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Isaac Solis knows all too well how taking a pill bought off the street can lead to tragedy. 

His son Isaac Solis Jr., known as “Bubba,” died in 2019 after taking what he thought was the prescription drug Percocet. 

Instead, it was a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can kill in trace amounts.

Since then, he’s been on a mission to help prevent others from losing loved ones through his “One Pill Kills” awareness campaign. 

His message is being amplified in time for Fentanyl Awareness Day, observed nationally on April 29, through three billboards that feature his son. The billboards direct residents to the 1pillkills.org website and social media pages and include the message: Together We Will Save Lives.  

“It’s about spreading awareness obviously that even one pill can kill you, one line can kill you,” Solis said. “If one family sees it and reaches out to their loved one and one life is saved, that’s our goal.” 

Two of the billboards can be seen off of Interstate 94 in Milwaukee near West Becher and South Fourth streets, and the other is a north/south display on South 27th Street and West Morgan Avenue. The billboard near West Becher will be up for eight weeks and the one on West Morgan for four. 

Solis’s campaign has utilized several billboards over the years to increase community awareness on fentanyl. 

The message on the first billboard, he said, was very aggressive.

“Our grief was a bit more raw at that time,” Solis said. 

Another billboard featured photos of individuals who lost their lives to fentanyl. 

“Eight families put their angels up there,” he said. 

Drop in overdose deaths

Fentanyl has fueled the opioid epidemic nationally and a rise in overdose deaths. 

The drug had devastating impacts on Milwaukee County, which experienced multiple years of record high drug overdose deaths in the 2010s and 2020s. Those totals peaked at 674 in 2022 and 667 in 2023, according to data from the Milwaukee County Overdose Dashboard. Most of the deaths were caused by fentanyl alone or in combination with other substances.

Since then, the number of fatal overdoses has fallen. Last year 387 died, with 236 of those cases involving fentanyl. 

County Executive David Crowley credits increased funding for opioid prevention and collaboration for the decrease. 

“Thanks to the investment of opioid settlement dollars, increased access to free harm reduction supplies, and efforts to eliminate the stigma surrounding substance use disorder, fewer people are dying of overdose, which means more opportunities for treatment, recovery and a path forward,” Crowley said in a statement.

Fentanyl still a major problem

While Solis said the drop in fatal overdoses is great, it’s also concerning. 

“The troublesome part is we don’t know what amount of people are addicted to fentanyl and using it daily,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to do.The closer we get to zero deaths, the better.” 

He said fentanyl products continue to evolve and get more potent, and it can be in powder or liquid form, and even in vapes. 

“It can be hidden in something but you can have no idea what,” Solis said. “There’s always a threat of it being in any type of drug.”

Working together

Like Crowley, Solis credits collaboration for the progress made in addressing the opioid epidemic. He partners regularly with Team HAVOC, a grassroots South Side group. 

Rafael Mercado, founder of Team HAVOC, said Solis’ story and “One Pill Kills” message are having an impact. 

“He does a lot to bring awareness by way of billboards, social media and pop-ups,” Mercado said. “He has lost a son to this, so he knows firsthand the pain and suffering a family goes through and the ripple effect of addiction on a family.”  

Solis also partners with Samad’s House, a Milwaukee-based sober living home and behavioral health clinic dedicated to supporting women. He said he’s working with Tahira Malik, founder and chief operating officer of Samad’s House, to help organize a Walk for Lives event on July 11. Walk for Lives is a nationwide movement to raise awareness about those who died from fentanyl. 

Solis said he wishes he could do even more but knows that ending the fentanyl crisis won’t happen quickly. 

“The problem didn’t happen overnight,” he said. “It’s not gonna be any one group, not any one solution. Together we will save lives.”

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Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

‘One pill can kill’: A Milwaukee father turns grief into a warning about fentanyl 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.

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The mayor’s office and the Milwaukee Department of Public Works are defending the city’s parking enforcement during last week’s flooding. 

From April 15 to April 16, the city issued 4,666 parking citations, according to data provided by the Department of Public Works, or DPW. 

Officials said enforcement is still necessary during extreme storm-related conditions. 

“Severe weather events make it particularly important for people to obey the posted parking restrictions,” said Jeff Fleming, spokesperson for Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “During rain events, quite a number of parking restrictions are in place to enable full street cleaning.” 

Fleming also said flooding can be exacerbated when street cleaning is impeded by parked vehicles.

South Side resident Jacob Quinones said he was too busy dealing with the flood to worry about parking. 

“My basement flooded, and I was late to work because of getting towed,” he said. 

Parking enforcement looked much different during the historic storms on Aug. 9 through Aug. 10, which also caused severe flooding throughout the city. 

According to DPW data, 991 citations were issued on those days, which occurred over the weekend.

Behind the numbers

The 4,666 parking citations issued on April 15-16 include all standard parking enforcement activity, said Tiffany Shepherd, DPW marketing and communications officer. 

Citations were issued earlier on Wednesday before the storm and after conditions improved on Thursday, she said.

She said officers did adapt during the most intense conditions. 

During a peak storm window, from roughly 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., parking enforcement continued but focused on responding to complaints, resulting in 141 tickets, said Shepherd. 

She said safety concerns limited enforcement during that time.  

“Our staff is not going to be driving through flood waters or anything like that. That’s just not safe,”  Shepherd said. “For those two hours where things were really bad, no tickets were being issued.”

Response in August

During the August floods, there was a period when parking enforcement was formally suspended and staff redirected to flood-related work, said Lisa Vargas, administrative specialist with DPW, in an email.  

Overnight enforcement was also formally suspended in the days following the storm, from Aug. 11 to Aug. 14. Enforcement was not suspended as a result of last week’s storms. 

Staff assisted stranded or abandoned vehicles, conducting 88 free relocation tows, Vargas said. During last week’s floods, four free relocations were provided.

‘It cost me $566’

When Quinones’ car was towed near his home on South 13th Street and West Ohio Avenue, he said it left him with no real alternatives. 

“It’s my only form of transportation,” he said. “It cost me $566 plus a favor from a friend for the ride to the tow lot.” 

Quinones said being ticketed and towed while also dealing with flooding created a great deal of stress. He said the city needs to rethink its approach.

“If severe weather is on the horizon, keep your meter maids and parking checkers safe at home,” he said.

The importance of parking enforcement

Shepherd emphasized that although most enforcement took place before and after flooding conditions, weather is still not an excuse to park irresponsibly.  

“What you’re going to find out is the majority of these tickets don’t have anything to do with anyone being affected by the flood,” she said. “Just because there was bad weather, you can’t block a hydrant.”

Appealing citations

The mayor’s office has no plans to forgive tickets issued during last week’s floods, but residents do have an option to appeal. 

“The appeal process is pretty straightforward, so we do not have plans for any blanket amnesty,” Fleming said. 

People can go through the appeals process if the flood was pertinent to the ticket, and the city will look at that on a case-by-case basis, Shepherd said. 

More parking information can be found on the city’s website. 

Data shows stark difference in Milwaukee parking enforcement between August and April floods 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.

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On the streets of Milwaukee, Carter Wilkins and his mom, Carlicia Wilkins, can be spotted picking up aluminum cans or handing out bagged lunches and hygiene items. They do it as an act of kindness for the homeless and to help grow a new organization called Carter Can Collect Community Initiative Inc. 

In March, Carter, 9, founded Carter Can Collect Community Initiative Inc., a nonprofit that focuses on environmental awareness. The organization uses collected aluminum cans to help fund and support individuals experiencing homelessness in Milwaukee. 

“I was so happy when I turned in my first bag of cans,” Carter said. 

The idea started when Carlicia Wilkins was on a car ride.  She was reflecting on the passing of Carter’s dad in 2020 and about experiencing homelessness three years ago and sleeping in her car.

“This is our reality five years later, and I wanted to figure out how I can continue to make Carter’s life better,” Carlicia said. “He’s a gamer and asks for (Fortnite) V-Bucks, so I figured I could teach him responsibility and how to make his own money while gaining a purpose because it’s not about the money for us.” 

Carlicia wanted to show Carter how to use the money to help others. 

According to the Milwaukee Coalition on Housing & Homelessness, about 885 Milwaukeeans were experiencing homelessness in 2024. 

“Homelessness can be on the street, sleeping on somebody else’s couch, living in someone’s basement or living out of your car,” Carlicia said. “If you are somewhere that’s not yours, then that’s homelessness.” 

After discussing the idea with Carter, he wanted to get started as soon as possible.

Day-to-day collecting

Carter, a Sherman Park resident, typically spends an hour after school collecting aluminum cans from sparkling water, energy drinks, beer and more while his mom pays him $10 an hour out of her own pocket.

“We pick a block and go around neighborhoods,” Carter said.

Once a month Carter and his mom take the collected cans to All Scrap Metal Recycling Inc., 3330 W. Fond du Lac Ave., to recycle them for cash.  

“Everything that we need is already around us,” Carlicia said. “We throw things away when it could really bring financial gain.”

Carter said he recently made $73 after filling five bags of aluminum cans in one month. The bags weighed 90 pounds. 

“My goal was about 60 pounds of cans at first,” he said.

Preparing food and essentials for the homeless

Once he receives the cash, Carter goes to local stores to pick up food and hygiene items to make care kits and cold bag lunches for the homeless. 

The kits typically include dental products, socks, wet wipes, deodorant, hair care, towels and soap. 

The lunches include water, fruit, a snack and sandwich. 

At the beginning of April, Carter and Carlicia gave away 25 bag lunches and 20 care kits to the homeless across Milwaukee’s North and South Sides. 

“I was nervous at first when I did my first aluminum can turn-in, but the more I started collecting, then I got more comfortable,” Carter said.

Witnessing the impact

Dier Vaughn, a family friend who volunteers to help the organization, said he’s never seen a duo like Carter and his mom come up with a concept like this. 

“You don’t see many young kids who are motivated to give back to their own community,” Vaughn said. 

From picking out the organization’s name to shopping for essentials, Vaughn has witnessed the process since day one. 

“I really love how Carter and Carlicia actually go out to talk to people to see what they want and need instead of buying what they think people need,” he said. 

Vaughn said Carter has qualities of a community activist and always has a willingness to listen and show empathy.

Carlicia describes Carter as a go-getter since she’s been giving him the space to lead with the initiative.

“He’s getting better at telling other youth about his initiative,” Carlicia said. “I’m learning to let him be a kid and have a voice with entrepreneurship at the same time.” 

The initiative was meant to teach Carter and other youths about work ethic, financial literacy, communication skills, responsibility and more. 

For youths eager to make a difference in their community but are unsure of where to start, Carter said the first step is being open to trying new things. 

“You don’t have to try everything, but at least try one thing,” he said.

Helping out the new organization

Carter and Carlicia said their long-term goal is to find more youths ages 9 through 14 to help Carter on his mission. 

“Carter’s big cousins joined him and were so excited that they couldn’t stop,” Carlicia said.

Youths who join him will receive a reward like monetary pay or get treated to a social outing like roller skating, Chuck E. Cheese and more. 

The next volunteer opportunity for youths to help Carter and Carlicia is 4 p.m. Friday, April 24. The youths can crush cans before they turn them in at the scrapyard. 

Also, Carter Can Collect Community Initiative Inc. is in need of board members, sponsors and community leaders. 

“We’re looking for people and local leaders who may know more about homelessness and can possibly give us more information,” Carlicia said. 

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For more information

Other ways residents can help Carter and Carlicia is by donating hygiene products and food or by saving aluminum cans at your home that they will come pick up. 

Items can be sent to Carter Can Collect Community Initiative Inc., P.O. Box 90104, Milwaukee, WI 53209

To get involved or for any questions, you can reach Carlicia at 414-506-2523 or email community@cartercancollect.com.

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Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

Meet a Milwaukee kid turning aluminum cans into cash to help the homeless 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.

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Click here to read highlights from the story

• Methadone is highly effective at reducing illicit opioid use and overdoses.

• The federal government sets minimum standards for clinics to prevent misuse, but Wisconsin imposes more than a dozen additional requirements on providers.

• As a result, patients may wait longer to begin treatment, make daily trips to clinics and take more time to reach an effective dose.

• Many other states have eased their rules, expanding access without compromising patient safety.

After years of opioid use, Bob saw three paths ahead: jail, death or methadone.

The 70-year-old Stevens Point resident chose methadone, which he has stuck with for more than half his life. He credits the treatment for his long career and ability to raise two daughters. Now retired, he sits in a recliner holding a sheet of paper with a list of old friends; he’s written “OD” next to the names of several loved ones killed by drugs.

Methadone is highly effective at reducing illicit opioid use and overdoses, experts say. It reduces drug cravings, prevents withdrawal and can provide stability without a mind-altering high.

More than 10,000 Wisconsinites used methadone treatment in 2024 to recover from opioid use disorder. But state regulations make accessing treatment more difficult for those patients, providers and researchers say.

The federal government sets minimum standards for clinics providing methadone treatment aimed at preventing misuse. Wisconsin adds more than a dozen more restrictive requirements, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.

For patients, the state’s laws can mean waiting longer to enroll in treatment, daily drives to the clinic — even on weekends and holidays — and waiting longer to reach an effective dose.

Two years after the federal government relaxed its rules, Wisconsin’s landscape remains largely unchanged. Providers and researchers want Wisconsin to catch up with newer standards adopted by other states, including Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and Iowa. 

The Department of Health Services is reviewing Wisconsin’s rules, but it’s unclear what will change or when.

Long drives for methadone treatment 

Bob wakes up at 4:30 a.m. and starts the 40-minute drive to his treatment clinic. Years ago, he left that early to make it to work on time. Now, he just likes to beat the crowd.

Wisconsin Watch is identifying people who use methadone by first name only to protect their private health information. 

Bob tries not to pee before starting the drive. He knows clinic staff will likely send him into the bathroom with a cup as soon as he arrives. It’s been two decades since he used drugs or alcohol, but he takes the drug test all the same.

Next, he walks up to a clinic window, where someone hands him 13 plastic bottles of a cherry red liquid. Bob locks the medications inside a box he brought from home. A staff member watches as he swallows another dose.

He’ll do it all again in 13 days. The treatment saved his life, but it keeps him tied to this time-intensive routine — and to a clinic in another town. 

“Methadone is like having a pair of golden handcuffs,” he says.

Unlike other medications, methadone cannot be picked up from a pharmacy. Only 31 locations across Wisconsin are approved to provide medication-assisted opioid treatments including methadone, according to the state health department.

At the state’s northernmost clinic in Wausau, patients traveled an average of 31 miles, one way, to their clinic in 2024.

Wisconsin allows fewer take-home doses 

Methadone can be fatal if misused. To prevent people from overusing it or selling it, the federal government limited the number of take-home doses patients receive. 

Early in the pandemic, the federal government allowed states to relax take-home rules to limit crowding at clinics — and many states did so. Studies later showed higher patient satisfaction and feelings of being respected without a significant increase in misuse.

In making the pandemic exceptions permanent in 2024, federal regulators wrote that the previous standards “can pose disruption to employment, education and other daily activities for patients, and several of the criteria reflect outdated biases that promote stigma and discourage people from engaging in care.”

But Wisconsin’s take-home regulations remain stricter than the federal minimums from before the pandemic.

The federal standard allows patients like Bob to take home 28 doses at a time. Wisconsin allows only 13.

Wisconsin patients must visit their clinic seven days a week until they complete a month in treatment and meet other criteria not required by the federal government. It takes a year in Wisconsin to qualify for the number of take-home doses providers in other states can offer patients after two weeks. 

Random callbacks disrupt routines

State rules also require clinics to regularly “call back” patients, like Bob, who have more than two take-home doses. The callbacks are intended to help providers make sure patients are not selling or misusing take-home doses. 

Between visits, Bob’s provider often calls and tells him to arrive at the clinic within 24 hours with all 13 methadone bottles. If he doesn’t, he has to go back to daily clinic visits. 

Federal rules do not require callbacks. In a 2024 report, federal regulators said providers should “consider the disruptive nature of random callbacks.”

It’s hard to make plans knowing you might have to change them any moment, Bob says. “I want to be normal again.”

Rules changes under review 

Wisconsin is an outlier whose policies are overdue for an update, said Sharel Rogers, CEO of Addiction Medical Solutions and Vin Baker Recovery. She also serves as president of the Wisconsin Association of Treatment for Opioid Dependence.

Rogers was among several providers who backed a bill last month to update state rules. The measure was introduced right before the legislative session ended and was not expected to pass, but supporters hoped it would push regulators to act.

Wisconsin health officials are considering changing opioid treatment regulations, but without legislative action, the process could take years.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services aims to ensure state regulations support access to “high-quality, evidence-based care for those who need it,” wrote Elizabeth Goodsitt, a spokesperson for the agency.

The agency started the state’s “intentionally thorough” rulemaking process last year to bring state regulations “closer in alignment with current federal regulations,” Goodsitt said.

The agency is still drafting proposed changes. They would be subject to public hearings and lawmaker approval in a process that ensures input from providers, advocates and patients, Goodsitt said.

The health department declined to answer detailed questions. Staff plan to review enrollment and take-home requirements, according to a document submitted to the Legislature. It’s not clear if other discrepancies, like callbacks, lab testing or dosage levels, will be addressed.

Opioid treatment providers should be carefully regulated, but Wisconsin’s current rules create barriers for patients, Rogers said.

“I’m just amazed at these patients every day, what they will do for their own recovery,” she said.

Recovery under tight restrictions

Timothy overdosed three times before starting treatment. 

After nine months in Marathon County jail, he relapsed unaware of his lowered tolerance and the strength of the drug supply in 2022.

Within a couple of months, he started methadone.

“Some people don’t get out of that. A lot of people don’t,” Timothy said. “I’m grateful.”

Opioid overdose deaths dropped by more than 42% in Wisconsin between 2023 and 2024, according to the state health department. Still, opioids killed 815 people in Wisconsin in 2024, compared with fewer than 300 deaths two decades earlier. 

Rising overdose rates are driven in part by fentanyl, a more potent opioid. Patients with a history of fentanyl use typically need higher methadone doses, said Dr. Hillary Tamar, who oversees Wisconsin treatment providers as a medical director for Community Medical Services. 

Wisconsin rules prohibit providers from giving new patients a starting dose above 30 milligrams of methadone. That limit is outdated in the fentanyl era, Tamar said. The average dose at most Wisconsin clinics in 2024 was above 100 milligrams. 

Updated federal limits allow providers to start patients at 50 milligrams or higher, based on their clinical judgment. A higher starting dose can help patients avoid withdrawal and reach a stable dose sooner, Tamar said. 

Federal regulations also give providers greater ability to decide whether a patient may benefit from fewer visits.

“The regulations in Wisconsin bind us to creating a one size fits all plan, and that is just not how humans work,” Tamar said.

Despite attending regular counseling and dosing in-person daily for four years, Timothy still doesn’t qualify for a single take-home dose in Wisconsin. 

That’s because he started using cannabis while undergoing chemotherapy around the time he started methadone treatment. Now in remission, he is working with his counselor to stop using cannabis, but it still prevents him from receiving take-home doses in Wisconsin.

In other states, marijuana use does not bar patients from receiving take-homes, Tamar said.

Last month, Timothy received two take-home methadone bottles while visiting his daughter in Florida.

Before leaving Wisconsin, he worked with staff at his clinic to set up a week’s worth of visits with a Florida provider. He was surprised when the new clinic told him he would receive take-home doses over the weekend.

When at home in Wisconsin, Timothy doesn’t mind the daily clinic visits. But when he’s with his daughter, they remind him of his past mistakes. 

For two days he mixed his medication with apple juice and celebrated his 45th birthday with his family without stopping at the clinic.

He said it was the best time of his life.

‘Golden handcuffs’: Wisconsin methadone rules limit access to opioid treatment 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.

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For Samantha Gamble and Ishon Arnold, this week’s rain only exacerbated issues they were already having in their home. 

Despite reporting their unsafe living conditions in their Lincoln Creek home a few weeks ago, they have had rain pouring in every room for the past two nights. Their upstairs ceiling buckled, and they have buckets everywhere. 

“The first night it got really bad,” said Arnold at a news conference Thursday. “Then the second night it got worse.” 

They are not alone.

Severe thunderstorms and flooding across Milwaukee this week have left some residents with waterlogged cars, no food, damaged homes and a difficult cleanup. 

Another round of severe thunderstorms is forecast for Milwaukee County on Friday night, and a flood watch for flash flooding is scheduled from 1 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. 

Although the full extent of the damage is still unknown, local government leaders and neighborhood groups are preparing to help with the aftermath. Other Milwaukeeans are looking ahead to see how these disasters can be avoided in the future. 

Neighbors helping neighbors

VIA Community Development Corp., which works on community, housing and economic development projects in Silver City, Clarke Square, Layton Park and Burnham Park, reported several Milwaukee neighborhood areas had experienced flooding. 

“Our team is actively connecting with neighbors and business owners to check on their homes, storefronts and properties to better understand the extent of the impacts and identify where support may be needed most,” said Christian Oliva, marketing communications manager of VIA CDC. 

Both VIA CDC and Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, a community and social justice organization focused in the Metcalfe Park neighborhood, encourage neighbors and business owners to report any issues — including flooding, property damage, power outages and fallen trees — to the Milwaukee Department of Public Works, their alderperson’s office and their local neighborhood organization to track damage.

Melody McCurtis, the deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, said neighbors experienced flooding in streets and basements, cars getting stuck in high water, property damage from wind and mudslides in some areas. 

“Flooded streets and detours have made it difficult for our team and neighbors to physically reach residents who need support, limiting our ability to respond as quickly and directly as we would like,” she said. 

Flooding advice

If you or someone you know is still recovering from last August’s floods, the United Methodist Committee on Relief shared some tips. 

How to get FoodShare replacement benefits

Residents who receive FoodShare benefits and lost food because of the storm may be eligible for replacement benefits. To submit for the reimbursement, FoodShare recipients should fill out the Request for Replacement FoodShare and/or Summer EBT Benefits form. 

Requests must be submitted within 10 days of the weather event.

Help available in Amani neighborhood

Amanda Clark with the Dominican Center, which has served residents in Amani for over 30 years, said Amani residents should reach out if they need help. 

“We may not have all the answers, but we’ll do our best to assist and connect residents to resources,” she said. “They don’t have to try to figure this out alone.” 

How HACM residents can get help

Folks living in Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee properties can notify their property manager about any issues. If they aren’t available, then they can contact the 24/7 public safety dispatch center at 414-286-5100.

How to report property damage

Residents who wish to report property damage may contact IMPACT 211 or complete the online form from 211 Wisconsin.  

IMPACT 211 connects residents to services like housing, food, mental health support, and crisis counseling. It is supporting the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management by collecting reports of property damage caused by flooding such as water/sewage in basements, collapsed walls and lightning-related incidents.

“IMPACT has turned on our local disaster switch this morning as Milwaukee County is now activated for disaster relating to the flooding event,” said Vickie Boneck, the director of marketing and communications with IMPACT 211, on Thursday. 

Looking ahead

Oby Nwabuzor is the founder of Envision Growth, a public health-driven real estate development firm. She put together a legislative framework that breaks down five specific actions organized by what can happen right now at the Common Council level with no state approval needed, what can move this budget cycle at the county and state level and what needs to be built and introduced in 2027.

“The storm is weather, but who floods, how badly, and whether it happens again at the same scale is a policy problem, and we have the data to prove it,” she said in a Facebook post. “What we do not have is legislation, and that is what I put together.” 

Neighborhood assistance

Oliva said VIA CDC’s home improvement matching grant program may be able to assist neighborhood homeowners with necessary repairs.

Metcalfe Park Community Bridges is mobilizing support to repair the Northstar Healing Space’s fence, which was destroyed in the storms, and gather clean-out supplies, air purifiers, dehumidifiers and volunteers to help reduce neighborhood residents’ exposure to mold.

Recovering from vehicle damage 

Since Monday, Milwaukee residents have faced dangerous commutes as some were forced to leave their vehicles stranded while others may have been trapped inside their vehicles because of flooding caused by recurring heavy storms.

According to the Milwaukee Fire Department, the North Side of the city was impacted the most, and the fire department responded to approximately 50 calls for water rescues because of submerged vehicles on April 14.

If you are driving and happen to come across a street with flooding, the Milwaukee Fire Department and Tiffany Shepherd, marketing and communications officer for the city of Milwaukee, urge drivers to avoid driving through flood waters.

If a driver’s vehicle is stuck in the middle of an intersection, Shepherd said to report it by calling the Department of Public Works at 414-286-2489 so that a representative can assess the situation and possibly relocate the vehicle. 

What to do if your vehicle is under water

When your vehicle has been submerged in water, the American Automobile Association recommends drivers to never start their vehicle as its main parts like the battery, transmission and engine are damaged, even though they may not look like it.   

“Unless every part is thoroughly cleaned and dried, inside and out, problems caused by corrosion can crop up weeks or even months after the flooding,” AAA said.

It’s best to have your vehicle inspected and repaired right away by AAA or another auto repair shop of your choice. 

Navigating automobile insurance 

Drivers should also contact their insurance company immediately about comprehensive coverage in their auto insurance policy to determine next steps with repairs and costs. 

Comprehensive coverage is a type of insurance that pays for the damage done to your vehicle like flooding, fire, theft and more. 

The cost of repairing flood damage can easily exceed a car’s value, depending on the make and model, according to AAA. 

Dealing with basement flooding

Department of Neighborhood Services Commissioner Jezamil Arroyo-Vega gave tips for what to do if your basement flooded:

• If you’re a renter, call your property manager or landlord first. If they don’t respond, then call the Department of Neighborhood Services.
• High-level waters in basements can affect electrical breakers and can be dangerous for residents. Do not enter a flooded basement with electrical appliances until those waters have lowered. 
• Don’t use any electrical equipment that was submerged in water, including the water heater, washing machine, dryer or any other appliances in the affected area. These can create serious hazards including a fire risk. 
• Once the water has lowered and it’s safe to enter your basement, document the damage by taking photos for insurance. 
• Don’t attempt to restore your own breaker box or water heater. Call a licensed electrician or plumber.
• Check your house for structural damages. Signs of a compromised foundation include various sizes of cracks. A foundation contractor can help identify problems and create a repair plan. Search for contractors approved to work in the city of Milwaukee here.
• If you experienced more catastrophic foundation damage, such as a wall collapse, call the Department of Neighborhood Services immediately. The department will send out an inspector as soon as possible. Not only is this necessary for determining the safety of your home, but the inspection could be necessary for insurance claims. 

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PrincessSafiya Byers, Alex Klaus, Meredith Melland, Chesnie Wardell and Jonathan Aguilar contributed to this story.

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.

Here’s what Milwaukee residents facing storm damage should know 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.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Common Ground and its new branch, Tenants United, are leading efforts to hold private landlords accountable, starting with David Tomblin of Highgrove Holdings LLC. 

Highgrove Holdings is an out-of-state landlord with more than 260 properties, mostly on Milwaukee’s North Side. A significant number of homes are reportedly vacant or boarded.

Common Ground and Tenants United documented dozens of violations and examples of neglect, from mildew and mold to broken windows and holes in the ceilings.

Now both groups alongside other advocates and Milwaukee City Attorney Evan Goyke have set out to “evict” Tomblin, owner of Highgrove Holdings, from control of his properties through a novel lawsuit filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. 

A complaint filed by the city of Milwaukee is asking a judge to appoint a third-party receiver to manage Highgrove’s portfolio if hundreds of alleged nuisance and code violations are not fixed within 60 days. If granted, it would effectively strip Tomblin of operational control over his Milwaukee properties.

“The point of this is to get them to comply,” Goyke said. “No one should need to be sued to be code-compliant. It shouldn’t come to this, but if this is what it takes, so be it.”

Tenants United

Last August during unprecedented storms, Ebony Martin’s ceiling fell in. Not only was she hospitalized as a result of the collapse, but she said her property management company, Highgrove Holdings Management, never fixed the leaks. 

Stories like hers led Common Ground and Tenants United to get involved.

Tenants United formed several years ago during a campaign against the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee. 

The group’s advocacy for Housing Authority residents led to a change in leadership and some operations. 

Charlene “Peaches” Bell said she initially joined Tenants United as a resident of the Housing Authority because she saw a need for change and accountability. She’s still there because the need is still there. 

“We have to help each other,” Bell said. “They say it takes a village. What kind of world will we have if we don’t do this now?”

The strategy

Tenants United members said Highgrove Holdings has accumulated hundreds of code violations and leads the city in orders for lead abatement. They also pointed out rising delinquent property taxes and ongoing legal disputes with lenders and investors. 

Tomblin, who previously lived in California and now resides in Washington, has marketed Milwaukee as a profitable market for investors. He cited strong returns tied in part to Opportunity Zones, federally designated areas intended to spur redevelopment.

Nearly 100 tenant leaders and community advocates gathered on March 26 alongside Goyke to announce a legal campaign targeting Tomblin’s company. 

Tenant leader Kiante Shields, who helped launch the campaign, described the lawsuit as a turning point in holding corporate landlords accountable.

“This is about drawing a line,” Shields said. “If you neglect hundreds of homes, there are consequences, not just fines, but losing control.”

What comes next

The lawsuit now heads to circuit court, where a judge will decide whether to order repairs or appoint a receiver to take over management.

Advocates say the case could set a precedent for how Milwaukee and other cities handle large-scale landlord neglect.

“This isn’t just about one landlord,” Shields said. “It’s about changing the system.”

‘This isn’t just about one landlord’: Tenants United pushes to improve housing conditions in Milwaukee 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.

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Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Monday signed legislation that would give raises for the first time in a decade to permanently and totally disabled people receiving worker’s compensation.

The bill, which includes other changes to the worker’s comp system, was passed by the Assembly (97-0 vote) in January and by the Senate (32-1) in February. Both chambers are majority Republican.

The bill would help people like 65-year-old Bob Hurley, who suffered a back injury in 1982, at age 22. While helping build a car wash, he fell 15 feet from a forklift and “landed flat on my back in a concrete pit.”

Through four surgeries, Hurley continued working for 17 years before being declared PTD. 

Hurley, now living in Minnesota, said he receives $2,900 in monthly worker’s comp benefits. He said his only other income is $2,600 monthly in Social Security benefits. Without cost-of-living adjustments in his PTD payments, “it gets harder and harder every year,” he said.

Wisconsin Watch reported in September that more than 300 permanently and totally disabled recipients haven’t received a raise in their worker’s comp benefits since 2016.

The bill would also make these changes for PTD recipients:

• Make an estimated 210 more PTD recipients eligible for raises. Currently, only PTD recipients injured before Jan. 1, 2003, are eligible for raises. The bill would change that date to Jan. 1, 2020.

• Raise the maximum weekly benefit for PTD recipients by 57%, from $669 to $1,051.

• Give PTD recipients annual raises, with the amounts set shortly before taking effect. The raise amounts would vary based on when the recipients were injured and their earnings at the time. 

One example, provided by the state Department of Workforce Development: A PTD recipient injured in 1985 and receiving $535 a week would get a 57% increase to $840. The increase would amount to nearly $16,000 per year.

Big raise on its way for permanently and totally disabled workers as Tony Evers signs worker’s comp bill 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.

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Changes from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” are forcing states to expand work requirements for those who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits. 

The law did not rewrite the core work requirements for SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. Instead, it changed who must meet them. In Wisconsin, the changes could put around 36,000 people at risk of losing their food assistance benefits. 

Policy consultant David Rubel said federal law allows a third option that could make assistance more accessible for those who are at risk of losing benefits.

Work requirements

The age range for adults required to meet work requirements will increase from 18-54 to 18-64. Parents of children age 14 and older will now also need to meet work requirements.

Federal law allows three primary ways for some adults without dependents to continue receiving FoodShare. 

The primary way is employment. People must work at least 20 hours a week or 80 hours a month to keep benefits. 

Another way is training or workforce programs. People can participate in state-approved job training programs for 20 hours a week and keep benefits. 

The third option, Rubel said, can require significantly fewer hours. 

Workfare allows people to work or volunteer in a state-approved program for a number of hours based on the value of that person’s SNAP benefits. 

According to federal law, the number of hours required is calculated by dividing a person’s monthly SNAP benefits by the state minimum wage. So, if someone in Wisconsin, where the minimum wage is $7.25, receives $180 in food stamps, they’d have to work or volunteer only about 25 hours monthly to continue receiving benefits. 

Rubel said SNAP recipients may not realize that option exists.

“If someone thinks they must volunteer 80 hours a month, they may assume they can’t comply,” he said. “But six hours a week is very different.”

Why you should know

While not directly promoted on the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website, Elizabeth Goodsitt, a DHS spokesperson, said workfare is available in Wisconsin under the FoodShare Employment and Training (FSET) program.

According to Goodsitt, once a FoodShare member chooses to participate in FSET, a case manager will discuss the situation and background to see if workfare is a good approach for that person. 

“Sites that accept FSET participants for workfare are set up by the FSET vendor and structured to offer members the chance to build their work experience, record and references,” she wrote in an email. “If a member does workfare, their case manager works with them to calculate the number of hours that will meet their work requirement, specifically, based on the amount of FoodShare they receive each month.” 

Wisconsin is one of four states, including Texas, Vermont and South Dakota, that signed a pledge committing to work opportunities for people at risk of losing SNAP benefits. 

Because enforcement has just resumed in many places, states are beginning to notify recipients through recertification letters. Recertification letters are routine notices SNAP participants receive every six months to confirm their eligibility.

But in many states, the public messaging around SNAP work requirements focuses primarily on the 80-hour employment threshold. 

“If people only hear about the 80 hours, they may assume they have no choice,” Rubel said. “People should have all the information so they can make an informed decision.”

SNAP work requirements have changed. Here is a look at options to keep benefits, including volunteering 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.

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The Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin is experiencing a major decline in organ donors while waitlists for patients in need of transplants grow. 

There are 1,450 Wisconsin patients awaiting an organ transplant, but there’s been a 350% increase in the number of people removing themselves from the Wisconsin donor registry, according to Colleen McCarthy, vice president of organ and tissue donation at Versiti.

“Organ donation is built on public trust, and we are losing it,” McCarthy said. “There is much national news with misinformation that creates fear in people.” 

McCarthy wants people to understand that an organ donation specialist’s role includes supporting families, medically managing donated organs, allocating them based on priority and offering public education. 

Especially on misconceptions. 

Some people worry that their life won’t be saved if they become an organ donor or that they’re too old to donate one. 

“We make every effort to save a life,” McCarthy said. “The oldest organ donor in the United States is 96 years old, so we evaluate all ages regardless of medical history.” 

McCarthy emphasizes that if you have multiple health conditions like diabetes, hepatitis C or HIV, there are other organs in the body that can be safe for a transplant. 

“There’s very few rule-outs in organ donation,” she said. “We just have to make sure that those organs are matched with the right recipient.”

Navigating life without a kidney

Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin is in need of kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs and other organs to save lives.

“The kidney is the organ in most need,” McCarthy said. 

Among the patients waiting for a kidney transplant is Kelly Norlander, who has known since she was a teenager that she’d be in need of a kidney one day.   

“It’s never easy when you know it’s coming, but I was able to wrap my head around it and process it all,” she said. 

Norlander has a genetic condition called polycystic kidney disease, which causes continuous growth of cysts in the kidney.

She was put on the transplant list two years ago and has been receiving dialysis treatments three times a week for four hours each day for the past year and a half. 

Dialysis is a process that filters toxins from the body when kidneys stop working. 

Although Norlander works full time remotely, she’s stuck bringing her computer to dialysis with her most days. 

“Dialysis feels like a part-time job within itself,” Norlander said. “The longer dialysis is, the harder the transplant will be on your body.”

Long wait times for a transplant

According to Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin, the wait time for a kidney could be up to five years. 

“I hope people think about Kelly and the others who are waiting on a transplant,” McCarthy said. “We understand that donating is a personal choice, but I think people need to spend some time thinking about getting accurate information on organ donation.”

Norlander’s father passed away seven years ago from the same condition because he didn’t qualify for a transplant. 

Norlander also wants people to consider the life-saving impact they can have by becoming an organ donor. 

“You’re not just saving one life, you’re saving several,” she said. 

Keeping a consistent blood supply

The harsh winter, including the most recent blizzard, is causing residents to donate less blood this year, which has led to a blood supply shortage for Versiti. 

According to Versiti, 11 of its donor centers and six mobile drives were canceled on Monday. Versiti was hoping to schedule 450 appointments to make up for the ones that were canceled. 

Versiti is also trying to prepare for the warmer seasons, as sometimes the supply can drop during good weather, too.

“It doesn’t take much to disrupt the supply,” said Lauren Patzman, recovery services supervisor at Versiti. “When people are traveling and getting ready to go somewhere for spring break or the holidays, those are the times we see declines in donations.”

Throughout the year, Versiti relies heavily on high school students, as many of their schools host blood drives. But when school is out, finding volunteers becomes harder. 

Patzman said the organization attends festivals and local events during the summer to spread awareness about blood, organ and eye donation. However, sometimes it’s hard to utilize its mobile bus because people aren’t always prepared to give blood. 

“It’s hot, people are walking around all day and may not be hydrated or had a good breakfast beforehand,” Patzman said. 

The organization is urging more residents to donate blood to prevent another shortage. 

It’s in need of all donated blood types, especially donors with a rare blood type called Ro.

According to Versiti Research Blood Institute, Ro blood is found only within 4% of donors and is often given to sickle cell patients. Many sickle cell patients in Milwaukee require blood transfusions every three to four weeks and need over 60 red blood cell units each year. 

Other individuals, including burn victims, cancer patients, a mother giving birth and more can receive donated blood. 

Patzman said the organization tries to keep three to five days of blood supply available to share with hospitals.

“If and when a blood shortage happens, hospitals do have to make difficult decisions that may include delaying surgeries and adjusting treatments,” she said. 

Taking next steps with a quick visit

Patzman reminds individuals there’s always room to put donating blood on your to-do list.  

“People don’t realize how easy it is to just walk in and out within an hour, and it’s not as scary as people think it is,” Patzman said. “Blood is perishable and it has a shelf life.”

If you are interested in donating blood, click here to enter your ZIP code to find nearby donor centers or mobile drives.

To become an organ, tissue and eye donor, click here for more details.

More people in Wisconsin are removing themselves from the organ donor registry; fewer are donating blood 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.

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Wisconsin has thousands of assisted living providers. Some are small houses; others are more like apartment complexes. Some take Medicaid, while others require residents to pay out of pocket. It’s a lot to sort through, especially when someone needs care fast. 

Searching “assisted living” on Google pulls up several pages of facilities, many listed under a prominent “sponsored results” section.

Mixed in with actual providers are referral companies that promise a way to compare options. Long-term care referral companies don’t typically charge families for their services. Instead, they often receive money from facilities they recommend.

Wisconsin lawmakers in May proposed legislation to make any financial relationships between a referral agency and an assisted living facility clearer. 

Supporters of the bill said disclosure requirements could help families make more informed decisions. Opposing the bill, referral companies argue that they are already transparent and that proposed guardrails would prevent them from helping more families. 

The bill failed to pass before the Assembly adjourned last month. But the debate left me wondering: Where should someone start the search for care?

Aging and disability resource centers

Aging and disability resource centers (ADRCs) can provide objective provider lists for free, alongside information about services and payment options, said Janet Zander, the advocacy and public policy coordinator with the Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources, Inc. 

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services lists ADRCs by county online. 

ADRCs cannot recommend one facility over another, Zander said. But they can suggest what to look for during a tour. Zander also recommends looking at a facility’s Wisconsin Division of Quality Assurance surveys.

They can also help people identify what kind of care makes the most sense and explore aging at home, said Sara Tribe Clark, the director of the Eldercare Locator, which offers local resources for older adults, people with disabilities and caregivers. 

If you work with a referral agency, ask questions

Tribe Clark recommends asking:

• Do you receive compensation from the providers you recommend?
• Are your referrals limited to certain facilities?
• How do you determine which providers to suggest? What is the criteria for inclusion/exclusion?
• Are there providers in my area that you do not represent?

We want to answer your questions

Getting answers to my own questions is a perk of being a reporter. But I haven’t yet navigated Wisconsin’s aging and disability resources for myself or a loved one. I know I’m missing important questions, so please send me yours, alongside your perspectives.

What has been confusing or frustrating about finding care?

What do you wish you’d known sooner?

What made the process easier?

Even after more than two years reporting on long-term care in Wisconsin, I won’t have all the answers. But I will find experts who do. Email me at acostello@wisconsinwatch.org or call 608-616-5239.

Finding long-term care is hard. Here’s how to start. 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.

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This story was originally published on Investigate Midwest.

Lisa Lawler wasn’t surprised when diagnosed with breast cancer in 2025. Her mother had breast cancer and died in 2016. It seemed like cancer had become a common diagnosis for many of her neighbors and friends. 

“With how many people seem to get cancer in our community, you just assume you will get it,” said Lawler, who lives in rural Hardin County, Iowa. “But no one really talks about what’s causing it.”

After 10 rounds of radiation and a surgery to remove the tumor, Lawler’s cancer was in remission. Last year, she took a test to determine if her cancer was likely genetic, meaning a high chance of recurrence, which could lead her to have her entire breast removed. 

She was surprised by the results. 

“The genetic test they ran for me was one that covered 81 genes that are typically related to breast cancer,” Lawler said. “After the test, they told me my cancer is likely not genetic, but likely environmental, based on these 81 genes.

“Your next thought is, then what’s in the environment that caused my cancer?” 

Increasingly, pesticides are being blamed for rising cancer rates across America’s agricultural communities. 

Hardin County, home to around 800 farms, has a pesticide use rate more than four times the national average and a cancer rate among the highest in the state. 

Most of the 500 counties with the highest pesticide use per square mile are located in the Midwest. Sixty percent of those counties also had cancer rates higher than the national average of 460 cases per 100,000 people, according to an analysis of data from both the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Cancer Institute.

Last year, Investigate Midwest, in partnership with the University of Missouri, investigated the link between agrichemicals and cancer in Missouri, finding that many were rural communities that already lacked access to health care. 

Investigate Midwest expanded on that coverage by analyzing data across the country, along with interviewing more than 100 farmers, environmentalists, lawmakers and scientists as part of a partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s StoryReach U.S. Fellowship. The result was the picture of a nation at a crossroads in dealing with this public health crisis that has not just been ignored by state and federal health officials, but aided.

This story was also supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

“Cancer is everywhere and it’s an experience that is unfortunately all too common,” said Kerri Johannsen, senior director of policy and programs at the Iowa Environmental Council, a Des Moines-based nonprofit that has been studying the state’s growing cancer rate. 

Agrichemicals have helped America become a crop-producing power, increasing yields of commodity crops — such as corn and soybeans — used for food, fuel and animal feed.

Sprayed from airplanes, drones, tractors and handheld devices, these chemicals can drift through the air or run off into nearby rivers and streams.

And for decades, some farmers and pesticide users have developed neurological and respiratory issues. Thousands of lawsuits have alleged that pesticides and the companies that make them were to blame. 

Pesticide manufacturers often rejected those claims while sometimes concealing research by their own employees that raised similar concerns. These companies — such as Bayer, Syngenta, Corteva and BASF — have also spent millions to lobby federal and state lawmakers for laws that would limit their legal liability and continue to allow them to sell agrichemicals. 

“This is one of the most transparently reviewed products ever,” said Jessica Christiansen, the head of crop science communications for Bayer, speaking about her company’s production of Roundup, a glyphosate-based pesticide. “This product is so well studied … been on the market for over 50 years with thousands and thousands of studies. There is no linkage to cancer, there just isn’t.”  

Under the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture have also hired dozens of former pesticide executives and lobbyists, some of whom have already pushed for deregulation of their industry. The Department of Health and Human Services has also altered its own reports to downplay the harm of pesticides. 

Two states — North Dakota and Georgia — recently passed laws limiting their residents’ ability to sue pesticide companies, and at least a dozen other states will consider similar laws in the coming months. 

“We’ve gotten to a point in the U.S. … where we’ve stopped treating pesticides as if they are dangerous tools,” said Rob Faux, who manages a small Iowa farm and has advocated against pesticide liability shield laws. “Instead, these companies tell these stories that these pesticides are completely safe and we are encouraged to use them anytime. We’ve been convinced that we must use them or we are not going to have enough food to eat.”

In Iowa, a state with heavy pesticide use — 53 million pounds last year — and the nation’s second-highest cancer rate, doctors and health officials have been sounding an alarm for years. 

The state has become ground zero in the fight to limit the impact of pesticides on health and the environment. Farmers have gathered at the state Capitol to advocate for increased laws and funding to address the rising cancer rate. That advocacy likely helped defeat a bill last year that would have protected pesticide makers from some lawsuits.

I call myself a Republican, but this is not about politics; this is about money, about the almighty dollar.”

— Bill Billings, a resident of Red Oak, Iowa, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2024

“I believe the groups wanting this (bill) to go through didn’t expect any substantial resistance, but there was enough resistance,” said Faux, who also works for the Pesticide Action and Agroecology Network, a nonprofit advocating for less agrichemical use.  

The Iowa bill was strongly opposed by environmental and health organizations, which have traditionally been left-leaning. But there was also strong opposition from many conservative residents and farmers. 

“I call myself a Republican, but this is not about politics; this is about money, about the almighty dollar,” said Bill Billings, a resident of Red Oak, Iowa, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2024. 

Initially, doctors told Billings, then 61, he would likely be dead in a matter of months after discovering lymphoma in his lungs. A health enthusiast and hospital administrator, Billings had been a regular user of Roundup, the popular Bayer pesticide used on farms and residential properties. 

“The cancer specialist said, very directly, (my) cancer is a result of being exposed to chemicals,” Billings said. “In my records, it literally says that I have cancer as a result of exposure to Roundup and agrochemicals.” 

Billings was prescribed a five-drug regimen, along with chemotherapy. In September, he was declared cancer-free. 

Last year, he hired a lawyer to file a lawsuit against Bayer. 

“The irony is … Bayer Pharmaceuticals makes one of the drugs that treated my cancer,” Billings said. “It’s disturbing to find out you are in this financial circle — not only as a consumer, but as a patient.” 

Research increasingly links pesticides to growing cancer risk 

Cancer is a complex disease and can be caused by numerous environmental and genetic factors. Some links have been clear — such as smoking and lung cancer — while other forms can be impossible to trace back to an original cause. 

But scientific research linking pesticides with certain types of cancers has been growing. 

“Our findings show that the impact of pesticide use on cancer incidence may rival that of smoking,” scientists wrote in a 2024 study, which was published in Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society.

The study linked pesticides to prostate, lung, pancreas and colon cancers. Pesticides have also been associated with lymphoma and Parkinson’s disease, the study claimed. 

Many doctors in agricultural communities say the link with pesticides is hard to deny. 

“Iowa has a super high rate (of cancer) and when you look at all of our modifiable risk factors … tobacco, obesity, too many calories, highly processed foods, lack of physical activity, alcohol consumption, getting vaccinated for HPV, sun exposure, and so on, Iowa doesn’t really stand out dramatically at any of those,” said Dr. Richard Deming, medical director at MercyOne Cancer Center in Des Moines. “But one thing that distinguishes Iowa from other states is our environmental exposure to agricultural chemicals.”

Deming and other health experts also point to Iowa’s high radon levels, a naturally occurring radioactive gas produced by uranium and radium.

The state also has high levels of fertilizer-derived nitrate in its water, which has been associated with increased cancer risk. 

“But we use tons of ag chemicals that make it quite likely that the volume of these chemicals is contributing to what we’re seeing in Iowa in terms of the increased incidence of cancer,” Deming said.

A direct correlation can be difficult to determine, as cancer development times can range from months to decades. Overlaying cancer rates onto a map, however, highlights the nation’s top crop and vegetable growing regions, where pesticide use is highest. 

The Midwestern states of Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Missouri — leading corn-growing states — had the highest rates, while rates were also high in California and Florida, high fruit-growing states. 

Lawler, who developed breast cancer in Hardin County, grew up on her family’s 400-acre farm, where her father grew corn and used 2,4-D, a pesticide made by Dow Chemicals. She and her siblings moved out of state after high school, but Lawler returned in 2010. 

Pesticides have become indispensable in farming, Lawler acknowledged, but she wishes more people would ask questions about the risks. 

“We change products all the time when we learn about the health impacts,” Lawler said. 

As lawsuits mount, Bayer pushes state laws to limit liability

In early 2022, Rodrigo Santos had just been promoted to the head of Bayer’s crop sciences division, a prestigious position within the German-based chemical company. But a global pandemic, climate change and a pending war in Ukraine were disrupting the global production and sale of crops — a direct hit to the company’s pesticide sales.

“The global food system is in crisis,” Santos wrote in a column for the World Economic Forum, going on to say that the world needed to grow more food without a significant increase in the amount of land devoted to crops. 

But beyond the pandemic and war, another crisis presented an existential threat to one of the company’s top-selling products. Roundup, the glyphosate-based weed killer produced by Monsanto, which Bayer bought in 2018, had been blamed for causing cancer in thousands of lawsuits. 

In 2019, a California jury ordered Bayer to pay $2 billion in one lawsuit (the amount was later reduced). Since then, more than 65,000 lawsuits have been filed against the company, according to Bayer, and the company has agreed to pay more than $12 billion in settlements. 

Since purchasing Missouri-based Monsanto, Bayer’s stock price has dropped more than 90% over five years. 

In recent years, Bayer executives, including Santos, openly discussed discontinuing glyphosate production. We are “evaluating all the alternatives that we have for the business,” Santos told investors last year when asked about a possible sale of its Roundup division. 

But while Bayer publicly said it was reconsidering its glyphosate business, a review of lobbying disclosure statements, campaign finance records, state legislative records and other documents reveals the world’s largest pesticide company remains committed to expanding its sales. 

Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the EPA regulates the warning labels on pesticide products. While state-level lawsuits have claimed that federal labeling is insufficient, pesticide companies, including Bayer, have argued that federal regulations should trump state laws. 

Bayer, along with other corporate agriculture groups, has pushed for bills in more than a dozen states that would codify the view that federal labeling regulations are sufficient warning, effectively voiding state-level lawsuits. 

Christiansen, the head of crop science communications for Bayer, disputed that these laws will stop lawsuits and said courts have yet to begin interpreting those that have passed. 

“Folks can still sue a company, and they should if there’s a problem,” Christiansen said. “But the litigation industry has a lot to lose with these (bills) that are out there.” 

Founded by Bayer, the Modern Ag Alliance has lobbied for these bills and promoted opinion articles downplaying the health impacts of pesticides. 

“If farmers lose access to crop protection products because of misguided ideological agendas, U.S. agriculture would be upended, potentially forcing many family farms to shut down and driving up food costs for every American,” said Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, executive director of the Modern Ag Alliance.

The Modern Ag Alliance has spent more than a quarter of a million dollars on state lobbying since 2024.

In Idaho, the organization spent one in four lobbyist dollars last year. In Iowa, Bayer has spent $209,750 on lobbying since 2023, double what the company spent in the previous decade. 

Most of the bills came up short in 2025, but Georgia and North Dakota passed liability shields that will complicate local lawsuits. 

Georgia’s Senate Bill 144, which took effect Jan. 1, received some bipartisan support but was mostly approved by the Republican majority and opposed by Democrats. 

Similar bills have been filed in at least 10 states for this year’s legislative sessions. 

In 2024, the Iowa bill was passed by the state Senate with a 30-to-19 vote. Ahead of a vote in the House last year, farmer and environmental groups lobbied against the bill. 

The session ended without the House taking up a vote. The bill could return in 2026, but Faux, the Iowa farmer, said he also worries about it being “snuck into” another bill or budget agreement. 

“I don’t think we can just assume this fight is over,” Faux said. 

In other states, backlash seemed to stop liability shield bills before they got started.

In Oklahoma, Rep. Dell Kerbs, a Shawnee Republican, authored a pesticide liability shield bill he said was meant to end “frivolous” lawsuits against pesticide makers. 

“What’s happened in our country is we have … judges that have decided they need to be in the labeling business,” Kerbs said when introducing his bill at a Feb. 11, 2025, hearing of the House agriculture committee. 

State Rep. Ty Burns, another Republican, asked Kerbs why he chose to author the bill. 

“I was first approached by Bayer,” Kerbs responded. 

“But this is a labeling bill; it is not an immunity bill. It is just clarifying on EPA labeling regulations,” Kerbs added. “There is nothing that prevents a lawsuit from any single person. This is not giving a free pass to kill people. This simply is saying that a frivolous lawsuit to potentially pad the pocket of somebody who was not reading the label is not a justification to add that to a label through a state district court.” 

But when Burns asked Kerbs about opposition to the bill, especially from many farmers, Kerbs denied receiving any complaints. 

“That is hard to believe,” Burns told Kerbs, “because I have been bombarded.” 

The bill was never presented to the House for a vote. 

After early promises, MAHA walks back pesticide oversight

While liability shield laws have been largely advanced by Republican lawmakers, the push to further regulate pesticides has transcended partisan lines. 

Both left-leaning environmental groups and conservative health movements, which have targeted agrichemicals and some vaccines, have called for reducing or eliminating the use of pesticides. 

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been a longtime critic of pesticides. In a May 2025 report, his Make America Healthy Again commission linked pesticide overuse to children’s health issues, which drew praise from both political camps. 

George Kimbrell, co-executive director of the Center for Food Safety, which has advocated for stronger pesticide regulations, called the initial report a “baby step” forward and said he was encouraged after decades of inaction by the federal government. 

“Going back my entire career, 20-plus years now of doing this work, it doesn’t matter if it’s a Democratic administration or a Republican administration, they have been beholden to and done the wishes of the pesticide industry,” Kimbrell told Investigate Midwest last year. “So, this is a unique moment where … there’s a chance that there could be some positive change in terms of responsible oversight for these toxins.”

Corporate agriculture groups heavily criticized the report, including the American Farm Bureau Federation and CropLife America, a national organization representing many large agrichemical companies, including Bayer, Corteva Agriscience and Syngenta. 

Many of those groups and companies had been large financial backers of Trump. But Kennedy downplayed any concerns that the president would avoid taking a hard position against pesticide companies because of that support. 

“I’ve met every president since my uncle was president, and I’ve never seen a president (like Trump), Democrat or Republican, that is willing to stand up to industry when it’s the right thing to do,” Kennedy said at a May 22, 2025, MAHA commission meeting as the president sat smiling to his right. 

Three months later, Kennedy’s MAHA commission published its final report, which contained no calls to further regulate pesticides. In fact, it called for the federal government to work with large agrichemical companies to ensure public “awareness and confidence” in the EPA’s current pesticide regulations. 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment from Kennedy.

Many of the groups that expressed optimism over the initial report were outraged over the change. 

“This report is … a clear sign that Big Ag, Bayer, and the pesticide industry are firmly embedded in the White House,” said David Murphy, the founder of United We Eat and a former finance director for Kennedy’s presidential campaign. 

The Trump administration has employed several pesticide executives, researchers and lobbyists at the EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

Kyle Kunker, who was a registered lobbyist for the American Soybean Association, an organization that has advocated for the legal liability shield laws at the state level, was hired last year to oversee pesticide policy at the EPA. 

Three weeks later, the EPA recommended expanded use of dicamba-based herbicides, which federal courts had previously restricted. The EPA proposal was closely aligned with the position of the American Soybean Association. 

In 2025, the EPA also hired Nancy Beck and Lynn Ann Dekleva, both of whom worked with the American Chemistry Council.

Last month, a coalition of MAHA supporters called for the removal of Lee Zeldin, administrator of the EPA. 

Recent EPA decisions around pesticides “will inevitably lead to higher rates of chronic disease, greater medical costs, and tremendous strain on our healthcare system,” the group stated in a petition circulating online. 

Several prominent MAHA influencers have joined the petition, posting anti-pesticide messages on social media under handles such as The Glyphosate Girl and the Food Babe. “The EPA is acting like the Everyone Poisoned Agency,” wrote Kelly Ryerson, on her Glyphosate Girl Instagram feed. 

As the EPA advances pesticide use, the Trump administration has also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that federal labeling laws invalidate state-level lawsuits. 

“After careful scientific review and an assessment of hundreds of thousands of public comments, EPA has repeatedly determined that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic in humans, and the agency has repeatedly approved Roundup labels that did not contain cancer warnings,” Trump’s solicitor general wrote in an amicus brief with the Supreme Court. 

However, one of the studies the EPA has often cited in claiming pesticides are safe was recently retracted due to concerns about its authorship and potential conflicts of interest. 

The report, published in 2000 by the scientific journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, claimed Roundup “does not pose a health risk to humans.” The report has been the foundation for numerous other studies, court cases and policy decisions. 

The journal retracted the study last year, noting that court cases had revealed that Monsanto employees had contributed to the study. “This lack of transparency raises serious ethical concerns regarding the independence and accountability of the authors of this article and the academic integrity of the carcinogenicity studies presented,” the retraction stated. 

“This is just one example of how the current process of certifying these chemicals is broken in the U.S.,” said Colleen Fowle, water program director at the Iowa Environmental Council. “At the very least, we’re hoping that this (retraction) eliminates this specific research article from being cited in the future and concentrates more on independent peer-reviewed research as our basis to determine the safety of glyphosate.”

This article first appeared on Investigate Midwest and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Investigate Midwest is an independent, nonprofit newsroom whose mission is to serve the public interest by exposing dangerous and costly practices of influential agricultural corporations and institutions through in-depth and data-driven investigative journalism. Visit online at www.investigatemidwest.org

Pesticide use and cancer risk rise together across America’s heartland 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.

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Three cases of measles has been confirmed in Wisconsin in recent weeks, the latest involving an out-of-state traveler who traveled through Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport to Walworth County on Jan. 29. 

Milwaukee Health Commissioner Michael Totoraitis said during a news conference Tuesday that there were six individuals on the flight from the city of Milwaukee who may have been exposed as well as others.

“We have been in communication with those (six) individuals, and there’s also likely other contacts from the airplane that we do not have,” he said.

Measles is a serious disease that can cause high fevers and a spreading rash and lead to life-threatening complications such as pneumonia. 

Lindsey Page, director of immunizations and communicable disease with the Milwaukee Health Department, said measles is highly contagious and the risk of it hitting the city is real. 

Extremely contagious but can be prevented

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, measles can spread from person to person through the air from coughs or sneezes. The department states that measles is so contagious that 90% of unvaccinated people who are around someone who is infected may also be infected.  

Page said the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine is highly effective at preventing the spread of measles. Still, vaccine rates in the city are below the recommended rate for herd immunity. Herd immunity for measles is reached when 95% of people in the community have the MMR vaccine. 

“It certainly poses a threat, which is why we’re obviously emphasizing the vaccination, which is key in preventing disease from spreading before it starts,” Page said. “The measles vaccine is one of the most effective and well-studied vaccines ever used.”

Three-fourths of 6-year-olds in Milwaukee have received both recommended MMR doses, according to the Milwaukee Health Department. Among 18-year-olds in Milwaukee, that number increases to 88%. 

The Milwaukee Health Department and Milwaukee Public Schools are working to get residents access to vaccinations to increase those rates and keep them safe. 

According to the International Vaccine Access Center, childhood vaccination rates in the U.S. have declined, and only 10 states had MMR rates above 95% during the 2024-25 school year.

Vaccination rates low in many Milwaukee schools

Of the 152 Milwaukee public, private and charter schools with available vaccine data, only 11% have reached herd immunity levels of 95% for the MMR vaccine, according to data from the Washington Post. 

Only two Milwaukee Public Schools for which data was available, Highland Community School and Cooper Elementary School, had an MMR vaccination rate of 95%.

Just 7% of Milwaukee schools have a 95% immunization rate for all required vaccinations.

Milwaukee Public Schools notifies families if immunization records are missing or incomplete, and students may be excluded from school if requirements are not met within a reasonable time, said Stephen Davis, MPS media relations manager. 

Students are allowed to attend school while families work to get their required vaccinations or submit a valid exemption as allowed by state law, Davis said. 

Wisconsin DHS allows vaccination exemptions for medical, religious or personal conviction reasons. Davis said exemption requests in the district have fluctuated from year to year.

Page said the Milwaukee Health Department runs vaccine clinics inside select MPS schools at the beginning of the school year. Students take home vaccine consent forms for parents to sign so those students can get their required immunizations in school. 

In the near future, the department will set up targeted clinics in schools with low MMR vaccination rates, Page said.

MPS prepares for potential measles cases

MPS is monitoring measles in the region and maintains regular communication with local and state public health partners, Davis said. 

Davis said the district has an infectious disease response plan, which the district reviews periodically and updates as public health guidance changes. The district last reviewed the plan in 2025. 

“While no increased risk has been identified within our schools at this time, we are remaining vigilant and prepared to respond if conditions change,” Davis said. 

If a case of measles is identified in the city, Davis said MPS would implement its response plan, including coordinating with key staff and reinforcing illness reporting procedures.

“Schools would follow established exclusion, cleaning and notification procedures in accordance with public health guidance,” Davis said.

Where can I get vaccinations?

The Milwaukee Health Department and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services offer several resources to check your vaccination status and access free vaccinations. 

Page said you can check your vaccination status with your pediatrician or doctor, look up your status on the Wisconsin Immunization Registry or contact the city Health Department at 414-286-6800.

Page said the Health Department offers free MMR vaccines to all residents at three immunization clinics regardless of age or insurance status.

These clinics also offer other vaccines, available for free for people without health insurance. Eligibility for certain vaccines depends on factors like age, and some vaccines are not always available.

Check vaccine availability by calling 414-286-8034.

Immunization clinic services in Milwaukee

Keenan Health Center, 3200 N. 36th St.

Open for vaccines on Thursdays from 1 to 4 p.m.

Northwest Health Center, 7630 W. Mill Road

Open for vaccines on Wednesdays from 3 to 6 p.m.

Southside Health Center, 1639 S. 23rd St.

Open for vaccines on Mondays from 3 to 6 p.m. and Tuesdays from 1 to 4 p.m. 

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Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.

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Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

Measles is in Wisconsin. Are Milwaukee schools vulnerable? 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.

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• A pair of Democrats are proposing legislation to limit rent increases in Wisconsin’s manufactured home communities, require inspections and make it easier for residents to purchase communities through cooperatives. 

• It’s a response to gaps in state oversight that leave residents vulnerable to deteriorating conditions and dramatic rent hikes.

• Private equity companies are increasingly purchasing manufactured housing communities, spurring concerns.

Democratic lawmakers are proposing to limit rent increases in Wisconsin’s manufactured home communities as residents voice concerns over steep rent hikes and the growing influence of large, out-of-state owners.

The proposal is part of broader legislation to protect residents of communities often called mobile home parks. Proposed by Sen. Jeff Smith, D-Brunswick, and Rep. Jodi Emerson, D-Eau Claire, the bill would also require annual state inspections and make it easier for residents to purchase communities through cooperatives.

The lawmakers say they aim “to preserve one of Wisconsin’s last remaining sources of truly affordable housing.”

Without Republican support, the bill is unlikely to advance during the current legislative session. The Legislature will wrap up most action by the end of March. The sponsors hope the proposal will build momentum for future action. 

“We got to start somewhere,” Smith said. “We got to protect people.”

Priced out of traditional homes during an affordability crisis, thousands in Wisconsin have turned to manufactured housing as a more achievable path to ownership. Most own their home but pay a monthly fee for the land it sits on, and they are responsible for maintenance of their homes. While that model brings promise, gaps in state oversight leave residents vulnerable to deteriorating conditions and dramatic rent hikes, a previous WPR and Wisconsin Watch investigation found.  

In announcing the bill, Smith’s office highlighted how private equity firms are increasingly purchasing manufactured home communities — often leading to higher rent and less responsive park management. 

The bill would cap rent increases at 2% or 4% annually, depending on federal Consumer Price Index data.

Such a change would benefit people like Troy Wadina, who lives in Harbor Heights, a Racine County manufactured home community. His rent increased by roughly 18% this year alone.

“I had planned on staying here forever, and now I’m completely out of luck,” Wadina said. “I don’t want to leave.”

He bought his manufactured home in 2020. His parents lived across the street.

“We love being in this community. I know all my neighbors by name. Where do you get that?” Wadina asked.

But in 2024 the community sold to Illinois-based Ravinia Communities, which owns manufactured home communities across 10 states. It increased Wadina’s monthly rent by $95 last year and will add another $95 beginning in March.

Wadina didn’t learn of the sale until it was finalized.

Under the proposed legislation, he and his neighbors would have received a notice of a potential sale and 60 days to submit their own offer to buy the community. The bill would also offer a tax incentive to owners who sell to a resident-owned cooperative or nonprofit approved by the majority of residents.

Wadina isn’t sure he can handle any further increases. On top of his day job as a sales representative, he’s now selling items online to keep up. 

Ravinia defended its rent increases in an email to Wisconsin Watch. Rents under the previous owner failed to keep pace with the market, the company wrote, adding that rents at Harbor Heights remain lower than comparable communities. 

Ravinia said it encouraged residents to contact management for information about potential hardship assistance but no one has done so. 

The legislation would have limited Wadina’s monthly increase to around $20 unless Ravinia detailed to residents why growing operating expenses necessitated a greater increase.

Amy Bliss, executive director of the Wisconsin Housing Alliance, a manufactured housing trade association, opposes the bill as written. 

Capping rent would hurt owners’ ability to maintain their properties and cause investors and developers to put their money elsewhere, she wrote in a statement to Wisconsin Watch.

“Wisconsin Housing Alliance is happy to work with legislators to make meaningful reforms to keep rents in Wisconsin lower,” the statement said. “We do not agree that this bill will accomplish any of that.” 

Additionally, Bliss added, residents can already offer to purchase their communities through cooperatives, an ownership model that doesn’t always keep costs down or succeed in the long term. Requiring owners to notify residents during a potential sale could be a “restraint of free trade,” she said.

Limiting property tax increases and loosening municipal restrictions on manufactured housing development would more effectively bring down prices, Bliss added.

Smith and Emerson said they are open to feedback and potential changes to their legislation, particularly if it brings bipartisan support.

“Some affordability and some safety is better than having no guardrails on it at all,” Emerson said. 

The bill will need Republican support to draw a public hearing. Smith doubts that will happen during his competitive reelection campaign. 

A similar bill has received bipartisan support in Pennsylvania, said Steve Carlson, co-founder and board president of the Wisconsin Manufactured Home Owners Alliance, a nonprofit organization pushing for stronger resident protections that helped draft the legislation.

“Affordable housing is not a partisan issue,” Carlson said.

Wadina and his neighbors formed a resident association last year. But with no other mechanism to prevent further rent increases, association members are urging their elected representatives to support the legislation. 

The campaign has already yielded some intangible benefits. 

“We’re a lot closer now as a community than we were before,” Wadina said. “We’re doing the best we can to support each other.”

Bill would limit rent hikes in Wisconsin mobile home parks 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.

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As children continue to enter foster care across Milwaukee, agencies working the front lines say the greatest need isn’t funding or policy promises, it’s people willing to open their homes. Especially to teenagers.

We spoke with Jakob Eisen, director of social services, and Karen Steinbach, treatment foster care supervisor, with La Causa’s Treatment Foster Care program, to understand what becoming and supporting foster parents can look like. 

Shortage of foster families

Children placed in foster care range from newborns to young adults, sometimes remaining in care until age 21 or older if they are still in school. 

Steinbach said what youths share is trauma because being removed from home, even for safety reasons, is itself traumatic.

“These kids come to us during the worst moments of their lives,” she said. “They need adults who are patient, empathetic and willing to stay even when things get hard.”

Data shows a desperate shortage in Milwaukee of people willing to take in adolescents. 

In 2024, there was an average of 515 children aged 12 years or older in out-of-home care. Of these older children, 275 (53%) were placed in a family-like setting, 146 (28%) were placed in congregate care, and 94 (18%) were in other care.

Ninety percent of children aged 12 and under were placed in family-like care. 

Steinbach said teenagers often cycle through dozens of placements, a history that can fuel mistrust, anger and difficult behaviors.

“There’s a myth that teens are harder or more dangerous,” she said. “But if you’ve been in 30 or 40 homes and every one of them asked you to leave, why would you believe the next one will be different?”

She said behaviors like running away, breaking property, withdrawing emotionally or acting out are often trauma responses, not defiance. And younger children show it, too. 

Foster parents are asked to look past those behaviors. 

“That’s the hardest part of the job,” Steinbach said. “And also the most important.”

What does it take to become a foster parent?

Becoming a foster parent is a serious commitment, and the licensing process reflects that. 

Prospective families must pass background checks, provide references, complete home safety inspections, participate in interviews that explore everything from parenting experience to mental health history, and meet other state requirements.

“It’s personal,” Steinbach said. “We ask hard questions because we’re asking you to care for children who have experienced significant trauma.”

There are different levels of foster care. Treatment foster parents, who care for children with higher behavioral or emotional needs, receive additional training and support. 

Eisen said most foster parents work full-time jobs. What helps them succeed as a foster parent is preparation and support from employers, family, friends and agencies themselves.

“We ask people upfront: Who’s your village?” Steinbach said. “Because no one does this alone.”

Removing stigmas of fostering

Some community members hesitate to engage with foster care because they believe the system “takes” children from families. Eisen said that perception misses critical context.

“No child is removed without legal authority,” he said. “Every case goes before a judge. There are statutory thresholds, multiple layers of review and ongoing court oversight.”

In most cases, he said, parents retain legal rights and decision-making authority. Foster care is intended to be temporary, with reunification as the primary goal whenever it can be done safely.

“We don’t want to keep kids,” Steinbach said.  “The best outcome is getting them home.”

Their goal is to help foster parents work alongside birth families to support them as they complete court-ordered steps.

“When foster parents and birth parents can work together, kids do better,” she said. “And reunification happens faster.”

How you can help, without becoming a foster parent

Not everyone can foster, but Steinbach and Eisen stress that everyone can help.

Support can be as simple as providing respite care or babysitting, helping with school pickups or transportation, bringing meals or offering child care so foster parents can attend training. 

“These small things are huge,” Steinbach said. “Sometimes a foster parent just needs an hour to grocery shop or take a shower.”

Community members can also help by challenging stigmas when they hear them, sharing accurate information and encouraging others to consider fostering.

“Even planting the seed matters. Most people think about fostering for years before they ever make the call,” Eisen said.

Prevention and support

While foster care agencies work daily to recruit and support families, leaders say long-term solutions lie in prevention. Investing in mental health care, addiction services, transportation, supervised visitation and family support can help keep children safely at home.

“If we could work ourselves out of a job, we would,” Eisen said. “But until then, we need people, not perfect people, just people willing to show up.”

For children in foster care, that willingness to “show up” can mean the difference between another disrupted placement and the first adult who truly stays in their lives.
For more information on becoming a foster parent, you can look here and here.

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Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

‘No one does this alone’: Milwaukee seeks more foster parents and supporters 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.

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• Federal immigration officials could gain access to sensitive Medicaid data — but not yet. A judge has temporarily limited what information the Department of Homeland Security can access in states, like Wisconsin, that are suing to block a data-sharing agreement. 

• Advocates warn the data-sharing risks chilling health care access — potentially even discouraging some from enrolling in programs for which they’re eligible. 

• Undocumented immigrants are categorically ineligible for full Medicaid, but two narrower options exist. In Wisconsin, emergency care and prenatal coverage are available regardless of immigration status, covering about 3,200 people as of late 2025.

• State Republicans unsuccessfully sought to ban any public funding for health care for people without legal immigration status, citing rising Medicaid costs. Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the proposal, arguing it would create confusion and solve problems that don’t exist.

Can federal immigration officials access personal data on every Wisconsinite enrolled in Medicaid? 

Not for now, but the question is winding its way through federal courts.  

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last summer signed an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to give immigration enforcement officers broad access to Medicaid data, which includes names, addresses, claim information and banking details. Trump administration officials claim the agreement is needed “to ensure that Medicaid benefits are reserved for individuals who are lawfully entitled to receive them.”

Wisconsin joined 21 other states in a lawsuit challenging the agreement last year. 

“Millions of individuals’ health information was transferred without their consent,” the lawsuit argues. “In doing so, the Trump administration silently destroyed longstanding guardrails that protected the public’s sensitive health data.” 

In December, a federal judge in California ordered that, in states involved in the lawsuit, DHS can only access the names and contact information of undocumented immigrants in states involved in the lawsuit. 

But patient advocates say it’s unclear how the agency could separate the records of undocumented immigrants from those of immigrants with legal status.

“The sharing of data is dangerous for all of us at the end of the day,” said Esther Reyes, movement-building director with the national advocacy group Protecting Immigrant Families. 

How does immigration status affect eligibility for Medicaid and other health programs? 

Federal law bars undocumented immigrants and many other recent immigrants from receiving full-benefits Medicaid coverage. Most legal permanent residents and new arrivals with legal status become eligible for full Medicaid coverage only after five years in the U.S. A list of exceptions to that rule shrank last year when President Trump signed his trademark “big beautiful bill” into law. 

But the White House claims many undocumented immigrants still access Medicaid benefits, largely citing state-funded health care programs — including a now-shuttered program in Illinois — that provided coverage for undocumented adults. While those programs must operate without federal dollars to avoid running afoul of federal law, the Trump administration argues a tax “loophole”, which it moved to close last week, made them possible.

Medicaid rules make one exception for immigrants ineligible for full coverage: Under federal law, hospitals must provide emergency care for any uninsured patient. Emergency Medicaid coverage can reimburse hospitals for those costs, meaning people of any legal status can receive temporary coverage in dire circumstances — though receiving that emergency coverage is not guaranteed.

“Emergency Medicaid is exclusively available when you go to the emergency room if you don’t qualify for Medicaid because of your immigration status, and it covers services that states by law are required to cover — life or death situations,” Reyes said.

Absent that reimbursement, hospitals may distribute the costs of emergency care for people without insurance across other patients. 

Some states also rely on the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program, which is separate from Medicaid, to cover prenatal care for pregnant patients regardless of immigration status. 

How do those programs work in Wisconsin, and how much do they cost?

In Wisconsin, those two options are called Medicaid Emergency Services and BadgerCare Plus Prenatal, respectively. The prenatal program is open both to immigrants ineligible for other coverage and to pregnant inmates in Wisconsin’s prisons and jails.

Immigrant patients can receive emergency services coverage until their “condition is no longer considered an emergency,” according to state guidelines. Patients enrolled in the prenatal plan remain covered through their pregnancy, though many then become eligible for two months of emergency care coverage.

Roughly 3,200 people were enrolled in the two programs combined in October 2025, according to Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services’ data. That marked the programs’ lowest monthly enrollment since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state paused reviews of Medicaid recipients’ eligibility during the pandemic, allowing some enrollees in the emergency services and prenatal programs to remain insured beyond the standard cutoff, but enrollment plummeted after Wisconsin DHS resumed reviews in June 2023 in a process often called the “unwinding.”

Not all patients enrolled in the programs are undocumented, and Wisconsin DHS records do not break down enrollment by legal status.

Spending on the two programs dipped from about $60 million in fiscal year 2024 to about $57 million in 2025 — less than 0.4% of the state’s overall medical assistance spending that year.

Why did Wisconsin Republicans try to block state-funded health care for undocumented immigrants last year?

The Republican-controlled Legislature voted last year to bar Wisconsin agencies and local governments from funding any form of health services for undocumented immigrants. 

Rep. Alex Dallman, R-Markesan, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, pointed to Illinois’ expansion of health coverage to some undocumented adults as reason for Wisconsin to preemptively block any similar expansion; the Illinois program’s costs consistently exceeded projections, prompting the state to end the program last year.

“We’re in such a deficit on Medicaid already that it’s hard to keep up as it is,” he told Wisconsin Watch. Wisconsin is on track to overspend its Medicaid budget by $213 million by the end of the current budget cycle, state DHS Secretary-designee Kirsten Johnson wrote in a letter to state lawmakers at the end of December.

Dallman noted that the bill made an exception for health care spending required under federal law. “If they go to the emergency room, they are still going to get emergency care,” he said. As he understood it, Dallman said, that language in the bill would have shielded emergency Medicaid.

But opponents say it isn’t clear that Wisconsin’s emergency services program would have been left untouched. Some also argue that the proposal could also require immigration status checks to access any form of subsidized health care, spanning far beyond hospitals alone.

“If a child is at school and they’re sick… does the school nurse need to figure out how to verify their status before they provide health care?” asked William Parke-Sutherland, government affairs director of Kids Forward, which advocates for low-income and minority families.  

“It would have affected health care services for people if they are in need of emergency services like EMTs,” he added. “We have a primarily county-based crisis mental health system — I think that this would have applied to those as well.”

Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the bill in December, arguing that it sought to solve problems that “do not exist.” 

Could sharing Medicaid data deter patients from seeking health care?

Health outreach workers warn that giving federal immigration officials access to even some Medicaid patient data could discourage people from enrolling in programs for which they are eligible — including U.S. citizens.

The database shared with immigration authorities, called the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System, doesn’t clearly distinguish between undocumented immigrants and immigrants with legal status who are ineligible for full-coverage Medicaid for various reasons.

In December, U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria of northern California ruled that immigration authorities may access data only on undocumented immigrants — and only if it can be separated from data on citizens and eligible immigrants. 

It’s still unclear whether officials can do that.

Regardless, the data-sharing agreement alone is enough to make many immigrants — and some citizens with immigrant family members — “think twice about whether they actually access programs like Medicaid,” Reyes said.

But health care navigators say skipping coverage can be far riskier than the potential for their address to land in the hands of immigration enforcement officers.

“You’re protecting the life of your child — and yours” by enrolling in the prenatal program, said Francisco Guerrero, a health coverage navigator with the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service.

For now, advocates are urging people to be cautious when deciding whether to drop their coverage. If people are already enrolled in the emergency or prenatal programs and haven’t changed their address, leaving the program won’t wipe their information from the database, Reyes said. U.S. citizens don’t have to disclose the immigration status of anyone in their household, she added, and immigrant parents enrolling U.S.-born children do not need to share their own legal status.

“We want people to make informed decisions and understand the risks,” Reyes said. “We understand, though, that it’s really critical to get the care that you need for yourself and for your children.”

Can immigration officials access your Medicaid data? What it means for Wisconsin patients 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.

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In Walworth County, Wisconsin, a grassroots effort is reimagining what care can look like across generations. A local community group has launched the “Nursery to Nursing Home” campaign, a proposal to transform a vacant wing of the county’s nursing home into a combined child care center and living space for older adults, addressing caregiving shortages.

“Some of the issues we’ve seen as top concerns in Walworth County include a lack of child care, a lack of senior care and the loneliness that comes with living in a rural community with an aging population and harsh winters. Together, it all creates a perfect storm for feeling isolated,” said Maddie Sweetman, who lives in Walworth County. “(The intergenerational care center) would be a beautiful way to not only address the need for seats and beds, but also to bring these two vulnerable communities together.”

The Lakeland Health Care Center, a county-owned skilled nursing facility in Elkhorn, has had a vacant wing since 2019 when staff shortages forced the facility to downsize. Now, Groundswell Collective, a local community group with a track record of advocating for older residents, is leading an effort to turn that space into 12 apartments for older people and a child care center that serves 60 to 70 children. After nearly a year of community organizing around the proposal, the Walworth County Board approved funding for a feasibility study in November for the intergenerational care center, a major step in advancing the project.

“In Walworth County, all 2,240 licensed child care slots, spread across the 35 active centers listed on the DCF (Department of Children and Families) website, are already full. That leaves nearly 2,680 children without stable care,” said Abriana Krause, who lives and works in East Troy as a child care provider, at a board committee meeting. “At the same time, Wisconsin is projected to need 30,000 additional senior beds by 2030 .… We are facing two parallel crises, child care and senior care, and the vacant wing at Lakeland Health Care Center offers us a rare opportunity to address both at once.”

As part of the proposal, county employees would get priority for child care slots.

Sweetman, a mother of two who is a full-time student and employee at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, knows firsthand how valuable this benefit could be for parents. When Sweetman’s children were younger, her husband worked at Lakeland Health Care Center as a certified nursing assistant while he completed nursing school. Unable to afford child care, Sweetman stayed home with her young children.

“I wonder whether having a child care facility under the same roof would have given me more access to child care, allowing me to return to school work sooner, graduate sooner, and be working full time now,” Sweetman said. “I also think about how that might have changed our overall trajectory, and what it would have meant for me personally as I managed two kids under two on my own and all the mental health challenges that came with that.”

Now, Sweetman is part of Groundswell Collective and advocating for other families to have the opportunity she did not.

“That (child care opportunity) didn’t happen for us, but I think about how it could happen for people going forward and for our community, not just for those who have children but also for seniors and for people who may soon need assisted living,” Sweetman said.

Groundswell Collective has leaned heavily on research to make its case.

“We have looked into the evidence-based benefits of intergenerational care,” said Deb Gill-Dorgan, a retired speech language pathologist and member of Groundswell Collective. “We know that adults report less loneliness, better health, a renewed sense of purpose in life, and it improves children’s social skills and educational outcomes.”

Research shows that intergenerational care sites boost well-being for both children and older people, reducing isolation, improving cognitive and physical health for older people, and cultivating empathy and connection in young children. Studies also find that these programs create cost efficiencies, especially when facility expenses and other operational costs can be shared.

Jill Juris, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Recreation Management and Physical Education at Appalachian State University, is seeing these benefits through her research with BRIDGE2Health, an intergenerational mentoring program. The program is a collaboration between the Cooperative Extensions in Ohio and Virginia that connects high school students with older adults and is generating qualitative and quantitative data demonstrating increases in social connections and life skills.

“These findings align with other research indicating intergenerational interaction improves empathy, peer relationships and academic performance in younger populations, while increasing the quality of life and sense of purpose for older adults,” Juris said. “By bridging the gap between ages, these programs truly make a difference, improving the all-around well-being of everyone involved.”

Sheri Steinig, director of strategic initiatives and communications at Generations United, said that intergenerational care fosters relationships that transcend age that can serve the community as a whole.

“There’s a breakdown of age stereotypes that we see at a very young age when babies and toddlers are around older people,” Steinig said. “There are these characteristics of care, compassion and empathy that ripple out into both the families and the communities.”

In intentionally creating spaces that bring older and younger people together, these benefits organically emerge in daily interactions.

“By eliminating or reducing barriers that we’ve unintentionally put up between connecting younger and older people, there’s just a wealth of benefits that we can see in terms of educational outcomes, well-being, physical and mental health,” Steinig said.

“Intergenerational spaces offer opportunities for meaningful interactions through repeated connections that foster lasting relationships,” Juris said. “Children and older adults seeing each other within a daily routine allows for magical moments of interaction to occur.”

Those benefits extend to the caregiving staff. Steinig said that daily interaction with both children and older adults can enhance the work environment and make intergenerational centers more rewarding for staff.

Gill-Dorgan said she hopes that prioritizing county employees for child care placements at the proposed intergenerational center will help retain nursing staff, who can experience high turnover while managing their own family caregiving responsibilities.

For many involved in Groundswell Collective, the intergenerational center proposal offers a path forward on common ground at a time of uncertainty.

“As gaps widen at the federal level, I feel like there’s this turn to local solutions and our local government, and how can we fill the gaps? I see this intergenerational facility as part of that effort,” Sweetman said.

Pastor Lily Brellenthin, a mother of three who leads a Lutheran church in Walworth that serves an older congregation, has found hope through her community work with Groundswell Collective.

“In a world that’s so divided, to have some people now linking arm and arm to come together in our little place of the world is so uplifting,” said Brellenthin. “I feel like it’s proving that we are stronger in community.”

“We hope this is just the beginning,” Gill-Dorgan said. “We hope something like this will be seen as being beneficial and a wonderful idea, and hopefully other people will get involved and build more such centers.”

This article was written with the support of a journalism fellowship from The Gerontological Society of America, The Journalists Network on Generations, and The Commonwealth Fund.

This article first appeared on The Daily Yonder and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

‘Nursery to nursing home’: Walworth County group envisions shared care across generations 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.

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• A federal pause on most refugee admissions has forced Wisconsin resettlement agencies to lay off staff and shut down some programs. The slowdown follows a historically busy four-year stretch in which about 5,000 refugees arrived in the state.

• Providers warn that if Wisconsin’s resettlement infrastructure withers, the state could be unprepared for a future surge of refugees.

• The Trump administration is prioritizing South Africans — primarily Afrikaners, a white minority — among the limited refugee admissions it plans to allow.

• Eleven South African refugees arrived in Wisconsin in September, followed by another 32 later in 2025 — the only refugees resettled in the state this year.

Zabi Sahibzada’s team of refugee resettlement caseworkers has shrunk. The Trump administration’s pause on refugee admissions in January 2025 dealt a blow to Sahibzada’s employer, Jewish Social Services of Madison, which previously counted on federal funding tied to each new refugee arrival to support its resettlement program.

A few new arrivals trickled in over the following months, entering the U.S. with special immigrant visas available to Afghan and Iraqi nationals who worked with the U.S. government or its international partners. The same visa enabled Sahibzada, a former USAID employee from Afghanistan, to reach the U.S. in 2022. 

But even those admissions have now halted. The State Department in November stopped issuing any visas to Afghan nationals after authorities identified the man who shot two West Virginia National Guard members near the White House as an Afghan special immigrant visa holder.  

Though the Trump administration says it will permit up to 7,500 refugees to resettle in the U.S. this fiscal year, it plans to prioritize South Africans – primarily Afrikaners, a white minority descended largely from Dutch, French and German settlers. 

Eleven South African refugees arrived in Wisconsin in September, followed by another 32 in late 2025. They were the only refugees resettled in the state since last January, U.S. State Department records show. 

The dramatic slowdown leaves agencies searching for ways to maintain Wisconsin’s resettlement infrastructure until the refugee pipeline widens again. For some agencies, that includes resettling South African refugees, even if some remain skeptical of the Trump administration’s motives for privileging them in admissions. Jewish Social Services lacks that option: Federal officials did not include the nonprofit in the South African refugee program. 

Providers warn that if Wisconsin’s resettlement infrastructure – trained caseworkers, volunteers and employer partnerships — withers, the state won’t be prepared for any future surge of refugees. 

Trends in refugee resettlement 

The near-total shutdown of refugee admissions followed the most active period for resettlement in decades.

More than 5,000 refugees reached Wisconsin between October 2020 and September 2024 – a span in which refugee resettlement in the U.S. reached the highest annual peak since the early 1990s.

Most recent refugee arrivals came from Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

Those figures do not include special immigrant visa holders, asylees or immigrants with humanitarian parole, many of whom come from the same countries as those admitted as refugees. Roughly 370 Afghans with special immigrant visas settled in Wisconsin between October 2020 and October 2025.

Refugees reach Wisconsin through a network of international, federal and state agencies, national nonprofits and state-level partners. In the process, they pass through a series of screening interviews, background checks and medical examinations. 

Six organizations currently contract with Wisconsin’s Department of Children and Families to provide resettlement services, connecting new arrivals to housing, employment and English language courses. Relying on a mix of federal and state funding, they provide some services for up to five years after an arrival. The federal government ties much of its funding to the number of refugees resettled. 

Resettlement agencies cut staff

Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan planned to resettle more than 400 people in fiscal year 2025. Instead, it resettled 163 people between October 2024 and January 2025, after which it received only a half-dozen new arrivals, resettlement director Omar Mohamed said. All were Afghans with special immigrant visas who arrived in Wisconsin without ties to a resettlement agency and reached out for help.

“At least 27 people were scheduled to arrive in January when the stop work order happened,” he added. President Donald Trump’s inauguration day order to suspend the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program rendered their plane tickets useless. 

The sudden shift prompted Lutheran Social Services to cut nearly a third of its resettlement program staff, Mohamed said. 

Most Wisconsin refugee resettlement agencies face similar predicaments. Jewish Social Services in Madison laid off two case workers and a housing specialist. Hanan Refugee Relief Group, a relatively new nonprofit operating out of an office above a South Side Milwaukee pizzeria, cut 10 members of an already small team. World Relief Wisconsin, which resettles refugees in the Fox Valley, also laid off staff.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Green Bay, which has resettled hundreds of refugees in northeast Wisconsin in recent years, ended its resettlement program after its national affiliate, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, severed its partnerships with the federal government in April.

But Sean Gilligan, the diocese’s refugee services director, says Catholic Charities is still providing housing referrals, English classes and other basic services to refugees who already  settled in greater Green Bay.

Resettlement agencies are still receiving some federal funds to support refugees who arrived within the past five years, along with state grants for educational and health programs.

That funding may temporarily help the agencies stay afloat. 

Hanan Refugee Relief Group is ramping up its focus on employment training, Executive Director Sheila Badwan said. That includes offering on-the-job English language training for refugees employed at a Milwaukee Cargill meat processing plant.

But the loss of funding from new arrivals leaves Hanan and other agencies scrambling to find donors to support their work. 

“We are hoping just to keep our doors open to serve not just the ones we welcomed (recently),” said Uma Abdi, the nonprofit’s refugee program director, “but all of those refugees and immigrants that still need support.” 

The International Institute of Wisconsin, an older and well-established resettlement agency, is an outlier. It’s growing as others scale back. Revenue from contracts with medical clinics and other businesses to provide translation services has allowed it to grow as others scale back.  

“We can operate without any government contracts,” President and CEO Paul Trebian said.

Trump opens doors to South Africans 

With the doors closed to refugees from most of the world’s conflict zones, some Wisconsin resettlement agencies are now turning their attention to South Africans.

The Trump administration launched the South African refugee admissions program through a February executive order, filling in the details after the fact. Alleging a “shocking disregard of its citizens’ rights,” the order pointed to a 2024 South African law that allows the state to seize land without compensation in limited circumstances. 

The law’s supporters call it necessary to redistribute land from the country’s white minority, who own much of South Africa’s farmland, to a Black majority still recovering from decades of racial apartheid that ended in the 1990s. Trump decried the law as “racially discriminatory” and accused the South African government of “fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners.” 

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has not set a date for the law’s implementation, and police statistics do not bear out claims that white farmers are more likely to be targets for violence than Black farmers. 

Trump’s order specifically offered refugee status to Afrikaners, but his administration has since said the resettlement program is open to members of any racial minority in South Africa, including those of English or South Asian descent, so long as they can “articulate a past personal experience of persecution or fear of future persecution.” Unlike most refugees, South Africans may apply for refugee status only while living in South Africa. 

Refugee advocacy groups and the South African government have criticized the program for legitimizing false claims of “white genocide” and bypassing some steps through which refugees from other countries must pass. 

But the Wisconsin resettlement agencies participating in the program say their responsibility is to welcome refugees, not to determine who deserves refugee status. 

“We’re here to serve everybody,” said Lutheran Social Services President and CEO Héctor Colón, whose nonprofit expects next year to resettle up to 75 new arrivals, mostly or all South Africans in the Milwaukee area. 

Colón adds that working with South Africans keeps his organization’s resettlement infrastructure in working order during the pause in other admissions.

 “We’ve been through ebbs and flows, we understand how this works,” he said, “but our organization has made a commitment that we want to keep this program up and running. There are many programs all across the country that cannot absorb the hit.”

But World Relief Wisconsin Regional Director Gail Cornelius, whose nonprofit helped resettle South Africans this year, noted that some of the South Africans who arrived in Wisconsin last year have already moved on to other states. 

Revetting of refugees promised 

A wave of federal rules changes following the November attack of National Guard members further complicates the work of resettlement agencies. 

Among the changes: halting green card and citizenship applications for immigrants and refugees from 39 countries, including Afghanistan and Myanmar. 

“People that were going in for their citizenship oath were actually pulled out of line,” Cornelius said.

The Trump administration also vowed to revet and reinterview all refugees who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration, regardless of their current legal status. Such a review could affect thousands of Wisconsin refugees, but resettlement agencies are still awaiting clarity about how the administration will follow through. 

“How are they going to review all of these cases?” Badwan asked. “Do we even have the resources to do that?”

Sahibzada wonders whether he, too, will face revetting. Meanwhile, the White House’s bar on immigrant visas for Afghan nationals placed his plans to reunite with his wife and children on hold. They remain in Kabul, his daughters confined to their home after the Taliban forbade girls from attending school. 

“I was waiting for things to be calm,” he said, referring to the conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan that previously stalled his efforts to secure visas for his family. “I talk to my kids every morning, and they’re asking me that question, like, what’s gonna happen? I have no answer to them. I’m just saying, maybe things will get better.”

Working with Afghan families who made it to Wisconsin before the door closed is bittersweet, Sahibzada added. “Even if my kids are not here, at least they are here.”

Refugee resettlement agencies try to keep doors open as White House shuts out new arrivals 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.

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This story was produced in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Investigative Journalism class taught in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

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• The state reported five deaths from people falling through the ice on Wisconsin lakes last winter, compared with seven over the previous five years.

• There were 10 Madison lake rescues the previous two winters (plus another one in the last week of December 2025) after only one in 2023.

• More dangerous ice conditions are having a negative effect on businesses and tourism.

When Alec Hembree fell through the ice on Lake Wingra last winter, he remembered, “it was instantaneous.”

It was just after dark on Jan. 20. The temperature was around 2 degrees. Hembree was riding his bike across the frozen lake from his work on Madison’s east side to his home on the west side, a commute he had tried successfully for the first time the previous week. When he fell in, his feet couldn’t touch the bottom. He barely had time to be scared.

“I think there were a couple people on the lake,” Hembree said. “They wouldn’t have been able to get to me before I got out.”

The air was so cold, Hembree’s leather gloves immediately froze to the icy surface of the lake when he tried to pull himself out. After about 30 seconds in the water, he was able to pull himself and his bike out. It all happened so fast, he wasn’t sure how he did it. He thinks his training from being an Eagle Scout helped. 

“Everything was in an ice shell at that point,” he said. He biked 10 minutes to a co-worker’s house, where he used a hair dryer to thaw his jacket zipper and get out of his frozen clothes before his co-worker gave him a ride home.

Hembree’s experience is becoming more common on Wisconsin’s lakes. For some, falls prove deadly. The Department of Natural Resources last winter recorded five people statewide who died falling through the ice on off-highway vehicles across the state. Between 2020 and 2024, similar accidents accounted for a total of seven deaths.

According to the Madison Fire Department, the Lake Rescue Team was dispatched four times to rescue people who fell through the ice in 2025 and six times in 2024, though only once in 2023. Through the end of 2025, the department had responded to 39 incidents of people falling through the ice since 2016. On Dec. 27 (as this story was being finalized for publication) the department rescued another individual who had fallen through the ice on Lake Mendota.

But those are only the incidents where the Lake Rescue Team was dispatched, so the stories of Hembree and others who fell through the ice and managed to escape aren’t included.

“This (past) year has probably been one of the more dangerous years on ice that I can remember,” said Lt. Jacob Holsclaw, the Wisconsin DNR’s off-highway vehicle administrator.

Treading on Wisconsin’s frozen lakes has gotten more dangerous, creating cost for taxpayers and business owners and calling into question the future of an important state pastime.

A growing trend

Trekking on Dane County’s frozen lakes is a common winter activity for southern Wisconsin residents.

“Walking on frozen lakes” was the most common activity on the lakes among respondents to a 2010 Dane County Land & Water Resources Department survey. At 28%, that was more common than swimming, kayaking, boating, or fishing from a boat or pier. Other ice-related activities such as skating and fishing were more popular than water skiing, jet skiing and sailing. The study authors estimated that close to 110,000 Dane County residents — more than a fifth of the population — walked on the county’s frozen water bodies at least once in 2010.

The heavy usage of the frozen lakes provides a revenue stream for numerous Dane County businesses and nonprofits. For example, the Clean Lakes Alliance hosts the annual Frozen Assets Festival, in which hundreds of participants take part in a fundraising 5K on frozen Lake Mendota and others enjoy scientific demonstrations, ice skating, kiting, boating and other ice-related activities.

But the future of frozen recreation in Dane County is in peril. Madison winters are getting shorter and less predictable. And falls through the ice are becoming more common.

Ron Blumer, a Madison Fire Department division chief who heads the department’s Lake Rescue Team and has been with the city since 1995, said in recent years his team has conducted “a lot more responses” to calls to rescue people who fell through the ice.

Part of the uptick can be attributed to climate change and the shrinking number of days of 100% ice cover on the Yahara lakes. Since 1855, when the Wisconsin State Climatology Office began consistently tracking Lake Mendota’s freezing and thawing dates, the lake has stayed frozen for an average of 102 days every winter. But only in four of the last 25 years has Mendota been frozen that long. During the 2023-24 winter, the lake was frozen for 44 days — a more than 20-year low. Last winter it froze for 69 days.

There’s no ‘safe’ ice

While information about how thick ice should be for walking or driving varies between sources, there is some consensus: No ice is ever completely safe.

“We really shy away from saying that there’s ever any ice that’s 100% safe,” Holsclaw said. The DNR’s website offers no hard and fast rules for what’s considered a “safe” thickness.

“You cannot judge the strength of ice by one factor like its appearance, age, thickness, temperature or whether the ice is covered with snow,” the website reads. “Ice strength is based on a combination of several factors.”

Air temperature is just one of those factors. But others include wind, sunlight, whether the ice is near a spring or other moving water, and whether the ice is frozen water (black ice) or mixed with snow (white ice).

“Black ice can withstand a lot more force (than white ice),” said Adrianna Gorsky, a freshwater and marine sciences Ph.D. candidate at UW-Madison. “Even if you have really thick white ice, it might not be as strong as if you had black ice only.”

Fluctuations in temperature during winter can also have a marked effect on ice thickness and quality. In January and February of 2025, it wasn’t uncommon for temperatures to fluctuate by tens of degrees within a single week in Dane County. On Jan. 21, the day after Hembree fell through the ice, Madison temperatures were in the single digits. A week later, on Jan. 28, the high temperature was 49 degrees. This frequent melting and thawing back and forth, Gorsky said, could result in mixed layers of black and white ice that would compromise the ice’s structural integrity.

Variations in temperature can also make lake ice expand or contract, causing pressure heaves or large cracks to form in the surface of the ice.

“And there will be a gap in there where there’s thin ice or no ice at all,” said Jon Mast, a lieutenant on MFD’s Lake Rescue team. These areas can be especially dangerous to walk near.

For as much that is known about factors affecting ice thickness and qualities, “there is a lot of unknown,” said Gorsky. That’s because winter limnology is relatively understudied compared to other areas of marine science.

“There’s a lot of things we still don’t know and a lot of theory that we’ve based off summer open water season that doesn’t really hold true for winter,” Gorsky said.

Increasingly visible effects of climate change on lake ice have precipitated “a cry for more research” in winter limnology, Gorsky added. And it can’t come soon enough. Because falls through the ice are costing local businesses, nonprofits and taxpayers money.

The cost of thin ice

In Madison, there are no fines associated with being rescued from falling through the ice. Because, Blumer said, “we want people to enjoy the lakes and to have fun.” But that fun still comes at a cost.

Businesses and organizations that rely on the ice for income are feeling the strain of weakening lake ice too.

In 2024 the Clean Lakes Alliance canceled all on-ice events for its Frozen Assets Festival, including the annual 5K. According to Sarah Skwirut, the Clean Lakes Alliance’s marketing coordinator, only around 200 participants participated in the on-land “winter workout” the organization hosted in lieu of the 5K, down from 800 who ran the 5K the previous winter, which generated around $30,000 for the nonprofit.

“If the lack of ice becomes more common in the future,” Skwirut said in an email, “we will need to adapt and find new ways to engage the community and promote our work.”

Small businesses are equally if not more affected by the phenomenon. In 2022, Pat Hasburgh purchased D&S Bait and Tackle in Madison, “very aware of what I was getting myself into as far as climate change and running a business that kind of depends on ice,” Hasburgh said. He admitted the recent, mercurial winters have made it difficult to plan for the ice fishing season.

“I mean, I had a pile of augers waist high in 2022,” Hasburgh said, citing that people are less likely to need such a high-powered tool to break through the ice in warmer winters. And 2024 was even worse.

“We had four weeks of ice, as opposed to three months,” he said. “That was a rough one to try to make it through as a business.” Hasburgh is used to around a third of D&S’s business coming from ice fishing, but guessed that it was probably less than a quarter in 2024.

Beyond Madison

The increase in falls through the ice is easier to see in a populous part of the state like Dane County. But the trend is apparent across Wisconsin. And in many cases, the cost is more than just lost business or an icy bike ride.

The five deaths this past winter happened in Pewaukee, Kenosha, Fond du Lac, Superior and Westfield, an hour north of Madison, where a man died on Jan. 6 after falling through the ice on Lawrence Lake while riding a UTV.

In a Facebook post, the Marquette County Sheriff’s Office urged the public “to avoid venturing onto frozen lakes or rivers unless they have confirmed the ice is thick enough for safe activities.”

The temperature in Westfield on Jan. 6 was below freezing and had been every day the previous week.

An October 2024 study published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment warned that lakes between 40 and 45 degrees north latitude — a range that includes all of Wisconsin south of Wausau — could lose all safe ice for the winter sometime this century.

A solution may lie in more research. Gorsky said predicting the future of what winter is going to look like for lakes “is a really big research topic.”

For Hembree’s part, he considers himself lucky to be alive. But he has “no concerns” about going back on the ice. He’s enjoying it while he still can.

“If I do go out commuting on the lake again I will be, certainly, more cautious,” he said.

On thin ice: Falls through the ice on Wisconsin lakes are becoming more common. There’s more than just warm weather to blame. 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.

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Local experts say – and national data supports – that winter brings a broad set of safety risks, including risks that disproportionately affect older adults and young children.

Dangers include hypothermia and frostbite, falls inside and outside the home and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Here are more details about those dangers and how to prevent or minimize them.

Slips and falls

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reports that falls are one of the most common reasons for emergency medical service responses statewide.

In 2024, emergency medical personnel in Wisconsin responded to more than 140,000 fall-related calls, accounting for about 21% of all 911-related ambulance runs statewide, according to DHS data.

Older adults are disproportionately affected.

According to the National Institute on Aging, older adults face a higher risk of falling due to chronic medical conditions that can limit circulation, balance or mobility, including arthritis, Parkinson’s disease and diabetes. 

Children also face a higher risk of falls, which are the leading cause of nonfatal injuries for all children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The Milwaukee Health Department urges residents to prepare for icy conditions as temperatures fall and to clear snow and ice from walkways to help prevent falls. 

The National Institute on Aging recommends using ice melt products or sand on walkways, using railings on stairs and walkways, avoiding shoveling snow yourself when possible and wearing rubber-soled, low-heeled footwear.

Christine Westrich, emergency response planning director for the Milwaukee Health Department, said social isolation adds another layer of risk for older adults.

“Either their friends or relatives have passed away, and they have over time socially isolated themselves,” Westrich said. 

The onset of hearing loss and dementia are risk factors for increased isolation, she added. 

Hypothermia and frostbite

Age can affect how the body handles cold exposure.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , older adults with inadequate clothing, heating or food and babies in cold conditions are among the groups at highest risk of hypothermia. 

This winter, there have already been roughly 10 fatalities where cold temperatures may have played a factor, said Michael Simley, a medicolegal death investigator manager for the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Extreme temperatures can also worsen existing medical emergencies, Simley added.  

A heart attack, for example, is serious under any circumstances, he said. But, he added, it becomes even more dangerous when it happens in a hostile environment like when it is very cold. 

Carbon monoxide poisoning

With colder temperatures comes increased use of furnaces and other heating systems – and with that, a higher risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Increased use of appliances and other items that burn fuels and other chemicals, such as furnaces, portable generators, stoves and chimneys, helps account for the higher risk, according to the CDC.

Carbon monoxide is odorless and invisible, and symptoms such as headache, dizziness and nausea may be overlooked or mistaken for other illnesses. 

“We’ve recently had two outbreaks with families of four (members) or greater,” Westrich said. “In one case, they didn’t have working heat and brought a charcoal grill inside. … In another, it was a malfunctioning furnace.”

In both situations, she said, there were no working carbon monoxide detectors.

DHS says carbon monoxide detectors should be installed on every level of the home. 

Renters should be especially vigilant, Westrich said.

“Oftentimes, what might get overlooked in the lease, it’ll say the renter is responsible for the battery replacement in those devices,” she said. “Sometimes tenants aren’t aware of that, or it’s hanging high in the ceiling – you forget it’s even there.”

Resources

The Milwaukee Health Department maintains cold weather guidance with general information and tips. 

For non-emergencies that are not crimes, the Milwaukee Police Department says residents have a number of options, a spokesperson for the department said in an email. 

Residents can request a welfare check by calling 414-933-4444. 

People seeking shelter, warming centers or other basic needs can call 211. 

Those experiencing emotional distress or mental health struggles can call or text 988, the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. 

Westrich and Simley both emphasized the same core message about being mindful of the people in your community.

“Check on your neighbors,” Westrich said. 

As temperatures drop, here is where you can find shelter from the cold and free winter gear

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Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

Winter can be dangerous for older adults and children. Here’s how to stay safe 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.

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Cori Salchert leaves the Christmas lights on year round.

It’s not to celebrate the holidays, but so an ambulance can easily spot her house any time of year. 

“Hearing that an 11-year-old stopped breathing … can be a scary thing for an EMT, so we just lessen the difficulty for finding our home,” Cori said. 

Since 2012, Cori and her husband, Mark, have adopted five children, all with a terminal prognosis — meaning the Salcherts adopt these children knowing their lives will be cut short. They get most of their needs met at the Salcherts’ Sheboygan home, which is equipped with a stairlift and handicap shower.  

“Our hope is that our kids are whole and well and that we’re going to see them again, and that they’re going to be able to say, ‘Hey mom,’ or, ‘Hey dad’ — something that they never were able to say while we had them,” she said. 

Cori is known as the hospice mom. 

She adopts children with complex medical conditions, many from the foster care system.

Children in foster care often have worse medical health than children in the general population. And there are hundreds of kids in foster care with terminal illnesses, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine.  

The Salcherts’ first adopted child was Emmalynn. She lived with them for 50 days and died in 2012. She had difficulty regulating body temperature, so she spent most of her life bundled in someone’s arms, like she was the moment she died. 

Samuel was adopted at 13. He died two years later from a rare genetic disorder affecting the brain’s white matter. 

And Nehemiah was just 3 1/2 when he died on Dec. 2, 2021, in the Salcherts’ family room. He was lying next to Cori as she sang “Jesus Loves Me.” 

“He opened his eyes — he hadn’t done that in about 48 hours — and took his last breath, and he was gone,” Cori said as she showed a photo of Nehemiah. “He woke up in heaven and he will never have to have another surgical procedure.”

Social workers and doctors close to Cori call her a unicorn. She said that idea of being exceptionally rare often makes her sad because she wished more people could give dying children a loving place to spend the rest of their lives. 

To others, it might seem like a daunting endeavor to continuously lose and grieve children.

“One of our pastors had told us, ‘These kids are going to wreck your life. But they are not going to ruin it. So your heart is never going to recover the same as it was before you had them. And that’s an OK thing,’” she said. 

Meeting Charlie and Kassidy

The Salcherts say they have 17 children: five adopted, eight adult biological kids and four fostered children. There is a sign on their front door that reads: “There’s like a lot of kids in here.”  

Two of the Salcherts’ adopted children, Charlie and Kassidy, were home from school recently for the holidays.

Kassidy is 6. She was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.  She loves balloons and gets a big smile on her face when the family walks into the room. 

Charlie is 11. He has school awards taped to his wall. One reads: “Ray of Sunshine award presented to Charlie Salchert for making our classroom a better place.” He has hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, in which his brain was damaged from a lack of oxygen and blood flow.

Providing care for Charlie and Kassidy is a family effort. Their adult children pitch in. One child sleeps in Charlie’s room at night, and another helps care for Kassidy. 

Charlie’s condition makes him technically deaf and blind. But Cori said there are moments when she’s not so sure.

At school, Charlie has an eye gaze machine that helps him communicate. 

He’ll do things like turn up the volume and play music as loud as the machine goes. Cori said teachers have to remind him repeatedly to stop. 

“He can be a very naughty 11-year-old in his own way,” she said with a laugh.  

Walk a day in their shoes 

That day at the Salcherts’ home, Kassidy’s biological mother messaged Cori to see how her daughter is doing. Cori gave her an update and reminded her she is always welcome at the house. 

Many people ask the Salcherts about the children’s biological parents and the circumstances that led them to give up their parental rights. She usually tells them to walk one day in their shoes. 

Kassidy’s biological mother didn’t want to give her daughter up. However, her second daughter was born with a congenital heart defect, and she couldn’t care for two children with such complex medical issues. 

The biological mother remains in contact and often receives pictures from school and was there when Kassidy got her ears pierced. 

“Kassidy’s family has just gotten bigger rather than exclusionary,” Cori said. “She has two moms who love her a lot.”

Cori rejects the notion that she is a “Disney princess mom.” She simply has the ability to care for the children, as well as the special equipment, stairlifts and accessible home that some children need. 

And she thinks others have the ability to do it, too. 

“We live in the miracle zone,” she said. “If you don’t live in the miracle zone, well, you don’t need miracles. 

“But we need them and we’ve seen them.”

This story was originally published by WPR.

‘The miracle zone’: This Wisconsin family adopts terminally ill children 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.