Author: Editor

Wake-up Milwaukee: If Ryan Clancy is not safe from authoritarianism as an elected official then who is?

Officers of the Milwaukee Police Department arrested Milwaukee County Supervisor Ryan Clancy following a peaceful protest in Shorewood on Sunday, May 31, after the city’s 9:00 p.m. curfew. Supervisor Clancy was filming an altercation provoked by police on his phone when he was blindsided by an officer and tackled to the ground. As an elected official attending the peaceful march, Supervisor Clancy was exempt from the May 31 proclamation by Mayor Tom Barrett, which was issued to maintain safety in the City of Milwaukee in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer....

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“Pop-Up” Drive-in Theatre initiative offers Milwaukee families a safe entertainment experience

New “Pop-Up” Drive-in Theatre initiative makes first effort to bring public entertainment to residents of the city on May 29, by creating a safe space for Milwaukee families to enjoy movies and live performances while supporting artists and local businesses during the COVID-19 crisis. After leaving a grocery store and looking around at an empty parking lot in Bayshore when the coronavirus first started its spread across Milwaukee, local artist and community advocate Anne Koller wanted to find a way to bring people together safely and support the arts in Milwaukee. “We have plenty of empty parking lots and...

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Milwaukee’s Interfaith community members consider cautious strategies for preparing in-person worship

After the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the “Safer at Home” policy on May 14, and ordered that the state must “reopen” amid the COVID-19 pandemic without a comprehensive safety plan, every industry and community has struggled under the chaos since to discern how that ruling would be applied – especially within the faith community. The Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee released a roadmap of policies from its diverse collection of members on May 19, addressing how different faith organizations would hold in-person worship services and protect the community from the coronavirus. “As faith communities either prepare to cautiously...

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Pre-Pandemic Life: When the month of May meant being outside in the festive crush of humanity

May 2020 ushers in the second month of Wisconsin’s “Safer at Home” order to combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Along with the nation, the Milwaukee community has stepped into another world and pre-pandemic life can at times seem like a faded memory. The pandemic has forever changed our lives, our neighborhoods, and our nation. We collectively yearn for the return to “normal,” which was never all that great. In comparison, there is a comfort in the familiar. As this “new normal” stretches on, it too fulfills a level of familiarity, but perhaps offers little comfort. The COVID-19...

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JoCasta Zamarripa makes history by becoming Milwaukee’s first Latina Alderwoman

JoCasta Zamarripa, the newly elected Alderwoman of the 8th District, took her oath of office in-district on April 21 at the Mitchell Park Domes, and became one of five female members of the Milwaukee Common Council. Earlier in the morning, during the charter meeting of the 2020 – 2024 Milwaukee Common Council, Alderwoman-Elect Zamarripa was sworn in via remote video due to the pandemic crisis along with four other female colleagues. Municipal Court Judge Valarie A. Hill joined the tele-meeting to administer the oath simultaneously to Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs, Alderwoman Chantia Lewis, Alderwoman Nikiya Dodd, Alderwoman-Elect Marina Dimitrijevic,...

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