For one week at Belong Wisconsin’s summer camp, foster children experience what it is like to be close to their biological sibling. And as funding becomes uncertain, all involved with the camp are determined to keep it going.
The post This Wisconsin summer camp reunites foster kids with their biological siblings appeared first on WPR.
Monarch butterflies have begun their annual 3,000-mile migration from Wisconsin to Mexico. Although their numbers grew this year, the insects still face many threats.
The post Monarch butterflies thrived in Wisconsin this year, researcher says appeared first on WPR.
American flags hang alongside the official agency flag at the U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C., in August. The Justice Department is sharing state voter roll data with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (Photo by Jonathan Shorman/Stateline)
The U.S. Department of Justice is sharing state voter roll information with the Department of Homeland Security in a search for noncitizens, the Trump administration confirmed.
The data sharing comes after Justice Department attorneys this summer demanded that election officials in nearly two dozen states turn over their voter lists, alarming some Democratic state secretaries of state and election experts. They have voiced fears about how the Trump administration planned to use the data. Even some Republican secretaries of state have declined to provide their full voter lists.
Homeland Security in an unsigned statement to Stateline called information sharing essential to “scrub aliens from voter rolls” and said the federal government was “finally doing what it should have all along — sharing information to solve problems.”
“This collaboration with the DOJ will lawfully and critically enable DHS to prevent illegal aliens from corrupting our republic’s democratic process and further ensure the integrity of our elections nationwide. Elections exist for the American people to choose their leaders, not illegal aliens,” the statement reads.
The Justice Department said in its own statement that state voter roll data provided in response to requests from the department’s Civil Rights Division is “being screened for ineligible voter entries.”
Noncitizen voting is extremely rare. One study of the 2016 election placed the prevalence of noncitizen voting at 0.0001% of votes cast.
The data sharing marks a next step in President Donald Trump’s efforts to exert more federal influence over state-administered elections. Trump signed an executive order earlier this year that sought to require individuals to provide proof-of-citizenship documents to register to vote, a rule quickly blocked in federal court. He has also threatened to sign another executive order attempting to restrict mail ballots.
At least 10 states have either provided publicly available data or given the department directions on how to request public data. On Friday, Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales, a Republican, confirmed to reporters that he had provided the Justice Department with all voter information requested, including driver’s license and partial Social Security numbers — making Indiana the first known state to have supplied personally sensitive data.
While the administration didn’t describe how Homeland Security will use the voter rolls to search for noncitizens, the agency operates a powerful program, Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, that can identify the immigration or citizenship status of an individual.
SAVE was originally intended to help state and local officials verify the immigration status of individual noncitizens seeking government benefits. But U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is part of Homeland Security, this spring refashioned it into a platform that can scan states’ voter rolls if officials upload the data.
In the past, SAVE could only search one name at a time. Now it can conduct bulk searches, allowing officials to potentially feed into it information on millions of registered voters. SAVE checks that information against a series of federal databases and reports back whether it can verify someone’s immigration status.
Since May, it also can draw upon Social Security data, transforming the program into a tool that can confirm U.S. citizenship because Social Security records for many, but not all, Americans include the information.
As the Justice Department has sought state voter rolls this summer, letters from the department’s attorneys to state officials in many instances have demanded full lists of registered voters that include sensitive personal information such as driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. At least 22 states were asked for some data, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, which is tracking the requests.
Some states have turned over publicly available voter files or offered directions on how to request them. Others have flat-out refused the requests.
“The Department of Justice hasn’t shown any good reason for its fishing expedition for sensitive voter information on every American,” Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, said in a news release Monday announcing that her office had rejected the Justice Department’s second request for her state’s voter data.
Justin Levitt, who served as senior policy adviser for democracy and voting rights in the Biden White House and is now a law professor at Loyola Marymount University, said that he has no confidence that Homeland Security would act carefully with any data received.
Levitt, speaking with Stateline on Wednesday before the data sharing was confirmed, voiced concern that the Justice Department was “serving as a stalking horse” for other entities within the government.
“The fact that they’re having to sneak through the back door rather than knocking on the front door tells you that there’s improper procedures going on,” Levitt said.
This story was updated to add information from Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales confirming his state shared voter roll information with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Indiana Capital Chronicle’s Whitney Downard contributed reporting. Stateline reporter Jonathan Shorman can be reached at jshorman@stateline.org.
This story was originally produced by Stateline, 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.
Elizabeth Brown faced five years of housing troubles, homelessness and other barriers. But she can now say she’s a homeowner.
Brown, 51, always wanted to be a homeowner but said it just hadn’t happened for her. Just a few years ago, Brown was choosing between feeding her children and paying her rent. After moving into a home in Milwaukee near North 20th Street and West Auer Avenue that quickly fell into disrepair, she decided it was time to make a dream a reality.
“I just couldn’t do that anymore,” she said. “I knew I didn’t want to deal with landlords anymore.”
Brown purchased her home through Acts Housing and moved in June 27.
Brown is a mother of nine children, four of whom she still takes care of. She is a community organizer and the current president of Amani United, a neighborhood group.
“I love that she has this house now,” said Doris Brown, Elizabeth’s mother. “It feels like she’s reached the beginning of being settled, like she deserves to be.”
Brown’s homebuying process took about two years. But she spent even longer preparing for it.
“It was hard because one day I was trying to survive,” she said.
Two of Brown’s children are school-aged and two more are in college. As she prepared to buy a home, she was working to support her children and serving her community through her work as a leader for Amani United.
Brown has spent significant time giving back to the community. She said when it came to the process of buying a home, it was that same community that supported her.
Amanda Clark, housing coordinator for the Dominican Center, which often works in partnership with Amani United, has known Brown for eight years. She said she was excited to witness Brown become a homeowner.
“I don’t think anyone is more deserving than Elizabeth,” she said. “Elizabeth acted as a pilot so that we can, as a community, help other residents access homeownership without as many barriers.”
Brown said there were many days when she just wanted to give up on becoming a homeowner.
One challenge, she said, was simply saving the money needed to purchase her home.
“When you are working with programs and following steps toward your goal, life is still happening,” she said. “I was homeless for six months during this process because the home I was living in just became unlivable.”
She said there were times when she’d have to rent hotel rooms to meet her and her children’s hygiene needs or rent other places to cook for them.
“There is always something else you need to do,” Brown said. “You think you’ve taken all the steps, then a coach will say, ‘oh you need to do this and this.’ ”
While she bought the home through Acts Housing, she said other supports, like staff from the Community Development Alliance, Milwaukee Metropolitan Community Church, Northwestern Mutual and LISC, were helpful in her journey.
Brown said buying a home feels like the beginning for her.
“I’m happy, and my children are so proud of me,” she said. “But there is so much more I want to do.”
Brown said homeownership is possible for anyone who wants to achieve it, so long as communities care.
“It was a long fight,” Brown said. “But I’m a firm believer everything happens for a reason, and I had my experience so that I can help others do what I did.”
A Milwaukee woman’s long journey to homeownership 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.
Muhammad Ali defeats George Foreman, winning back the heavyweight title; after retiring in 1981, he travels the world as a symbol of peace and hope.
The post Muhammad Ali:Round Four: The Spell Remains (1974-2016) appeared first on WPR.
Professional crime-scene cleaner Wicky has to mop up after a particularly grisly murder.
The post The Cleaner:The Widow appeared first on WPR.
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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