Author: Wisconsin Public Radio

The city of Milwaukee wants state law changed to allow red light cameras and speed enforcement cameras installed at the most dangerous intersections in the city. Reckless driving has caused 20 serious injuries and 19 fatalities in Milwaukee this year, including the death of a Milwaukee police officer last week. A bill has been drafted to allow law enforcement agencies in Milwaukee to photograph vehicles going through a red light and those speeding more than 21 miles per hour. In Wisconsin, it is illegal to install cameras at intersections. Hundreds of communities across the United States operate red light...

The Milwaukee Public Museum has narrowed the search for its new home from 10 to four sites in downtown Milwaukee, according to MPM President and CEO Ellen Censky. The museum plans to move from its current Milwaukee County-owned building at 800 W. Wells Street to a new building. It has been considering future sites since 2015. Censky, who was named CEO on June 11, said one of her first steps will be to make sure the museum thrives in its current location, so museum leadership can make the case for relocation. “We’re very committed to continuing to serve that...

After months of watching more than 6,000 entry videos, the judges of the fifth annual Tiny Desk Contest have chosen a winner, but sadly not someone from Milwaukee. Quinn Christopherson is a singer-songwriter from Anchorage, Alaska who writes with emotional depth and a powerful sense of perspective. In his 2019 Contest entry video, “Erase Me,” Christopherson muses about his complicated experience with privilege as a transgender man. He performs in front of a painting of Denali at the Anchorage Museum, accompanied by his friend, Nick Carpenter, on guitar. “I got so used to pulling the short stick / I...

The U.S. Army issued a tweet ahead of Memorial Day weekend with a question for service members and veterans: “How has serving impacted you?” Among the thousands of responses: harrowing tales of trauma, depression and sexual assault. In a thread, an Army tweet that preceded the question featured a video by Pfc. Nathan Spencer, a scout with the Army’s First Infantry Division. In the video, Spencer says, “To serve something greater than myself. The Army’s afforded me the opportunity to do just that, to give to others, to protect the ones I love, and to better myself as a...

The University of Wisconsin System’s in-state student enrollment has dropped sharply over the last nine years, reflecting declining regional populations and system efforts to get students to graduation faster, according to a report state auditors released recently. The loss of in-state students has been nearly offset by rising nonresident enrollment, helping total tuition revenue grow by $336 million, the report said. UW System President Ray Cross did not address the enrollment shift in a letter to auditors responding to the report. He did cite declining enrollment in 2017 to justify his plan to merge the system’s two-year schools with...

The May 10 audit found continuing problems at Wisconsin’s economic development agency, the state entity that manages the Foxconn contract and remains mired in mismanagement controversies. The review from the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) examined actions by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). The fourth statutorily required biennial audit said the companies that got tax credit and loan awards during the fiscal year ending in June 2018 only created about 35 percent of required jobs. WEDC’s information indicated that recipients of 68 tax credit and loan awards that ended through FY 2017-18 created 2,084 of 5,970 contractually required...