Author: Wisconsin Public Radio

Violent crime across the country rose to historic levels last year. And now, $45 million in federal funds will be used to bolster violence prevention efforts and services for victims in Wisconsin. Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul announced the plan Wednesday to immediately begin distributing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) assistance throughout the state. The money will be divided, with $25 million going to violence prevention efforts and $20 million to support victim services. The city of Milwaukee, which is experiencing an unprecedented number of non-fatal shootings, homicides and is plagued with reckless driving, will get...

Remaining at a protest that turns violent or destructive could result in felony charges in Wisconsin under a proposal from Republican state lawmakers. Sponsors say the plan is partly in response to last summer’s violence and destruction in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. It would create a definition of “riot” in state law and impose new penalties. Under the bill, a riot would be defined as an unlawful assembly of three or more people that includes an act or threat of violence by at least one person that poses a risk or would result in personal...

Four weeks after evacuees from Afghanistan began arriving at Wisconsin’s Fort McCoy, a federal official at the base says they are preparing for a large number of people to start leaving and settling across the country. Skye Justice, the U.S. State Department’s team lead on the interagency task force at Fort McCoy, said the Monroe County base is currently near capacity and officials have so far focused on meeting Afghans’ immediate needs, including medical care for those with serious health needs and legal assistance as they complete immigration paperwork. “The exact amount of time that a family will spend...

A coalition of transit, faith, and environmental groups is proposing an alternative to a controversial $1 billion plan to expand a 3-mile stretch of the Interstate 94 freeway system west of Milwaukee. The report Fix at Six: A sustainable alternative to expanding I-94 in Milwaukee was released on September 14 by the groups, including 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Chapter of the Sierra Club, outlines a proposal to keep I-94’s east-west highway at six lanes, or “fix at six.” An earlier version of the proposed expansion called for expanding the freeway...