Author: Staff

The Math of a Milwaukee Billboard: Just 3% of U.S. Military spending could end global starvation

Firing a $70,000 missile from a $28,000,000 drone flying at a cost of $3,624 per hour to kill people in the Middle East living on less than $1 per day. “We live in a country where if you want to bomb somebody, there’s remarkably little discussion about how much it might cost. But then you have a discussion about whether or not we can assist people who are suffering, then suddenly we become very cost-conscious.” – Andrew Bacevich A billboard at the south-east corner of Wells and James Lovell Streets, across the street from the Milwaukee Public Museum, makes...

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Great Lakes Legacy Act: DNR and EPA agree to cleanup contaminated sediment in Milwaukee Estuary

Representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signed an agreement recently to work cooperatively with the city of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and We Energies to clean up the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern. Signed on Jan. 6, 2020, the Great Lakes Legacy Act Project Agreement provides funding and a shared path forward to accelerate contaminated sediment cleanup in Milwaukee. “Areas of Concern” or AOCs are polluted hot spots in Great Lakes rivers and harbors that were specially targeted by the U.S. and Canada for cleanup in 1987. “This...

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Democraticfest: DNC 2020 Host Committee to hold Delegate Welcome Party at Henry Maier Festival Park

The Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee announced on February 7 that the Henry Maier Festival Park, home to Summerfest, would be the site of the official Delegate Welcome Party for the Democratic National Convention. The event will take place on Sunday, July 12, 2020, and will serve as the official introduction for delegates to the city of Milwaukee, before the convention kicks off on July 13. “Milwaukee is a great place on a Great Lake, and by hosting the Delegate Welcome Party on the Summerfest grounds, we can showcase one of our city’s finest assets to the world,” said Milwaukee...

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Milwaukee Continuum of Care completes annual single night count of homeless population in county

The Milwaukee Continuum of Care homeless services consortium organized a 2020 “Point in Time” count on January 22 to capture an accurate representation of how many people experience homelessness on a single night in Milwaukee County. During last year’s Point in Time census, 885 people were counted as experiencing homelessness on January 23, 2019. Information gathered through the effort supports the organization’s strategic planning program to provide appropriate solutions to address local homelessness. “Conducting an accurate count of the homeless individuals in Milwaukee helps us understand how to allocate resources and refocus our efforts. The Milwaukee Continuum of Care’s...

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Hmong-Lao refugees who fled the Vietnam War decades ago now face deportation with their families

In the latest example of the Trump Administration’s effort to abandon the allies of America, those who helped fight the Vietnam War and their descendants are targeted for deportation under a new immigration proposal. The Trump administration is currently negotiating with the Lao government to allow for the deportation. However, Laos does not want to sign the agreement. They do not want these individuals sent back to their country, in part because most of them were not born there or have not lived in Laos for decades. Because deportation has numerous detrimental impacts on individuals who are deported, and...

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State lawmakers reintroduce effort for providing access to high-quality public education

State Representatives Jonathan Brostoff and Marisabel Cabrera, along with other legislative partners, reintroduced the Public Education Reinvestment Act (PERA) on January 28, in an effort to strengthen Wisconsin’s public schools. The Public Education Reinvestment Act (PERA) would reinstate and expand the former Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program, while phasing out Wisconsin’s failed voucher school experiment. The effort seeks to ensure that the hard-earned tax dollars of Wisconsin residents, earmarked through legislation for education, go towards providing a high-quality public education to every student in the state who wants one. “Public education in Wisconsin and the United States...

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