC, Mumford & Sons, Phish, Tim McGraw and Rüfüs Du Sol are headlining stadiums and heading to Wisconsin in 2026. • But none of them will play Milwaukee’s only stadium, American Family Field. • As things look now, no stadium...

Tosa’s Hart Park stadium could be open by May

Repairs at Hart Park’s stadium and turf are set to begin, seven months after flooding from southeast Wisconsin’s August 2025 storm ripped up the athletic venue and other parts of the Wauwatosa park. The news is welcome progress for residents after the...

JOIN US

Milwaukee’s neighborhoods are buzzing with a wealth of knowledge. I was reminded of that in January, when Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Neighborhood Dispatch, our team of community-based reporters, visited with residents in the Harambee neighborhood....

Harlan recalled as influential, visionary

GREEN BAY − Bob Harlan was the architect of today’s Green Bay Packers. His decisions during 181⁄2 years as leader of the organization remade the franchise on and off the field. Robert E. “Bob” Harlan died March 5 at age 89 at St. Mary’s Hospital in...

Red Arrow

Milwaukee’s Red Arrow Park could undergo big changes – including replacing its skating rink with a “skating ribbon” running throughout much of the small downtown park. Other possible changes include older trees replaced by young trees, and a new kiosk...

Student protests picking up speed

Ever since the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both by federal agents in Minneapolis in January, there have been numerous student protests by high school students across the country – including several in Wisconsin and the Milwaukee...

Trump criticizes top U.S. allies over war

President Donald Trump slammed top U.S. allies, including the United Kingdom, as the war with Iran expands and warned Americans that they may have to deal with “a little high” oil prices as crude costs soared and the stock market tumbled. “If we have...

Milwaukee area sees more backyard homes

When Therese and Dan Hanson bought their Wauwatosa home in 2017, the selling points included a rundown second house in the backyard — being used for storage. The couple now plans to spend a six-figure amount, helped with city cash, to make the...

What’s needed for MPS to get air conditioning?

In her superintendent suite at Milwaukee Public Schools’ central offices in December, Brenda Cassellius looked skeptical as she listened to Chief Operating Officer Mike Turza rattle off logistical roadblocks to adding window-unit air conditioners to...

CHRONIC HEAT IN MILWAUKEE CLASSROOMS

Temperatures in Milwaukee classrooms often exceed federally recommended ranges throughout the school year, a Journal Sentinel investigation found, causing issues for staff retention and student success. Through support from the O’Brien Fellowship in...

Vitriol. Profanity. Politics.

WASHINGTON – Most of this story isn’t fit for a family newspaper. The country’s political discourse has deteriorated to the point – or become so robust – that the president can drop an f-bomb and get one lobbed back in return. Of course, caustic...

Vance goes on attack against ‘crazy’ Dems

PLOVER - In a visit to central Wisconsin, Vice President JD Vance implored voters to not give power back to the “crazy” Democrats. Vance spoke at Pointe Precision in Plover on Feb. 26, two days following President Donald Trump’s State of the Union...

‘WE’RE GOING TO SURVIVE’

BALDWIN − Denise Flaherty can drive around the western Wisconsin town of Baldwin and point out homes all over town now sitting vacant. That house on the left − empty. Its neighbor − empty too. That apartment building − largely empty. The residents...

Data center town hall tackles water, cost, power

Hyperscale data centers are coming to Wisconsin, and Journal Sentinel readers have questions – a lot of questions. How much water and energy do large data centers actually use? How do they impact Lake Michigan’s water? Will they cause my electric bill...

City struggles to respond as grocery stores vanish

Fresh food access is quickly disappearing for tens of thousands of residents in Milwaukee as grocery stores close across the city. The major retailers behind the closures sometimes offer little to no notice before shuttering stores and have not...

Students get head start with job skills training

On a wet, slushy Feb. 20, hundreds of students from Milwaukee to Green Bay gathered at Fox Valley Technical College. Some of them demonstrated what their robots could do, sat through a mock job interview or presented welding sculptures. Elsewhere on...

Turnover, delays and focus on immigration

W hhen Xavier Solis took office as Kenosha County district attorney in January 2025, he promised to shake up an operation he said had grown resistant to change. A private defense attorney with no experience as a prosecutor, Solis narrowly won the race...

153-year-old shipwreck of Lac La Belle found

One of the most popular and luxurious passenger steamers of its day has been found in Lake Michigan’s deep waters, more than 150 years after it went down stern first about 20 miles off Racine. The Lac La Belle, originally registered in Cleveland but...

THE PROMISE OF KING DRIVE

Reversal of EPA’s findings will have devastating effects, scientists say

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s repeal Feb. 12 of the 2009 finding that greenhouse gases harm human health brings to fruition years of rejecting globally accepted science by climate change deniers. It will hurt families, quality of life,...

Valentine’s

If you somehow weren’t aware that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, Bay View’s Pick ‘n Save will make sure you can’t forget. The grocery store at 250 N. Holt Ave. rolled out wall-to-wall flowers in its entryway on Feb. 11, meticulously...

$13M MPS project gets committee OK

Four north side schools, which could ultimately welcome more students if neighboring schools are shuttered, are on track to get $13 million worth of renovations by this fall, under a plan approved Feb. 10 by a Milwaukee School Board committee. The...

Officials share proposals to prevent food deserts

Recent grocery store closures have rocked the north side of Milwaukee, where growing food deserts – areas where quality food is difficult to find – have left entire neighborhoods without ready access to food. “When Pick ‘n Save closed on 35th Street,...

Two presidents with sliding poll numbers

A ht this point in his presidency four years ago, Democrat Joe Biden’s job rating was tumbling. He would never recover. Is Republican President Donald Trump headed down the same path? In the latest national poll by Marquette Law School, 42% of adults...

UW loses federal research funding

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has lost at least $27 million in federal research money since President Donald Trump upended the funding landscape in academia. It’s the first time the state flagship has put a price tag on its losses since the...

Hot times in winter

Each week in the winter, no matter the cold, Jennifer Bartolotta heads to McKinley Marina with a goal. “I’m gonna sweat out all the things that no longer serve me,” she said, watching the sun rise over Lake Michigan around 7 a.m. one early winter...

Burger King franchisee ordered to pay teens $237K

MADISON - The operator of more than 100 Burger King franchises in Wisconsin has been ordered by the Evers administration to pay more than $237,000 in unpaid wages to its teen employees after state officials found nearly 2,000 child labor law...

U.S.-Russia nuclear restriction expires

WASHINGTON – A 15-year-old treaty that restricted how many nuclear weapons the United States and Russia can maintain has come to an end, as experts warn that no new agreement could portend a new arms race not seen since the Cold War. The New START...

Procell shows redemption can’t promise forgiveness

In America, there’s no such thing as redemption if you are a minority. No matter how long ago your crime was or how earnestly you repay your debt to society, there will always be a cloud hanging over your head. Just ask Adam Procell, who was forced to...

Milwaukeeans mobilize as ICE operates in Minnesota

Following the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minnesota, many Milwaukee residents have felt called to prepare their own communities for a potential increase in immigration enforcement, and to support those...

Lazar faces time crunch in Supreme Court race

Warning signs for conservatives have emerged quickly in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, with the liberal candidate raising 10 times more than her Republican-backed opponent. Campaign finance reports filed in mid-January showed Democraticbacked state...

Doctors who fled Ukraine trying to get careers back

Sasha Druzhyna knows transplants. As an anesthesiologist and perfusionist in Kyiv, Ukraine, Druzhyna used specialized equipment to keep patients’ all about blood pumping during heart transplants and keep donor organs alive until they reached their...

Connect wotm tme Journal Sentonel

By the time February rolls around, most everyone’s thoughts turn to spring. In the newsroom, we’re already looking toward summer – specifically, the arrival of our class of summer interns. We are reviewing applications, conducting interviews and...

High Life replacement plan draws questions

The possible replacement of downtown’s Miller High Life Theatre with a 650-room hotel tied to Baird Center is drawing questions from public officials who oversee the venues. That recommendation is within a new study commissioned by the Wisconsin...

Kewaunee nuclear plant plans to restart

The eNewspaper is an electronic copy of your print newspaper. Enjoy every page by going to jsonline.com/enewspaper or scan this code on your mobile device. You will also find late news and sports in the bonus sections. Check it out today! The company...

Trump, Noem slammed over Pretti gun comments

The fatal shooting of Green Bay native Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis has divided many along familiar faultlines, but it’s galvanized one group: gun owners. Those who own and carry firearms in Wisconsin and elsewhere have criticized...

Milwaukee saw fewest births on record in 2025

In step with global and national trends, Milwaukee logged its lowest number of births on record in 2025, with under 7,400 babies born in the city last year. As of Jan. 5, Milwaukee had recorded 7,343 births in 2025, though that number will likely be...

President ‘to look into’ reducing agents

MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Jan. 26 said President Donald Trump agreed to consider reducing the number of immigration agents in Minnesota and will ensure state officials can independently investigate the deadly shooting of Alex Pretti by...

Could Milwaukee be next ICE target?

The roughly 3,000 federal immigration agents roving the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro are less than a day’s drive from Milwaukee. And when they surged into Chicago in the fall, they were even closer, a couple hours away. For U.S. Immigration and Customs...

AT WORK IN WAUPUN

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...

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...

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...

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...

‘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...

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...

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,...

‘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...

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...

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...

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,...

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,”...

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...

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.

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...

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....

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...

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 –...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...