Staff, Author at Milwaukee Independent

Year In Review 2019: Insight and Observations in Words by Dominic Inouye

Posted by Staff | Dec 26, 2019 |

The news features presented here for this shared topic were published as original editorial content, and all were reported by the staff of Milwaukee Independent in 2019. The Year In Review (YIR) series has evolved from simple annual highlights that recap the year to a more summarized presentation of important themes, packaged together for readers. This collection of content presents our work again, in a way that helps educate and inform the public who may have missed the stories originally, or want to see how the past 12 months connected the dots on related subjects. This 2019 compilation also...

New sounds of Milwaukee honored at 88.9 Radio’s 12th Annual Music Awards

Posted by Staff | Dec 25, 2019 |

SistaStrings, Klassik, and Milwaukee music’s growing avant-garde, genre-bending sound were the big winners of the 2019 Radio Milwaukee Music Awards, which were announced on December 14. The non-commercial (WYMS-FM 88.9) station’s 12th annual music awards were based on 6,278 votes online by area music fans and selections of 88Nine music staff and local music writers. The top award winners were SistaStrings and Klassik, who each won two awards. SistaStrings, made up of sisters Monique and Chauntee Ross, took home Best Band and Best Album. The groundbreaking duo’s members are black classical string musicians and vocalists who uniquely combine classical,...

City responds to Milwaukee residents targeted in “dirty tricks” campaign to purge registered voters

Posted by Staff | Dec 24, 2019 |

Wisconsin will be a swing state in the 2020 presidential election, and the ongoing dirty tricks to disenfranchise voters and place Jim Crow-style barriers in place for citizens from the Democratic-leaning cities of Madison and Milwaukee has begun to accelerate. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has been critical of the effort to remove a quarter million voters from the state’s rolls, after Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Paul Malloy sided with a rightwing legal challenge that targeted liberal strongholds. “More than 1 in 10 of Milwaukee’s registered voters would be affected,” said Mayor Barrett. “The legal maneuver came from individuals who want...

MCTS “elves” surprise riders with holiday cheer at bus stops around Milwaukee

Posted by Staff | Dec 23, 2019 |

The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) shared the warmth of the holiday season by surprising riders with gifts and pop-up caroling at bus stops on December 17 and 18. Earlier this month, MCTS bus drivers helped a “Secret Santa” hand out cash and gifts to random people in Milwaukee. That heartwarming expression of the holiday spirit was documented by TV crews from “On the Road with Steve Hartman,” a popular segment that airs on CBS Evening News and CBS Sunday Morning. MCTS followed up with a pop-up caroling event at Water Street and Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Milwaukee. Classic...

Anti-immigration bill revived during holiday season to racially target and financially punish Milwaukee

Posted by Staff | Dec 20, 2019 |

Senate Bill 151, a legislation proposal that failed previously in 2011, 2016, and 2017, was rejected by former Republican Governor Scott Walker. It was recently resurrected yet again by several Republican State Senators. The measure seeks to forbid Wisconsin municipalities, with a targeted focus on Milwaukee, from becoming “sanctuary cities.” The result would compel local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration agents, without taxpayer compensation and with economic penalties. In effect, it would federalize local police with extrajudicial powers and no oversight. The State of Wisconsin’s Senate Committee on Labor and Regulatory Reform held a public hearing on December...

Opposition testimony of legislation banning “Sanctuary Cities” presented to State Committee

Posted by Staff | Dec 20, 2019 |

The State of Wisconsin’s Senate Committee on Labor and Regulatory Reform held a public hearing on December 17 regarding Senate Bill 151. The proposed law seeks to “prohibit local ordinances, resolutions, and policies that prohibit the enforcement of federal or state law relating to illegal aliens or immigration status, authorizing certain elective officeholders to commence an enforcement action, providing a reduction in shared revenue payments, and creating governmental liability for damages caused by illegal aliens.” The legislation is sponsored by Senators Nass, Craig, Wanggaard, Jacque, Stroebel and Kapenga. Public testimony was taken both in support and against Senate Bill...