text:
Thousands of eligible Wisconsin voters face ballot barriers in jail | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Matt Mencarini / Wisconsin Watch
October 20, 2022
Within a few years of returning from two traumatic combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, David Carlson lost his voting rights.
He spent about four years in prison on felony charges that in Wisconsin result in disenfranchisement.
What Carlson didn’t realize is that while he sat in jail prior to his conviction, he could have cast a ballot. Only, he said, no one told him he was still eligible.
While tens of thousands of Wisconsinites are legally barred from voting because of felony convictions, thousands more eligible voters in local jails face persistent barriers to casting a ballot, something advocates for the incarcerated refer to as “de facto disenfranchisement.”
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
“Disenfranchisement is, in my opinion, a violation of our constitutional liberties, especially individuals who are eligible to vote and the only barrier is the fact that they’re in a jail that doesn’t have a well defined process,” said Carlson, now a community organizer and law student.
The Wisconsin state constitution enshrines voting as a right for all adults with only two exceptions — people deemed incompetent by a court and those serving felony sentences.
At any given time, some 10,000 to 12,000 people are locked up in the state’s county jails, with roughly half in on misdemeanor-related charges and/or awaiting trial, which means thousands likely still have the right to vote. Yet the number of those who actually cast a ballot is miniscule: about 50 in 2020, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin.
The ACLU’s 2022 report on incarcerated voting, released Monday, found 47 counties with a policy, many from Lexipol, a Texas-based company that creates public safety policy templates that local governments can use and adapt. Sixteen counties lacked any written policy and 15 had something more detailed than the Lexipol policy template.
Some that said they had no policy also said they help people vote and communicate with local clerks. For example, Dane County has no jail voting policy, but the Sheriff’s Office said it has worked with local clerks to create protocols for voting, and a 2021 ACLU report noted that the county has improved access to voting over the years.
Regardless of the presence or quality of a jail’s voting policy, hurdles remain for those incarcerated to obtain and cast a ballot. And a recent Supreme Court ruling banning drop boxes did not address an issue some Republicans raised: Whether state law requires all voters to place their absentee ballots in the mail themselves — which a person behind bars cannot do.
Voting rights for people incarcerated differ from state to state, and some jurisdictions work to ensure those rights can be exercised. In Illinois, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said facilitating voting among people who are incarcerated is important.
“It embeds somebody in their community, their community decisions,” Dart said. “It makes you, the individual, feel as if you’re no different than a person who hasn’t been in a jail in the sense of, ‘I get the same vote they do and mine is equal to theirs.’ ”
Wisconsin jails operate at the county level, and each sheriff’s department and jail administration determines how the facility runs. An eligible voter in jail could have access to the ballot accommodated or muddied by the jail policy — if there is one.
The number of counties spelling out jail-based voting procedures has increased in recent years, according to the ACLU of Wisconsin, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and All Voting is Local, which all have advocated for improvements.
In 2020, the coalition found that 28 counties had “brief policies with vague language,” 22 of which came from Lexipol. That first year, only Kenosha County could provide a “detailed policy.” The following year they found 22 counties had “created or improved a written policy.”
Milwaukee County, the state’s largest, has a policy that details the process and is also among the few that tracked voter participation in some form. At least 31 people have received an absentee ballot since 2020.
But the wide variety in policies means some eligible voters will never be told they can vote.
“It’s not enough to say that they have this right,” said Sgt. Doug Simpson, who oversees training at the Kenosha County jail. “You have to take the next few steps and say, ‘How are they going to go about doing these things?’ ”
Jail staff must facilitate voting, and Simpson said unless instructions are “spelled out A-B-C-D-E,” staff may not follow through.
In Kenosha, incarcerated people receive information about jail-based voting during intake. Simpson acts as the “designated facility liaison,” answering questions, checking voter registration online, photocopying identification and more.
“It’s an important constitutional issue, and we want to be on the right side of it,” Simpson said. And “from an agency standpoint, from a taxpayer standpoint, I don’t want to be defending lawsuits.”
In the opposite corner of the state, several jails have made efforts to more routinely engage incarcerated people about their rights, through periodic postings, informational sessions or registration events.
Engagement is essential because incarceration is traumatic, and “there are bigger things that that person’s worried about than voting,” said Capt. Dave Riewestahl, administrator of the Eau Claire County Jail.
The ACLU’s initial 2020 report prompted Riewestahl to improve his facility’s voting policies. Teaming up with the League of Women Voters and Chippewa Valley Votes, a local voting advocacy group, they developed a multipronged approach.
Eau Claire County Jail now posts its voting guide online. Electronic kiosks in each housing unit allow people to check eligibility and registration and message a social worker with questions.
The jail has even held several voter registration drives, the first in 2021. Riewestahl said registrations aren’t tracked because he doesn’t think it’s appropriate for the sheriff’s office to track that information.
Chippewa Valley Votes and the League of Women Voters have been central to organizing voter registration events in his jail.
Karen Voss, co-coordinator of Chippewa Valley Votes, said her group’s efforts have gone beyond Eau Claire County and included recent trips to Dunn County Jail to meet with residents in small groups.
“That has made a much bigger difference than I would have ever expected until it happened,” she said.
Volunteers can forge a “one-to-one connection” through casual, frank conversations, explaining the elected offices with direct impact on incarcerated people, such as sheriff, county board and city council.
One person confided that he assumed voting put him on “some sort of list” that opened him up to other responsibilities, like jury duty. Voss reassured him that was not the case.
Carlson said the general lack of voter education and outreach in jails plays a key role in diminished civic engagement among incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people.
“There’s so many different laws in so many different states on who is eligible, when you’re eligible, if you get a felony conviction, so a lot of people just think that once you have a felony you can never vote again,” Carlson said. “They’re very quick to ensure that you know that your right has been taken. But, there is no transparency on when that right comes back.”
Like all voters, people who are incarcerated need certain things to register or request an absentee ballot, including an identification card that fits the state’s requirement for voter ID. A jail photograph won’t do.
“The jail knows who it has,” Carlson said. “They have fingerprints, they have all of that. So for there to be this arbitrary rule that, no, it has to be this state-issued ID, it’s stopping a lot of people from being able to engage that are in the jails.”
Both Texas and Wisconsin have voter ID laws, and accept identification specifically for voting.
In Harris County, home to Houston, the jail ensures eligible voters are able to get such ID beforehand, said Maj. Phillip Bosquez. It’s one of the few places in the country where voting is offered at the jail.
Bosquez said the process starts weeks before an election and includes communication with elections officials about who is in the jail, who is registered to vote and who needs a voter ID.
A lot has to go right for someone to vote behind bars in Wisconsin. Even if they happen to get locked up in a facility with a proactive policy and clear procedure, and an acceptable form of photo ID — they still might not be able to cast a ballot.
“The wheels of government move very, very slowly,” said Kenosha’s Simpson.
If a person incarcerated in Kenosha — which has not held voting-related events — begins the process to vote by mail two weeks prior to an election, Simpson said they’re already too late.
He estimated they would need a month to get a copy of proper ID, absentee paperwork and for the staff to review it all, which means for anyone arrested and jailed weeks before an election it’s more difficult — if not impossible — to vote.
Riewestahl, of Eau Claire, said under the current law, it’s possible a person arrested and jailed the Monday before a Tuesday election could not vote.
Then, there’s the reality of jail turnover. Riewestahl said 75% of his population leaves within 10 days.
“So how do you get somebody who’s never registered to vote or never even cared about voting — how do you get them engaged in a jail setting? And then they follow through to get them through the registration part, to get the absentee ballot, to then mail it out?” Riewestahl said. “They’re most likely going to be gone.”
Jails in Chicago and Houston bring the polls to their incarcerated voters, efforts that came from jail staff working directly with local advocacy groups and election officials.
Chicago Votes, a voting rights advocacy group, encouraged the sheriff to make the jail a temporary early voting location, allowing incarcerated people the chance to vote in person on the two weekends before an election.
During the June primary, voter turnout for the Cook County Jail was higher than the city as a whole, 25% for the jail and 20% for the city, Block Club Chicago reported in July.
“The more opportunities that people have to vote the better,” said Alex Boutros, community organizing manager for Chicago Votes.
The nonprofit Wisconsin Watch (www.WisconsinWatch.org) collaborates with WPR, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by Wisconsin Watch do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.

created: October 20, 2022

author: Matt Mencarini / Wisconsin Watch


text:
Dave-Riewestahl-01 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 19, 2022

source: news-milwaukeenns

created: October 19, 2022

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Dwayne Burtin


text:
Dave-Riewestahl-02 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 19, 2022


text:
Eau-Claire-jail-01-1 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 19, 2022


text:
Eau-Claire-jail-01 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 19, 2022


text:
Eau-Claire-jail-02 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 19, 2022


text:
Houston-Jail-interior | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 19, 2022


text:
Jail-Voting | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 19, 2022


text:
5 things to know and do the weekend of Oct. 21 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
October 21, 2022
It’s Friday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please submit your news by clicking here at least two weeks in advance.
Día de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead” is an annual holiday originating in Mexico but celebrated all over Latin America and the United States. The holiday exists to remember and celebrate the lives of the dead through joyful remembrance, as opposed to solemn reflection. Officially, it is celebrated on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2, though the following events are happening this weekend to celebrate the holiday:
Walker’s Point Center for the Arts: Friday, Oct. 21
Join Walker’s Point Center for the Arts for the free opening reception of its 30th annual Día de los Muertos celebration, which includes altares (altars) from community members, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21 at 839 S. 5th St. The altares will be up until Friday, Nov. 11.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
Milwaukee Art Museum: Sunday, Oct. 23
Join the Milwaukee Art Museum for a family-friendly celebration of Día de los Muertos involving hands-on art making, a student art exhibition, performances and the opportunity to meet local Wisconsin artists Yesica Coria, Gabriela Jiménez Marván, and Richie Morales. The celebration takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 700 N. Art Museum Drive. More information here.
Zócalo Sunday, Oct. 23
The food park Zócalo is hosting a Día de los Muertos celebration that includes a procession through the neighborhood and Latina-owned vendors. The celebration takes place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 636 S. 6th St.
Milwaukee Film hosts the seventh annual Milwaukee Muslim Film Festival with showings that continue through Sunday, Oct. 23 all at the Oriental Theatre, located at 2230 N. Farwell Ave.
Support Your Move MKE by attending this costume party, starting at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22 at Ms. Yesenia’s Creative Studio, located at 2926 Forest Home Ave. Tickets are $10 here.
Bring your collection of family photographs, letters, and keepsakes to be digitized for your own private collections, with help from the Wisconsin Black Historical Society and Museum. The event also is sponsored by the Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and Whose Land? and includes a hot brunch. It begins at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 2620 W. Center St. The event is free, but if you want food, RSVP here.
Celebrate the one-year anniversary of the renaming of Lucille Berrien Park. Berrien was one of the original founders of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression and a longtime resident of Milwaukee. Organizers are looking for residents near the park to offer input on what they’d like to see on a future park mural. The celebration includes food and drinks and takes place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 3629 N. 16th St.

created: October 21, 2022

author: Sam Woods


text:
6295761203_b6a781a566_k | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
October 20, 2022

author: Ron Smith


text:
Where you and your family can celebrate Día de los Muertos and Halloween in Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
October 21, 2022
Looking for fun activities for your family this season?
From Halloween events to harvest fairs to Día de los Muertos, Milwaukee has you covered. Here’s an extensive list of events happening in the city this month and some safety tips.
(Did we miss your event? Let us know at info@milwaukeenns.org. Put “Día de los Muertos and Halloween family events” in the subject line.)
The sixth annual Trunk N Treat in Clarke Square takes place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 2137 W. Greenfield Ave. Candy, a bounce house, prizes, food, face painting, pumpkins and community resources will be available. The event allows children to go from car to car in a designated safe place to trick or treat.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
“The Environmental Nightmare,” safe trick or treat at Pulaski Park Pavilion, 2677 S. 16th St., takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Organizers will provide hot chocolate, sweet bread and a free pumpkin.
Trunk-or-Treat/Resource Fair at Metcalfe Park, North 33rd Street and West North Avenue, takes place from noon to 4 p.m. Contact Elizabeth (414-708-6066) at Safe & Sound if you have questions.
Trick-or-Treat Food Truck Spooktacular at Arlington Heights Park, 3429 W. Pierce St., in Silver City. The event takes place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will feature family-friendly activities, youth resources, food trucks and a costume contest. Free candy and pumpkins will be available while supplies last.
Milwaukee Police Department District 7 will host “Kids, Cops, and Costumes” at 3626 W. Fond Du Lac Ave. from noon to 3 p.m.
Trick-or-Treating at night in Enderis Park takes place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for children and friends 12 and younger. Children must be in costume and accompanied by a parent or guardian.  Enderis Park is at 2956 N. 72 St.
The first Sherman Park Harvest Fest will run from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at 3000 W. Sherman Blvd. Event will feature food, music and other activities.
Día de los Muertos 5K Run and Picnic, a benefit for playground equipment, will take place at Prince of Peace School, 1646 S. 22nd St., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Event will feature music, a taco sale, and prizes. To support the walk by donating, go to catholicschoolsWALK.org.
Free indoor trick or treat for children 10 years and younger at the Latino Family Expo & Festival. Event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at St. Augustine Preparatory Academy, 2607 S. 5th St. Expo will feature a children’s area, piñata party, cultural exhibits and other resources.
Día de los Muertos Festival and 5K run/walk at Forest Home Cemetery, 2405 W. Forest Home Ave. Event kicks off with a run/walk at 9 a.m. followed by a festival that runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Arts and crafts, local vendors and food trucks, face painting, music and dance will be among the highlights.
Trick or treat is scheduled for the City of Milwaukee from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Community Trunk or Treat from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the parking lot of Mother of Good Counsel, 6725 W. Burleigh St. Register to participate or get more information at bit.ly/colctreat22.
Northcott Neighborhood House and Bader Philanthropies are hosting a Trunk or Treat from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on West Wright Street from North 7th Street to MLK Drive.
Central Lindsay Heights presents a Trunk or Treat Halloween Block Party from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the 2300 block of North 17th Street. Event will include food, music, candy, raffles and prizes for best trunk and costume.
Here are some steps from the National Safety Council to help make this a happy and safe Halloween.

author: Edgar Mendez


text:
6295729257_64b0a53ad5_k | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
October 20, 2022


text:
5 things to know and do this week in Milwaukee: Oct. 24 to Oct. 28 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
October 24, 2022
It’s Monday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please submit your news by clicking here at least two weeks in advance.
Learn how to become certified as a women and/or minority-owned business during this free presentation from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at Rise and Grind Cafe, located at 2737 N. Martin Luther King Drive. This is a hybrid event. If you register for the virtual option, the Zoom link will be emailed to you before the program.
There are two get-out-the-vote events happening on Tuesday, Oct. 25.
Milwaukee Area Technical College is hosting a voting rally and march to the polls for early voting from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., starting 1015 N. 6th St. More information on the event here.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
Show off your baseball skills while voting from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Clinton Rose Park, located at 451 W. Burleigh St. The event is hosted by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, but you do not need to be a Democrat to participate in the event. More information here.
Learn about home repair loans and grants, home buying resources, maximizing energy savings and receive advice about tenant rights and landlord issues. This resource fair lasts from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at the Kosciuszko Community Center, located at 2201 S. 7 St.
Hear actors from the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s upcoming play “Misery” read live from the script at this free event from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26 at Escuela Verde Newline Cafe, located at 3618 W. Pierce St. More information here.
“Hot sauce poetry night” is back at Daddy’s Soul Food & Grille, with an open mic and food and beverages available for purchase. The event takes place from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 28 at 754 N. 27th St. Tickets are $10 in advance; $15 at the door.
Wisconsin mental health clinicians are invited to meet their peers at the WI Clinical Collective’s October experiential meeting. The free meeting lasts from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27 at STRONG Milwaukee Center, located at 510 W. Burleigh St.

created: October 24, 2022


text:
17838896171_a7b87c576b_k | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
October 23, 2022

created: October 23, 2022


text:
A glaring national spotlight is on Wisconsin’s Nov. 8 election: Here’s what you need to know. | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
O. Ricardo Pimentel
October 25, 2022
Got a feeling that someone – everyone – is watching you? They are.
When Milwaukeeans and Wisconsinites go to the polls Nov. 8, people all over the country will be paying careful attention — as in agonizing over – for whom those votes are cast in certain key races.
Why this hyper-national focus will occur can be described with two words: battleground state or, if you prefer, swing state. Or maybe it can better summed up with a date – 2024 – or another word: Trump.
The year 2024, of course, is when the next presidential election happens. And Wisconsin 2022 is viewed as one bellwether for how that will go, essentially whether Donald Trump will have the political legs for another presidential run. Whether he does or doesn’t is of intense interest nationally across nearly every political line.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
Wisconsin, along with a few other states, could be pivotal in determining what happens.
That’s because candidates for top state offices, principally gubernatorial and U.S. Senate candidates, can reasonably be viewed as pro- or anti-Trump. Hence, a vote for them will be viewed as a voter embrace of Trump.
That means wins or losses can help determine whether Trump, also facing a slew of legal problems, staggers or romps into a possible 2024 run or perhaps determines he doesn’t run at all.
The state helped put Trump over the top in the 2016 presidential race, but opted for Joe Biden in 2020, triggering false claims that Democrats stole the election.
You can be forgiven, however, if you view this national scrutiny as irrelevant. That’s because, whatever the Wisconsin vote says about the presidential election two years from now, who wins state and local races will also have consequences for governance in the state and its municipalities.
Though the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races are viewed as predictors for 2024, they and the rest of what’s on the ballot are also about policies directly affecting local and state governance. And the issues in Milwaukee – among them crime, police and gun violence, city budget woes, health generally and reproductive health specifically, housing inequities and the amount of cleanup still remaining for lead contamination – will be decided by the quality of local and state candidates and their political inclinations.
In Milwaukee, several races fit this category of chiefly being about local and state governance. More than a few, however, sport a single candidate, with write-in options available.
For instance, the races for Milwaukee County sheriff and County Clerk of Circuit Court feature only one Democratic candidate each because Republicans haven’t put up candidates. Milwaukee is viewed as a Democratic stronghold, traditionally limiting the chances of Republican wins.
For Milwaukee County Sheriff, the candidate is Undersheriff Denita Renee Ball, who is temporarily replacing Sheriff Earnell Lucas. Lucas announced Friday that he was starting a new job Monday as the vice president of security for Wisconsin for Fiserv, the financial technology company that is based in Brookfield.
Anna Maria Hodges, the retired chief deputy clerk of Circuit Court, is running for Milwaukee County Clerk of Circuit Court.
There are solo candidates in a number of state Assembly races, which occur every two years.
Democrat Darrin Madison, a former candidate for the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, is the sole candidate in Assembly District 10. He was an AmeriCorps Public Ally, working for the Urban Ecology Center to expand its Volunteer Program and the City of Milwaukee’s Environmental Collaboration Office on its eco-neighborhoods initiative.
Other solo Assembly runs are:
In Assembly District 8: Democratic incumbent Sylvia Ortiz-Velez is running unopposed. This will be her second term.
Assembly District 11: The Democratic incumbent is Dora Drake, from Milwaukee’s Graceland neighborhood and a 2015 Marquette University graduate with a degree in social welfare and justice.
Assembly District 16: Democratic incumbent Kaylan Haywood, first elected in 2018.
Assembly District 18: Democratic incumbent Evan Goyke, an attorney first elected to this office in 2012.
There also are contested state Assembly races in which the winners will represent some or part of the City of Milwaukee. Among them:
Assembly District 9: Democratic incumbent Marisabel Cabrera, an immigration attorney first elected in 2018, is being challenged by Republican candidate Ryan Antczak, a South Side resident and former county corrections officer.
Assembly District 12: Republican Greg Canady, for whom little biographical data could be found, faces Democratic incumbent LaKeshia Myers, the former director of education for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and a former educator for Milwaukee Public Schools.
Assembly District 17: Republican Abie Eisenbach, active in Sherman Park neighborhood activities and owner of a kosher food company, challenges Democratic incumbent Supreme Moore Omokunde, a former member of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.
Two state Senate races in our area are contested, with candidates vying for seats that will represent at least parts of Milwaukee. They are:
State Senate District 3: Democratic incumbent Tim Carpenter, a legislator first elected in 1984, is being challenged by Republican Angel Sanchez, a former Milwaukee alderman elected in 2000 who lost a  re-election bid in 2004.
State Senate District 7: The Democratic incumbent is Chris Larson, a former business manager and member of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors from 2008 to 2010, when he was elected to the state Senate. Peter Gilbert is the Republican in the race. He owned an insurance company and is a former combat medic.
The Democratic incumbent for the 4 Congressional District seat is Gwen Moore, first elected in 2004 and handily winning re-election since. Her opponent is Republican Tim Rogers, a Milwaukee native who is a former candidate for the office.
The attorney general runs the state Department of Justice and defends the state in court.
The Democratic incumbent is Josh Kaul, a former federal prosecutor and Oshkosh native first elected in 2018. The Republican challenger is Eric Toney, Fond du Lac County’s district attorney, first elected in 2012.
This race features different political views for the candidates.
On abortion, Kaul, the son of former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, has filed a legal challenge to the state’s 1849 abortion ban and pledged not to enforce any abortion ban enacted by the state. This followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s undoing of abortion protections in Roe v. Wade earlier this year, punting the issue to the states even as efforts are underway to approve federalized abortion bans in Congress. He favors abortion rights.
Toney, the son of a retired sheriff’s sergeant, said he will enforce any abortion law Wisconsin enacts, including prosecuting doctors performing abortions should the 1849 law survive and including whether any new Wisconsin law violates his own anti-abortion views.
If the state Supreme Court rules against Kaul’s challenge, however, this opens the door for active abortion enforcement should Toney win.
On elections, key GOP politicians have insisted that President Joe Biden did not fairly win the Wisconsin election in 2020. Toney said he wants uniform election laws throughout the state and to hold the Wisconsin Election Commission accountable for what occurred in 2020. But this is occurring as many Republicans seek to eliminate the commission altogether and perhaps put control with the secretary of state, as occurs in many states.
Democrats fear this will lead to attempts to invalidate a legitimate election in the future, fears that are also featured in Wisconsin’s secretary of state race and in states where secretaries of state run elections. Some of those races in other states feature election-deniers, those who allege that the 2020 election was stolen, claims that have failed on many fronts including in 60-plus court challenges.
Kaul successfully defended against multiple legal challenges to Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential election, calling Trump’s challenges of the state’s vote “a disgraceful Jim Crow strategy for mass disenfranchisement of voters.”
Click here for a clear examination of the candidates’ views in this race on various issues by WUWM 89.7, Milwaukee’s NPR.
The secretary of state mostly manages public records and serves on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands.
This contest pits Democratic incumbent Doug La Follette, who has held the job for 44 years, against Republican Amy Loudenbeck, an Assembly member since 2010. Two others are in the race. One is Libertarian Neil Harmon, vice chair of the state’s Libertarian Party who has worked in health care. The other is Sharyl McFarland, a Green Party member who is a social justice and human rights advocate.
Mostly at issue here is what duties the secretary of state should have.
La Follette alleges that Loudenbeck wants to give the office election control and that could mean a party trying to overturn a legitimate vote.
Loudenbeck has said she is not in favor of a “power grab” and that the Legislature should decide this issue. But Democrats fear that a GOP-dominated Legislature, a scenario that’s likely even after the Nov. 8 election, would indeed give such control to Loudenbeck should she win. She said she would not try to subvert an election if election workers properly follow the law.
Click here for an analysis of each secretary of state candidates’ views by WUWM 89.7.
The treasurer has one principal task: be a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. These commissioners manage 80,000 acres, a $1.3 billion trust fund and provides funding for public schools.
There is no incumbent in this race because Sarah Godlewski is not running. She ran an unsuccessful race in the Democratic primary for U.S. senator.
There are three candidates for state treasurer.
The Republican candidate is John Leiber, who was on the board of the Racine County Republican Party and is a former state legislative aide. He is generally against expanding the treasurer’s duties.
Democrat Aaron Richardson, the mayor of Fitchburg, wants, in addition to the office’s current duties, to help improve the state’s financial literacy and invest more in solar energy.
Constitution Party candidate Andrew Zuelke of Ripon will also be on the ballot.
There are also two referenda on the Milwaukee ballot. Both invite yes or no votes.
One reads: “Should the Wisconsin Legislature prohibit the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of semi-automatic ‘military style’ firearms whose prohibition is allowed under the Wisconsin and United States Constitution.”
The other reads: “Do you favor allowing adults 21 years of age and older to engage in the personal use of marijuana while also regulating commercial marijuana-related activities and imposing a tax on the sale of marijuana.”
The measures are purely advisory, intended to give elected officials the temperature of voters on these issues.
But it is the races for U.S. Senate and governor that are garnering most of the national attention and most of the campaign spending.
U.S. Senate – a six-year term.
Simply, if the GOP hangs on to the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Ron Johnson, this portends well for Republican chances to recapture the White House in 2024. The theory is that the U.S. Senate vote here can be viewed as a reflection on voter preferences in this swing state, which, like the nation, is sharply divided politically. But it is also heavily watched because a Johnson win strengthens the GOP’s chances for recapturing the Senate, the case also with a few other Senate races such as in Pennsylvania and Georgia.
And a GOP-controlled Senate means a Democratic president then has little wiggle room to pass legislation. This will be so even if Democrats manage to hold on to the House of Representatives.
Incumbent Johnson, completing his second term, is facing a stiff challenge from Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. This had been viewed as a neck-to-neck race but Johnson has gained ground in polling lately after a lot of advertising that paints Barnes as weak on crime and a “woke” liberal.
Those ads say Barnes is for “defunding the police” and eliminating ICE, referring to immigration controls. Neither claim is strictly true, the fact-checking says, determining that the ICE claim is mostly false and the defunding police claim all false.
The Barnes campaign has been busy in the meantime casting Johnson as too radical for the state on abortion – following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling – and other issues such as tax policy favoring the rich.
On abortion, Barnes is broadly for women’s reproductive rights, including supporting congressional codification of the protections once offered by Roe v. Wade. Johnson voiced support for the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe that said states should decide and then said he favors a state referendum on abortion, though the chances of this occurring with this GOP Legislature is virtually nil.
Johnson’s role and words on the legitimacy of Wisconsin’s 2020 vote that denied Trump the state’s Electoral College votes and the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol have also emerged as an issue.
Johnson’s office was tasked at one point to give documents on fake electors to Vice President Mike Pence before he formally validated the vote.
Johnson has downplayed the severity and intent of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. He said the rioters who battled with and without weapons with law enforcement and tried to halt the peaceful transition of power “were people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law.” He said that if the rioters had been Black Lives Matter or Antifa protesters, “I might have been a little concerned,” a claim that critics labeled as racist.
Barnes, meanwhile, has criticized the attack and attempts to delegitimize elections.
Their differing views were starkly on display in the candidates’ recent debate.
The governor is the state’s top executive with veto power.
The state’s race for governor pits Democratic incumbent Tony Evers against Republican Tim Michels, who owns the state’s largest construction company.
There is clear overlap on issues in this race with the U.S. Senate race and both candidates have been trying to cast the other as extreme. And as with the U.S. Senate race, the candidates have focused a lot on abortion and protecting democracy.
On abortion, Evers called the Legislature into special session for legislators to address the fact that the Supreme Court decision triggers an 1849 abortion ban that doesn’t even have exceptions for rape and incest. The GOP-controlled Legislature did nothing. Evers voices support for full reproductive rights for women.
Michels not so long ago offered clear support for the 1849 law but said he would sign a bill with narrow exceptions.
On elections, Evers has correctly stated that the 2020 election was legitimate. Michels, who won the GOP primary after he was endorsed by Trump, has said he would restructure the Wisconsin Election Commission, the body in a lot of election deniers’ sights for elimination. And he appeared at a campaign event with former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who ran an expensive investigation into the 2020 based on baseless claims of wrongdoing.
For general information on the election in Milwaukee and Wisconsin, click here and here. And WUWM offers a handy guide of election do’s and don’ts here.

created: October 25, 2022

author: O. Ricardo Pimentel


text:
15583860811_f70dfd3223_k-2 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
October 24, 2022


text:
Inside the NNS Newsroom: Meet Deborah Heffner, our first Director of Development and Partnerships | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
October 26, 2022
For 11 years, the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service has made it its business to cover news that matters for the communities of color we serve.
As a nonprofit newsroom, we have been blessed to have the financial support of many of Milwaukee’s leading philanthropic foundations, including the Zilber Family Foundation, Bader Philanthropies and the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.
And we would not be able to meet our mission to provide evidence-based reporting without the steadfast support of Marquette University and the Diederich College of Communication, where we are based. This support and the support of donors enables us to provide our work free of charge and to pay the salaries of our newsroom family, the most diverse staff in Milwaukee.
Now, we are beginning the work that is needed to sustain our business.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
As we’ve told you in previous columns, the American Journalism Project has jointly awarded the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism $1.4 million over three years to support our efforts to reshape the local news ecosystem in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin.
The grant will build revenue and operations teams at both nonprofits to support the expansion of journalism that represents, informs and engages local communities.
And (drum roll and tambourine, please), it has allowed NNS to hire our first Director of Development and Partnerships who will help us craft a fundraising strategy and forge new relationships to build Neighborhood News Service’s visibility in the business and philanthropic community.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Deborah Heffner.
Heffner is a nonprofit leader with over two decades of experience in development, grants administration and program evaluation. She specializes in advancing the mission of organizations and community-based coalitions by leading sustainability and growth-building efforts.
Before joining the NNS team, Heffner served as the Strategy Director at Community Advocates, where she oversaw its housing stability programs. She spent the pandemic leading a team that has administered emergency rental assistance to over 12,000 households that have experienced financial hardship during COVID-19, disbursing $64 million in federal stimulus dollars since June 2020.
Heffner is especially passionate about forging relationships and building partnerships to achieve a common goal or create change. Most recently, she coordinated the launch and implementation of the groundbreaking Milwaukee Rental Housing Resource Center, a collaboration of nine co-partners working together to prevent eviction through coordinated service delivery. Heffner helped raise over $1 million dollars to sustain this effort since 2020.
Previously, she served as grants manager for the Community Advocates Public Policy Institute and coordinator of the City of Milwaukee Tobacco-Free Alliance. Before joining the Community Advocates team, Heffner served as the associate director of Evaluation Services at the Center for Self- Sufficiency.
A proud University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee graduate, Heffner has a Bachelor of Science in Educational Policy and Community Studies. She’s been married for nearly 20 years and is driven by her three children, who inspire her to grow and continue to work toward a Milwaukee for all.
“The pandemic brought us all into uncharted territory,” Heffner said. “We became isolated at a time where access to news and resources were never more vital.
“As my team and I worked to administer emergency rental assistance to those experiencing financial hardship, the inequities that exist in our community around health, well-being and safety were also elevated,” she said. “I saw firsthand what a critical role NNS plays in providing news and resources to traditionally underserved populations in the central city and in holding agencies accountable when it was needed the most.”
Heffner said she looks forward to helping NNS continue to excel.
“Keeping grounded in our mission and guided by our greatest assets, our readers, we will forge new partnerships and generate resources to transform news in Milwaukee,” Heffner said.
You can reach Heffner at deborah.heffner@milwaukeenns.org

created: October 26, 2022


text:
52453919432_a0d120be91_k | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
October 25, 2022


text:
What is on the minds of voters? Pollsters and professors weigh in on the upcoming elections | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Devin Blake
October 27, 2022
Inflation is the top concern for Wisconsin voters as the midterm elections near, according to the latest poll conducted by Marquette University Law School. But public schools and gun violence are not far behind.
For people in the city, there is an overall “sense that the economy is not where it was pre-COVID and things cost more and things aren’t running as smoothly as they used to, and there’s general frustration with that,” said Paru Shah, professor of political science at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Although inflation peaked in June, standard ways of measuring it indicate that it is still historically high.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
The consumer price index, or CPI, is one of the most common measures of inflation and tracks changes in how much households are spending on basic goods and services.
The CPI was 8.1% higher in September than it was last year.
According to a recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment in the Milwaukee area was also higher in August compared to August 2021.
Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll, said the second- and third-highest ranking interests in the October poll – public schools and gun violence – are extremely close in ranking to inflation, however.
“Those three are very close together, just a point difference,” Franklin said, which is “well inside the margin of error. I would be pretty cautious about saying that one of those three are noticeably higher than the others.”
Looking at the polls conducted by Marquette in 2022 as a whole, gun violence ranked highest, with 87% of respondents saying they are “very concerned” about it.
This was followed by crime with 74% and inflation with 69%.
Kathleen Dolan, distinguished professor of political science at UWM, said it is often a chicken-or-egg problem when it comes to accurately analyzing the interests of voters.
“It’s not surprising – those are the ones dominating the national conversation. … It’s hard for us to know if they are really motivating people’s interests in these elections, or are these the things that we are hearing the most about,” Dolan said.
The discrepancy between the reality of an issue and people’s concern over it is proof of this phenomenon, Dolan added.
“We know that inflation is bad in the United States, but we know that it wasn’t necessarily singularly caused by (Gov.) Tony Evers. … We know that crime is increasing but not as rapidly as people believe that it has.”
Another important reason to read the results of the Marquette polls with some caution, as it relates to voters in the city of Milwaukee, is the sample size. Marquette surveyed people throughout Wisconsin, of which Milwaukee residents comprise only 8%.
“We simply do not have enough cases to say anything (about Milwaukee) with confidence,” explained Franklin.
But the fact that Milwaukee is deeply and historically Democratic does provide a firm basis for analyzing how people in the city will vote.
The political party that a voter identifies with has much greater significance for how a person votes than their interest in any particular topic, Dolan said.
“Two sides are taking very different policy perspectives and the things that people care about become more closely aligned with party identity,” she said.
“By a large piece, we are used to hearing … about the gender gap or attitudes of racial groups,” but the party identity gap “is the biggest of the identity gaps we can measure. Party identification really dwarves everything,” Dolan added.
To address inflation, Tim Michels, Republican candidate for governor, proposed lowering corporate and income taxes, eliminating other taxes entirely and increasing U.S. energy production.
Consistent with this proposal, incumbent U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican, has called for reducing  deficit spending. He said federal aid that goes to “paying workers to sit on the sidelines” should be done away with.
The Michels campaign has also framed the problem of education as a part of the larger problem of inflation.
“Wisconsinites face skyrocketing inflation, shrinking retirement savings and the prospect of tough economic times ahead if we don’t change course,” Michels said. That is why there must be an increase in “opportunities for K-12 students to participate in hands-on internships, youth apprenticeships, and programs such as Dual Enrollment” as well as an increase in spending on “the state’s vocational technical training to enhance the hands-on skills of the Wisconsin workforce.”
When Michels discusses education outright, he advances a vague but broad expansion of the school choice system.
Johnson has also stated that he supports a system that emphasizes the importance of “parental rights” when choosing schools.
Michels plans to address crime and violence with more money for police, “particularly in our most dangerous neighborhoods” as well as with a “state aid reduction for those who attempt to ‘defund the police.’”
Johnson called for a similar increase in police spending, because there is a “hostility toward law enforcement promoted by leaders of the Democrat Party and the radical left. They are one result of Democrat policies like catch-and-release at the border, low bail or no bail and soft-on-crime treatment of criminals . . . .”
Their Democratic counterparts are united in their opposition to these sorts of solutions to problems surrounding inflation, crime and public schools.
To address inflation, particularly the rising costs of goods, Evers, a Democrat, and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, said they will provide various forms of tax relief specifically for the working and middle class.
Evers and Barnes both framed crime as an issue not simply about police spending.
“When our communities do not have opportunities, gun violence and gun crimes are what fills the void,” said Barnes. “Rebuilding the middle class is how we make our communities safer. It means investing in good paying jobs, education and child care.”
Evers has laid out a similar diagnosis and solution.
“Improving public safety requires connecting the dots to address the root causes of violence and finding local solutions,” he said. For this reason, more money should be spent on “services like after-school and out-of-school programs” as well as “additional programming in high-crime areas.”
Evers increased spending on public schools during his first term and promised to continue this spending in his second.
In case you missed it: A glaring national spotlight is on Wisconsin’s Nov. 8 election: Here’s what you need to know.

created: October 27, 2022

author: Devin Blake


text:
24442228083_1b2b00bad8_k | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
October 26, 2022


text:
5 things to know and do the weekend of Oct. 28 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
October 28, 2022
It’s Friday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please submit your news by clicking here at least two weeks in advance.
Día de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead,” is an annual holiday originating in Mexico but celebrated all over Latin America and the United States. The holiday exists to remember and celebrate the lives of the dead through joyful remembrance as opposed to solemn reflection.
Latino Arts Inc.’s annual Day of the Dead ofrendas exhibit is on now. You can view ofrendas that community members have constructed to remember loved ones who have passed on. The exhibit is on through Nov. 18, but the opening reception will be starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28 at Latino Arts Inc., located at 1028 S. 9th St.
You can also celebrate Dia de los Muertos at other events this weekend. More information on our recent list of ways to celebrate Dia de los Muertos and Halloween here.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
Organized by El Conquistador Newspaper, the 11th annual Latino Family Expo and Festival will feature free indoor trick-or-treating, a children’s area, a resource fair, Latino cultural exhibits and live entertainment. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Augustine Preparatory School, located at 2607 S. 5th St.
The Amani Youth Council, made up of young people from or around the Amani neighborhood, is holding a gathering at Moody Park featuring a costume contest, snacks and giveaways, including a Thanksgiving feast. The event takes place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Moody Park Pavilion, located at 2201 W. Auer Ave.
Bicycling nerds are invited to this meetup organized by Red Bike & Green-Milwaukee and are encouraged to dress as their favorite historical figure or fictional character and then do a short neighborhood ride. The meetup takes place from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30 at 2344 N. 16th St.
There is a general election coming up on Nov. 8. You can vote early now through Nov. 5 at times and locations listed here.
Souls to the Polls, a nonprofit led by local faith leaders that encourages voting, has organized two events to get out the vote this weekend. Details below:
“Turn up the vote” is a free concert at Red Arrow Park, also known as Dontre Hamilton Park, where attendees can also vote early. The concert takes place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28 at 920 N. Water St.
“Souls to the Polls Sunday” is a meetup in Midtown to vote early. A rally begins at noon, but nearby polls are open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 30 at the Midtown Shopping Center, located at 5700 W. Capitol Drive.
La Revo Books hosts this book signing, film screening and conversation with Simón Sedillo, author of “Weapons, Drugs, and Money: Crime, Corruption, and Community Based Liberation in the US/Mexico Neoliberal Military Political Economy.” The event takes place from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29 at La Finca Coffeehouse, located at 3558 E. Sivyer Ave. in St. Francis.

created: October 28, 2022


text:
22801721236_a4c3a15a7a_k | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
October 27, 2022


text:
The baby formula shortage is easing. Here’s what Wisconsin parents and caregivers should know. | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Hope Karnopp / Wisconsin Watch
October 28, 2022
A nationwide baby formula shortage that stressed families for much of 2022 is easing in Wisconsin, but questions about formula access still loom for some caregivers.
Grocery store shelves still aren’t as full as they were before the shortage began in February, said Camen Hofer, the chair of the Wisconsin WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Association and director of the Wood County Health Department’s WIC program.
“But Similac is on the shelves, and families have been able to find more of the formula that they’re looking for,” Hofer said.
The formula shortage resulted from pandemic-related supply chain issues and two shutdowns of an Abbott Nutrition plant in Sturgis, Michigan — first amid an investigation into reports of bacterial infections that prompted a recall and later due to flooding.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
Abbott restarted production of Similac at the Sturgis facility in late August, bringing the popular brand back onto the market. Another recall on Oct. 14 impacted some 2-ounce, ready-to-feed products due to a sealing issue on less than 1% of recalled bottles. But it was not expected to crimp overall supply in the U.S.
Recent photos posted to the Milwaukee Formula Parents Facebook group, which formed to help local parents navigate the shortage, show fuller shelves. But some parents are still struggling to find specialty formulas.
In late August, officials within the U.S Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service anticipated supply problems to linger for the rest of 2022 “due to a shift in the varieties and sizes traditionally available in the market.”
As stock improves, here’s what parents and caregivers — especially those enrolled in the WIC program — should know about formula access.
Before the shortage, WIC allowed families to spend their benefits on only five of Abbott’s Similac formulas, unless they requested a medical formula.
State-run, federally funded WIC programs contract with only one company in each state to lower costs. Formula companies offer states significant rebates for the privilege to exclusively provide formulas to WIC programs. Abbott contracts with about two-thirds of states, including Wisconsin.
But the Wisconsin Department of Health Services opened up more options early during the shortage, including different brands and container sizes, with Abbott covering the cost of substitutes.
Alternative brands will remain available through at least Dec. 31, 2022, the third time that date has been pushed back.
Alternate sizes and forms of Abbott’s Similac products, including Total Comfort, will continue to be available through Feb. 28, 2023, the state health department said.
The state health department notes on its substitutions list that WIC participants should return to Similac products if they are available because they are “safe and supply is increasing.”
“We are letting families know that if Abbott products are on the shelf, they are safe to purchase,” DHS spokesperson Elizabeth Goodsitt said.
But some parents remain nervous about returning to Abbott after the recall.
Camila Martin, a pediatric clinical nutritionist at UW Health Kids, said parents should know that Abbott’s recall was voluntary, not mandatory. Abbott didn’t reopen its Sturgis plant until it met strict cleaning procedures and requirements, she noted.
“There’s a lot of eyes on them right now, which helps from a safety perspective — that we know that they’re going to be extra cautious, even more so than before,” Martin said.
Although each caregiver knows their baby best, Martin said, “for most infants, it is okay just to switch from one (formula) to the other as soon as they’ve exhausted that old supply.”
Caregivers can ease the transition by preparing separate half bottles of each formula according to the directions and mixing them together, Martin added.
Although Wisconsin’s WIC program will stop offering international brands like Kendamil and Bubs after 2022, those products may remain available in stores even after the shortage ends.
The FDA in September announced a long-term pathway for international manufacturers to remain on the market.
Families should weigh multiple variables when considering whether to stick with an international formula, Martin said, especially if there are questions about shipping the formula, language used or mixing directions.
Families should pay close attention to the mixing instructions, which are often in milliliters, not ounces. International scoops may be of different sizes, too, Hofer noted. The FDA has a conversion chart to help prepare international formulas.
“If I’m working with a family, I would always recommend that they switch to a U.S.-based equivalent that they can get from a store around here,” Martin said.
Caregivers should speak with a pediatrician if they have other questions about international formulas — including their iron content, Martin and Hofer said.
Some Wisconsin parents have reported a shortage of nursery or “baby” water products, some of which contain added fluoride.
“If a family has an infant that’s immunocompromised, distilled water can be an equivalent to nursery water,” Martin said. “There’s actually no regulations on what nursery water is.”
Municipal water is generally considered safe for infants, but parents can check with their physician for specifics on water safety in their area.
The World Health Organization recommends boiling water to kill bacteria — and not letting it sit for more than half an hour — before mixing it with formula while it’s still hot. Many families may not be aware of this best practice, Hofer said.
But boiling does not get rid of lead, if that’s a water supply concern.
Those with concerns about bacteria or lead in their water could buy distilled water or find another safe source, Martin said. She and Hofer recommend that families who rely on well water test it regularly and check with their local health department.
Not yet in Wisconsin, although the USDA is working toward online shopping by testing it in seven states. The lack of online ordering limited the options of Wisconsin WIC families who struggled to find certain formulas at brick-and-mortar stores.
“It’s going to be a little bit until people can actually use their cards online, which is unfortunate, because it’s something that feels like should be happening as soon as possible,” Hofer said.
Congress may reshape WIC as it examines proposals to reauthorize child nutrition programs, but its timeline for enacting such legislation is unclear.
One proposal would require states to authorize at least three companies to accept WIC benefits online by 2025. Other proposals would allow remote enrollment appointments and expand eligibility by 2026 to cover children until they reach 6 years old or kindergarten.
Families should talk with their pediatrician or local WIC office. Find contact information for each WIC office here.
The state health department has information for WIC families here, including the current substitutions list.
The American Academy of Pediatrics also has tips, including this information about imported formulas and this page about the newest recall.
See our previous infant formula Q&A here. It includes a list of breastfeeding support services.
The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (wisconsinwatch.org) collaborates with Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, Wisconsin Public Radio, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.

author: Hope Karnopp / Wisconsin Watch


text:
Formula-shelves-1 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 27, 2022


text:
Formula-shelves-3-1 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 27, 2022


text:
Formula-shelves-8 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 27, 2022


text:
Similac_grocery_shelf | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 27, 2022


text:
Local grow-your-own movement blossoms in America’s Dairyland | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Lydia Slattery / Wisconsin Watch
October 30, 2022
Sarah Bressler fell in love with growing food during an internship in urban farming her senior year of college. Now, she is the farm manager at the Hunger Task Force based out of Milwaukee, where she manages a 208-acre farm that provides half a million pounds of produce to its food bank each year.
The core labor force of The Farm is roughly 5,000 volunteers who pass through each season, and they, along with a full-time staff, grow about two dozen different fruits and vegetables, Bressler said.
The growing season is year-round, thanks to two hoop houses, also known as high tunnels, that allow them to grow crops during cold months. This is how urban farming combats food insecurity, even during Wisconsin winters.
“It’s a form of a greenhouse, but it’s in the fields,” she explained. “So it’s literally surrounding the growing space, so you’re actually still growing in the ground, but you have a structure around the growing space that has plastic wrapped on the top of it.”
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
The Farm is part of a growing local food movement in Wisconsin aimed at supplying healthy, high-quality fruits, vegetables and meat — hearkening back to an earlier time when nearly all food was produced locally.
The movement includes farmers markets, urban farming initiatives, community supported agriculture and food banks that provide local produce and, increasingly, offer programs aimed at meeting the needs of the 1 in 12 Wisconsinites who are food insecure.
During a February visit to the hoop houses, the temperature was 32 degrees outside, but a steamy 80 degrees inside, providing the necessary climate for spinach, carrots, collard greens and mustard greens to grow.
Still, the hoop houses are no replacement for the bounty of a summer harvest.
“It’s obviously a lot less,” explained Bressler, referring to the winter and early spring harvests, “but at the same time, we are still able to supply those fresh fruits and vegetables, and the hoop houses also give us an extension even in the spring.”
The Farm is about much more than giving people healthy food. It’s about changing habits and diet for a healthier life, especially for the 41% of Milwaukee children who live below the poverty line, Bressler said.
“Almost half of children don’t have enough to eat, let alone the right vitamins and minerals and nutrients that they need to grow and to use their brains in school,” she said.
“When they go to see a food pantry and they’re picking out their collard greens, they’re excited about leaving there and making something with them,” Bressler added. “There’s dignity there.”
Before the U.S. food system nationalized, people spent the summer and fall canning vegetables and stockpiling potatoes. Now large farms grow food year round in temperate climates like California’s Central Valley and ship it to grocery stores across the country.
Lydia Zepeda, a former University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and an expert on sustainable food movements, said most government agriculture policies do not support small, local farms, many of them passed down within families. This makes it unaffordable for almost anyone outside of large corporations to start a farm.
One movement pushing back against so-called factory farms is community supported agriculture, more commonly known as a CSA. It is a crop-sharing system in which the consumer takes on some of the farmer’s risk by buying produce or meat for a set price in advance of the harvest. This means that customers buy what’s available from the farmer – regardless of how well the growing season goes.
While there’s no official definition, CSAs generally involve farmers who deliver boxes of food or leave them at a central collection site on an agreed-upon schedule. Some weeks, those boxes could be full of tomatoes, while other weeks there could be other vegetables, depending on what’s ripe.
Organizations like Madison-based CSA FairShare Coalition connect local, organic farmers with consumers. Not everyone can afford organic CSAs, since they tend to be expensive, said Sarah Janes Ugoretz, the apprenticeship program coordinator for the nonprofit.
That’s why FairShare created the Partner Shares Program, which helps cover between 25% and 75% of the costs of joining a CSA each year by connecting low-income families with CSA farmers. The program allows someone who signs up for the program to get a 50% discount on the $600 cost per growing season for a standard share or the $400 cost of a small share.
Janes Ugoretz said households apply to be a part of the program and assess their own financial needs for the application. This year, 152 families were enrolled in the program, which receives grant funding for serving low-income families.
In pursuit of creating a culture of dignity surrounding food assistance, some food pantries and food banks have pushed to incorporate more produce into charitable food systems.
Organizations such as the River Food Pantry, which provides groceries and meals to people in the Dane County area, has begun providing more fresh produce in the groceries and meals it provides to its clients.
In 2021, the pantry received a $422,500 grant from the Inland Empire Community Foundation, a California-based nonprofit that provides grants to organizations working with vulnerable populations, said Helen Osborn-Senatus, director of operations for the pantry. With the grant, the organization bought produce from 35 local farmers, she said, spending roughly half of the nonprofit’s monthly budget on produce.
“Prior to COVID, money just wasn’t really spent on produce by most pantries or food banks, and now that’s a huge change,” Osborn-Senatus said.
Osborn-Senatus also works with Scott Williams, who owns the Mount Horeb, Wisconsin farm Garden To Be. Williams is an aggregator, supplying the pantry with produce from another two dozen farms. The River also gets donations of excess corn, tomatoes and squash from area farmers and gardeners, she said.
Farmers markets have also launched efforts to help food insecure families. The Dane County Farmers’ Market jumped into the movement head first, seeing a nearly three-fold increase in the program which accepts FoodShare cards used by people receiving government food assistance. FoodShare recipients can get equivalent “market dollars,” to be used with any vendors who sell eligible products.
Chrissy Ramakrishnan, the food access coordinator for the Dane County Farmers’ Market, oversees that program and others, including the Double Dollars Program. A Madison and Dane County program, Double Dollars provides a money match of FoodShare funds used at the market up to $25 for users each time they attend a local summer farmers market.
Usage of the FoodShare card program and the Double Dollars program has increased significantly in the past year, Ramakrishnan said. In 2019, a total of $40,000 FoodShare dollars and Double Dollars were distributed, which dropped to $30,500 in 2020.
In 2021, however, more than $114,500 in FoodShare dollars and Double Dollars were distributed, she said. There were 1,371 program users attending the farmers markets in 2021 — and almost all of them were new users, Ramakrishnan said.
In addition to FoodShare, approximately 1,000 farmers participate in a statewide program that provides extra benefits to people receiving WIC (Women, Infant, and Children) benefits. One time per growing season, this program provides $30 checks to pregnant or postpartum parents and to children at least nine months old to be redeemed at local farmers markets.
The Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program helps low-income seniors aged 60 or older purchase fresh produce from local farmers markets. Indigenous people can participate if they are over 55. The program issues checks worth $25 per participant per season.
“Everyone has the right to be involved within our food system,” Ramakrishnan said. “So whatever we can do to try to make that possible within the means that we have is so crucial and important.”
Zepeda said local food systems are an integral part of tackling food insecurity at a community and national level. She recommends that people vote with their dollars by buying from farmers markets. They can also ask lawmakers to support policy that supports small farmers, Zepeda said.
“The pandemic, if nothing else, has shown that food systems can be completely disrupted,” she said.
The nonprofit Wisconsin Watch (www.WisconsinWatch.org) collaborates with WPR, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by Wisconsin Watch do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.

created: October 30, 2022

author: Lydia Slattery / Wisconsin Watch


text:
030122_Hunger_Task_Force_Farm_06.jpg | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 27, 2022


text:
030122_Hunger_Task_Force_Farm_09.jpg | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 27, 2022


text:
030122_Hunger_Task_Force_Farm_16.jpg | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 27, 2022


text:
030122_Hunger_Task_Force_Farm_19.jpg | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 27, 2022


text:
030122_Hunger_Task_Force_Farm_20.jpg | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 27, 2022


text:
Farmer’s Market 04.JPG | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 27, 2022


text:
Farmer’s Market 06.JPG | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
October 27, 2022


text:
5 things to know and do this week in Milwaukee: Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
October 31, 2022
It’s Monday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please submit your news by clicking here at least two weeks in advance.
There is an election on Tuesday, Nov. 8, but you can vote early through Nov. 5. For a full list of locations and times that polls are open for early voting, click here. In case you missed it: A glaring national spotlight is on Wisconsin’s Nov. 8 election: Here’s what you need to know.
Lindsay Heights residents are invited to this “trunk-or-treat” event organized by Fathers Making Progress. The event includes candy, live music and prizes for the best costume and car with the best decorated trunk. The event takes place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 31 at the intersection of North 17th Street and West Meinecke Avenue.
Residents of MPS School Board District 4, which is predominantly made up of the West Side and near North Side (map here,) are invited to a community forum with District 4 School Board Director Aisha Carr. Topics of discussion include school safety, job opportunities, voter registration, nutrition, budget updates and more. The forum will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at Hopkins Lloyd Community School, located at 1503 W. Hopkins Ave.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
The citywide Dia de los Muertos celebration continues with this evening of dancing, drumming, bailes folklóricos, a flower-making and papel picado craft station, food trucks and more in joyful remembrance of the dead. The celebration takes place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at the Urban Ecology Center location at 3700 W. Pierce. St. Register for free here.
The National Coalition for Healthy Black Families is hosting a discussion on healing practices from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3 at Rise and Grind Cafe, located at 2737 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Drive.
During the next county budget hearing on Tuesday, there will be a bake sale to raise money for people incarcerated in the Milwaukee County Jail to cover the costs of sanitary items and basic necessities. The bake sale starts at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 1 outside the Marcus Performing Arts Center, located at 929 N. Water St.

created: October 31, 2022


text:
6295729257_64b0a53ad5_k-1 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
October 30, 2022


text:
Are you voting Tuesday? It’s not a simple question for some residents. | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
PrincessSafiya Byers
November 2, 2022
Are you voting Tuesday?
Residents who were asked this question gave a variety of answers for what they would do in this election that features races from U.S. senator and governor on down to Milwaukee County sheriff.
The Nov. 8 election also will offer hints on the state’s direction on a variety of topics from reproductive rights and protecting democracy to the economy and crime.
Residents we reached out to on Milwaukee’s South and North sides are split on whether they will vote: Some are actively making plans; some question the importance of voting; and others want to vote but cannot because of legal barriers that prevent them.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
Those that say they plan to vote typically do so because they see it as an important aspect of being an informed and engaged resident.
Among them is Sean Bussey, 32, who was interviewed on the South Side. He said he did not always vote but now sees it as his civic duty and a point of personal pride.
“As I got older, I started to educate myself on political issues and realized that not voting was not a representation of my beliefs,” Bussey said.
Also among those voting because they view it as necessary is North Side resident Anita Winston, an ambassador for Black Leaders Organizing Communities, or BLOC.
“People fought for us to have our rights,” Winston said.  “I’ve seen the power of voting over the years.”
Winston, 68, said from fair housing marches to fights for wage equity, any progress that has ever been made came from people’s work and voting.
“There is no option (but) to participate in politics,” said Gertrude Martin, 66, who also works with Black Leaders Organizing Communities. “Politics affect everything from how long it takes to get your trash picked up to funding in your child’s school.”
Others plan to vote in the upcoming election simply because it is something they have always done.
Daniel Easter, 26, said he has not seen what is on the  ballot and plans to research the candidates soon, but he knows he will vote because he was raised to do so.
“I’ve voted ever since I was 18. I remember my mom taking us to the polls,” Easter said. “It’s just something I feel I should do.”
Other residents are more apt to question the impact of voting.
Dayona Rimmer, 20, said she cares about a litany of local issues, including reckless driving, economic opportunities for youths, food deserts in Black and Brown neighborhoods and reproductive rights.
However, she is skeptical that elected officials are able, or willing, to solve these challenges. She said she puts her trust more in everyday people, nonprofits and grassroots organizations to bring the change she wants to see.
“Voting is not a priority for me,” Rimmer said. “I’m not looking to elected officials to fix our problems,” noting that she has witnessed politicians campaigning on solving the issues she cares about, only to come back during the next election campaigning on solving the same unresolved issues.
Other North Side residents share her sentiments.
“I wasn’t going to vote until I met one of the candidates personally,” said Jackie Burrell. “Because from where I stand, it doesn’t look like anything ever changes no matter who is in office or how many of us go out and vote.”
Tim Moore, 42, a business owner, said, “I don’t believe in the effectiveness of politics. . . . For beginners, it feels rigged so I doubt our votes count at all. And there is no transparency in politics. Everyone is lying.”
Moore said he feels focusing on politics takes away from community efforts.
“Rather than working together and looking to make change for ourselves, we’re waiting for a piece of paper,” he said.
Despite not voting himself, Moore said he does work in the polls and encourages people to participate if they choose to.
Then there are residents who would like to vote next week but will not due to legal barriers.
Emma Medrano, 45, on the South Side, is currently taking classes to study for her citizenship test, which will take place after the November election. Once she becomes a U.S. citizen however, she plans to vote.
“I would vote if I could, it’s necessary to change the people in charge if we don’t agree with them,” Medrano said.
Iuscely Flores, 26, has worked on several elections, and is currently employed by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. While she has knocked on thousands of doors to get out the vote, she herself is undocumented, and thus barred from voting.
Nonetheless, Flores noted the apparent paradox of local elections having a direct impact on Milwaukee residents, yet they tend to not garner the same attention as national races.
“Local elections have the most impact, but often the lowest turnout,” Flores said.
What is on the minds of voters? Pollsters and professors weigh in on the upcoming elections
A glaring national spotlight is on Wisconsin’s Nov. 8 election: Here’s what you need to know.

created: November 2, 2022

author: PrincessSafiya Byers


text:
15583860811_f70dfd3223_k-3 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
November 1, 2022

created: November 1, 2022


text:
On the chopping block: How quality-of-life issues dominate mayor’s 2023 budget proposal | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
PrincessSafiya Byers
November 3, 2022
The mayor’s 2023 budget proposal comes with yet another warning: Milwaukee’s fiscal crisis is approaching critical mass.
Library services along with almost every function of city government, including fire and police services, face trims in the $1.7 billion budget proposal.
“These are quality-of-life issues,” said Devin Anderson, the membership and coalition manager with the African American Roundtable. “I’ve never walked into an empty library; it’s a service people need.”
When Mayor Cavalier Johnson unveiled his 2023 budget in September, he said the document represented fiscal problems coming home to roost for the city.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
“It’s important to keep in mind that this didn’t just sneak up on us,” he said. “No one should be surprised; we’ve been warned about our fiscal condition for years.”
According to deep-dive reports by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, in 2009, 2016 and again in 2022, the city’s financial crisis is reaching critical mass.
“For more than a decade, the Forum has warned that Milwaukee’s growing structural imbalance would cause it to reach a breaking point without comprehensive fiscal restructuring. Now, that time is nearly here,” the Forum’s 2022 report said.
It noted four critical challenges in Milwaukee’s fiscal landscape: an increasingly unhealthy revenue mix, diminished capacity to sustain core services, depleted reserves and lingering long-term obligations.
It lists the city’s pension at the top of the list of concerns.
Milwaukee city workers are promised a pension once they retire, but the city’s pension plan has taken hits and will need more funding to cover future pensions.
According to Rob Henken, the president of the Wisconsin Policy Forum, if the city can’t fund the city’s pension plan, it will have to cut more public-service workers and that will affect the lives of those who need emergency personnel or drive on the roads every day.
“People need to know how troubling the fiscal cliff heading this way is,” Henken said.  “For many years the city has been able to avoid cuts to the police budget, and now it is impossible to spare any department.”
Federal aid is providing a two-year cushion, with planned injections of approximately $80 million annually from the city’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act funding. But even with that, Johnson’s 2023 budget will raise fees, eliminate 17 police officer positions (1% of the authorized force), two fire engines and cut library hours, among other changes.
Henken said the real crisis will hit in 2025 when the city no longer has federal funding as a cushion.
The Rev. Gregory Lewis, an organizer with Souls to the Polls WI, said he doesn’t need to read the budget to know he will be unsurprised and disappointed with what is happening in the city.
“We (Souls to the Polls) protested and screamed about the city’s finances for over a year, and no one wanted to hear it,” he said. “Now the chickens have come home to roost, and everyone is frustrated and waiting for the current mayor to fix everything that happened before him.”
Lewis said he’s nervous about what cuts will look like for his community.
“It’ll affect everything from police response times to garbage pickup. Milwaukee will become a second-class city.”
Some elected officials and a host of others don’t agree with the proposed cuts.
The African American Roundtable is once again calling for participatory budgeting involving Milwaukee residents as the proposal moves to the Common Council.
“The residents of Milwaukee should have the power to determine what we want to see in our communities,” Anderson said.
He said it’s disappointing to see “the same status quo budgets the city has had for years.”
Johnson’s proposal does support the Office of Violence Prevention’s violence Interrupters, with funding of $750,000 and proposes almost doubling funding for the Milwaukee Health Department.
But something has to happen if city funding is to be sustainable and keep pace with needs.
Johnson said “the city has a better relationship with the state than any time in the past 15 years” and that’s what it needs to move forward.
According to Johnson, the state has strict rules on what a city can and cannot tax, and because of those rules, Milwaukee is unable to raise the revenue it needs to function.
“I’m not naive enough to believe we’ll get around this issue without partnership from the state of Wisconsin,” he said. “We’ve been talking, and they understand Milwaukee’s situation.”
Observers note that this tension has been around awhile. The state Legislature is dominated by Republicans and Milwaukee is viewed as a Democratic stronghold.
Johnson is obviously hoping to get beyond the political divides, as an ailing Milwaukee does not benefit Wisconsin either.
Milwaukee Budget Director Nik Kovac has said that Milwaukee receives $155 million less annually in shared revenue than in 2000. Gov. Tony Evers has said that fixing the relationship between the city and the state will be a priority in state budgeting for him.
Implicit in Johnson’s argument about the need for state legislative involvement: Imagine what happens for the state if the city’s fiscal decline triggers commensurate economic decline?
The mayor’s budget must be approved by the Common Council and its committees, so it does not represent the final product.
The full council will adopt a final 2023 city budget in November.

created: November 3, 2022


text:
51938284296_e06c979c2d_k | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
November 2, 2022


text:
Post From Community: Campfire Cooking – Pudgie Pie Feast | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
David Snell
November 3, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Friday, November 18, 2022
5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Riverside Park Urban Ecology Center
(For everyone) A pudgie pie is a hot sandwich made over a campfire in a pie iron – toasty, gooey, goodness! Join us for a feast with a 3 course menu packed with pudgy pies! An appetizer pie, a hardy meal pie, and a sweet dessert pie are included, bring your appetite and curiosity to learn this mid-west campfire cooking tradition! Pre-registration required. Please dress for the weather and bring a full water bottle or NA beverage to wash down the feast! *Children must be accompanied by an adult!
$10 – $15. See website.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
For questions about this program, please contact Registrar, Augie Rodenbeck, at arodenbeck@urbanecologycenter.org or call (414) 626-8518.
Registration is required for this event and will close 24 hours prior to event start time.

author: David Snell


text:
312528186_485262840293878_8936835016193553549_n.jpg | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
October 27, 2022

author: Name *


text:
Post From Community: Free fair housing training for housing providers in Milwaukee County | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Taylor Raether
November 3, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
The Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council is offering a free online fair housing training seminars for housing providers in Milwaukee County outside of West Allis, Wauwatosa and the City of Milwaukee:
Wednesday, November 9, 2022 – 12 – 1:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 10, 2022 – 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
Thursday, November 17, 2022 – 10 – 11:30 a.m.
Content of the trainings will be the same. To register for a free online seminar, visit https://tinyurl.com/MKECOUNTY2022 or call 414-278-1240.
The seminar will include information about the protected classes and prohibited practices delineated by local, state and federal fair housing laws, as well as emerging issues such as sexual harassment and hate incidents in housing situations.
If you need materials in alternate formats or other accommodations to access our services, please call 414-278-1240.
This material presented during this seminar is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Recording of the seminars is not permitted.

author: Taylor Raether


text:
MMFHC-logo.jpg | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
November 2, 2022


text:
Post From Community: Make your own hiking stick & nature journal | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
David Snell
November 3, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Saturday, November 5, 2022
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Urban Ecology Center, Riverside Park
(For families) Nature and crafting are two of our favorite things, so why not combine them! Join us for a short hike, make your own hiking stick, and learn how to make a nature-based journal! This afternoon activity is great for the whole family and will get you all excited to continue your future nature adventures. All materials will be provided.
For questions about this program, please contact Registrar, Augie Rodenbeck, at arodenbeck@urbanecologycenter.org or call (414) 626-8518.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
Registration is required for this event and will close 24 hours prior to event start time.
Free – $8. See website.


text:
312630238_485257013627794_6453124080329009275_n.jpg | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
October 25, 2022


text:
Post From Community: Mental Health Summit will focus on crisis and preventative services | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Kelly Cole
November 3, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
The Alverno College graduate program in Community Psychology is hosting a mental health summit focused on crisis and preventative services. Participants will learn from a panel of Milwaukee-based experts about topics including parenting support, stress reduction, trauma and substance use, and youth crisis care. Several of the sessions qualify for National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) continuing education credits.
The keynote speaker, Dr. Steven Dykstra, PhD, is a licensed psychologist with over 30 years of experience serving children, adolescents, young adults and their families. He will draw on principles of human development, his experience responding to thousands of crises in the community, and the lessons he learned from the children he met to guide thoughts and attention where crisis, and particularly repeated crisis, is concerned.
In addition to the opening session and keynote, the summit includes breakout sessions and a resource fair. The objectives for the day include:
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
The Alverno College Mental Health Summit is an annual event that brings together mental health practitioners, community leaders, and students to explore a relevant topic in the field of mental health. The summit, which will take place on November 5 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., is free and open to mental health practitioners, community leaders and students. For more information or to register, visit alverno.edu/Mental-Health-Summit.
Sponsors of the Alverno College Mental Health Summit include Wraparound Milwaukee, Catalyst Construction, Children’s of Wisconsin, Rogers Behavioral Health, Community Medical Services, and Centers for Independence.
About Alverno College
Founded in 1887 by the School Sisters of St. Francis, Alverno College promotes the academic, personal and professional development of its students in a collaborative and inclusive environment. Undergraduate programs for women are offered in more than 60 areas of study, and graduate programs in education, nursing, community psychology, school psychology, music therapy, music and liturgy, and business are open to women and men.
A leader in higher education innovation, Alverno has earned international accolades for its highly effective ability-based, assessment-as-learning approach to education, which emphasizes hands-on experience and develops in-demand skills. The college, Wisconsin’s first Hispanic-Serving Institution, ranks among the top schools in the Midwest for its commitment to undergraduate teaching and innovation by U.S. News & World Report. For two years, The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education named Alverno the country’s most inspiring college.
Based in Milwaukee, Wis., Alverno College is a four-year independent, Catholic, liberal arts college.

author: Kelly Cole


text:
campus-sign.jpg | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
October 21, 2022


text:
Post From Community: Nepherterra Estrada Best named Vice President of Integrated Communications at CMRignite | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
CMRignite
November 3, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
CMRignite, the nation’s largest minority-owned cause marketing and social impact agency, announced today that Nepherterra Estrada Best has been named vice president of integrated communications.
An award-winning public relations executive, Estrada Best serves on the agency’s executive leadership team and leads the company’s integrated communications efforts, bringing more than 20 years of PR experience working with government, corporate and nonprofit clients.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to build a top-notch team of strategic communicators, storytellers and problem solvers that reflect the diversity and values of the communities our clients serve,” she said. “When it comes to communicating with communities of color, CMRignite is the go-to agency for creative services, paid media and research. I’m excited to establish our brand in the public relations space as we continue to plan and execute PR campaigns that are authentic, impactful and effective.”
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
The newly created role of vice president of integrated communications, coupled with the agency’s growing PR division, uniquely positions CMRignite, to expand its strategic communications and multicultural PR service offerings for government, corporate and nonprofit clients.
CMRignite has 60 full-time staff, 75% of whom are Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQ+ and/or people with disabilities. The Milwaukee-based company recently earned a spot on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies in the United States. CMRignite’s client list includes organizations such as General Electric Healthcare, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National WIC Association and University of Wisconsin.
“We noticed an undeniable void for truly diverse, multicultural voices in the public relations space, and we saw that as an opportunity to offer a real solution,” said David Bowles, president of CMRignite. “As our agency continues to grow, Nepherterra will play a vital role, using her experience and strong relationships in the community to expand our strategic public relations capabilities.”
Before joining CMRignite, Estrada Best co-founded public relations firms in Milwaukee, WI and Charlotte, NC. She was recently awarded the 2022 Marketing 2.0 Outstanding Leadership Award. Her work has been recognized by the Public Relations Society of America and she is the recipient of the Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award.
“When I founded the firm in 1995, we were heavily focused on PR campaigns, so public relations is naturally in our agency’s DNA,” said Jacque Moore, chairman and CEO of CMRignite. “I am confident Nepherterra will be a tremendous partner in our continued growth as an agency, especially in the public relations space.”
About CMRignite
CMRignite is a full-service, strategic communications agency that specializes in developing cause and behavior change marketing for Fortune 500 companies, major nonprofits and government agencies. Since 1995, the agency has focused on developing innovative, cross-cultural marketing campaigns that lead to real, positive change. CMRignite’s team, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, grew to more than 60 employees during the pandemic. To learn more, visit cmrignite.com.
###

author: CMRignite


text:
NephHeadshot.png | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
October 26, 2022