text:
2 agencies struggle to meet demand for Wisconsin Rental Assistance Program | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
PrincessSafiya Byers
July 15, 2020
Two local agencies, the Social Development Commission and Community Advocates, are trying to keep up with the demand from residents who need emergency rental assistance. (File photo by Aaron Maybin)
Here’s an update on what’s happening with the Wisconsin Rental Assistance Program, or WRAP, and the agencies tasked with implementing the program.
We’ve previously reported on the Social Development Commission’s struggle to manage a backlog of at least 24,000 applicants for WRAP.
The commission, also known as the SDC, received $6.7 million to assist residents of Milwaukee, Ozaukee and Washington counties with rental assistance as part of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act package.
The need for WRAP intensified after a ban prohibiting landlords from evicting tenants expired May 26.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
Here are some things you should know:
SDC makes some inroads
As of Friday, July 10, the SDC has given out $363,000 in assistance funds and contacted 16,000 people in its backlog to explain their place in the application process.
“There are some people who didn’t get a message, but that’s because they reached out to us before we had a computer system,” said George Hinton, the CEO of the Social Development Commission. “Initially we were taking down information on paper, so not everyone’s information is in the system.”
View from the Department of Administration
As of July 7, the SDC received $5.7 million in benefits funding for WRAP, said a spokeswoman for the state Department of Administration, which is administering the program.
To address the significant volume in interest and need in Milwaukee, the department has provided financial resources to the SDC to cover the overhead of hiring additional staff.
The spokeswoman said the department continues to monitor the progress of the distribution of WRAP resources and is prepared to provide additional support, if necessary, to ensure residents receive WRAP benefits as quickly as possible.
SDC is not the only agency struggling
Like the Social Development Commission, Community Advocates is working to keep up with the high call volume its been receiving.
Community Advocates received $7 million from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to assist families in Milwaukee County who face eviction or are behind on rent due to a COVID-19-related loss of income.
We checked in with Deborah Heffner, the housing strategy director at Community Advocates, a social service nonprofit in Milwaukee, to answer questions about the process.
How many people have you served?
Community Advocates has around 1,500 applications in our backlog. But we have reviewed about 1,100 of those. We are playing catch up and making sure we do our due diligence at the same time.
How long should people wait to hear back?
Wait at least five days once you complete the application. Once you are approved, it will take about seven to 10 days to process payments.
Is there a best time to call?
We prefer email, but we are working on being able to do live calls.
How can people make the process easier?
What are the criteria for eligibility?
Everything someone needs to know can be found on our rental assistance page.
Does meeting eligibility make funds immediately available?
Not immediately. We are working on a first come-first serve basis, but if you meet eligibility and funds are available, you should receive the funds.
How many people work for this program?
We have seven case managers and we hired 20 temporary team members to assist with both the rent assistance and energy programs.
Was Community Advocates prepared for this volume of interest?
I do not think anyone was ready for this.
What changes have been made to assist the program?
We are working on adding a night shift so people can be working around the clock. While we are not providing in-person services, we do still have an application pickup and drop-off at 728 N. James Lovell St. as we realize that not everyone has access (or wants) to apply online. We have a team member now reviewing those hard copy applications on the spot so the applicant knows if they are missing anything that would hold up the process. They can also photocopy anything needed as part of the drop- off process as well.
Anything else people should know?
We are working to make this run as smoothly as possible for everyone. No one could have prepared for this, but we are working to perfect this system because we know things will get worse.
Agencies working together
Community Advocates and SDC have been working in partnership to get more people the assistance they need.
“Community Advocates partnered with us serving people through our grant until they got their own,” Hinton said. “Now we work together, making sure maximum people are served from either grant because qualification is different for both.”
A need for even more money
The SDC is advocating for another pool of money, Hinton said.
“The eligibility for these two programs is very specific,” he said. “Everyone is struggling right now, so there needs to be another option.”
Milwaukee Alderman Khalif Rainey agrees.
“I kind of foresaw this very situation,” he said. “This is why I voted to extend the eviction moratorium.”
“If rent assistance programs continue to struggle, there will be an issue on top of an issue,” Rainey said.
In case you missed it:
Social Development Commission continues struggle to keep up with deluge of applicants for emergency rental assistance program
24,000 names and counting: Rental assistance program faces a backlog. Here’s what you need to know.
Wisconsin’s eviction ban expired on Tuesday. Here’s what Milwaukee renters need to know.
Worried about being able to pay rent? Here are some resources that can help.


text:
| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 14, 2020

source: news-milwaukeenns

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

author: Adam Carr


text:
Post from Community: ACLU of Wisconsin criticizes off-duty officer’s assault on photographers and Milwaukee Police Department’s response | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
ACLU of Wisconsin
July 15, 2020
Editor’s note: Our Posts from the Community feature is a platform for community announcements and event postings. If you have a post to be considered, send it to info@milwaukeenns.org or submit it directly.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin issued a statement criticizing the Milwaukee Police Department for the response to an off-duty MPD officer’s assault on two photographers during an LGBTQ Black women’s march earlier this month.
After the off-duty officer, who had reportedly been drinking, damaged the cameras of Sean Kafer and LaTasha Lux and assaulted them, the officer was not arrested. Instead, the photographers were both cited for disorderly conduct.
Chris Ott, Executive Director of the ACLU of Wisconsin, issued this statement:
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
“This incident provides a perfect example of why police and community relations have become so tumultuous, and why the policing institution, as it exists, is broken. The responding officers’ apparent decision to cover up the truth and provide misinformation to Kafer and Lux is concerning and should be thoroughly investigated by the Fire and Police Commission. This looks like a betrayal of trust of the Milwaukee community and a problem with the culture of policing in Milwaukee. It looks like community concerns with officer behavior are not taken seriously.
“It is beyond comprehension that even after the photographers were assaulted and their property destroyed, they faced citations for disorderly conduct, while the officer seemed to have escaped consequences. No one peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights should fear for the safety of themselves, or their property, especially at the hands of the law enforcement officers who are supposed to serve and protect the community, both on and off-duty.”

author: ACLU of Wisconsin


text:
How to stay mentally healthy during the coronavirus crisis | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Matt Martinez
July 15, 2020
People everywhere are trying to maintain their mental health through these unprecedented times.
Milwaukee is no different.
The Zeidler Group held a “Frank Talk” on July 7 focusing on mental health. The nonprofit holds these talks to facilitate difficult discussions, often about social issues in the city.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
The mental health discussion was held via Zoom and featured two guest speakers: Tracy Treacy and Kweki Akyirefi Smith, both Milwaukee-based psychologists. Treacy is a counselor, and Smith is the creator of Blaquesmith, a psychological consultation service.
Here are some tips for those looking to improve their mental health:
Tracey Treacy (Photo provided by Tracey Treacy)
Treacy said we need to place an emphasis on self-care during quarantine. She provided tips on things to do in everyday life to promote self-care:
Create healthy habits
Treacy said if you do something every day for 21 days it can be considered a habit. Set that goal for positive habits you want to cultivate. She said it was important for people to find their own methods of self-care as well.
“I want people to define self-care as what it means for them,” Treacy said. “Not what somebody suggests for you to do, but what actually works for you that you can commit to that won’t feel like you just got something else on your list to do.”
Keep a positive attitude
Kweki Akyirefi Smith (Photo provided by Kweki Akyirefi Smith)
Smith said thinking of things that we appreciate can naturally raise our serotonin when our mood starts to slip.
Smith said it’s important to focus mindfulness on the moment. Focusing too much on things we can’t change in the past and future can bring on feelings of depression and anxiety. Smith says we can counteract this by making the most of the present.
“We want to have these healthy distractions in our lives,” Smith said. “That’s where mindfulness comes in. What am I going to center my mind on?”
‘Healthy distractions’
Smith said the best “healthy distractions” are finding new routines and ways to improve ourselves. Baking a cake, taking a walk, learning new skills and languages are examples of this. Smith puts it simply as “working ourselves into something beautiful.”
Smith said mindfulness can take form in being “intentional about doing something positive.”
“Sometimes it’s OK to not be OK,” Smith said. “But we can overcome. We have to be intentional about doing it.”
In case you missed it:
Mental health experts see rise in cases as pandemic, protests create anxiety
Causey’s Career Corner: Don’t neglect your mental health as you search for jobs
Post from Community: Mental health resources you can use during COVID-19 (and beyond)

author: Matt Martinez


text:
Post from Community: Next Door raises minimum wage to $15 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Next Door
July 15, 2020
Editor’s note: Our Posts from the Community feature is a platform for community announcements and event postings. If you have a post to be considered, send it to info@milwaukeenns.org or submit it directly.
Next Door – a leading provider of high quality early childhood education in Milwaukee – increased its minimum wage to $15/hour starting July 1, 2020. This move, from $14 to $15/hour, will directly impact 46 Next Door positions as Assistant Teachers and Nutrition Services staff.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
“These Next Door employees work extremely hard to serve our students every day in our classrooms and in our kitchens,” said Next Door President Dr. Tracey Sparrow. “We feel recognizing them, and future Next Door employees, with a higher minimum wage is one of the important ways Next Door can expand opportunities for success and help build a more equitable and inclusive community for Milwaukee.”
Funding for this minimum wage increase came from grant support from the Office of Head Start. Earlier this year, Next Door received two Quality Improvement grants, which allow Head Start agencies like Next Door to use the funding to strengthen employee compensation.
Next Door’s minimum wage increase to $15/hour follows an earlier raise in the 2018-2019 fiscal year. At that time, the agency’s minimum wage went from $12 to $14/hour for Assistant Teachers and Nutrition Services staff. Careful budgeting for operational efficiencies generated funding prioritized for the minimum wage increase.
Understanding that its employees can face financial hardships in their lives, Next Door’s leadership team has focused on an incentive package addressing barriers to success and promoting greater social justice in the community. In addition to raising the minimum wage, Next Door has implemented several recent benefits for its 254 employees. These include: a pilot program offering financial support to help teachers pay off student loan debt; prepaid tuition assistance; loans for unexpected life costs; additional paid time off and two Success Coaches helping employees manage work and life challenges.
About Next Door
Next Door supports the intellectual, physical and emotional development of children by partnering with their families for success in school and the community. Next Door serves more than 1,400 children, from birth to five years old, with two locations in Milwaukee’s central city and 11 early childhood partnership sites in the community. Through home- and center-based programs, Next Door strives to create a long-term foundation for success by closing the achievement gap for children living in poverty. Next Door’s highly qualified team provides critical educational support during a child’s most important developmental years with a focus on academic achievement, building social-emotional skills, and helping children become better prepared for school. Visit Next Door online at nextdoormke.org.

author: Next Door


text:
| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
July 14, 2020

author: Name *


text:
Post from Community: Local coalition teaching Milwaukee youth to invest through “Stock Market Game” pilot | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County
July 15, 2020
Editor’s note: Our Posts from the Community feature is a platform for community announcements and event postings. If you have a post to be considered, send it to info@milwaukeenns.org or submit it directly.
A coalition of community-based organizations in Milwaukee have teamed up with EconomicsWisconsin to launch the “Stock Market Game” – a pilot program that teaches youth about investing during the summer break from school.
“In order for us to change the financial inequities for Black youth we must ensure that access to financial education is within their reach,” said Shannon Reed, Director of Innovative Strategies for Boys & Men of Color at United Way. “I truly believe the proverb ‘give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’ That’s how legacy is built.”
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
This year, Asset Builders of America Inc. and United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County launched the Collective Impact Initiative for Economic Inclusion (a.k.a. “The Collective”) in order to bring more robust and sustainable financial education to youth of color in Milwaukee.
The “Stock Market Game” Pilot is the first project to be undertaken by The Collective. Seven local youth development agencies or schools – Journey House, Neighborhood House, Milwaukee School of Excellence, Peak Initiative, Neu-Life Community Center, Running Rebels, and Milwaukee Fellows –  each sponsor a team of five youth, ages 14-18 years old. The winningest team, defined as the team with the “swaggiest” portfolio, will receive cash prizes or gift certificates.
While “swaggiest” portfolio is defined as the portfolio that grows to the highest value from the $100,000 simulated starting point, all of the participants will acquire “swaggy knowledge” along the way. Dr. Mark Schug, UW-Milwaukee Emeritus Professor and a renowned advocate of economic education, developed a customized series of short video lessons that the participants will view and discuss with their advisors each week.
The competition is already underway and runs from June 15 – August 21, 2020.
“The “Stock Market Game” has a long and successful history as an educational tool within the classroom framework,” Bob Glowacki of EconomicsWisconsin explained. “The significant innovation we are trying here is to see if the game can also be implemented effectively through community-based organizations. If so, this will open up an entirely new and accessible way to bring early education in investing to more youth of color.”
EconomicsWisconsin and The Collective thank the Securities Industry Foundation for hosting this innovative program on their “Stock Market Game” electronic platform.
About Asset Builders of America, Inc.: Asset Builders is a nonprofit organization that has been teaching financial capability and economic empowerment to low and moderate-income youth and families since 1999.
About EconomicsWisconsin: Works to educate every Wisconsin student in economic and free market concepts; understanding the underpinnings of the markets that shape our history, our society and our daily life.
About United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County: United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County fights for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in our local community.


text:
As the nation reckons with race, a mother awaits unemployment aid — and Wisconsin officials lack research | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Bram Sable-Smith, WisconsinWatch.org
July 16, 2020
National research shows jobless Black and Latino workers are less likely than white workers to receive aid. Experts say Wisconsin should study the issue.
Alfreida Casterlow could hardly bear her first weeks working from home during the coronavirus pandemic. Disrupted routines upset her 20-year-old autistic daughter. Casterlow, 43, would try to keep her daughter engaged. She would lie alongside her, rubbing her forehead to soothe her — all while continuing to operate switchboards for Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee.
Then she lost her job.
“They let me go at 6 p.m. By 6:05 p.m. I had applied for unemployment,” Casterlow said. “I knew — or at least I felt — like, ‘Okay, Wisconsin’s gonna handle this.’
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
“I didn’t know how many people were waiting.”
Like thousands of other jobless Wisconsinites, Casterlow is trapped in the purgatory of Wisconsin’s backlogged and overloaded unemployment system — with no income or idea of when it might arrive. She has waited since April 24 for a state Department of Workforce Development (DWD) adjudicator to resolve her unemployment claim.
Wisconsin workers who qualify can receive up to $370 per week in unemployment insurance, plus an extra $600 per week in federal pandemic aid through July 31. Unable to grasp that lifeline, Casterlow said she has not had more than $30 in her pocket since she was laid off. She is struggling to support her household, which includes her daughter and granddaughter.
She said she owes about $2,000 in rent and late fees on the apartment she rents from the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee. (On June 23 she applied to be included in a lottery for housing assistance through the authority.) Casterlow for the first time started receiving $194 in monthly FoodShare benefits in May; her adult daughter and granddaughter get a separate monthly allotment of $355.
Casterlow is among more than 700,000 people who filed for regular unemployment in Wisconsin since the pandemic began wreaking economic havoc in March. DWD is closely tracking that and other data points, including unemployment claims by county. The agency is also analyzing data to understand the toll of the pandemic on various industries. But “we do not have race, gender, age, or income reports available,” said agency spokesman Ben Jedd.
DWD Secretary Caleb Frostman acknowledged in an interview that he lacks a “statistical view” of how his agency’s rules and practices might favor some people over others, such as producing different outcomes along racial lines, but “it’s definitely worth having further discussions.”
During a national reckoning about the role of racism in shaping American institutions, some experts say Wisconsin — home to some of the country’s most severe racial disparities in education, public health, housing and criminal justice — should track whether its workforce agency equitably distributes unemployment aid across racial categories.
“You manage what you measure,” said Rebecca Dixon, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, a nonprofit that supports protections for low-wage workers and the unemployed. “And if you’re not even measuring it … it makes it hard to really be able to paint the picture of what’s actually going on.”
The national unemployment rates for Black (16.8%) and Hispanic or Latino (17.6%) workers remain significantly higher than those of white people (12.4%), according to an analysis of May data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Not everyone who loses a job gets unemployment benefits. In fact, most didn’t before the pandemic. And laid off Black and Latino Americans have historically proved less likely to receive compensation.
A 2012 Urban Institute analysis of national claims from 2010 — during the Great Recession —  found that 24% of laid-off Black workers who applied received benefits, compared to 33% of white workers and 29% of workers classified as Hispanic. That was likely due to a mix of socioeconomic disparities and eligibility rules around benefits, the study said.
People of color during the Great Recession were more likely to suffer long-term unemployment, increasing their risk of exhausting benefits, according to the Urban Institute. Like most states, Wisconsin limits unemployment compensation to 26 weeks, although federal CARES Act funds allow states to add up to 13 additional weeks during the pandemic.
Casterlow, who is African American, has yet to resolve her jobless claim as she struggles to keep her family housed and fed during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Wisconsinites of all races sit in similar limbo. But systemic factors in state unemployment insurance systems tend to disadvantage Black workers and other people of color, Dixon said. And the state cannot understand the scope of that problem unless someone looks.
Casterlow said Wisconsin’s unemployment insurance system seems unfriendly to poor people in general.
“A white female can be in the same situation I am in right now — and we are both not getting paid,” Casterlow said. “So I’m not saying it’s not racism, but classism is just as prevalent.”
Casterlow moved from Detroit to Milwaukee in 2016 — looking for opportunity after struggling for years to find steady work despite having an associate degree in communications. She often pieced together part-time jobs.
Casterlow initially slept on her cousin’s floor while working as a forklift driver at a Chrysler parts distributor, she said. Her granddaughter and daughter, who stayed with her sister in Detroit while Casterlow visited every other weekend, joined her once she set up her life in Milwaukee in late 2017. Casterlow soon left the auto parts gig for a 30-month contract position as a receptionist at Mercer, a consulting firm. She also dispatched taxis part-time for Yellow Cab — helping her pay for an apartment security deposit.
A heart attack sidelined her in March 2019. She paused work at Mercer, she said, and followed her doctor’s advice in quitting at Yellow Cab. What she didn’t realize: Having a “quit” in her work history temporarily would disqualify her from collecting unemployment insurance when her Mercer contract expired that August.
Wisconsin requires unemployment insurance applicants to have worked within the past 18 months and earned a minimum amount of wages. Quitting or being terminated for cause can disqualify a Wisconsin applicant from receiving aid.
Casterlow spent a jobless month before a staffing agency found her a role at Northwestern Mutual. She stayed there until the company ended her contract in April — accusing her of being “unprofessional” on an office call. She disputes the allegation, and said it stemmed from a confusing sequence in which she suspected a caller who refused to identify herself was a telemarketer disguising herself in a ploy to speak to a higher-up at the company — something Casterlow said employees had been warned about.
Northwestern Mutual referred questions about Casterlow’s employment to Kforce, the staffing agency. Multiple calls to Kforce were routed to a mailbox for the marketing department. A message was not returned.
Casterlow said Kforce advised her to apply for unemployment insurance as someone whose job had been terminated. That kicked her application into a pile of claims needing adjudication. She has since waited two months for a DWD adjudicator to examine whether she qualifies for help.
Many factors could explain why Black workers are less likely than others to receive unemployment aid, according to the 2012 Urban Institute report.
“African Americans are more likely than non-Hispanic whites to have characteristics linked to low (unemployment insurance) recipiency, including low levels of education, concentration in occupations or industries where workers are less likely to be covered, and short tenure on jobs,” the report said.
Casterlow, with her associate degree, does not check all of those boxes. But her frequent moves between jobs — and complicated circumstances surrounding her exits — have muddled her quest for help.
Other labor market dynamics also may disproportionately prevent Black residents from receiving assistance, experts say.
Black workers typically face nearly double the rate of unemployment compared to white workers, said Valerie Wilson, director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington D.C.-based think tank that aims “to include the needs of low- and middle-income workers in economic policy discussions.” That pattern is “incredibly persistent” in good and bad economic conditions — and across gender, education and geography, Wilson said.
“I find it difficult to attribute something that consistent to anything other than racial discrimination in the labor market.”
The gap has temporarily narrowed during the pandemic, partly because Black workers disproportionately perform “essential” frontline work that continued even as states shuttered their economies to slow the spread of COVID-19, Wilson said.
An Associated Press analysis of census data found that Milwaukee’s people of color fill 63% of frontline jobs — those in grocery stores, healthcare, building and cleaning services, social services, public transit, and delivery and warehouses. Black and Latino residents make up about 43% of the city’s population.
That overrepresentation has a potentially deadly consequence; it bolsters the odds that those workers will contract COVID-19, which disproportionately infects and kills people of color. Additionally, Black and Latino workers have reported retaliation for raising safety concerns at significantly higher rates than white workers during the pandemic, according to a June National Employment Law Project survey.
African American workers are less likely than white workers to receive jobless aid, even when comparing people with similar education levels and other characteristics, the Urban Institute found.
Tough state eligibility rules also may keep Black workers off of aid rolls, said Margaret Simms, a fellow at the Urban Institute who co-authored the report.
Wisconsin is among the nation’s most stingy in unemployment benefits, and state lawmakers spent much of the past decade making it tougher for people to qualify.
Wisconsin ranks 40th among the states and the District of Columbia in the maximum weekly benefits it offers to unemployed workers, and the Republican-led Legislature enacted a series of laws between 2011 and 2018 that: created a one-week waiting period for benefits (now waived during the pandemic), increased work search requirements for applicants, disqualified people on federal disability from accessing benefits and increased criminal penalties for making false statements or misrepresentations on unemployment insurance applications.
Additionally, Republican Gov. Scott Walker signed a lame-duck law just before Democrat Tony Evers succeeded him that restricts the governor’s ability to waive certain requirements for state-federal benefits programs including unemployment insurance.
DWD officials over the past weeks have been unable to confirm whether those changes disproportionately impact Black workers or other people of color. Agency officials say they do collect demographic information from people who file initial applications. WPR and Wisconsin Watch last week requested that data under Wisconsin’s public records law.
Frostman expressed an openness to examining potential disparities in the state’s unemployment system.
“If there are disparate impacts —  whether it’s explicit or implicit — we need to correct those things,” he said.
Research surrounding COVID-19 is clear, Frostman added: “Both from a public health and from an economic standpoint, (the pandemic) disproportionately affects communities of color.”
The pandemic, Frostman added, offers a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine the relationship between work and quality of life,” including for communities of color.
Dixon said state agencies should closely watch the trajectory of unemployment among Black residents as the pandemic continues. If it peaks later or grows more persistent — as has happened in past downturns — rates of assistance might plunge, too. Congress could address that problem by extending the July 31 deadline for the program that adds $600 in federal funds to weekly unemployment checks, Dixon added.
DWD has hired hundreds of extra workers to field the avalanche of calls coming from laid off workers seeking help. The agency reported nearly 343,000 calls last week alone, and claimants frequently complain of being unable to get through on the phone lines for months at a time.
Casterlow said she reached a call center staffer a few weeks ago, only to be told there was nothing the woman could do to help. The message Casterlow heard: Just be patient.
She tried calling again at 7:30 a.m. on June 22, joining the queue as number 199. More than four hours later she was behind just nine callers — only to have her call dropped, she said.
“It’s daunting and unbelievable, but I can’t give up, or hope will die,” she said.
Following that defeat, Casterlow described her hardship in an email to Evers’ office, attaching photos of herself and her granddaughter. She was dejected to receive a boilerplate response.
But a call on June 25 offered an infusion of hope. An adjudicator told Casterlow that Evers’ office had instructed him to call — citing Casterlow’s tough circumstances. The adjudicator already knew her case’s details and had identified a major error holding up her claim, she said: Although Northwestern Mutual ended her contract, Kforce, the staffing agency, still employed her. Casterlow’s exit should not be classified as a termination for cause, but rather as Kforce’s inability to find her a new job due to the pandemic, Casterlow said she was told.
Casterlow was informed that the adjudicator sent a letter asking Kforce to clear up the issues holding up her claim, and DWD would grant the claim by default if the company failed to respond within a week.
“This man was so friendly I wanted to hug him,” Casterlow said. “He was like, ‘I’m gonna take care of this for you. You’re fine, I’ll handle it.’ And he made me feel like he was so capable.”
She added: “It’s sad that a lot of people (waiting on unemployment claims) won’t see that.”
– –
This story comes from a partnership of Wisconsin Watch and WPR. Bram Sable-Smith is WPR’s Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Fellow embedded in the newsroom of Wisconsin Watch (wisconsinwatch.org), which collaborates with WPR, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Coburn Dukehart, Wisconsin Watch digital and multimedia director, contributed reporting. 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
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit newsroom that focuses on government integrity and quality of life issues.

author: Bram Sable-Smith, WisconsinWatch.org


text:
Alfreida_Casterlow_01-1170×780 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
July 14, 2020

author: Dwayne Burtin


text:
Alfreida_Casterlow_03-1170×780 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
July 14, 2020


text:
Alfreida_Casterlow_2-1170×780 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
July 14, 2020


text:
nws200630-BS-unemp2 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
July 14, 2020


text:
How to keep your utilities on if you are behind in payments | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
July 16, 2020
If you are worried about your utilities getting disconnected, it’s not too late to get help. (File photo by Brittany Carloni)
The clock is ticking for those behind on their utilities.
Beginning July 25, We Energies will once again be able to disconnect services.
Here’s what you need to know to keep the lights on.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
If you are behind in payments and have not made arrangements, your utility provider can disconnect services starting July 25.
In addition, utilities can now charge late payment fees on debts incurred after July 15; refuse service for failure to provide documentation to prove identity and residency after July 25; and require a cash deposit as a condition of new service starting July 31.
Last month, the Public Service Commission, or PSC, lifted a temporary prohibition against disconnecting or refusing service. The commission, an independent agency that regulates Wisconsin’s public utilities, allowed utilities to restart issuing disconnection notices on July 15.
The utilities, however, must allow a 21-day medical extension of service when a customer or a member of a customer’s household has tested positive for COVID-19.
If a member of the household is still under a COVID-19 quarantine after 21 days, he or she can apply for a temporary waiver so long as they can provide documentation from a  medical provider.
The PSC strongly encourages customers behind on payments to arrange for a payment plan or apply for assistance.
If customers cannot reach an agreement with their utility, they may contact the PSC by calling 1-800-225-7729 or file a complaint on the PSC website.
We Energies recommends that customers who are having difficulty paying their bill call 800-842-4565 as soon as possible to discuss options, including payment plans and the potential for financial assistance.
“Disconnection is always a last resort,” said Brendan Conway, manager of media relations at We Energies. “We have been working closely with customers during the COVID-19 crisis and are continuing to do so.”
In addition to calling We Energies directly to ask about payment plans, Milwaukee County also offers energy assistance for low-income residents through Community Advocates and UMOS.
Income requirements for energy assistance are based on the number of people in your household and can be found on the Department of Health and Human Services’ website. Unemployment income and stimulus checks do not count as income when applying for energy assistance.
Additionally, if your utilities are included in your rent, but you still meet the income requirements, you may still be eligible to receive energy assistance.
Due to COVID-19, applicants only have to provide income statements from the month prior to the month they are applying. This means that people applying in July only have to provide proof of income for June. Previously, applicants had to provide evidence of income for three prior months.
Cleopatra Echols, program manager for Milwaukee County’s energy assistance program, says that it is best to apply now if you think you’ll need it — even if you are unsure whether you qualify or if you have not received a disconnection notice.
“People think that if they don’t have a past due bill they won’t qualify, or they don’t have kids they won’t qualify, or if they receive unemployment they won’t qualify,” Echols said. “But this isn’t true, you can still qualify if you are on unemployment, don’t have kids or don’t have a past-due bill.”
To apply for energy assistance, you can schedule an appointment or call 2-1-1. You can also call 414-270-4MKE to schedule an appointment, but due to an unexpected high volume of calls, you may be on hold for an extended period of time.
“If you need help, call us, even if you are not sure if you qualify,” Echols said. “Even if you don’t qualify, we know about other resources we can refer you to.”
•Fact sheet on residential customer rights
•Citizens Utility Board
Are you worried about your utilities being disconnected during or after the pandemic? Share your experiences with News414.

author: Sam Woods


text:
| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 15, 2020


text:
OPINION: Ronald Reagan is a symbol of systemic racism. It’s time to rename our high school. | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Joey Grihalva
July 16, 2020
Taking up a challenge such as renaming a school in Wisconsin’s largest school district will inevitably run into political, bureaucratic and philosophical hurdles. (Photo by Adam Carr)
Editor’s note: Have something on your mind? “Community Voices” is the place to let Milwaukee hear what you have to say. To be considered, we need your name, email address and phone number for verification. Please email your submissions to info@milwaukeenns.org
Joey Grihalva, a MPS teacher, writer and author of “Milwaukee Jazz,” calls for the renaming of Ronald Wilson Reagan College Preparatory High School.
Tonight, the nine members of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors will fire up their personal computers and zoom into a digital meeting.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
It will be no ordinary meeting. On the contrary, it will be one of the most consequential meetings in history. They will decide — alongside MPS administration — how more than 70,000 students and nearly 10,000 employees will return to school amid a global pandemic that appears to be surging. They will be armed with the results of a districtwide survey of parents and educators. Odds are the meeting will run late into the night.
It is safe to say that there are bigger fish to fry at this school board meeting than renaming Ronald Reagan High School. Nor is it something that they can unilaterally do. But make no mistake, it is a cause the school community should take up. As the man himself once said, “I know it’s a hell of a challenge, but ask yourselves: If not us, who? If not now, when?”
The time is ripe to be on the right side of history. Symbols of oppression are falling all around us. Statues of slaveholders, segregationists and Confederate soldiers are being torn down. Princeton is renaming the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Mississippi is changing its flag. The Washington D.C. NFL franchise is getting rid of its name and logo. Congressional bills are calling for the renaming of federal facilities. There is real momentum for change.
By no means am I asserting that simply changing a school’s name will ensure equity and an educational experience free of oppression. Nor am I claiming that Reagan is the only MPS school that should be renamed. However, there are specific, instructive reasons why I believe the district should rename Reagan High School in this post-George Floyd era of American history.
George Floyd was a man. In life, his humanity imbued him with complexity. In death, George Floyd became a symbol. His death became a rallying cry for those who had witnessed enough lynchings of Black people at the hands of the police. His death, along with others fresh in the national consciousness, has sparked an awakening that has elevated the national conversation around policing and systemic oppression.
For once, it appears that a critical mass of Americans have moved beyond the “bad apples” view of police killings to an understanding that state-sanctioned brutality is deeply tied to racism, mass incarceration, segregation, housing discrimination, evictions, gentrification, divestment from social services, access to health care, education and the exploitation of the working class. There are genuine discussions happening on the national level about how to dismantle systems of white supremacy. These are encouraging times. As a public school district, we should do what we can to advance this conversation.
Across the nation, and in a nearby suburb, school districts are taking up the challenge of renaming schools after culpable historic figures. Slaveholders and segregationists are easy targets, but in order to keep the conversation focused on institutions and not individual actors, we should also consider those who advanced a covert racist agenda.
Ronald Reagan was a man. Before becoming a politician, he was an actor. Reagan may not have designed the myriad ways the government and private sector engages in systematic oppression of communities of color, but he employed them with brute force. Both in life and in death, Reagan became a symbol of institutional racism.
As Princeton professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor writes in The New Yorker: “Reagan mastered the art of color-blind racism in the post-civil-rights era with his invocations of ‘welfare queens.’” Reagan took a War on Poverty and turned it into a war on the poor. Reagan’s policies not only hurt America’s communities of color, he eroded the social contract and created an economic environment that has widened income inequality, thereby hurting all working-class Americans.
These are the basics of Reagan’s legacy, which I became aware of well before George Floyd’s death. This is why I gave my mom a side-eye glance when she told me in 2009 that she was leaving her coaching position at my alma mater, Rufus King, to take over the girls soccer program at a relatively new school named after Reagan. She understands and sympathizes. While she is proud to represent the school staff and students, she would prefer to minimize the prominence of the word “Reagan” on their apparel and instead emphasize their mascot, the Huskies. However, if the majority of her players want the name front and center, she will respect that.
When my stepson was deciding which MPS high school to attend, Reagan’s name was one of a few factors that led him to decide against the school, despite its reputation for academic and artistic excellence. Therein lies the heart of the matter.
Over the past decade, Reagan has supplanted Rufus King as the preeminent non-charter MPS high school. While both offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, Reagan also has a career-related program for health science and computer science. By requiring IB Citizenship and offering IB Global Politics, Reagan’s social studies department seeks to foster not only gifted academics, but engaged citizens. Unlike King, Reagan offers film classes in its fine arts department. In addition, Reagan’s highly lauded music department has a focus on composition.
In what is often referred to as America’s most segregated city, Rufus King and Reagan could not be more geographically disparate. Not surprisingly, the demographics of each school reflect those of their respective sides of town. Both schools are predominantly made up of students of color, but whereas King is mostly Black students, Reagan is mostly Latinx.
Imagine a brilliant young Black student who lives on the North Side of Milwaukee. Inspired by their parents’ activism in the 1980s, the student aspires to study politics and become a filmmaker. Logically, Reagan is best suited for the student’s academic path. However, the student’s parents object wholeheartedly to their child attending a school bearing the name of Reagan, whose policies they passionately protested.
If we as a district are committed to integrating this city of ours, we should consider renaming Reagan as a part of those efforts.
If you are still unsure of Reagan’s legacy as a symbol of institutionalized racism, allow me to inform.
In the wake of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Lyndon Johnson’s administration passed anti-discrimination laws, created civil rights offices to enforce those laws and expanded the welfare state in an attempt to mitigate the widespread poverty plaguing communities of color.
In an attempt to understand the violent uprisings that accompanied the civil rights movement, Johnson also commissioned a report. The Kerner Commission, released in March 1968, found that institutional racism and poverty were driving inner-city violence. By the time Richard Nixon was elected president later that year, the report’s recommendations would be scrapped.
Nixon harnessed the racist backlash to civil rights, using covert racism to attract white working-class southerners to vote for the Republican Party. This is what is known as “the Southern strategy.” Reagan took the baton from Nixon and ran with it.
For example, the following quote is from Reagan’s campaign manager Lee Atwater, speaking off the record in 1981.
“You start out in 1954 by saying nigger, nigger, nigger. By 1968 you can’t say nigger, that hurts you. It backfires. So you say stuff like forced-busing, state’s rights and all that stuff. And so you’re getting so abstract now, you’re talking about cutting taxes. All of these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and the by-product of them is Blacks get hurt worse than whites.”
In 1980, shortly after accepting the Republican nomination for president, Reagan held a rally at a county fair in Mississippi. He gave a speech about state’s rights. Some say he was appealing to white southerners who opposed integration efforts by the federal government. Others say it was simply a reflection of his libertarian economic beliefs. Well, it just so happens that this specific county in Mississippi is where three civil rights workers were abducted and murdered in the summer of 1964. Coincidence?
In his crusade to rein in the federal government, Reagan shuttered civil rights offices around the country. As The New York Times Magazine’s The 1619 Project points out, since emancipation, Black farmers have faced untold discrimination. In fact, the largest civil rights settlement in American history was the result of a class action lawsuit by Black farmers against the United States Department of Agriculture for discrimination that took place between 1983 and 1997. During that time, if a Black farmer was discriminated against and filed a complaint, there was no longer an office to process it, thanks to the Reagan administration.
As Taylor writes in her 2016 book “From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation,” Reagan’s “budget cuts, which shredded the already frayed American welfare state, included: a 17 percent cut in unemployment insurance; a 13 percent reduction in food stamps, making a million people ineligible; a 14 percent reduction in cash benefits through Aid to Dependent Families with Children, resulting in 410,000 being dropped from the rolls and 259,000 families’ benefits being reduced; increasing Medicare deductibles while cutting Medicaid by 3 percent and tightening eligibility standards; simply eliminating 300,000 jobs financed through federal jobs program —overwhelmingly affecting Black workers; and raising rent by 5 percent in federally subsidized housing units.”
Additionally, “In 1982, $560 million was cut from the federal school lunch program, which subsidized meals for public school children. As a result, 590,000 children were dropped from the program. When Reagan could not get away with eliminating food for children altogether, he eliminated as much as he could from their plates by authorizing reduced portions, allowing the use of meat substitutes, and — infamously — classifying ketchup as a vegetable — all while raising the price of lunch by 20 cents.”
Most disastrously, Reagan took Nixon’s nascent War on Drugs — an issue that experts agree should be treated as a public health crisis rather than a law enforcement crusade — and turned it into an actual armed conflict. Reagan militarized the American police force, which has used the War on Drugs as a pretext for terrorizing communities of color.
This is the legacy that has led us to this moment, in which we have watched enough Black people be murdered by police, only for the police not to be held accountable. And we are waking up to the way in which this is part of a larger American story.
Taking up a challenge like this in Wisconsin’s largest school district will inevitably run into political, bureaucratic and philosophical hurdles. There will be those who say you can’t pick and choose which schools to rename. There will be those who say, “But what about the alumni?” There will be those who say that if you change one, you have to change them all. The web will spin and spin until it is impossible to move through.
First and foremost, I have to acknowledge that there is protocol for changing a school’s name. To my understanding, the principal and staff need to be on board, parents and students need to be surveyed, and the community needs to give input. Then it needs to be presented to the school board for approval. I am not necessarily advocating for the school board to ignore protocol, but I am saying that they should initiate the process.
This is an issue that I have thought about long before our current political moment. What always stopped me from putting these ideas into the public sphere was that I had yet to see a student-led effort to rename the school. However, upon speaking with Reagan staff and parents, I have learned that there have been and are students who feel strongly about changing the name, but it never rose to the top of their priority list and they never organized around it. Understandably, they were bogged down by their schoolwork, extracurriculars, and social lives. Nevertheless, the desire exists.
If the school were to be renamed, or if a districtwide renaming project took place, there are many different ways in which it could go. Some suggest a simple number, like New York City’s elementary schools. Some suggest naming them after neighborhoods, like Bay View High School or the recently renamed Riverwest School. Some suggest positive words like “Hope” or “Joy.” Some suggest local historic figures.
As it turns out, Reagan High School actually occupies the former Christopher Latham Sholes Middle School, and weirdly, still bears the Sholes name, which would make it relatively easy to switch back. Sholes was a local newspaper publisher, politician, and the inventor of the QWERTY keyboard. He opposed the expansion of slavery and helped abolish capital punishment in Wisconsin. Already, he’s off to a better start than Reagan. But Sholes died in 1890, making it considerably harder to judge his character.
The difficulty with historic figures is creating the criteria by which they are judged. As lauded as she may be, Golda Meir was prime minister of Israel shortly after the country seized the Golan Heights from Syria and she oversaw the Yom Kippur War in 1973. As beloved as Barack Obama may be, and in many respects, he is deservedly so, he still oversaw drone strikes that killed innocent women and children in the Middle East. As far as I can tell, Rufus King was a good guy, but it doesn’t appear that the abolition of slavery was one of his top concerns. Obviously, nobody is perfect. I am not saying that these three figures should not have an MPS school named after them. I’m saying that it is easy to get mired down in creating the criteria for who is worthy. I am also saying that because Reagan is a symbol of systemic racism, he is not worthy.
There will also be those who say it costs money to rename a public facility and there isn’t room in the budget. Well, to that unfortunately common refrain, I defer once again to the wisdom of Taylor.
“When it comes to schools, housing, food and other basic necessities, politicians always complain about deficits and the need to curb spending and curb budgets. [But] when billions are spent on war, police-brutality settlements and publicly subsidized sports stadiums, there never seems to be a shortage of money.”
Having said all of that, I must make it crystal clear that a symbolic gesture in support of equity and antiracism, like changing a school’s name or painting “BLACK LIVES MATTER” on the street, is not worth much unless we are also committed to substantive policy changes and increased funding for social services.
Do not be like the mayor of Washington D.C., who had “BLACK LIVES MATTER” painted on a street leading to the White House, but then increased the police budget by $45 million.
MPS has already made strides toward equity with the Office for Civil Rights and ethnic studies initiatives. Let us do more. Let us take the baton from this moment in history and run with it. Let us not be performative. Let us be transformative.

author: Joey Grihalva


text:
Post from Community: For Veritas High School student Yanelly Lopez, Seeds of Health means family | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Abbey Algiers
July 16, 2020
Editor’s note: Our Posts from the Community feature is a platform for community announcements and event postings. If you have a post to be considered, send it to info@milwaukeenns.org or submit it directly.
You know you have found someplace special when you look for ways to stay connected after you’ve left. For Yanelly Lopez, a 10th grader at Veritas High School, that special place is Seeds of Health Elementary (SOHE). Yanelly’s connection to this school is twofold.  First, her family loves it so much that her 7th grade brother and K4 sister, as well as many of her cousins, are current SOHE students. Second, as a taekwondo powerhouse and talent, Yanelly wanted to use her gift to give back. Yanelly volunteers as a taekwondo instructor in the very SOHE taekwondo program that introduced her to the sport. Yanelly volunteered her time and talent this past school year in hopes of inspiring and encouraging young children, and as a way of saying thanks for the tremendous gift the program and the school had given her.
Starting with Seeds of Health
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
The fact that Yanelly feels such a deep connection to her former school and wants to give back is solid proof for her mom, Jackeline Cordero, that she made the right decision when she decided to enroll Yanelly in the K5 program. At the time, Jackeline was looking for a school for her daughter to start K5. She chose Seeds of Health because her nephew had enrolled there in K4, and she had heard about the small classes and individualized attention offered to its students, as well as the great family vibe felt by all. What she had heard was true, Jackeline soon realized, and she knew she had made the right choice. She had also heard that children could start in a Seeds of Health school as early as K4 or K5 and stay with that school system all the way through high school. This appealed to Jackeline as well, and it is serving Yanelly well – today she attends one of the four Seeds of Health high schools.
Gaining confidence in sports, school, and life
It turns out Seeds of Health Elementary (called Windlake Elementary when Yanelly began in K5) was the perfect place for Yanelly to blossom from a shy girl to an academic success and taekwondo sensation. She credits her success to the small classes, caring teachers, personalized attention, and connections made in her school. She also says her involvement in taekwondo (one of Seeds of Health Elementary’s extracurricular program offerings) was pivotal in helping her to quite literally “break out of her shell” and gain the confidence needed for her sport, school, and life. “I was very shy when I was younger, and by being in taekwondo, I was encouraged to try things I’d never tried before. The instructors pushed me and got me to be more comfortable. They were amazing and the program is amazing.” Today, Yanelly is continuing to excel at taekwondo (she’s almost a black belt), and of course, she’s giving back by volunteering in the after-school taekwondo program.
A Parent Ambassador
Hard work and giving back to the community are ideals instilled in Yanelly by her mom, who leads by example as a Seeds of Health Parent Ambassador. Jackeline says, “I want my kids to learn as much as they can in school and give back to the community. I try to challenge my kids in the areas where they need help. If something is hard for them, I’ll push them a little harder to work at it.”
As a Parent Ambassador, Jackeline Cordero has always been deeply involved in the educational experiences of all her kids. Jackeline takes great pride in being a part of Seeds of Health Schools. She loves spreading the word about Seeds of Health Schools and encouraging other parents to enroll their children in Seeds of Health Elementary, or for older kids, one of Seeds of Health’s high schools (Veritas, Grandview, and two Tenor High Schools). There are so many reasons she promotes Seeds of Health Elementary, but simply put she states, “I like Seeds of Health because the teachers are very nice and so connected with the children. They offer one-to-one instruction, and the small class sizes mean the children get individualized attention all day. This is especially helpful when kids don’t understand something. I know they’ll get the help they need.”
The small class sizes and individualized attention were especially helpful this past spring, during the COVID-19 school shutdown. Jackeline explains, “When classes were online, Seeds of Health Schools helped so much. The teachers had many one-to-one sessions with kids, to be sure they understood the material. This helped so much during that time.”
A push toward future success
Yanelly agrees with her mom. “I’m so glad I started with Seeds of Health and was pushed by my teachers and instructors in taekwondo. They always pushed me to my greatest limits, as did my parents. This encouragement got me to feel more confident, and then I wanted to try new things.” Some examples of Yanelly’s many successes include her academic excellence as well as her participation in the Yearbook Club, Student Council, STEM Club, and Student Advisory. With the support of her parents, teachers at SOH, and instructors at taekwondo, it seems that Yanelly is unstoppable. In the future, she hopes to apply her love of math, science, and art in a career like architecture. With such a fine team supporting her, it is no doubt that Yanelly – as well as her brother, younger sister, cousins and other SOH friends – will go on to similar future successes.
Regardless of where a student is on their K4-12 educational journey, Seeds of Health has a place for your child. Enrollment is now underway for fall, with openings at the new Tenor High School on South 1st Street as well as Seeds of Health Elementary at 1445 S 32nd St. Rest assured that Seeds of Health prioritizes the safety and health of your child and family considering COVID-19. We are revamping our procedures and policies as well as our buildings to follow CDC and DPI guidelines for schools and create safe learning opportunities for your children. We continue to closely monitor the situation and work to inform our families of changing school protocols and procedures as the COVID-19 situation evolves. For additional information on openings at Seeds of Health Schools, Maria Gonzalez Hurtado can be contacted at 414-385-5660.
Like this story? There’s a video version! See Mariella Godinez- Munoz’s video interview of Jackeline and Yanelly and their experiences with Seeds of Health Schools on the Facebook page of Hoy Wisconsin Today from June 30, 2020 (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=192617748843997).

author: Abbey Algiers


text:
Yanelly-interview-Hoy-Today-WI-6.30.2020.JPG | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
July 15, 2020


text:
Post from Community: MATC announces technology package for MATC Promise to increase digital equity | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Area Technical College
July 16, 2020
(Photo provided by Milwaukee Area Technical College)
Editor’s note: Our Posts from the Community feature is a platform for community announcements and event postings. If you have a post to be considered, send it to info@milwaukeenns.org or submit it directly.
Milwaukee Area Technical College announced today an expansion of the MATC technology scholarship program which has supplied Chromebooks to students who lack computer access needed to participate in learning in the COVID-19 environment. This will allow all current and new MATC Promise students access to a Chromebook and a hotspot for internet connectivity for one year if they don’t currently have access to them.  A limited number of Chromebooks and hotspots also will be available to the entire student population.
Lack of computer access spotlights a serious equity gap in Wisconsin. A May 2020 Wisconsin Public Policy Forum report shows that statewide, 13.6 percent of Black residents and 11 percent of Hispanic/Latinx residents lack broadband access. For white residents, the statewide average is 5.8 percent.
The expansion of MATC’s program was funded, in part, by American Family Insurance, which donated $40,000 to a Digital Divide Fund at the Milwaukee Area Technical College Foundation, Inc., to help support efforts to close the gap between students who have computer access and those who do not. In addition, American Family Insurance also donated $10,000 to the MATC Foundation’s Dreamkeepers’ Fund for student emergency grants.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
Since the COVID-19 pandemic closed colleges, universities and K-12 schools, education has primarily been delivered virtually, via home computers and internet access. MATC estimates that approximately 25 percent of students in some programs did not have sufficient online access to continue their studies.
“We are grateful to American Family for supporting our students’ education at this critical time,” said Dr. Vicki Martin, MATC president. “Access to technology has become a lifeline for students to remain in school. Many in our student body experience the digital divide and lack sufficient computer access and reliable internet. Through this and other funding partnerships, we are able to meet this need.”
MATC estimates serving at least 1,500 students through this fund in the coming academic year. Along with the donation from American Family Insurance, additional funds have been committed by MATC through its FCC Spectrum Trust and through donors of the MATC Promise. The MATC Promise for Adults and MATC Promise for New High School Graduates programs mean free tuition for qualified students after financial aid has been applied.
“We recognize the overwhelming need for digital access, and it has become even more clear during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Maritza Contreras, American Family Insurance strategic partnerships advisor. “We are proud to partner with MATC to advance equity and help bridge the gap in our communities to ensure all students have access to technology and quality education.”
Students may apply for both MATC Promise programs until July 17. For more information, visit: www.matc.edu/promise.
To donate to the MATC Foundation’s “Digital Divide Fund ” or “Dreamkeepers’ Fund,” contact Monika Walloch, director of development, at wallocms@matc.edu or visit www.matc.edu/donate.
About Milwaukee Area Technical College:
Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. Nearly 35,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 150 academic programs; and transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 35 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
About MATC FCC Spectrum Trust:
The MATC FCC Spectrum Trust was established when MATC’s District Board, as license holder for Milwaukee PBS, made the strategic decision to participate in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadcast incentive auction. MATC received one-time proceeds of $84 million as a result of its voluntary participation in the auction, created to free up bandwidth to accommodate the growing capacity needs for wireless technology. Annual earnings proceeds are being utilized to advance MATC’s educational mission of transforming lives, industry and community.
About the American Family Insurance Group:
Based in Madison, Wisconsin, American Family Insurance has been serving customers since 1927. We inspire, protect and restore dreams through our insurance products, exceptional service from our agency owners and employees, community investment and creative partnerships to address societal challenges. We act on our belief in diversity and inclusion by constantly evolving to meet customer needs and preferences. American Family Insurance group is the nation’s 13th-largest property/casualty insurance group, ranking No. 254 on the Fortune 500 list. The group sells American Family-brand products, primarily through exclusive agency owners in 19 states. The American Family Insurance group also includes American Family Connect Property and Casualty Insurance Company, the proposed new legal name of Ameriprise Auto & Home, The General, Homesite and Main Street America. Across these companies the group has more than 13,500 employees nationwide.

author: Milwaukee Area Technical College


text:
Three things to know about MPS’ plan to reopen schools | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
July 16, 2020
When COVID-19 shut MPS schools down during the spring, the district turned to a virtual learning experience. (Photo by Adam Carr)
The school board is expected to vote Thursday on a plan to reopen Milwaukee Public Schools for the 2020-’21 school year.
The plan includes a three-phased approach, beginning with at least 30 days of only virtual instruction. MPS estimates the plan will cost around $90 million.
Here are three things to know about the proposal:
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
The plan recommends reopening schools slowly over three phases. In the first phase, instruction at all grade levels will be conducted virtually.
Virtual instruction will continue for at least 30 to 45 school days after the first day of class, which is Aug. 17 for schools on the early start calendar or Sept. 1 for schools on the traditional calendar. During this time, there will be no students in school buildings. A majority of lessons will be self-guided as opposed to live instruction.
MPS will move into phase two, a blend of virtual and in-person learning, after guidelines ensuring safety are met. During this phase, students will spend two days per week in class and three days per week learning virtually. In-class and virtual learning will be staggered so that no more than half the students in a school will be physically present.
During phase three, all instruction will be in class daily – so long as it is deemed safe by health officials.
At any point during phases two and three, parents can opt their children out of in-person instruction. The district will provide virtual learning options for these students.
Special education services will continue to be provided. But MPS recommends that teams review potential impacts that reduced or no face-to-face instruction might have on the district’s ability to fulfill special education requirements.
The district has committed to providing at least two masks or face coverings per person; procuring enough cleaning supplies to have a two-month supply on hand at all times; and hiring additional staff and bus drivers to maintain social distancing in schools and on buses.
Classes would be limited to no more than 18 students per classroom in order to maintain social distancing. MPS officials say the district will need to hire one additional staff member per class in order to meet this class-size limit.
Buses will also be limited in their capacity in order to maintain social distancing. MPS officials estimate that bus drivers will need to take four to six trips each in order to get students to school while maintaining social distancing. Families can opt out of transportation services even if their child is still attending in-class instruction.
MPS plans to regularly sanitize high-traffic areas including bathrooms, buses and classrooms. During phase two, when students are present every day but Wednesday, the district will deep clean facilities on Wednesdays.
Students and staff who are symptomatic will be excluded from school buildings. When a nurse is not present, MPS will contact the city Health Department’s call center for medical advice, according to the plan.
The Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, the union representing MPS teachers, sent out a communication to members last week detailing demands for political leaders to aid MPS families by ensuring COVID-19 testing is available to all Milwaukee neighborhoods served by MPS schools. The union also called for  efficient contact tracing plus other demands regarding health care access, evictions, foreclosures, hunger and workplace safety.
In order to fully implement all three phases of the plan, MPS officials estimate that it will need over $90 million in additional funding. About $80 million of this cost will go to getting additional technology for virtual learning, sanitary supplies and labor as well as the increased transportation costs to ensure social distancing.
The Board of School Directors will meet virtually in a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. July 16. The agenda is available here.
You can submit written testimony to governance@milwaukee.k12.wi.us until 3 p.m. Thursday. Those wishing to submit verbal testimony during the meeting can register by calling 414-475-8200 before 3 p.m.


text:
5 things to do and know the weekend of July 17 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ana Martinez-Ortiz
July 17, 2020
Tables Across Borders is back with a new virtual series featuring refugee chefs teaching Milwaukeeans how to cook. (Photo by Sue Vliet)
It’s Friday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about as the nation grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please email info@milwaukeenns.org and put “5 things” in the subject line by noon Thursday.
1. ‘Wheelin’ at Westlawn’ bicycle tuneup day: Friday, July 17
‘Wheelin’ at Westlawn’ will take place at the Westlawn Gardens Playground Pavilion at the intersection of North 62nd Street and West Custer Avenue from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, July 17. Cyclists can bring their bicycle for a free tuneup that includes filling up tires, fixing flats, oiling a bike chain and more. The event is a part of the Westlawn Partnership for a Healthier Environment.
2. Milwaukee Public Library Central location suspends curbside pickup
The Milwaukee Public Library Central location, 814 W. Wisconsin Ave., has suspended its curbside pickup after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. Curbside pickup remains at the Washington Park location, 2121 N. Sherman Blvd., and the Tippecanoe location, 3912 S. Howell Ave. Click here to learn how to request and safely pick up items.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
3. Community bike drive and bike giveaway: Saturday, July 18
Feeding 100 Mouths is hosting a community bike drive from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 18. Bike donations can be made at the King Center, 1531 W. Vliet St., and Kosciuszko Park, 2201 S. 7th St. The donated bikes will also be distributed during the event on a first come, first served basis.
4. Drive-up voter registration stations: Saturday, July 18 and Sunday, July 19
Common Ground is hosting a drive-up registration station at El Rey Foods, 5200 W. Oklahoma Ave., from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 18. The group is hosting a second voter registration station at the Basilica of St. Josaphat, 2333 S. 6th St., from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 19. Be sure to bring a photo ID and proof of address. Check if you are already registered to vote at My Vote Wisconsin.
5. Virtual community cooking class: sambusa edition: Sunday, July 19
Tables Across Borders and the Lynden Sculpture Garden have partnered together to present a virtual community cooking class featuring refugee chefs. This week, chef Hasina Begum Ashraf Mia, a Rohingya refugee, will be teaching viewers how to make sambusas also known as samosas. The cooking class will be shown on the Lynden Sculpture Garden’s Facebook live from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 19.
Read: Diversity’s on the menu. How refugee chefs are changing Milwaukee’s culinary landscape.
Bonus: The latest coronavirus coverage from NNS
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service reporters are hard at work bringing readers up-to-date information regarding coronavirus. Stay informed on coronavirus by following us on our Facebook page and subscribing to our daily newsletter. All coronavirus related articles can be found on this landing page. If you have a question or concern about coronavirus, send them in our way. We’re here to serve you.

author: Ana Martinez-Ortiz


text:
| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 16, 2020


text:
Mask up, Milwaukee: Where to find free and locally made face coverings | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ana Martinez-Ortiz & Bridget Fogarty
July 17, 2020
The City of Milwaukee is now requiring people to wear a mask in local establishments and outside when within 6 feet of others. (Photo provided from #MaskUpMKE)
Editor’s Note: This story updates places where you can get free masks.
It’s official.
If you are in public places – both indoors and outdoors — in the City of Milwaukee, you are required to wear a mask.
The ordinance went into effect Thursday and will remain until the Moving Milwaukee Forward health and safety order is lifted.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
In addition, the ordinance requires the city to create a program that provides free masks for residents in need.
Here are a few places in Milwaukee where you can find free or locally made masks.
(Did we miss a place or local vendor offering and selling masks? Please, comment below or send us an email with the subject line “Local Masks” at info@milwaukeenn.org.)
Free masks
Milwaukee Health Department
The Milwaukee Health Department is giving away free masks at the following locations:
Health Department Administrative Office, 841 N. Broadway
Keenan Health Center, 3200 N. 36th St.
Northwest Health Center, 7630 W. Mill Rd.
Southside Health Center, 1639 S. 23rd St.
Local vendors
FlyBlooms
Tiffany Miller, the owner and creative force behind FlyBlooms, a local boutique that is part of the Bronzeville Collective MKE, is selling masks that come in different sizes and designs. They include sizes for children (7 inches by 5 inches); for adults (8.5 inches by 5.75 inches); and extra large for adults (9.6 inches by 6.5 inches). Masks can be purchased online. In-store supplies are limited at the Bronzeville Collective MKE, 339 W. North Ave. Prices vary.
Basia Rose Designs
Blest By Campuzano is selling masks at $5 a piece or five for $20. (Photo provided by Blest by Campuzano)
Local designer Basia Spencer is selling face masks through her boutique, Basia Rose Designs. The masks cost $10 and come in a variety of designs. Masks can be ordered online.
Blest by Campuzano
Blest By Campuzano, a family-owned tailor shop, recently got into the mask-making business. Customers can pick up masks at the shop, 2926 W. Forest Home Ave.
A single mask costs $5 and five masks cost $20. Check the Facebook page for store hours.
Regenia Henderson
Regenia Henderson is taking custom orders for masks for those wishing to add embellishments. (Photo provided by Regenia Henderson)
Regenia Henderson, a local self-taught seamstress, has been making masks since the start of quarantine. Masks can be ordered through her Facebook page or by calling/texting 414-745-4207.
Masks cost $7, embellishments such as bling cost an additional $3 and sport team masks such as the Milwaukee Brewers cost $10. Masks can be delivered, picked up or shipped.
Konkada
Milwaukee-based artist Amin Djaouga, who hails from Benin, West Africa, creates homemade reusable masks inspired by African patterns and culture. He sells them through his business Konkada on Etsy for $10 to $12. You can also find Konkada masks sold at The Waxwing, 1800 E. North Ave.
How to make your own cloth face covering
There are plenty of online tutorials approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for making your own face covering out of household materials.
Where can I get masks in bulk for my organization or establishment?
Frequently asked questions
Check the Milwaukee Health Department’s list of frequently asked questions regarding the mask ordinance.
Still have questions about mask-wearing and where to find one for yourself? Email the City of Milwaukee Health Department at ASKMHDCOVID19@milwaukee.gov for more information.
The ordinance at a glance
Indoor and outdoor requirements:
Exceptions may include:
Enforcement:

author: Ana Martinez-Ortiz & Bridget Fogarty


text:
Post from Community: MATC to stream virtual commencement beginning July 24; ceremony to air on Milwaukee PBS Aug. 1-2 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Area Technical College
July 17, 2020
Editor’s note: Our Posts from the Community feature is a platform for community announcements and event postings. If you have a post to be considered, send it to info@milwaukeenns.org or submit it directly.
Milwaukee Area Technical College will graduate approximately 1,000 students in a virtual Spring/Summer 2020 Commencement which will be made available at matc.stageclip.com beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, July 24. It also will be broadcast by Milwaukee PBS on Aug. 1-2.
The decision to hold a virtual rather than in-person ceremony was made in the interest of health and safety due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
Students will graduate from associate degree, technical diploma, apprenticeship and adult high school programs. Each student has been asked to upload photos or video messages to be inserted into the program.
Keynote speakers are Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and Michelle Nettles. Barnes served in the state legislature before becoming the first African American elected lieutenant governor in Wisconsin. He is only the second African American elected to a statewide office in Wisconsin history. Nettles is chief people and culture officer at the international Fortune 500 company ManpowerGroup based in Milwaukee. Before joining the ManpowerGroup, Nettles served as the chief people & diversity officer at MillerCoors.
Other speakers include Mark Foley, chairperson of the MATC District Board; Dr. Vicki J. Martin, MATC president; and Marissa Nicholson, leader of MATC’s Student Senate. Martin will officially confer the degrees.
Watch the commencement at matc.stageclip.com beginning at 6 p.m., Friday, July 24; or on Milwaukee PBS Channel 10 at  4:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1; and on Channel 36 at 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2.
Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. Nearly 35,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 150 academic programs; and transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 35 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.


text:
virtualcommencementMATC.jpg | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
July 16, 2020


text:
Milwaukee baker Adija Greer-Smith slowly reopens her business. ‘I’m a baker that believes positive energy transfers into everything that you do.’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jimmy Gutierrez (News414)
July 17, 2020
Outbreak Wisconsin chronicles people’s journeys through the coronavirus crisis, exposes failing systems and explores solutions.
Milwaukee County moved into “Phase 4” of its COVID-19 orders on July 1. That means businesses such as Adija Greer-Smith’s Confectionately Yours, housed inside the Sherman Phoenix, can now operate at 50% capacity.
While some restaurants and shops offered curb-side options during the initial spikes of COVID-19 cases and deaths, Milwaukee’s Sherman Phoenix waited until early June to open its doors to the general public. And after nearly three months without sales, Greer-Smith is once again baking, getting ready to greet customers and bringing back staff.
“Am I excited? Well yeah, a little bit, because it will push some normalcy back into my life,” Greer-Smith said. “Every day baking and preparing for my customers. Am I concerned? Yeah a little bit of that, too.”
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
Among her main anxieties: not having proper personal protective gear for staff who will interact with the public daily. She said she faces a shortage of hand sanitizer and disinfectant, items she would regularly use to sanitize her workspace during the lockdown — before customers were even allowed inside the Phoenix.
“One of my girls, my retail cashier, asked me today, if we had protective shields yet, you know, with us opening tomorrow,” Greer-Smith said. “She was wondering because she’s kind of the front-line worker for the bakery, and I felt bad responding to her that we didn’t have it, but I was still asking her to take the risk and be at the forefront.”
Even as Milwaukee’s new reported COVID-19 deaths have dropped compared to last month, and daily positive tests have remained steady, confirmed cases continue to increase for some of the city’s populations, including the Latino community.
On an early sun-filled Saturday morning, Greer-Smith reflected on her reopening following a nearly three-month shutdown. But her swirl of emotions related to more than just business. Her father, Clarence Greer, died May 3 of health issues unrelated to COVID-19. He was 91 years old.
“I’m so thankful that he was able to see me accomplish one of my biggest goals, which was to be a business owner and to open up a bakery honoring my grandmother’s legacy. And he was able to see that,” Greer-Smith said. “But losing him, which seems like just days ago, is still really painful.”
Back at the storefront on opening day, customers started flowing in, slower than pre-pandemic numbers but with regularity throughout the day. Her staff was upbeat and seemed to relish being together again. Greer-Smith said customers were patient with the new COVID-19 safeguards, including requiring face masks to be worn and maintaining at least 6 feet of physical distance. But with the gradual return to normalcy, the more it brings into focus how much has changed in recent months.
Greer-Smith believes her baked goods transmit energy. That’s why she always approaches her baking with a positive mindset.
“I’m a baker that believes that positive energy transfers into everything that you do including your baking and cooking,” Greer-Smith said. “I need to gather my thoughts, and gather my energy, so that I can transfer positive, warm love into what I give my customers today because right now, I’m struggling.”
– –
News414 is a service journalism collaboration of three nonprofit newsrooms: Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service (NNS), Wisconsin Watch and Outlier Media. News414 identifies, reports and delivers reliable information to meet the needs of Milwaukee residents.

author: Jimmy Gutierrez (News414)


text:
Cioci_7-2-AnniaGreerSmith-outbreak-4-771×515 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
July 14, 2020


text:
Cioci_7-2-AnniaGreerSmith-outbreak-9-1170×781 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
July 14, 2020


text:
OPINION: Local policing needs to change. Here’s how to make it happen. | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
R.L. McNeely, Jenny Tasse, Holly Ryan and Fred Royal
July 17, 2020
(Image by Wes Tank of TankThink)
Editor’s note: Have something on your mind? “Community Voices” is the place to let Milwaukee hear what you have to say. To be considered, we need your name, email address and phone number for verification. Please email your submissions to info@milwaukeenns.org.
R.L. McNeely is the chair of the Felmers O. Chaney Advocacy Board; Jenny Tasse is the director of the Milwaukee Jewish Community Relations Council; Holly Ryan is the president of the Ozaukee County Jail Literacy Program; and Fred Royal is the president of the Milwaukee chapter of the NAACP.
The Felmers O. Chaney Advocacy Board supports the peaceful protests occurring after the murder of George Floyd. We all need to work together for change to our laws and institutional policies.
These changes need to include, at a minimum, legislatively mandated community monitoring and oversight of the police in conjunction with the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission. By “community” representation, we mean civilian representation based on legal and other expertise such as that possessed by local law professors, criminal justice professors, social welfare professionals and seasoned representatives of grassroots organizations.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
We do not believe these representatives should be appointed by local or other political figures. Law enforcement’s qualified immunity should be abolished, and police officers need to be trained to deal with ambiguity. Among other requisites, we recommend the licensing of police, just like other professions, wherein a police officer’s license to practice can be revoked, that early warning systems to identify potentially troubled officers be made more effective, and we recommend that tenets of community policing be legislatively adopted.
We also recommend that all shooting and/or excessive force incidents be investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice and, to minimize the occurrence of potentially inflammatory events in the first place, that officers be required to issue Citizen Interaction Receipts whenever citizens are subjected to field interviews. The receipts should include the following information: (a) the name of the officer or squad who stopped the person or persons; (b) the name of the person or persons who were stopped; (c) the time the interaction occurred; (d) a brief description as to why the stop was made; if a pat-down search was done; (e) why it was done; (f) when it was done; and (g) who conducted it.
There are many recommendations FCAB could make. These are but a few. But they are a start.


text:
Post from Communtiy: Shechem on 26th and Capitol bringing refuge, redemption and reconciliation to Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Kendall Schoenike
July 17, 2020
Editor’s note: Our Posts from the Community feature is a platform for community announcements and event postings. If you have a post to be considered, send it to info@milwaukeenns.org or submit it directly.
A condemned building, that once sat in a struggling neighborhood, is being transformed into a safe place. A place that is a developing beacon for our neighborhood and the greater Milwaukee community. A space designed to meet, commune and work through our collective brokenness, together.
Hope Street Ministry, a non-profit committed to building community on Milwaukee’s Northside, is developing Shechem, a haven of hope. The building, designed to house a gym, classrooms, cafe, and event spaces, will welcome people from all across Milwaukee to come together, learn and grow alongside one another.
Shechem is a place where we can join together, reach across the table and to begin the work of breaking down preconceived notions, be curious, creative and learn from one another. A place where we have the ability to open our hearts and minds to what has put people in the places and situations different than our own and how we can grow from there.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
To demonstrate tangible evidence of this vision of true community among friends, neighbors, sisters, and brothers, we will create the Bruised But Not Broken wall.
The wall will be a focal point in Shechem’s atrium, visible from both inside and out as a celebration of our diversity, confession of hurt, hope of reconciliation, and a journey toward justice.
The display will be community curated and feature “reeds” painted by people across greater Milwaukee. The installation is designed to represent everyone’s effort in developing a more whole and more healed community.
Hope Street is inviting the public to the future site of Shechem and host sites July 20th-25th to hand paint reeds that will greet all who come to Shechem.
Anyone is welcome and all are encouraged to take part in this unique and special demonstration of community truly coming together.
You can find a time and location near you and learn more at www.hopestreetministry.org/paint-a-reed or by calling Hope Street’s office at (414) 445-5404.
Hope Street Ministry is a not-for-profit organization in the city of Milwaukee, creating spaces to help form healthy communities.

author: Kendall Schoenike


text:
Shechem-with-reeds.PNG | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
July 16, 2020


text:
What questions do you have about COVID-19 in Milwaukee? | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
July 17, 2020
Milwaukee NNS wants to know what question you have to help shape our coverage. Do you have questions about COVID-19 in Milwaukee or how the state is responding to it? What information can we provide that will help you or make life easier as we all deal with this pandemic?
Fill out the form to let us know.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!

author: Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service


text:
| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
March 15, 2020


text:
covid19-1600×900 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
July 17, 2020


text:
5 things to know this week in Milwaukee: July 20 to July 25 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
5 things to know this week in Milwaukee: July 20 to July 25
July 20, 2020
Book Bike: Niche Book Bar and the Sherman Phoenix, 3536 W. Fond du Lac Ave., are presenting “StoryBooks and Bikes” at The Phoenix every Saturday. (Photo provided by Niche Book Bar)
It’s Monday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about as the nation grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please email info@milwaukeenns.org and put “5 things” in the subject line by .
: Don’t forget the City of Milwaukee now requires everyone to wear face masks in public spaces. : Mask up, Milwaukee: Where to find free and locally made face coverings
The latest coronavirus coverage from NNS
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service reporters are hard at work bringing readers up-to-date information regarding coronavirus. Stay informed by following us on our Facebook page and subscribing to our daily newsletter. All coronavirus related articles can be found on this landing page. If you have a question or concern about coronavirus, send them in our way. We’re here to serve you.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!


text:
50123470592_b021767257_o | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
July 19, 2020


text:
The NNS coronavirus update: What Milwaukee residents need to know the week of July 20 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Bridget Fogarty
July 20, 2020
Milwaukee has seen an increase in daily counts of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths. (Photo by Adam Carr)
Here’s the latest update on COVID-19 in Milwaukee and the resources you need to combat it.
In the past week, Milwaukee has seen an increase in daily counts of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths. In the county’s virtual COVID-19 update Thursday, health officials said these trends look similar to the spike the county saw in May.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
Dr. Ben Weston of the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management warned the county will see worsening numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the coming weeks if precautions aren’t taken.
“We as a community and as individuals can be proactive in slowing transmission,” he said. “We must act now before we are forced to act by untenable case counts and overwhelmed hospitals.”
One proven way to reduce transmission of COVID-19 is wearing a mask, and the newly implemented MKE Cares ordinance requires all residents to wear a face covering in public spaces — both indoors and outdoors.
“By signing this ordinance, it’s a recognition that we have not done everything that’s necessary to fight COVID-19,” Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said in Thursday’s update.
Scientific research shows wearing a face covering limits  the spread of COVID-19.
When outside, residents must always have a mask in their possession and use common sense on when to have it on, Barrett said. Even when walking on the lakefront or on the block alone, if you cannot maintain a social distance of 6 feet with a passerby, he said, then you have to wear a mask.
The ordinance also requires the city to create a program that provides free masks for residents in need. The Milwaukee Health Department is giving away free masks at the following locations:
Here’s where else to find free or locally made masks. Check the Milwaukee Health Department’s list of frequently asked questions for more information on the mandate.
The ordinance will remain until the Moving Milwaukee Forward health and safety order is lifted.
The school board approved MPS’ plan to reopen schools, which includes three phases and begins with at least 30 days of virtual instruction.
Remember that so long as the city is in Phase 4 of reopening, schools located in the City of Milwaukee are not permitted to hold in-person sessions, according to the Health Department’s Phase 4 Assessment Update.
Beginning July 25, We Energies will be able to disconnect services. If you are behind on your payments, here’s how to keep your utilities on.
Do you have questions about COVID-19 in Milwaukee or how the state is responding to it? What information can we provide that will help you or make life easier as we all deal with this pandemic?
Fill out this form, and NNS reporters will look for answers for you.
Look here for up-to-date statistics on COVID-19 in the county. More precautions on how to stay safe and information on COVID-19 can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.
Check out our continuing coronavirus coverage.
Looking for more personalized direction to resources and information during the coronavirus crisis? Get connected with News414, a texting-based news resource from Milwaukee NNS, Wisconsin Watch and Outlier Media. You can text MILWAUKEE to 73224 and begin to receive free, personalized data via text messages.

author: Bridget Fogarty


text:
| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
July 19, 2020


text:
Why saying “All Lives Matter” is disrespectful to Black people | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
July 20, 2020
Milwaukee Independent