Federal disaster assistance is available to individuals in Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties who were affected by historic rainfall and flooding last month.
President Donald Trump announced on social media Thursday that Wisconsin will receive $29.8 million in federal disaster relief aid.
The assistance could include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and families recover from the effects of the storms that occurred Aug. 9-12.
A spokesperson for Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said that how and when the money will be distributed to individuals will be determined by the Trump administration.
People who sustained losses in the designated areas should first file claims with their insurance providers and then apply for assistance online at DisasterAssistance.gov, by calling 1-800-621-3362 or by using the FEMA App.
State and federal officials believe the floods caused more than $33 million in damages to private property in Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties.
The request by Gov. Tony Evers for a presidential disaster declaration also included a request to FEMA’s Public Assistance Program for Door, Grant and Ozaukee counties.
On Friday, FEMA officials announced that additional designations may be made at a later date depending on what damage assessments show.
The Evers administration estimates 1,500 residential structures were destroyed and flooding caused more than $43 million in public sector damage throughout six Wisconsin counties.
“Over the past month, my administration and I have been working hard to ensure the folks and families whose homes, businesses, schools, and community centers were impacted have the support they need to recover,” Evers said in a statement released Thursday evening.
A recent Associated Press data analysis found that disaster survivors are having to wait longer to get aid from the federal government than they did in the past.
This story was originally published by WPR.
FEMA flood relief funds available to residents in Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Wisconsin will receive nearly $30 million in federal disaster relief to aid victims of last month’s flooding.
President Donald Trump announced Thursday in a social media post that he had approved the state’s request to help Milwaukee and other parts of the state affected by floods. The total approved is $29.8 million.
The approval came one month after historic rainfall caused widespread flooding in southeastern Wisconsin and three weeks after officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were on the ground in Milwaukee to survey damage.
The storm left flooded streets and basements, downed trees and power outages in its wake. Some residents were left without basic services, and the flooding may have claimed the lives of some people who were homeless.
State and federal officials found the floods caused more than $33 million in damages to private property in Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties. The request by Gov. Tony Evers for a presidential disaster declaration also included a request to FEMA’s Public Assistance Program for Door, Grant, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties.
In a statement, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson called the approval “a significant stride forward in this area’s recovery efforts.”
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, spoke on the House floor Thursday to advocate for federal help for the city. In a statement, she said the funds “will help my constituents pick up the pieces, and I will keep fighting for the resources they need until they are made whole.”
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, received the news of the declaration from Trump.
“Thank you to President Trump for continuing to deliver BIG TIME for Wisconsinites,” Johnson wrote on social media.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, in a statement said she would “continue to closely monitor to make sure Wisconsin gets everything we need to be on the road to recovery and the whole-of-government recovery effort does right by all Wisconsinites.”
FEMA representatives are scheduled to return to Wisconsin this month to assess damage to public infrastructure. In addition to the damages to private property, initial reports collected by the state found more than $43 million in damage to public property across six counties.
This story was originally published by WPR.
Wisconsin to receive $29.8M in federal aid for flood victims is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, the nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering the city’s diverse neighborhoods, has promoted veteran journalist Edgar Mendez to managing editor following a national search.
Mendez, a Milwaukee native and one of the newsroom’s founding reporters, will guide the award-winning newsroom into its next chapter of community-driven journalism.
Mendez’s promotion marks a moment of growth as NNS expands its staff. Alex Klaus joins as an education reporter focused on accountability and solutions in Milwaukee’s K-12 schools, while Jonathan Aguilar, a bilingual multimedia journalist, brings reporting and photojournalism expertise to the team.
A resident of Milwaukee’s Clarke Square neighborhood, Mendez has long grounded his work in the needs of the community. “I’m beyond excited to lead NNS through its next chapter of growth, as we continue to build on a strong foundation of trust and respect in the community,” Mendez said. “Our focus is going to be guided by their needs as we map out our future.”
Ron Smith, executive director of NNS, said the newsroom’s national candidate search confirmed what Milwaukee already knew: Mendez’s leadership, track record and connection to the city make him uniquely suited for the role.
“It’s funny how the national search for managing editor led us to a local treasure who was already in our newsroom,” Smith said. “Edgar has been with us since our beginning and has built trust in our community through his rigorous, people-centric reporting. He’s not only a champion of great journalism, he’s also a champion of the great journalists who do the work.”
Mendez has built a career telling the stories of his Clarke Square neighborhood and beyond. His award-winning reporting has earned him a 2018 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and multiple Milwaukee Press Club honors.
He has reported on critical community issues ranging from taverns and marijuana law enforcement to lead in water service lines and the opioid epidemic. Notable stories include an examination of families of homicide victims fighting for justice in Milwaukee’s hundreds of unsolved murder cases; an investigation into the city’s drug crisis, revealing how older Black men are dying of overdoses at staggering rates; and a look at Sherman Park three years after unrest, probing whether reforms improved police-community relations.
With Mendez’s appointment and the additions of Klaus and Aguilar, NNS is strengthening its capacity to deliver fearless, fact-based reporting to communities of color in Milwaukee.
Mendez’s deep roots in Milwaukee and his reputation for editorial excellence align with NNS’s mission to elevate local voices and cover stories that matter to the people who live, work and serve in city neighborhoods. As part of Wisconsin Watch, NNS continues to expand its impact and rebuild local news in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin.
“We want to give Milwaukee the newsroom it deserves,” Smith added. “The hiring of Edgar gives us the momentum we need to serve our neighbors at a time when fearless, community-centered journalism is needed more than ever.”
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service names Edgar Mendez managing editor following national search is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
As immigration enforcement increases in Milwaukee, some community members want to better document the activities of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Comité Sin Fronteras, an arm of Voces de la Fronterra, is training people to serve as “community verifiers,” who confirm or deny reports of ICE actions and document incidents when they do happen.
A key element of the project, dubbed “La Migra Watch,” is to raise awareness about the hotline anyone can use to report possible ICE activity, said Raul Rios, an organizer with Comité.
“That is how, statewide, we can get involved and get on the ground to help each other,” Rios said.
In the video above, Rios explains how the verification process works, and we follow a verifier after a call to the hotline is made.
Video: How ‘community verifiers’ work to inform residents about ICE is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Customers from some of Wisconsin's largest electric utilities this week asked state regulators to block the utilities from increasing electric rates in each of the next two years.
The post ‘These rate hikes unfairly burden families’: Wisconsin energy customers testify to Public Service Commission appeared first on WPR.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is accusing Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature of ignoring a recent state Supreme Court decision about when proposed rules submitted by state agencies can be given the force of law.
The post Gov. Tony Evers sues Wisconsin GOP leaders again in state rulemaking dispute appeared first on WPR.
A UW-Madison counseling psychologist offers advice for helping young people and adults manage mental health after traumatic events like recent shootings.
The post How to talk to kids about gun violence in the news appeared first on WPR.
Missy Hughes is leaving her position leading the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
The post Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Missy Hughes to resign appeared first on WPR.
The assistance could include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and families recover from the effects of the storms that occurred Aug. 9-12.
The post FEMA flood relief funds available to residents in Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties appeared first on WPR.
The 9,000-year history of the car, from its roots in dog sleds to Henry Ford’s Model T; the next generation of self-driving automobiles.
The post Breakthrough: The Ideas That Changed the World:The Car appeared first on WPR.
Robots are first conceptualized in ancient Rome; how uses for robots have evolved over the centuries, from the calculator to the Roomba; what future robots might be able to do.
The post Breakthrough: The Ideas That Changed the World:The Robot appeared first on WPR.
Gov. Tony Evers and Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes at the Hannover Messe trade show in Germany last week. (Photo courtesy of WEDC)
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes will step down from her position in the Evers Administration on Sept. 19, according to a Friday announcement.
Hughes was first appointed to the position in 2019 and was confirmed by the state Senate in 2021 and in 2023. She is the first woman to serve in the position. Prior to that, she served as general counsel and chief mission officer at La Farge dairy cooperative, Organic Valley.
Hughes thanked Evers in a statement for “his vision and support for our efforts to build an economy for all.”
“Each of our state’s successes serves to inspire more development, more innovation, and more growth,” Hughes said. “People start seeing something good happening in their communities, and they want to keep it moving forward. Opportunities to be in the national news for positive accomplishments show companies and talent that Wisconsin competes on the global stage. Every day, Wisconsin is solving problems for the world, and we’ve made sure the world has us on its mind. I’m incredibly grateful to have been a part of this work and the Evers Administration.”
According to Evers’ office, WEDC during Hughes’ tenure has worked with companies to commit over $8 billion in planned investments and to create or retain over 45,000 jobs.
Hughes’ departure comes as she considers a run for governor in 2026, in the first open race since 2010, though she made no indication of her future plans in her statement.
Gov. Tony Evers’ decision not to run so he can spend time with his family has left a lane for Democratic leaders across the state to consider a run. So far, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez entered the race first and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley launched his campaign this week. Others considering include state Sen. Kelda Roys, Attorney General Josh Kaul and state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison).
Evers said Hughes has played an important role in his administration’s focus on “building an economy that works for everyone, investing in Wisconsin’s homegrown talent and Main Streets, and supporting and expanding some of our state’s most iconic brands and companies while attracting new industries and opportunities here to Wisconsin.”
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Wisconsin Superintendent Jill Underly called on the Trump administration to reconsider the decision in a statement this week. Underly at a rally for 2025 Public Schools Week. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner
The U.S. Department of Education has abruptly terminated nearly $11 million for two grant programs that have been helping Wisconsin serve children with vision and hearing loss and others receiving special education services, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Wisconsin is one of several states to be affected by the cuts to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part D grants. Others include Washington, Oregon and a consortium of New England states including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, according to ProPublica.
Wisconsin Superintendent Jill Underly called on the Trump administration to reconsider the decision in a statement this week.
“Make no mistake, losing these funds will directly impact our ability to serve some of our most vulnerable kids,” Underly said. “Wisconsin had planned work with these funds that includes direct support for deafblind learners and their families and efforts to recruit and retain new special education teachers.”
According to DPI, the Trump administration said the programs “reflect the prior administration’s priorities and policy preferences and conflict with those of the current administration.”
The first program to be affected is the Wisconsin Deafblind Technical Assistance Project, which provides assistive technology tools, coaching, family support and professional training for young people up to the age of 21 with vision and hearing loss. The program currently serves 170 students, and of those, 85% have four or more disabilities.
The funding cut comes in the middle of a five-year grant cycle. Wisconsin was supposed to get a total of about $550,000 that was expected to last through September 2028.
“These are kids who depend on specialized support just to access their guaranteed right to a free and appropriate public education,” Dr. Underly said. “Losing these dollars at this point in the year will be devastating for the kids who need these supports the most.”
The other program being cut is the State Personnel Development Grant, which focuses on helping address Wisconsin’s critical special education teacher shortage as well as assisting with recruitment, retention and development.
The grant funds from the program, which totaled $10.5 million, was helping to fund a number of programs, including the Special Educator Induction Program. In its first year, the state program helped 280 new special education teachers.
“At a time when schools in every corner of the state are struggling to find and keep special educators, cutting this support is unconscionable and harmful to every student with an IEP,” Underly said.
According to DPI data, only 46% of new special education teachers in Wisconsin remain in the field after seven years.
The state agency plans to appeal the Trump administration’s decision.
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A Planned Parenthood clinic in Salt Lake City is pictured on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Photo by McKenzie Romero/Utah News Dispatch)
WASHINGTON — Planned Parenthood clinics throughout the country began telling Medicaid patients Friday that their routine health care appointments will no longer be covered as a federal court order takes effect.
The change, which could remain in place for months, if not longer, will likely impact the hundreds of thousands of Medicaid enrollees who go to Planned Parenthood clinics for health care not related to abortion.
“This decision is devastating to patients here in the state and across this country. And it is compounding what is an already broken and overstretched health care system,” said Shireen Ghorbani, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah. “We know that cancers will go undetected, STIs will go untreated.”
Dominique Lee, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said there is no plan for other health care providers to absorb the Medicaid enrollees.
“There’s no one waiting in the wings to take care of our patients,” Lee said. “Planned Parenthood is the safety net.”
Planned Parenthood has identified at least 200 clinics out of about 600 that could close if they cannot treat Medicaid patients and receive reimbursements from the state-federal health program for lower-income people and some people with disabilities.
“We are working, you know, feverishly with our colleagues and teams to mitigate that number,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said. “We have to remember 50% of Planned Parenthood patients use Medicaid for their health care insurance. And so that is a very meaningful impact to the health centers that also rely on reimbursement in the same way every other single health care provider relies on reimbursement for the services provided.”
Federal law for decades has barred funding from going toward abortion services with limited exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the pregnant patient.
Earlier this year, Republicans in Congress included a provision in their “big, beautiful” law that prevents Medicaid funding from going to certain health care organizations that provide abortions and received more than $800,000 in reimbursements from the program during a recent fiscal year.
The language, which originally applied for 10 years but was reduced to one year in the final version of the bill, appeared to specifically target Planned Parenthood. It prevents the organization from receiving any Medicaid funding for health care services unrelated to abortion, like annual physicals, cancer screenings and STI testing.
Planned Parenthood quickly filed a lawsuit in the federal district court in Massachusetts in July, shortly after President Donald Trump signed the legislation.
A district court judge issued a temporary restraining order and then a preliminary injunction that month, blocking the Department of Health and Human Services from implementing that one aspect of the law and allowing Medicaid patients to continue going to Planned Parenthood for routine health care services.
On Thursday, a three-judge panel from the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower court’s ruling, clearing the way for the Trump administration to stop reimbursing Planned Parenthood for Medicaid patients while the case continues.
Peyton Humphreville, senior staff attorney at Planned Parenthood Federation of America and one of the lawyers handling the lawsuit, said on a call with reporters Friday the organization is evaluating all of its options but doesn’t expect additional rulings until later this year at the earliest.
“The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals has entered a briefing schedule on the preliminary injunction appeal that will be fully briefed by mid-November,” Humphreville said. “From there, the court will schedule oral argument and will at some point after the oral argument rule on the preliminary injunction appeal.”
Law enforcement officials asked the public for help identifying a college-age man who they said is a person of interest in the death of Charlie Kirk. (Photos courtesy of FBI)
A suspect in Charlie Kirk’s fatal shooting is in custody, federal and state officials announced Friday morning.
Law enforcement arrested Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Washington County resident. He was booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of aggravated murder and felony discharge of a firearm, both first-degree felonies, and obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony.
“We got him,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in a news conference Friday morning.
Aggravated murder is a capital crime in Utah, reserved for particularly heinous murders involving torture, sex crimes and assassinations, and if sentenced, Robinson could be executed. Cox said twice this week that prosecutors will be pursuing the death penalty. Robinson is currently being held without bail.
Kirk, a widely known and often polarizing conservative activist known for debating students on college campuses, was shot and killed during a Turning Point USA public speaking event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, unleashing a search that involved more than 20 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The FBI also offered a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the shooter.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed by investigators, one of Robinson’s family members reached out to a family friend on Thursday evening — that family friend contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office “with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident.”
Investigators at the FBI and Utah Valley University reviewed surveillance footage from the university and identified Robinson arriving on campus in a gray Dodge Challenger at about 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Robinson was also seen in surveillance footage wearing a “Converse/Chuck Taylor” shoe, according to the affidavit. When investigators encountered him in person early Friday morning, they note in court documents that Robinson “was observed in consistent clothing with the surveillance images.”
A family member who talked with investigators said Robinson had become more political in recent years and that prior to Wednesday, he had mentioned Kirk’s visit to Utah Valley University. He has no prior criminal history, according to court documents.
Court documents also detail a recent family dinner prior to the Sept. 10 shooting, where Robinson “mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU. They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints he had. The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate. The family member also confirmed Robinson had a grey Dodge Challenger.”
Robinson was not currently a student at Utah Valley University. He is a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College, the Utah Board of Higher Education confirmed.
Law enforcement also spoke with Robinson’s roommate, who shared Discord messages from Robinson “stating a need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush, messages related to visually watching the area where a rifle was left, and a message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel.”
The gun, Cox said, was a Mauser .30-06 bolt-action rifle, a gun capable of shooting long distances, often used for hunting deer or elk.
Messages reviewed by law enforcement also referred to engraving bullets. Cox said inscriptions found on the shell casings included messages like “Hey fascist! Catch!” and “bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao” and “if you read this, you are gay LMAO.”
The governor said he didn’t have information about whether Robinson suffered from a mental illness.
Charging documents may be filed early next week, Cox said.
“This is a very sad day for, again, for our country, a terrible day for the state of Utah, but I’m grateful that at this moment, we have an opportunity to bring closure to this very dark chapter in our nation’s history,” Cox said.
The FBI is still pursuing the over 7,000 leads that it had received as of Friday morning, FBI Director Kash Patel said during the news conference.
Patel, who traveled to Utah during the investigation, thanked the governor and the local law enforcement agencies for resolving the case.
Forensic evidence has been analyzed in different FBI labs across the country, and state and local authorities will continue to process evidence, Patel said.
“In less than 36 hours, 33 to be precise, thanks to the full weight of the federal government and leading out with the partners here in the state of Utah and Gov. Cox, the suspect was apprehended in a historic time period,” Patel said.
Earlier on Friday morning, President Donald Trump said a suspect was in custody.
“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him,” he said on Fox News.
Cox, who has championed a campaign to combat polarization, argued this incident was about the “political assassination of Charlie Kirk,” he said.
“But it is also much bigger than an attack on an individual. It is an attack on all of us. It is an attack on the American experiment. It is an attack on our ideals. This cuts to the very foundation of who we are, of who we have been and who we could be in better times,” Cox said.
The fatal attack on Kirk may make it harder for people to feel like they can speak freely, the governor said. And, without a safe way to discuss opposing views, the country won’t be able to solve issues, “including the violence problems that people are worried about.”
“To my young friends out there, you are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. It feels like rage is the only option,” Cox said. “But through those words, we have a reminder that we can choose a different path. Your generation has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now.”
Whether this is a turning point for the best or worst, is yet to be seen, Cox said. But, after gory videos of Kirk’s shooting became widespread, he also called social media “a cancer on our society” and encouraged people to “log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community.”
This story was originally produced by Utah News Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Wisconsin Examiner, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
Children at The Playing Field, a Madison child care center that participates in the federal Head Start program. (Courtesy of The Playing Field)
Federal judges in Rhode Island and Washington have blocked the Trump administration from excluding people without legal immigration status from a group of federal programs, including Head Start early childhood education.
On Wednesday, a federal judge in Rhode Island halted a broad array of rules based on the new immigration restrictions from taking effect. Wisconsin was one of 21 states and the District of Columbia to join that lawsuit.
Reuters reported that a White House statement said the administration expected a higher court to reverse the decision.
On Thursday, a federal judge in the state of Washington ordered the Trump administration to pause a requirement that Head Start early childhood education programs exclude families without legal immigration status. That ruling came in a case brought by Head Start groups in four states, including Wisconsin.
Head Start programs were included in a broader federal directive that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued July 10 listing federally funded “public benefits” that must exclude immigrants without legal status under the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act.
Certain programs, such as Medicaid, have been required to verify lawful immigration status for participants. But since 1998, the federal government has considered a range of programs exempt that are generally open to all in a community, according to Reuters.
The July HHS order revoked the 1998 policy and closed the door to immigrants lacking legal status for Head Start along with a collection of programs providing mental health and substance abuse treatment, job training and other assistance.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy issued a preliminary injunction that halted orders from HHS as well as the departments of Education, Labor and Justice based on the policy shift.
“The Government’s new policy, across the board, seems to be this: ‘Show me your papers,'” McElroy wrote in her order.
McElroy wrote that the administration acted “in a rushed way, without seeking comment from the public or interested parties,” likely violating the federal Administrative Procedures Act.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez issued a temporary restraining order directing HHS not to apply the immigration restriction to Head Start programs.
Head Start programs have never been required to determine the immigration status of families in the program since it started nearly 60 years ago, according to Jennie Mauer, executive director of the Wisconsin Head Start Association.
The Wisconsin association joined the lawsuit against the HHS order filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of Head Start programs in the states of Washington, Illinois and Pennsylvania as well as advocacy groups in California and Oregon.
“This ruling affirms what we know to be both right within the law and right for communities,” Mauer told the Wisconsin Examiner on Friday. “Keeping eligible Head Start Families in the program is the best outcome for Wisconsin. Kids are safer and it keeps Wisconsin working.”
Martinez wrote in a 26-page opinion focused on the Head Start portion in the HHS order that harms the plaintiffs warned of “are not merely speculative.” Martinez was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed in 2004.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs told the court that a Wisconsin Head Start program reported at least four families withdrew after the federal directive was issued. Several Pennsylvania programs reported withdrawals, one reported that it expects to have to close and another said it will have to close one of its rooms due to a drop in enrollment.
The plaintiffs’ arguments “detail confusion on how to comply with the Directive, how to verify immigration status, who status is based on, whether non-profits are exempt, difficulties in recruiting and families obtaining proper documentation, and the families’ overall fear that reporting immigration status will result in a choice between family safety and a child’s education,” Martinez wrote.
The directive has unclear guidance and has had a “chilling effect” on programs as well as on families who have relied on Head Start, resulting “in the immediate harm of childhood education loss” and “leading to long-term harms in development,” he wrote. “It also results in parents losing childcare, risking missed work, unemployment, forced dropouts, and inability to pay life expenses and support families.”
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The Cole family and their attorney's talk to press outside the federal courthouse. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
For the second time, a federal trial in the 2020 shooting death of Alvin Cole by then-Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah ended in a hung jury on Thursday. Deliberations began shortly after 5 p.m. on Wednesday, going until around 8 p.m. Jurors returned Thursday morning, and deliberated for a total of nearly 10 hours, more than doubling the amount of time deliberations lasted during the first trial, before deciding that they were hopelessly deadlocked. Plaintiff attorneys asked the jury for a total of $9 million ($5 million in compensatory damages, and $4 million in punitive damages), a figure far lower than the $22 million they asked for last time.
Following the trial, Mensah attorney Joseph Wirth said “it’s still proven a difficult case for the jury to reach a conclusion.” Wirth and his partner, attorney Jasmyne Baynard, declined to talk about settlement discussions with the media, but said they plan to talk to the jurors. “We have felt strongly about the merits of this case,” said Baynard. “I’ve felt strongly about my representation of Joseph Mensah and every other police officer that I represent. Feel strongly about his actions in this situation, and we’re going to go forward under that belief.”
Cole family attorneys Kimberly Motley and Nate Cade said that while they wanted a different outcome, “We are pleased that it was a hung jury.” Motley stressed that “it’s important for the public to be aware that Joseph Mensah killed three people in five years as a Wauwatosa police officer, that’s really important, and that this jury did not believe what he was saying. Now we have a jury that came back — and they were hung — but they deliberated longer, they had more evidence, and the evidence is just not good for him.” Motley said that Mensah’s story “doesn’t make sense.”
During deliberations, jurors asked for transcripts of interviews of officers on the scene of the Cole shooting conducted by the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team (MAIT), a request initially denied by Judge Adelman, due to questions about whether the interviews had been admitted as evidence. Later, Adelman reversed his decision and allowed the jury to see MAIT interviews of officers David Shamsi and Evan Olson. The two officers gave contradicting statements to MAIT investigators in 2020 about whether Cole moved or pointed his gun shortly before Mensah fired. Jurors also asked for Mensah’s deposition testimony, in which plaintiff attorneys say Mensah implied that when he fired on Cole, he was only concerned about his own safety. On the stand this week, Mensah said that he fired to protect himself and everyone else around Mayfair Mall.
Throughout the trial, defense attorneys argued that the unrecorded officer interviews by MAIT were little more than hearsay, and attempted to limit the jury’s access to them. Besides arguing that MAIT reports are hearsay in the second trial, defense attorneys noted in the first trial that officers are not under oath when they talk to investigators after a police shooting. The debates in court raised questions about the policies and practices that MAIT relies on when investigating officer-involved deaths, which also inform whether prosecutors will charge officers with crimes after killing civilians.
Baynard said that “I don’t think that we’re in a position to comment on MAIT’s investigation, and truly that was not really an issue in this case to be decided, so no, I don’t have any issues.” Baynard added that, “I have seen plenty of MAIT investigations, I have seen plenty of investigations done by the [state Division of Criminal Investigation], I think they did a fine investigation here. I think that sometimes people forget that officers in these situations are afforded the exact same rights as anybody else would be afforded, and beyond that I’m not really interested in commenting on MAIT’s protocol.”
Cade stressed that the MAIT statements “are not heresy, ’cause they’re the statements.” Calling the heresy argument “nonsense”, Cade said that the problem with MAIT “is that they allow the officers to make decisions about it being recorded.” While Cade accepts that Mensah himself may have Fifth Amendment rights in such a case he said “the other officers don’t”. By contrast, civilian witnesses are recorded far more often than officers after police shootings. “Why do they bend over backwards for officers who are not even directly involved in terms of shooting,” asked Cade. “That’s a handicap. They said that MAIT was supposed to be designed to give the public confidence. How can you have confidence if you’re not going to tape officer’s conversations, so we know exactly what they said?”
Wirth said that Mensah “is absolutely disappointed that we weren’t able to obtain a verdict today,” adding that Mensah is no longer in law enforcement, “and it weighs heavily on him.” Wirth said “it’s a very important case to the Cole family, it’s a very important case to Joseph Mensah.”
On Wednesday defense attorneys called Joshua Boye, a video editor and graphic designer who reviewed squad car video from the Cole shooting. Boye testified that he had been paid by defense attorneys to edit the video as they directed by modifying audio, adjusting color and contrast, and adding a “spotlight” around Cole as he ran.
During cross examination, plaintiff attorneys drew attention to a timestamp in Boye’s video which does not appear in the raw version, leading plaintiff attorneys to question whether Boye had been given an altered version by defense attorneys. Later on, when this issue was raised again, Judge Adelman said that he hadn’t seen anything to suggest that the video had been tampered with. Boye repeatedly said that any edits he made to the video were done “at the direction of attorneys.”
Wauwatosa officer Evan Olson, who was one of the officers who responded to Mayfair Mall the night that Cole was killed, testified as uniformed Wauwatosa officers flowed into the courtroom to sit around Mensah’s wife, as they had during each day of the trial. A Wauwatosa PD spokesperson said in a statement to Wisconsin Examiner that “some officers chose to attend the trial in uniform to show their support for a former colleague, which is not uncommon in high-profile cases. Their attendance was voluntary and did not impact patrol staffing or the department’s ability to respond to calls of service.”
Cole’s family, as well as the parents of Jay Anderson Jr., Mensah’s second fatal shooting in 2016, also attended every day of the trial. Motley and Cade took issue with the presence of uniformed Wauwatosa officers. “This isn’t the city of Wauwatosa,” said Motley, “so I was kind of concerned about what was happening in the city of Wauwatosa with all these police officers that came in uniform to sit in court for hours and hours, for a person who no longer works for Wauwatosa as a police officer, and is no longer a Wauwatosa officer period. So I think that the taxpayers should demand why that happened.”
Cade called the uniformed officers’ presence intimidating for the jury. “We aren’t allowed to say anything about the thin blue line and backing the blue, but it was obvious,” he said. During the first trial plaintiff attorneys were told that the Cole family was not allowed to wear any clothing with messages about Alvin.
Olson testified that he arrived at Mayfair Mall responding to a report about disorderly conduct involving a gun. After arriving, Olson immediately encountered at least two teens who were part of Cole’s group, and ordered them to the ground. Off in the distance, he could see Cole running from officers and mall security, before hearing a single shot. Olson testified to seeing Cole “in what I would say is a low ready position,” similar to a stance taken in football. He said that Cole pointed a firearm at him, making him move out of the way of what he thought would be more gunfire, and prepare to shoot himself. Olson called Cole a “lethal threat”, and said that after Mensah fired, Cole went from the football-like position to lying prone on the ground. Plaintiff attorneys argued that Olson was seeing Cole in the act of falling. Olson kicked the gun from Cole’s hand and assisted in CPR.
Olson, Mensah and Shamsi gave contradicting statements, opening the door for the trial. Both Olson and Mensah said that the gun was pointed in their directions, but they were positioned on opposite sides of the parking lot. Shamsi, who was the closest officer to Cole, testified that Cole and the gun didn’t move after Cole fell. Olson said he didn’t think other officers who didn’t see the gun move were lying. Every officer testified that foot pursuits are dangerous, unpredictable situations especially when guns are involved.
When Olson left the stand, he took a seat in the gallery near Mensah’s wife and the other Wauwatosa officers. Olson, like the rest of the officers, was uniformed every day of the trial. On Thursday, when the jury continued deliberations, Olson and a Wauwatosa police sergeant came to court in civilian clothes.
Sarah Hopkins, a civilian witness, claimed to have been outside the Cheesecake Factory restaurant when she saw Cole being chased by mall security. Hopkins said that Cole stopped running at one point, making her think that he was surrendering, but then that he turned and pointed a gun at the officers. Hopkins said that Cole “was like fumbling around” and that “all of a sudden we hear rapid shots.” Plaintiff attorneys questioned the fact that Hopkins described Cole doing a motion which no one else described seeing. Davion Beard, a former Mayfair Mall security guard, initially helped to locate the group of teens, and participated in the foot chase. Beard, who ran track, testified to essentially being the closest person to Cole with just a foot or two separating them. When the first shot was fired, Beard said he dropped to the ground, with Shamsi not far behind him, and that he didn’t see Cole crawl, turn his body, or point a gun.
Testimony concluded with Mensah’s attorneys calling Michael Knetzger, a certified instructor in Defense and Arrest Tactics (DAAT) and former Green Bay police officer. Knetzger repeatedly implied that the jurors should put themselves in Mensah’s mindset at the moment of the shooting. When cross examined, plaintiff attorneys drew attention to Knetzger’s lack of “real world experience” dealing with shootings and homicides, and that his doctorate and degrees had come from online universities including one that marketed itself as the nation’s “most affordable online Christian University.”
During closing arguments Cade reminded the jury that Cole was a kid who made stupid decisions like many young people, including his own sons who Cade called “knuckleheads.” Cade stressed that “for Joseph Mensah to be right, everybody else has to be wrong,” referring to the testimony from multiple officers, Beard, and other witnesses that Cole had not turned toward Mensah or moved after he fell to the ground. Cade said that Olson testified to support his friend Mensah, and that Mensah himself had incentive to change his story.
Attorney Baynard, representing the defense, said that Cole made “catastrophically dangerous” decisions which went beyond the sort of mistakes people make when they’re young. Baynard said that “police are not required to gamble with their lives”, and that while Cole’s death was tragic, “we are in court today because of his actions.” Baynard said that “Cole was in control of the situation” and that “he was driving the bus”, saying in her closing argument that “I’m not sure how many more opportunities he should have been given to comply.” Baynard described the turning motion Cole allegedly made as “a quick shift,” and made claims about prior witness testimony which Cade later refuted.
The Cole family said they are undeterred by Thursday’s hung jury. “We’re a strong united family,” said Tracy Cole, Alvin’s mother. Despite the hung jury, Cole said that she is encouraged because “somebody sees that my son was killed for no reason,” and that she believed her son was killed as he attempted to surrender.
“We are going to fight you Joseph, we ain’t gave up Joseph,” she added. “And my lawyers ain’t gave up.”
Motley echoed the sentiment. “It’s a good result,” she said of the hung jury, “and we’re going to keep fighting…because this is an important case.”
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Senate and Assembly Democratic lawmakers proposed their own package of education bills ahead of the floor session that would increase general aid for public schools by $325 per pupil, provide transparency on voucher school costs and provide free school meals to students. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Wisconsin Assembly Republicans passed a handful of bills Thursday on an array of issues. Democrats argued the measures won’t solve the problems facing Wisconsinites and unveiled their own proposals.
The Assembly floor session is the first since lawmakers broke for the summer after completing the state budget. The Senate does not plan to meet this month, and Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) told reporters during a press conference that it was a “shame” they wouldn’t. She said she has had conversations about meeting in October.
Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) said Republicans’ agenda for Thursday was an example of “prioritizing culture wars” rather than “doing what’s right.”
Senate and Assembly Democratic lawmakers proposed their own package of education bills ahead of the floor session that would increase general aid for public schools by $325 per pupil, provide transparency on voucher school costs and provide free school meals to students.
“We would like to see our legislative Republican colleagues focus on the issues that are facing Wisconsinites — issues like cost of living, their public schools and their property taxes,” Neubauer said. “That’s why we’re bringing forward this package today, because we know from conversations with our constituents what they’re really concerned about.”
The Democrats’ education agenda contrasts with the plan announced by Assembly Republicans earlier this week. Republican proposals include encouraging consolidation of schools, calling on Gov. Tony Evers to opt into a federal school choice program, banning drones over schools and improving math education.
One Democratic bill would dedicate $325 in additional per pupil state aid to Wisconsin school districts. It would cost nearly $500 million for 2025-26 and nearly $700 million for 2026-27.
Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) called it the “bare minimum” that school districts need and said it would help school districts avoid raising property taxes.
“School districts will do better under this bill than current law,” Roys said. “We know every kid around the state deserves to go to a great school so that they can meet their potential, but to be clear, this bill is not everything that our kids need or deserve, not even close.”
Wisconsin’s most recent state budget did not give school districts any increase in per pupil general aid, despite calls from education advocates, Gov. Tony Evers and other Democrats to provide additional funding.
Republican lawmakers said they would not increase state aid after Evers used his partial veto power to extend a cap on the annual increase to limits on the revenue districts can raise from local taxpayer of $325 per pupil for the next 400 years. Without state funding, school districts only have the option of increasing property taxes to bring in the additional funds. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau projects that property taxes will increase by more than 7% on average over the next year.
Roys said the bill is a “test” to see if Republicans want to help keep property taxes stable, since providing no state aid to schools will drive those taxes up. She blamed Republicans for placing districts in a situation where they have to go to property taxpayers to keep up with costs.
Roys also knocked a Republican bill that would encourage school districts to explore consolidation and sharing services.
“They want to consolidate school districts. They want to close schools, and by the way, everything’s the governor’s fault. Give me a break,” Roys said. “They want to hold the line on property taxes? Prove it.”
The bill also includes an additional $31 million to ensure no school districts receive less state aid in 2025-26 than they received in 2024-25.
The Department of Public Instruction’s July 1 estimate found that 277 districts — or 65.8% — of school districts were going to receive less in general aid from the state in 2025.
Another bill seeks to provide greater transparency on the costs of voucher schools to districts by requiring property tax bills to include information about the cost. The bill would expand on a push that public school advocates are making at a local level after the city of Green Bay was able to add the information.
Rep. Deb Andraca (D-Whitefish Bay) said the bill would help inform residents who may be confused about where their tax dollars are going.
“We can say, time and time again, that the state is underfunding our local public schools. That is true. What they also don’t understand, and there’s a really simple fix, is how much of that money is leaving their district to go to other voucher schools. In some cases, millions and tens of millions of dollars… It is a simple fix. It is very straightforward,” Andraca said.
AB 39 would require state employees to return to in-person work for at least 80% of their time — or four days a week for a full-time employee — starting this year. The bill passed 51-44 with all Democrats opposing it.
The bill initially required state agency employees to be in person the whole week, but an amendment dropped the minimum to four days.
Republican lawmakers have been calling for stricter limits on remote work for several years. The policies became normal for state employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nedweski said she isn’t “anti-telework,” but said remote work needs to be managed and measured. She said agencies haven’t provided data to show it is working. During the Assembly Committee on Government Oversight, Accountability and Transparency hearing on the bill, agency leaders said remote work policies have helped with recruitment and retention of employees.
“It’s time for state employees to return to the office and do the work that Wisconsin’s hard-working taxpayers are paying them to do to the best of their ability and in their most productive and efficient way,” Nedweski said. “We have a policy that allows for remote work agreements. We’re not saying the policy is ending, we’re saying, come back, have your performance evaluated and re-sign your remote work agreement.”
Rep. Mike Bare (D-Verona), the ranking member of the GOAT committee, pointed to the testimony they heard as he argued the bill wouldn’t help.
“A bill like this with a one-size-fits-all return to work policy will not make our state government better… Remote work policies were born from a crisis, and we all remember too well. They’ve become a success for our state government. We now have state workers dispersed all across the state. We’ve achieved savings by consolidating physical workspace. We’ve stayed competitive with the private market by appealing to how employees want to work and then what they expect from their work environment.”
AB 58 would prohibit flags, other than the United States flag, the state of Wisconsin flag and a few others on a list of exceptions, from being flown outside state and local buildings including the Wisconsin State Capitol. The bill passed 50-44, along party lines.
Rep. Jerry O’Connor, the author of the bill, argued that flags are part of the reason for increasing divisiveness, and even political violence. Wisconsin leaders condemned political violence during the session after the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk on Wednesday.
“It’s not the role of the government to pick the winners and losers on partisan and activist issues,” O’Connor said.
Some of the exceptions would include local government flags, those commemorating veterans, prisoners of war or missing in action, those recognizing a foreign nation for special purposes and a flag of a unit of firefighters, law enforcement officers or emergency medical technicians.
He said these exceptions are “simply recognizing those flags that are efficiently recognized by all levels of government.”
“We should have a shared outlook as to what we do as elected officials in this building here to promote unity and not division… I think we all could agree that those are the flags that represent all of us,” O’Connor said.
Rep. Chuck Wichgers (R-Muskego) spoke specifically about pride flags, which are a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community, when explaining his support of the legislation.
“You’re asking every Wisconsinite to sanction what that means,” Wichgers said in reference to the Progress Pride flag. The chevron portions of the flag include black and brown stripes to represent people of color who identify with the LGBTQ+ community as well as those living with HIV/AIDS. The light blue, pink and white stripes in the chevron represent transgender people.
“I can guarantee you when you ask the people that are in favor, they’re not going to know what that chevron means, so we’re endorsing, sanctioning something that is being flown above our flag that is probably divisive,” Wichgers said.
Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee) said, however, that she views the bill as being divisive and as a violation of the First Amendment.
“I think as a body we should be promoting inclusiveness. It’s not just the more morally right thing to do. It also strengthens our communities, promotes mutual respect, and actually leads to more civic engagement,” Sinicki said. “These symbolic acts do matter. They matter to me, and they matter to the majority of people across Wisconsin.”
AB 308, coauthored by Rep. Alex Dallman (R-Markesan), passed 50-44 along party lines. The bill would prohibit state, county, village, long-term care district and federal funds from being used to subsidize, reimburse or provide compensation for any health care services for a person not lawfully in the United States.
Dallman said at a press conference that the bill is meant to stop Wisconsin from expanding its Medicaid to cover immigrants without legal status. Wisconsin already doesn’t allow this.
“This is going to take a step forward to say that we are going to again keep these funds available for our citizens who are paying in all these dollars,” Dallman said.
Advocates expressed concerns to the Examiner earlier this week that the bill would lead to health service providers having to check everyone’s citizenship status before providing care.
Rep. Angela Stroud (D-Ashland) said the bill is “the kind of thing that makes people hate politics.”
“We don’t provide health care to undocumented immigrants. The reason we’re voting on this today is so that the majority party can go out and tell their voters that Democrats failed to stop giving health insurance to undocumented people, but we can’t stop something that isn’t happening. Why waste time and taxpayer money this way?” Stroud said. “If you don’t have affordable health care, they don’t want you to hold them accountable. Instead, they want you to blame someone else.”
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