The U.S. government filed a lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee Thursday, arguing the city has no authority to enforce its ordinance preventing law enforcement from wearing masks while interacting with the public. 

The lawsuit, filed against the city as well as its mayor, city attorney and police chief, argues that cities and states are unable to regulate federal government action. 

“For centuries, the Supreme Court has reaffirmed that States have no authority whatsoever to regulate the Federal Government,” the lawsuit states. “Despite that well-established principle, Milwaukee recently enacted an ordinance that purports to do exactly what constitutional law says it cannot: regulate how federal law enforcement officers carry out their official duties in that City.”

Initially enacted in April, the Milwaukee ordinance prohibits law enforcement officers performing their duties from covering their faces and requires that their names and the agency they work for be easily identifiable on their uniform. 

“The use of facial coverings and disguises by law enforcement officers significantly affects the public’s perception of law enforcement, officer-community interactions, and accountability,” the ordinance states. “Persons reasonably may experience fear or intimidation when approached by officers whose faces are obscured. Such reactions can heighten defensive behavior and unnecessarily escalate the tension inherent in many interactions between law enforcement officers and members of the public.”

Last week, City Attorney Evan Goyke wrote in a letter to U.S. prosecutors  that federal officers wouldn’t be exempted from the ordinance, prompting the lawsuit. 

“the City and the public have a right to know if masked, armed, and unidentified men seizing people on our streets are who they say they are,” Goyke wrote, objecting to the federal government’s insistence that immigration officers be allowed to conceal their identities “at their discretion.”

“Unfortunately, in the case of federal immigration officers, in particular, that unbounded discretion, coupled with guns and a lack of accountability, has had tragic consequences in cities across the country,” he wrote. Goyke disputed the federal government’s claim that the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution makes ordinances such as Milwaukee’s illegal, citing previous and ongoing litigation on the matter.

Federal immigration officers across the country have worn masks while carrying out  President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants. Federal officials have argued the masks prevent officers from being doxxed. 

“State and local leaders cannot tell Federal officers how to do their job,” Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward, Jr. said in a news release. “And they certainly cannot prohibit them from ensuring their own safety in safeguarding our communities and enforcing federal law. We will never tolerate the doxxing or harassment of federal officers, or any law like Milwaukee’s that enables violent behavior against law enforcement officers and their families.”

The lawsuit argues that federal officers should be able to make decisions about covering their faces on a case-by-case basis. 

“Denying federal agencies and officers discretion in these areas would chill federal law enforcement, threatening the safety of communities in Milwaukee,” the lawsuit states.

Brad Schimel, the former conservative Supreme Court candidate who is now an assistant U.S. attorney, said that the ordinance pits federal and local cops against each other. 

“Not only is this ordinance an affront to the Constitution, but it jeopardizes the safety of our courageous sworn law enforcement officers,” Schimel said. “Further, it puts local and federal law enforcement officers at odds with each other when they should be working together on the common goals to enforce the rule of law and keep our communities safe.”

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Every morning, rising senior Chris Hutcherson takes two Milwaukee County Transit System buses to get to Audubon Technology and Communication Center on Milwaukee’s South Side.

Hutcherson said he doesn’t mind his daily commute on MCTS, except when the buses are delayed. If his bus hits traffic, he sometimes misses his transfer.

“Then the 57 don’t come for like a good, good 20 minutes,” Hutcherson said.

Hutcherson is one of about a fifth of Milwaukee Public Schools high schoolers who district officials say ride MCTS buses to school. The district is now deciding on whether to send more students on county buses as part of a transportation system overhaul. 

To hit its transportation budget for the year that began in July 2026, MPS needs to cut roughly $3.5 million, according to figures the administration presented to the school board in June.

MPS Senior Director of Transportation Services David Fifarek said the district will not implement most changes until the 2027-28 school year, to allow for community engagement and to determine which recommendations are most practical.

Betting on the bus

Hutcherson tracks county buses on Google Maps, which he said is the most reliable of the apps he’s tried, though it isn’t foolproof. 

“I was actively watching that app on my phone, and I remember getting on the bus, and it’s saying that it didn’t leave,” Hutcherson said. 

MCTS buses are on time 80% of the time, which, by its definition, is within one minute before or five minutes after the scheduled departure time, according to transit officials. 

Fifarek said students who live more than seven miles from their high school are assigned to MCTS, while those within seven miles typically ride a yellow bus. 

“You can’t have a yellow bus running effectively more than seven miles from starting point to destination without having to run at least an hour long to do it,” Fifarek said.

MCTS buses will likely be most effective for students in high-density areas who can take a bus to school with no transfers, Fifarek said. It also alleviates some safety concerns because students are quickly on and off the bus without having to get off the bus and wait for another one to connect them to school. 

He said things get tricky when students live on the opposite side of town and children have to transfer buses in an area that is unfamiliar to them.

Fifarek described a “tug of war” between MCTS covering more of the city with county buses and running them often enough so riders aren’t stranded waiting for a transfer.

MCTS is weighing that very dilemma as the agency begins its own overhaul of the county bus system to provide efficient service amid a looming budget deficit. 

For the next 12 to 15 months, a spokesperson said MCTS will engage with stakeholders including MPS as part of the MCTS Forward system redesign.

MCTS has already made tough decisions to recover from a $14 million deficit, reducing frequency on routes like Hutcherson’s 57, and running the 55, the main line for commuting Reagan High School students, during peak hours. Midday service has since returned for the 55.

Fifarek said the district’s future plans will largely depend on how MCTS will change its coverage and ride frequency in the next year. 

“If that coverage model changes, then we’re going to have to pivot and then reinstate some yellow buses or some other form of transportation to replace the void that might be created by the county transit system,” Fifarek said.

On July 15, MCTS proposed cutting bus service by 25% in 2027 to address the deficit.

Chronically late

McQuinn Coleman said his yellow bus is late multiple times each school year. When he has too much trouble with the bus, he stays home.

Four other students at Barack Obama School of Career and Technical Education, Lynde and Harry Bradley Technology and Trade School and Milwaukee High School of the Arts said their buses are routinely late in the morning. They sometimes take MCTS buses as a result. 

A district-commissioned analysis by 4MATIV presented at the June board meeting found that 73% of trackable bus trips to MPS are on time. But, looking at all trips, including about a third that have no GPS data, less than half of MPS bus trips could be confirmed as arriving on schedule.

Coleman said he dealt with so many transportation issues that he lost a credit and had to take summer school.

‘On point ever since’

One day, Coleman said he got robbed as he left summer school. 

He said he doesn’t feel safe waiting at stops anymore and stays vigilant on his walks to and from the bus.

“I’ve been on point ever since,” Coleman said. 

Hutcherson said he generally feels safe taking MCTS buses, but he also makes sure to stay aware of his surroundings. 

Other male high school students who spoke to NNS said they feel safe walking to and from their stop and waiting for the bus.

Students like Coleman are the ones School Board Director Darryl Jackson thinks the district should consider when forming a transportation plan. 

He said cost saving measures are important, but safety shouldn’t be overlooked in favor of cost. 

“Currently, a lot of adults don’t want to walk through certain neighborhoods,” Jackson said. “We got to keep that in mind with having our students walk through certain areas.” 

Fifarek said safety is one of the biggest concerns as MPS reviews the recommendations and overhauls the district transportation system.

The report presented to the school board in June estimates $11 million in savings if the district consolidated stops, for example. But Fifarek said implementing such a step by only considering distance could potentially send young children crossing busy streets like Capitol Drive or Fond du Lac Avenue.  

“Eleven million dollars of savings in stop consolidation would have to completely wipe out this concept of no cross streets,” Fifarek said. “You might create some safety issues and risks in the process.”

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Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for 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.

Milwaukee Public Schools weighs sending more students on county buses to cut transportation costs 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 massive Interstate 94 construction project in Milwaukee County is expected to wrap up in 2033, according to a timeline on the state Department of Transportation’s project page.

Construction began on the I-94 East-West corridor in late 2025, meaning eight years will pass before utility and roadway construction are estimated to end in 2033.

Parts of the roughly $1.7 billion project will be completed earlier than 2033. The Stadium Interchange reconstruction will take about four years, for example.

The project covers 3 ½ miles of I-94 between 16th and 70th Streets in Milwaukee County and prompted long-term closures of several roads.

Plans include widening the freeway from three to four lanes in each direction, eliminating left-turn ramps, redesigning the Stadium Interchange and reconstructing aging roads. 

Crash rates in the corridor are higher than the statewide average, and 13 bridges do not meet clearance standards, according to the DOT.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Department of Transportation: Interstate 94 East-West
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee's 27th Street Bridge to close long-term for I-94 construction.
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Who's paying for the $1.7 billion I-94 expansion in Milwaukee?
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know as construction starts on the $1.7 billion I-94 expansion in Milwaukee County

Is the Milwaukee I-94 construction project expected to take eight years? 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.

A federal immigration judge heard arguments Wednesday from attorneys in a deportation hearing for Salah Sarsour, the president of Milwaukee’s Islamic Society. Earlier this year, Sarsour was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and then detained in an Indiana facility for months. Sarsour was released in June following a federal judge’s ruling that his arrest constituted First Amendment retaliation due to his advocacy for Palestinians and his criticism of the Israeli government. 

The Wednesday hearing, which ran all day before being adjourned until next week, was to determine whether Sarsour’s deportation order can be upheld. Sarsour has lived in the U.S. with no criminal record for decades, and is considered a local community leader. Sarsour became a lawful permanent resident in 1998 when his application was approved under Republican president George W. Bush in 2002. 

After his arrest, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused Sarsour of lying on his 1993 green card application, asserting that Sarsour was convicted in Israeli military courts of throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli soldiers. The department also cites other accusations by Israeli authorities that Sarsour “illegally attempted to possess” weapons and ammunition. Sarsour’s family members have said that he would tell stories of being tortured to confess while in Israeli detention. Prosecutors repeatedly referenced detentions and accusations from Israeli authorities against Sarsour during 1988 and 1995.

Those accusations, and the context of what living under Israeli military occupation means for Palestinians in the West Bank, were examined in court Wednesday. Defense attorneys first called Sarsour’s older brother Mohammad, a U.S. citizen who is married and lives in Oak Creek. Mohammad testified that he helped his brother retain a well-known lawyer in the West Bank when Sarsour was arrested. He denied ever seeing Sarsour ever provide support to terrorists of any kind, and recalled that Sarsour went through three or four Israeli military court hearings.

“Every time I saw him, I noticed weight loss and also discoloration in his eyes, redness, yellowish,” said Mohammad Sarsour, speaking through an Arabic translator, although he also understood English. “And had a discolored, faded face color. He looked like he was unable to take showers so his hair was sticking on his head.” There were other signs that his brother was not being provided proper hygiene access, and that he “complained to the court of pain in his knee and back.” Mohammad said that the Israeli authorities would not allow them to talk to Sarsour, but that at one point a member of the Israeli secret service told Mohammad and Sarsour’s wife to persuade him to plead guilty. 

Prosecutors raised questions about Mohammad’s ability to remember those events from decades ago. Mohammad couldn’t remember the exact dates of the hearings. Prosecutors questioned why an Israeli military official would tell them to get Sarsour to plead guilty if they generally weren’t allowed to talk to him. “They [Israeli authorities] can do whatever they want,” he said on the stand. Mohammad was also asked by prosecutors whether he loved his brother and didn’t want to see him be deported, which Mohammad affirmed.

Defense attorneys also called Alan Hirsch, an expert in false confessions and chair of the Justice & Law Studies Program at Williams College. Prosecutors spent an extended period of  time trying to convince the judge, unsuccessfully, that Hirsch was not qualified to testify as an expert in false interrogations, particularly as his direct knowledge of Israeli interrogation practices would be limited. Hirsch testified that Israeli authorities, based on his own studies, were “using aggressive interrogation tactics” during the time when Sarsour was detained. He said that there’s no evidence that Sarsour’s confession either generated new evidence or corroborated existing evidence, and that when Sarsour was initially detained in 1988 he was a juvenile, one of the groups most vulnerable to giving false confessions. 

Another defense witness had a much more extensive knowledge of Israeli treatment of Palestinians. Sari Bashi, an Israeli lawyer and human rights investigator, testified remotely, from Israel, where it was late at night when she was called to give her testimony. Bashi has an extensive knowledge of what Palestinian prisoners go through in Israeli detention and military courts. She pointed out that Sarsour’s 1988 arrest occurred shortly after the First Intifada, a sustained period of uprising and protest by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Prosecutors attempted to undermine her credibility as an expert, casting her as overly sympathetic to Palestinians, and saying she was too young to have known first-hand what Israeli practices in 1988 were. 

Bashi said that Israel holds the West Bank under “belligerent occupation,” where the local military commander serves as the executive, lawmaker, judge and executor of law. Military orders dictate what is considered a crime in the West Bank, and Palestinians can be detained without charge for long periods of time. Sometimes evidence against the accused is considered secret, and proceedings and documentation are in Hebrew, which few Palestinians speak and even fewer can read. “The system lacks very basic due process standards,” said Bashi. “So arrests are the norm, even for children.” Conviction rates in Israeli military courts against Palestinian civilians are over 90 percent. 

Under this regime, Palestinian people often receive very vague charges for organizing community activities, public disorder, association, or writing a liberation slogan on a wall, Bashi testified. “There can be almost no limit to what that association can look like,” she said. This was especially true during the First Intifada, a period during which Bashi said that hundreds of thousands of people were detained by Israeli authorities.

Bashi said that Israeli forces used euphemisms such as “moderate physical pressure,” “threats,” and “severe psychological pressure” to describe tactics which she and other international experts would simply call “torture.” During testimony she listed a variety of interrogation tactics including violent shaking; prolonged stress positions, beatings, sexual violence such as forced nudity, hitting of genitals, or rape threats, temperature torture, exposure to foul smells and human bodily fluids, being forced to hear the screaming of other tortured detaines, sleep deprivation, the targeted arrest and threating of loved ones and choking. 

“People will do whatever they think will get them out, released, as quickly as possible,” said Bashi. “They just want to make that stop.” Reviewing the Israeli records provided for the hearing, Bashi said that she can only see pending charges for membership in unlawful associations and helping wanted people as of 1995 for Sarsour. Based on the records she reviewed, it wasn’t clear to Bashi whether Sarsour had ever been convicted of weapons charges. She also pointed out that he was kept in detention for a matter of months, which is “pretty short” compared with  a typical Israeli detention experience. “It would seem inconsistent with somebody who they truly believed was providing assistance” to terrorists, Bashi said. 

Prosecutors asked Bashi whether she was aware of accusations as described in Sarsour’s immigration records. She said she was not. Bashi only reviewed Israeli records. Prosecutors also targeted Bashi’s statements that high conviction rates may indicate some sort of problem like torture, citing high conviction rates in America. Bashi said that whenever there are exceedingly high conviction rates, it’s worth asking why that is. She said that while she doesn’t know Sarsour, everything he described in terms of being tortured by Israeli forces to produce a confession is  “extremely common” among Palestinians. 

Correction: A previous version of this story mistakenly described Sarsour’s application for permanent residency as a “naturalization” application, which would have been an application for citizenship, not permanent residency. We regret the error.

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Monday afternoon brought the Milwaukee community together to honor late baseball icon Henry “Hank” Aaron.

The day’s festivities included a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new mural featuring Aaron and a proclamation from Mayor Cavalier Johnson recognizing July 20, 2026, as Henry Lewis “Hank” Aaron Day.

Hammerin’ Hank’s history

Aaron, who died on Jan. 22, 2021, spent the first 12 years of his career playing for the Milwaukee Braves, before the team moved to Atlanta.

His love for Milwaukee brought him back to the city to play his last two professional seasons for the Brewers.

“I knew how much he loved this place, this community and these people,” said his wife, Billye Aaron.

Billye Aaron continued to appreciate all that Milwaukee had done for Hank.

“Thank you to each of you for the love that you showed him and for the legend that you continue on his behalf,” she said.

It was in Milwaukee 50 years to the date when Aaron hit the 755th and last home run of his career. At the time it was the most ever hit by a player.

Aaron’s 755 home runs are still the second most hit by a player all-time in Major League Baseball. Brian Anderson, the voice of the Brewers, said Aaron is still the all-time home run king. His monstrous home runs earned him the nickname of “Hammerin’ Hank.”

For those who he impacted, his legend grew beyond just the name of baseball. 

“The number 755 represents much more than a milestone. It represents perseverance, excellence and strength in the face of adversity,” Anderson said.

City figures chime in

Politicians and other public leaders were also in attendance for Monday’s celebration and mural unveiling.

They underlined the importance of celebrating Hank Aaron as not only a baseball player but a Milwaukee icon.

“His legacy reminds us that greatness isn’t measured only by records and awards, it’s measured by character, perseverance and service,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. “Those are the values that continue to define our community in Milwaukee.”

Johnson also touched on the vitality of Aaron’s Milwaukee presence.

“It’s a lasting tribute to a man whose story belongs in the hearts of people right here in neighborhoods like this,” he said.

Bud Selig, former commissioner of Major League Baseball, also attended the ceremony. Selig, a friend of Aaron’s for over 60 years, was instrumental in returning baseball to Milwaukee after the Braves left for Atlanta in 1966.

“I will always be very grateful. He was the greatest player of our generation and maybe the greatest human being of our generation,” said Selig.

Inspiring the future with art

The new mural of Aaron unveiled during the ceremony is completely textile fabric. Milwaukee artist Rosy Petri created the piece as a part of a series that celebrates African American cultural contributions through baseball. She interweaved traditional African patterns and used kente cloth. The version that hangs above the Clinton Rose Senior Center, 3045 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, is an installation version of Petri’s textile art.

“I made it for myself, but I hoped that someday it would end up some place where people could see it, appreciate it and learn from it,” said Petri.

Now, it hangs high in Bronzeville – her own neighborhood.

Throughout her creative process, she said she made sure to portray an aura that doesn’t normally attach itself to Aaron’s legacy.

“They talk about him as a humble man and very down to earth, but I wanted the piece to have some swagger to it,” Petri said.

That swagger plays out in the bold white and black color contrast and Aaron’s stance.

Petri hopes that kids playing baseball in the park across the way can see it and be inspired.

“They’ll know that there was somebody else that came before them and did the thing,” Petri said.

Despite the many years since Aaron crushed his last home run, his figure continues to live and inspire in Milwaukee and beyond. 

“When we celebrate icons like Hank Aaron, we’re not just looking back on history, we’re inspiring the next generation of leaders,” Crowley said. 

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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.

Fifty years after his final home run, Milwaukee honors Hank Aaron with new mural 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: 3 minutes

Progress is possible, and Milwaukee’s decline in violent crime in recent years suggest it’s happening. 

Advocates and violence prevention workers say keeping crime trending down depends on investment in the trusted relationships that make violence less likely. 

Examples of investments that can create tangible alternatives to violence, they said, are mentorship instead of isolation, employment instead of boredom and community instead of retaliation.

At the center of it all is trust, said Reggie Moore, director of community safety, policy and engagement for the Comprehensive Injury Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin. 

“Trust is universal,” Moore said. “Trust is the door opener.”

City and county leaders highlighted declines in violent crime on July 7 as they presented data for the first half of 2026.

Compared with the first half of 2025, homicides fell 30%, nonfatal shootings fell 27%, and carjackings fell 34%.

“Milwaukee is a safer community,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said. “This continues a multiyear trend that is very positive news.”

Karin Tyler, director of the city Department of Community Wellness and Safety, said the progress reflects years of collaboration among law enforcement, violence prevention organizations, community groups and residents.

“Milwaukee is making progress, and that progress belongs to all of us,” Tyler said.

Aziz Abdullah, co-founder of INPOWER Solutions, said he doesn’t want to gloss over the progress or take it for granted.  

INPOWER is one of several organizations participating in the Destined for Greater initiative, a collaborative effort to reduce violence in Milwaukee County. 

“Lives are being protected, and that should not be overlooked,” Abdullah said. 

Moore pointed to reductions in retaliatory shootings, group-based gun violence and youth-related gun violence as signs of progress. 

He said programs such as 414LIFE intentionally focus on the people and neighborhoods at highest risk of gun violence.

‘We don’t shoot up stuff’

Vaun Mayes, a community organizer and violence interrupter with the city’s Department of Community Wellness and Safety, said he sees these interventions firsthand every day. 

“We also get to see the changes in some of the key players who are even doing a bit of self-control and self-policing,” Mayes said. 

He described one instance at a block party where two groups were in conflict and one group was armed.

Mayes said he heard one of the young men say, “Aye, we don’t shoot up stuff where it’s kids at.” 

Community violence intervention workers de-escalated the conflict, and the result, Mayes said, was that no one was shot.

“That’s one of maybe over a dozen incidents in the past two months I can give you,” he said.

Looking forward

Violence prevention workers and local leaders said the local efforts are by no means complete.

“We still have work to do,” Tyler said.

Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman pointed to violence on the Fourth of July weekend as an example.

Moore said what’s needed is more employment and educational opportunities and helping people develop the skills to resolve conflicts without violence.

Bridget Whitaker, executive director of Safe & Sound, said residents continue to express concerns about reckless driving, youth conflicts, neighborhood safety and other quality-of-life issues.

“Ultimately, the goal isn’t simply fewer crimes on a dashboard,” Whitaker said in an email. “It’s creating neighborhoods where people feel comfortable sitting on their front porch, children can safely walk to the park, businesses can thrive and neighbors know and look out for one another.”

Homicides, shootings and carjackings fall as Milwaukee violence prevention efforts show progress 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: 6 minutes

On Milwaukee’s North Side, women 40 and up are coming together to jump double Dutch. Members say that beyond the ropes they are building a sisterhood, strengthening their health and becoming confident in aging.

40+ Double Dutch Club is a nonprofit founded in Chicago by Pamela Robinson in 2016 that uses double Dutch and other fitness activities to encourage wellness, sisterhood, mental health and more for women over 40.

“It amazes me how God can use something as simple as a plastic clothesline to connect women all over the world,” said Robinson, who is also the group’s CEO and board president. 

Robinson, 55, launched the organization after discussing the idea with her friend Catrina Dyer-Taylor. At the time she was battling depression. 

“My husband and I were about to get divorced, my oldest kids were grown and I just had my youngest one in the house,” Robinson said. “I needed to find a happy place.”

She promoted the meetup on social media, and many of her friends and community members came out to support her.

“I remember telling (Dyer-Taylor) that if no one came then we’d tie the ropes to a fence and jump together,” Robinson said. “However, we never had to do that because our friends came out.” 

Since being founded, the organization has expanded into hundreds of subclubs nationwide, including Milwaukee’s. 

“I knew that God wanted me to do something and it’s given me purpose and he has put me on a path where 40+ Double Dutch is a part of that,” said Angela Scott, captain and founder of Milwaukee’s double Dutch subclub.

Launching the Milwaukee subclub

Scott, 54, established the 40+ Double Dutch subclub in Milwaukee in 2024 after discovering the organization on Facebook. She took weekend trips to Chicago and sometimes Texas to participate with women of the club.

“The feeling I got from the ladies when I entered the gym was like I’ve known them all my life,” Scott said. 

As a breast cancer survivor, Scott said she was glad to have found something that brought her comfort that wasn’t a traditional gym space. 

“Double Dutching is a full body workout, and I don’t like the gym, but I knew I needed something to keep my body moving and to keep cancer out of my body,” Scott said.

Once officially joining 40+ Double Dutch, Scott talked to Robinson about bringing a subclub to Milwaukee.

“She said that they had been wanting one in Milwaukee, they just had no one that was interested and committed,” Scott said.

Milwaukee’s subclub now consists of 37 members. Among them is Scott’s mother, Shirley Tomlinson, 76, who is the first and oldest member.

“I feel like my family has grown here and that’s a very positive thing for a person my age,” Tomlinson said. “It helps keep me feeling young, and there’s a lot of support in it.”

Tomlinson said she joined the club after hearing about her daughter’s Chicago experience and watching the film “Beyond the Ropes: The 40+ Double Dutch Club Documentary.“

Though Tomlinson doesn’t jump double Dutch, she does other things for the subclub like record keeping, videography, planning birthday celebrations and more. 

“I do everything I can because I’m my daughter’s ride or die,” she said.

Reliving childhood memories

Scott said double Dutch gives her a joyous nostalgia from growing up, especially as she learned how to double Dutch from her aunt who was like a big sister.

“If you were a girl that jump-roped, then you know it takes you back to that space,” Scott said. 

When the Milwaukee subclub appears at local events like the Juneteenth parade, residents typically will jump in the ropes with smiles and recall memories as they walk down the streets.

“As you watch us grow, you can see God’s hand in it,” Tomlinson said.

The women of Milwaukee’s subclub meet from 6:30 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday at Abundant Faith Church of Integrity, 7830 W. Good Hope Road.

The meet typically begins with a stretch, then leads to open play that includes dances and songs to let them double Dutch, hula hoop or play a rhythmic game. 

One fitness activity recreated by 40+ Double Dutch is African Hopscotch, which includes members jumping to a song called “Double Dutch Bus” by Frankie Smith and sometimes holding pompoms. 

To end the session, members close with a double Dutch hymn followed by a circle of prayer. 

“We hold hands and then we sing the song,” Scott said. “Regardless of what meet you go to each one will have the same format.”

Building a strong sisterhood

Scott said the relationships being built at the club remind her of the organization’s mission. 

“Part of the mission is friendship, fitness, fun and fellowship,” she said. “All of those things resonate with me and in my spirit because it’s a sisterhood that’s based on God’s direction.”

When away from the ropes, members try to support each other in different ways.

“There are several of the ladies in our club that have businesses, and we’ll do anything to support them,” Scott said. 

For Tomlinson, who experienced a few health crises this year, it brought relief knowing that there was a sisterhood standing behind her.

“They reached out to me and let me know they were praying for me,” she said. “It’s like having a big family of daughters.”

Achieving long-term goals

Within the next few years, Scott hopes to see the subclub grow in membership and the women begin to intentionally take more time for themselves.

“I truly believe that a healthy and strong woman makes a healthy and strong world because we are the mothers of this world,” she said. “If the woman is not healthy mentally, physically or spiritually, then the world is not healthy.”

Another goal of hers is to visit with incarcerated women. 

“For whatever reason that they’re there, I just want to take them out of that space for just 30 to 40 minutes,” she said. 

Tomlinson said it amazes her to see her daughter lead, receive support from the community and promote health to other women. 

“It’s been wonderful watching her grow and watching how dedicated she is because that’s a big responsibility,” she said.

How to join 40+ Double Dutch Club

If you are a woman over 40 and interested in joining, click here to find a subclub near you and find details about weekly meetups.

Membership is $120 and includes a digital ID card, access to all nationwide subclubs, subclub support and more. 

Scott said the summer has been the busiest time for the organization and wants to remind women that you don’t have to jump to be a part of it. 

“People are starting to realize we’re in the city and we like it that way because the more women that know then the more that can be impacted by what we have to offer,” she said.

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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.

‘You can see God’s hand in it’: How Milwaukee women are building a double Dutch community through sisterhood and fitness 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.

For the second time in three years, noxious clouds of wildfire smoke are smothering Wisconsin, dangerously degrading air quality and restricting people’s ability to go outside. In Madison, smoke began drifting in during the early morning hours on Thursday. By sunrise, the stench of burning forests had settled in and coated the Badger State’s capitol city in a gray smog, compounding a multi-day heatwave bringing temperatures to nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

The smoke originated from 17 wildfires in the Superior National Forest caused by lightning strikes in far northeastern Minnesota. Severe drought and heat fueled the fires, threatening a 1.1 million acre forest that is the most visited wilderness area in the U.S. Rangers are searching for 6,000 to 10,000 people who might be in an area that has been evacuated because of the fires, PBS reported. Officials have cancelled all Boundary Water canoe permits, and closed public access to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness as part of a 3.9 million acre closure covering the entire Superior National Forest.

In Wisconsin, the fallout has been far-reaching. A statewide air quality advisory has been issued by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), with the air expected to remain unhealthy until at least Friday. 

Local health departments from Milwaukee to Kenosha are warning residents to avoid the outdoors as much as possible, especially children, older people, pregnant women and those with respiratory ailments like asthma and heart disease. Even healthy people may experience eye irritation, coughing, sore throats or shortness of breath due to exposure to the smoke. 

“While breathing problems and respiratory health dangers are often considered the biggest health impact from wildfire smoke, it’s important to recognize the impact on cardiovascular health as well,” said Dr. Art Coffey, a board member of the Milwaukee American Heart Association and a ProHealth Care cardiologist. “Wildfire smoke contains a lot of pollutants including fine, microscopic particles linked to cardiovascular risk. As these fires continue to burn, that contaminated smoke is traveling many miles beyond the immediately affected area.” 

A press release from the American Heart Association warns that smoke exposure can increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest and increase burdens on local emergency services. One study in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that heavy wildfire smoke exposure increased the risk of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests by 70%, with that risk elevated among both men and women, particularly in adults from 35-64 years of age and those in high-poverty communities.

In a new analysis, the environmental advocacy group Clean Wisconsin estimated that 250 premature deaths occur each year in Wisconsin due to wildfire smoke exposure. The environmental group warns that these trends are likely to worsen. From 2010 to 2020, Clean Wisconsin stated, wildfire smoke caused unhealthy air quality conditions in the state for less than one day per year. Since 2020, however, wildfire smoke has caused unhealthy air in Wisconsin for an average of nine days per year. The smoke also carries particulate matter which is so small that it can penetrate the lungs deeply and cross into the blood stream, potentially leading to heart disease, cancer, dementia, blood clots, stroke and early death.

Milwaukee’s health and public works departments have suspended or modified some services. Garbage and recycling collection is suspended until further notice, and the city’s drop-off centers are also closed. The city tow lot closed Thursday afternoon. Air quality in the Milwaukee area is considered dangerous, and people are advised to stay inside, run air conditioning, use portable air cleaners or air filters, wear N95 masks or similar protection if they have to go outside, and to check on their neighbors and loved ones. 

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley  said in a statement that this has become “the worst air quality on record for our community,” adding, “I encourage everyone to take this situation seriously, limit time outdoors when possible, and follow guidance from public health officials.”

All beer gardens, splash pads, outdoor and indoor pools and wading pools have closed in Milwaukee County parks. Residents rely on some of these services to cope with the high temperatures, but the smoke makes their continued operation unsafe. The Milwaukee County Zoo has also had to move some animals inside and cancel attractions and programming.

The Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman Pool in Madison in Madison is also closed. In Kenosha, two park pools have closed as well as a municipal golf course, bulk and recycling and compost drop-off sites. A local “Peanut Butter & Jam concert” has also been canceled until further notice.

Climate change, the elephant trumpeting in the room

Experts and advocates stress the connection between repeated wildfire smoke emergencies and climate change, which creates the heatwaves and extreme drought conditions which set the stage for massive blazes.

“Increasingly smoky skies underscore the importance of a rapid transition to clean energy rather than building more polluting fossil fuel infrastructure that further contributes to climate change,” Dr. Paul Matthewson, science program director for Clean Wisconsin, said in a statement. “The faster we can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change, the more summer days we will be able to enjoy outside without worrying about whether the air is safe to breathe.” 

“The wildfire smoke blanketing Wisconsin is a reminder that climate change is not a distant threat,” said Peg Shaeffer, spokesperson for Midwest Environmental Advocates. “It is already harming public health and disrupting our daily lives. While no single fire can be attributed solely to climate change, we know that a warming climate is making large wildfires more frequent and more severe.”

Chelsea Chandler, Clean Wisconsin’s climate, energy and air program director, said, “This is hurting everybody — our kids on the playground, farmers, construction workers.” Chandler added, “The public health threat we are all enduring must be a wakeup call…Wisconsin is moving in the wrong direction. Our energy companies are doubling down on burning dangerous fossil fuels to meet soaring AI data center demand, adding to the hazardous air pollution we breathe and damaging our climate. Wisconsinites are paying the price.”

Chandler said that Wisconsin needs to rapidly employ several policies including:

• Rapidly shutting down Wisconsin’s remaining coal power plants
• Ending investments in fossil fuel-burning infrastructure, such as new methane gas plants and oil pipelines
• Dramatically increasing funding for programs to help Wisconsinites save energy and money
• Investing in public transit and electric vehicle charging infrastructure
• Supporting large-scale wind and solar development
• Removing barriers to rooftop and community solar
• Cultivating  farming practices that truly store carbon in the soil and restore soil health

“These ideas are not new; in fact, many other states are already taking action,” said Chandler. “For example, Wisconsin is last in the Midwest when it comes to wind energy production, far behind our neighbors…We’ve got to realize that Wisconsin is not an island. No community is safe from the impacts of climate change. The question is, what are we — and our state leaders — doing to help?”

It’s a question young people, especially those who have grown up in an era of climate emergency, ask their elders with increasing audacity. Last year, a group of young Wisconsinites attempted to take the government to court, asking the state to eliminate laws that worsen the climate crisis and accusing those in power of robbing them of their right to a safe and stable future due to policies which contribute to climate change. In April, a Dane County judge dismissed the case, saying that although she was sympathetic to the children, that what they demanded was a political question beyond judicial review. 

“Needless to say, we strongly disagree,” said Shaeffer. Midwest Environmental Advocates, which represented the children in the court action. “These kids deserve more than sympathy. They deserve to have their day in court.” 

The children involved in the case had suffered the effects of wildfire smoke exposure in recent years, Shaeffer said in an emailed statement to the Wisconsin Examiner. One 18-year-old girl named Madeline has asthma, and must stay indoors and avoid  the smoke to avoid flare-ups,  preventing her from biking, hiking or running outdoors. Another 16-year-old named Indy must stay indoors for weeks on end due to his asthma. Caroline, a 9-year-old girl, said she feels “trapped” when heat and smoke prevent her from playing outside. Those kinds of experiences were also shared by 18-year-old Lucy, who quit the cross-country ski team because practices were cancelled due to a lack of snow in the winter and smoke in the summer. 16-year-old Ted must do farm chores when smoke is heavy in the air. And 12-year-old Elia suffers migraines which are worsened by the heat and smoke. 

President Donald Trump has repeatedly called climate change a hoax and a scam. Under both his administrations, climate policies ground to a halt as fossil fuel companies were given carte blanche to “drill baby drill,” as Trump is fond of saying.

“These are the real, lived experiences of Wisconsin young people whose health and wellbeing are being harmed by state laws that exacerbate climate change,” said Shaeffer. “We believe the court has both the authority and the obligation to address that harm.”

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Wildfires in northern Minnesota and Canada have caused some of the worst air quality on record for Wisconsin. The entire state remains under an Air Quality Advisory for fine particulate matter from wildfire smoke until noon on Friday, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. 

As of 2 p.m. Thursday, most of the state’s air quality was in the “very unhealthy” or “hazardous” Air Quality category. That means that everyone, not just sensitive groups, should avoid outdoor activities, the DNR said.

In areas near Superior, the Air Quality Index rose above 800, while parts of eastern Wisconsin including Milwaukee and Kenosha measured above 650. National Weather Service meteorologist Benjamin Sheppard told Wisconsin Watch these levels are some of the worst on record. 

“What we’ve heard from some of our partners is that the Air Quality Index values that we’re seeing are definitely either never before seen or up there,” Sheppard said. “I’ve been working here for three years, and I’ve seen nothing anywhere near that high.” 

Index values in Wisconsin have exceeded the records set by wildfires in June 2023, DNR spokesperson Craig Czarnecki said in an email, noting that the figures “will still need to be quality assured.” At that time, levels peaked at 273, which means concentrations in Superior and the Milwaukee area have more than doubled. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends setting up a portable air cleaner or filter in a room that can be closed off from outside air and setting your air conditioner  to recirculate mode if possible or close the outdoor intake damper. 

Fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5, is a main pollutant released from wildfire smoke that can enter the bloodstream. Dr. Joan Schiller, a member of Healthy Climate Wisconsin and retired medical oncologist, told WPR this can exacerbate lung conditions.

“I don’t think people realize how far away you can be from the fire itself and still have health problems,” Schiller said. “These health problems typically manifest themselves as respiratory problems, such as exacerbation of COPD or asthma or emphysema.” 

How can I check the air quality in my area?

The Environmental Protection Agency monitors the air around the country and compiles an air quality index, or AQI.

Here’s what to know about the index and how to keep tabs on your area, especially in U.S. regions dealing with smoke from Canadian wildfires.

What does the air quality index measure? 

The index rates how clean or polluted the air is each day. The EPA uses this measure to keep tabs on five kinds of air pollutants. The main concern from the wildfire smoke is fine particle pollution. These particles are tiny enough to get deep into the lungs. They can cause short-term problems like coughing and itchy eyes and, in the long run, can affect the lungs and heart.

What do the numbers and colors mean? 

The index categories typically only run from zero to 500 – although levels have reached well above 500 in multiple parts of the state. The higher the number, the worse the air quality. That range is broken down into six color-coded categories. Green or yellow — in the zero to 100 range — the air is pretty clear. Once it gets up to orange, the air quality could be a concern for sensitive groups like children, older adults or those with health conditions.

In the red and purple zones, the air quality is considered unhealthy for everyone.

And if the index gets to maroon — at 301 or above — pollution levels are hazardous.

At these high levels, take precautions to avoid breathing in the dangerous air. That can mean reducing your outdoor activities, running air purifiers inside and wearing a well-fitting mask like an N95 when you’re outside.

What’s the air quality right now? 

Check AirNow.gov, which updates every hour. The site shows a real-time map of the air quality across the country and also includes a forecast for the day ahead. The map pulls in measurements from a network of air monitoring stations across the country. States and cities may also offer more local guidance.

How long will smoke last in Wisconsin? 

According to Sheppard and the National Weather Service (NWS), a southerly wind on Friday means smoke is anticipated to retreat from west to east  – likely bringing an end to the advisory for much of the state. 

“With those southwest winds, the air is going to get kind of clearer and healthier in a southwest to northeast manner,” Sheppard said. “Areas further north and east in Wisconsin are going to be most likely to hang on to that smoke.” 

Areas along Lake Superior may also need to have the advisory extended, NWS said. But Sheppard said winds could bring back a second wave of smoke to the rest of the state as soon as Saturday. 

“The weather models tentatively are telling us that the second batch of smoke could be as strong, or perhaps even worse,” he said. 

The Associated Press contributed reporting, as did Hongyu Liu of Wisconsin Watch.

Wildfire smoke brings hazardous air quality in Wisconsin. 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.

Communities that ask for federal assistance when climate disasters hit can’t count on that help to arrive. That increasingly common reality was reviewed in a recent report by Wisconsin Policy Forum, which focused on the historic floods in the state last August, finding that federal aid to help rebuild public infrastructure damaged by the record-breaking storms fell short of what was needed. 

The report took a close look at the Milwaukee area, where 14.6 inches of rain set Wisconsin’s all-time record for the largest rainfall in a 24-hour period. “As a result, the Menomonee, Milwaukee, and Kinnickinnic rivers all overflowed, and rainwater flooded homes, streets, businesses, and schools in low-lying areas. Recovery efforts continue today and have been expanded to address the impacts of another massive storm that hit the area in April 2026.”  Those storms earlier this year also dropped record-breaking amounts of rain in Green Bay and Wausau, and caused historic flooding along the Wolf River basin in Shiocton, New London, and Porterfield. Researchers have long warned that increased risks of flooding and more severe storms would increase in Wisconsin due to climate change, which the administration of President Donald Trump has downplayed and dismissed as a hoax. 

Not only did the August storms fill up basements and damage homes, but there was also extensive damage to roads, parks, bridges and other public infrastructure. In and around Milwaukee, damage to public property owned by the county property, public schools, the city of Milwaukee and 18 other localities came to at least $34.7 million. That included $10 million each for Milwaukee’s public school and sewage district, as well as $1.4 million in damage calculated by county officials, half of which was road-related damage. City officials estimated $1.7 million in damage, plus $5 million in additional costs related to cleaning up debris. Wauwatosa, one of Milwaukee County’s surrounding suburban communities, estimated $6.8 million in damage to city parks, roads and buildings. 

All in all, about $240 million in damage to private and public property was left behind by the August storms in the Milwaukee-area. After deploying the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Trump administration approved $210 million in aid to help individuals rebuild, but would not provide funding to support local governments, despite multiple requests from state and local leaders. 

Wisconsin’s Democratic Gov. Tony Evers immediately declared a state of emergency after the August storms, requesting a federal major disaster declaration for Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington, Door, Grant, and Ozaukee counties. Evers made the request both for individual and public assistance, the Wisconsin Policy Forum report notes. Over 26,000 individual damage reports were received throughout the state as the damage was being assessed. FEMA concluded that the 2025 flooding was “sufficient in severity to warrant a disaster declaration in Milwaukee, Waukesha, and Ozaukee counties but only authorized assistance to individuals and said that aid to public entities was not warranted based on the severity of the disaster,” the report states. “This meant that only individuals in these counties would be eligible for assistance and that governments have not received aid.”

It is rare for the federal government to approve one form of disaster aid while denying another, according to the report, with only 2.7% of named disasters since the year 2000 resulting in individual assistance being approved but public assistance being denied. In 2008, when severe storms and flooding hit the Milwaukee area, the federal government approved $4.5 million in assistance to local governments, as well as another $10.3 million when severe storms hit in 2010. “Milwaukee County has also received $6.1 million to help with costs associated with snowstorm cleanup since 2000,” the Wisconsin Policy Forum noted.

Earlier this month, $22.6 million in assistance was provided to several counties. President Trump used the allocation to promote Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany as a candidate for governor of Wisconsin. 

Local governments have tried to pick up the slack, but at a high cost. Normally the state distributes $1 million to $3 million to local governments to cover disaster costs, but in 2025 the damage was so extensive that $16.9 million was needed to cover damage claims, the highest annual amount in records going back to the year 2000. “This was due both to the extent of the flooding in August 2025 and the denial of federal funding that potentially could have covered at least some of these costs,” the report states. Nearly 46,000 residents in Waukesha, Washington and Milwaukee counties applied for the individual assistance following the August storms, and as of June aid has been distributed to 36,800 of eligible applicants. 

Protecting against the effects of climate change 

Some local governments including  Milwaukee County have undertaken policies to help adapt to the effects of climate change. “The sewage district has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into flood control systems in the area, including concrete infrastructure like the Deep Tunnel system as well as green infrastructure efforts such as wetland preservation, the reduction of hard surfaces such as concrete that create runoff, and other methods to limit the speed and volume of flood waters,” the Wisconsin Policy Forum reports. Without those measures, the August floods could have been “much worse,” according to the Policy Forum. “However, it’s clear from the two storms in the last 10 months that there are still thousands of structures in the area that are vulnerable to flooding.”

Recovering from disasters causes hardship. And more frequent severe weather is likely to bring on more disasters, even as, the Policy Forum found, “the availability of federal disaster relief has become more difficult to predict.” When the federal government decides to reject local communities’ calls for help, “state residents have limited recourse beyond petitioning FEMA and Congress to provide assistance.”

The report recommends that state leaders authorize additional funding to pay for disaster relief using state tax revenue. Attempts to do this by Evers and other lawmakers have previously been  rejected by the Republican-controlled Legislature. State and local leaders could also make investments in flood control and mitigation efforts and expand green infrastructure. Developing community-based insurance policies to address “these unpredictable and increasingly likely disasters” is another solution the Policy Forum suggests. 

“State and local leaders have limited control over when and where floods strike, but they can be prepared to respond when they occur,” the report concludes. “They can also reduce flood risk by investing in infrastructure that slows, stores, and redirects water.” Even these efforts may still be overwhelmed by the scale of disasters. And with the federal government demonstrating that, for whatever reason, aid isn’t guaranteed to come, Wisconsin may need to become “more self-sufficient” in responding to future disasters. 

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The temperatures in Christina Joann Rainey’s home reached 82 degrees recently.  The single mother from rural Carroll County in West Tennessee has paid to repair the 16-year-old home air conditioning system in the house she inherited from her grandparents multiple times, but it’s now beyond saving. She can’t afford the estimated $7,500 price tag to replace it.

As the National Weather Service warned of extreme and major heat risk in Tennessee this month, Rainey began calling any agencies and organizations she could think of to seek help. But she said she struggled to find programs available in her area that she is eligible for, other than loan opportunities that she believes will be too financially burdensome in the long run.

Rainey and her 15-year-old daughter sought relief by sitting in the car or traveling to a nearby Dollar General to get lemonade and temporarily cool off. But Rainey said she worries about being away from home for too long because of her Australian shepherd and 13-year-old cat. Rainey has been trying to keep them cool with cooling pads.

“I’m scared that if I leave, they could have heat stroke,” she said.

As high temperatures and humidity spiked “feels like” temperatures to more than 110 degrees in some areas of Tennessee, the National Weather Service urged people to stay indoors, hydrate and use air conditioning as “fans may not be adequate.”

But for an estimated 49,722 Tennessee households, air conditioning is not an option. Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau in May estimated that about 2% of state households have no access to any kind of air conditioning. 

In other parts of the Mississippi River basin, the share is still higher. In Arkansas, almost 3% of homes lack AC. In Minnesota and Ohio, the estimate approaches 4%. And in Wisconsin, over 7% of households do not have air conditioning. 

A day after suffering through those extreme temperatures, a local air conditioning technician loaned Rainey a window unit, providing some relief. 

“I’m so thankful for that, because he didn’t have to do that, and that was free of charge,” she said. “I don’t know what I would have done otherwise.”

Resources and support programs vary at local level

Lack of air conditioning is a growing concern for health officials across the Mississippi River basin.

In the Milwaukee area, where about one in 10 homes lack air conditioning, heat indexes soared over 100 degrees during a recent hot spell. Health officials say many homes without AC are in places that have been identified as most vulnerable to hazards like heat, due to compounding factors such as poverty, lack of transportation and poor housing quality.

“Lack of air conditioning is not an isolated issue — it overlaps with so many other issues. Heat is a multiplier of existing vulnerabilities,” said Dr. Ben Weston, Milwaukee County’s chief health policy adviser. “That’s the reason why individuals living in these communities feel heat so much differently.”

Christopher Uejio, a professor at Florida State University who did his own estimate last year of residential air conditioning in the U.S., said the census estimates may overestimate air conditioning prevalence in rural areas and underestimate it in cities, based on the data that was used. Still, he said, it’s important to have this kind of data available.

“When I lived in Wisconsin, we had one to two extreme heat events per summer. You could just open the windows, put up a box fan, and you’d be fine,” Uejio said. “As these heat events get longer and more protracted, more expensive adaptations have to be considered.”

Resources available to people without access to air conditioning vary at the local level.  As temperatures hovered in the 90s in Tennessee in early July, an online tracker published by the Tennessee Emergency Management Authority showed nine cooling centers open across the state.

Programs providing free fans, air conditioning window units or other weatherization assistance also vary. A summer cooling program in Nashville provides free fans or air conditioning units to eligible older county residents, families with children under age 6, and disabled residents with medical conditions affected by extreme heat from May 1 through Aug. 31. 

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Home Uplift program helps eligible households make their homes more energy efficient by sealing gaps, insulating ductwork and replacing aging air conditioners. Participants in the program must meet income qualifications, live in a single-family home that meets certain requirements and be a customer of a local power company that participates in the program. 

When Rainey checked her eligibility for the Home Uplift program, she received a message that TVA is not accepting applications in her area.

A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Health recommended reaching out to county governments and local emergency management agencies for resources.

A deeper look at the U.S. Census Bureau’s experimental data

The U.S. Census Bureau released its experimental Local Air Conditioning Estimates dataset in response to requests for more detailed information on air conditioning access as an indicator of heat vulnerability, according to the bureau’s website.

The dataset includes information from American Housing Surveys from 2019 through 2023, along with data from the American Community Survey from the same period.

Air conditioning access is not directly measured in the American Community Survey. While the American Housing Survey does ask if a home has an air conditioning unit, this survey wasn’t designed to be used at a granular geographical level. The U.S. Census Bureau used a machine learning model and the American Housing Survey data to “determine if a household in the ACS potentially lacks an air conditioning unit,” according to the bureau’s methodology. 

The margin of error for Tennessee’s estimated 49,772 households without air conditioning is plus or minus 3,972 households.

This data may also fail to capture the circumstances of people like Rainey, who may have had working air conditioning at the time that data was collected, but no longer do. It also does not consider other factors that might limit access to air conditioning, like the cost burden of operating window air conditioning units.

Rainey said her mother is in a similar situation — her home air conditioning is no longer in working order and uses window units sparingly because of the electricity cost.

“Before it got this hot, she was trying to avoid (using) it because it gets so bad on electricity … but I think this last week or so, she’s had to use it because she didn’t have a choice. She was using fans and doing everything she could,” Rainey said.

Madeline Heim of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation.

Wisconsin Watch is a member of the Ag & Water Desk network. Sign up for our newsletters to get our news straight to your inbox.

Census model estimates more than 800,000 Mississippi River basin households lack air conditioning 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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How does one love thy neighbor in 2026?

For the interfaith community in Milwaukee, sharing stories over a communal meal makes the process easy.

On the last Wednesday of every month, the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee hosts the Amazing Faiths Dinner Dialogue. It’s here where people of all religions, denominations and backgrounds are invited to break literal and figurative bread.

Cultivating the conversation

“It’s really one of our most important grassroots programs because we are trying to build connections between people of different faith backgrounds,” said Ahmed Quereshi, executive director of the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee.

Quereshi, a member of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, was appointed executive director of the Interfaith Conference in April 2023. 

Active since the 1970s, it wasn’t until right after 9/11 that the Muslim community was invited to join Interfaith, according to Quereshi. He said the events of 9/11 sparked the group to become significantly more diverse.

“It was felt that there was a need to reach out and have better connections with religious leaders in the local community as well,” Quereshi said.

That marketplace of ideas and diversity lives on through the Amazing Faith Dinner Dialogue.

But first, we feast

For the last 15 years, people of varying faiths in the greater Milwaukee area have sat down to converse and connect. For a while, the dinners took place in people’s homes, limiting the number of people who could attend. 

Today, the growing appetite for interfaith connection has moved the dinners to large church halls, with over 50 attendees on some nights. Even though the event has expanded, it still features cozy tables of no more than seven people, which gives members a chance to connect with those around them.

As conversations begin, predisposed walls start to fade. 

“When you sit down at a table with people, you realize that somebody put up those barriers,” said Monica Gramling, who said this was her seventh or eighth time attending the dinner. “I never leave one of these dinners without feeling more connected to the other people in the world.”

Quereshi said the importance of the event ties back to his early days and family values. 

“It was always more important about how you treated your neighbor rather than whether your neighbor checked all your boxes,” he said.

Quereshi serves as one of the moderators for his discussion group. Each of the eight tables that span the church hall has its own moderator. It’s the moderator’s job to keep time and the flow of conversation going. 

One of the ways they achieve this is by handing the first participant a unique question. Sometimes it’s faith-related, sometimes not. Examples include “Have you ever been the recipient of unconditional love?” and “What do you believe happens after death?” 

The prompts reader is the only respondent. It isn’t until the person is finished responding that the moderator hands out the next question. According to Quereshi, this practice of listening rather than thinking about one’s own response promotes appreciative inquiry and listening.

Modern-day interfaith importance

In the world’s current state of conflict, interfaith conversation may be more vital than ever, said Irfan Omar, a longtime Amazing Faiths attendee. 

“There’s a lot of perversion of interfaith dialogue taking place right now,” said Omar, a professor of peace studies and theology at Marquette University.

“We have to actually emphasize authentic interfaith relationships where people can talk about spirituality and faith and even challenges that it presents to us. These are the venues where we can do that.”

For many, a shared meal and a conversation end up being more impactful than what first meets the eye. 

“There isn’t as much difference as we want to believe there is. We want to believe we’re the only ones with the right answer, and that isn’t true,” Gramling said after the latest dinner.

The Amazing Faiths Dinner Dialogue’s next event is July 29 at Deer Creek Senior Village in New Berlin. Click here for more information.

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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.

Amazing Faiths Dinner Dialogue sparks interfaith connection 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.

The Justice Department rejected Milwaukee’s attempts to prohibit immigration agents from wearing masks in a Friday letter to Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and City Attorney Evan Goyke. “We write to seek assurances that neither your offices, the Milwaukee Police Department, nor any other entity in Milwaukee plans to enforce Milwaukee Code ordinances…(“Mask Ban” or “Ordinance”) against federal law enforcement officers,” the letter, signed by Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Brad Schimel, states. “The enforcement of such a law would be unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause.”

The Supremacy Clause in Article VI  of the United States Constitution holds that federal law overrides state and local laws. “Unfortunately, some states and localities have seemingly forgotten this bedrock principle of American law, passing so-called ‘sanctuary policies’ to impede federal immigration enforcement and going so far as to even directly regulate federal law enforcement in the performance of their official duties, ” the letter states. “This is precisely what Milwaukee has done with its Mask Ban.”

Over recent weeks, as immigration arrests have escalated, Milwaukee officials developed a package of city ordinances designed to regulate the behavior of federal agents in the city. One of those ordinances prohibits  agents from wearing masks, with elected leaders and advocates arguing that residents should not be confronted by masked men in unmarked cars and without badges or other clear proof that they are law enforcement officers. 

The letter states that agents require the now notorious masks, which cover the entire face and are often paired with dark sunglasses and caps, to prevent the public from identifying them and then harassing them or their families. “Some doxxing and harassment incidents have resulted in federal charges,” the letter states. “The modification of uniforms to prevent identification also prevents suspects from identifying officers and taking preemptive actions to evade apprehension or obstruct enforcement efforts.” 

The letter cites a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press release which claimed that immigration officers have faced an 8000% increase in death threats against them and their families. Compelling federal immigration agents to be identified like any other law enforcement officer “potentially exposes federal officers to enforcement against them in the performance of their federal duties, chilling their ability to perform those duties,” the letter states. “And it raises the specter of a confrontation between local and federal law enforcement.”

The letter blasts  Johnson, saying that the mayor “has deplorably compared our brave federal agents enforcing federal law to the ‘Gestapo.’” It demanded an assurance from city officials that they will not enforce the mask ban by July 17. 

Johnson is among many local officials in Milwaukee and across the country who have denounced the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, especially after agents killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti during the ICE surge in Minneapolis. Recently, ICE officers shot and killed a Mexican man in Houston, Texas, who had lived in the United States for 35 years, working to send his three U.S.-born sons to college. The man, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, had no criminal record, and his family is demanding an independent probe, saying the federal government’s charge that he tried to drive his car into ICE agents is false. 

This week U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore joined Mayor Johnson, state Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee), state Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D-Milwaukee), and other elected and community leaders in denouncing the surge in immigration arrests in Milwaukee with 57  people apprehended over three days. One of the people agents arrested, who was later released, described agents insulting and threatening him and his fiance after having followed them in unmarked vehicles. The arrests led to a protest through Milwaukee’s South Side last week.

Other residents also witnessed or filmed violent arrests, some of which involved parents violently dragged from their cars in front of their young children, who remain traumatized from the experiences, local advocates said. In those encounters, witnesses were unable to identify the agents. The targeted immigration arrest and eventual release earlier this year of Salah Sarsour, president of Milwaukee’s Islamic Society — which a federal judge ruled involved First Amendment retaliation against Sarsour by federal agencies — is also still fresh in the city’s memory. 

Milwaukee’s mask ordinance came out of meetings of the  Common Council and County Board of Supervisors last winter, as Wisconsinites watched on their phones, computers, and television sets the broad-daylight killings of Good and Pretti in Minnesota, as residents organized against the so-called Operation: Metro Surge. Agents were found to have lied about the events surrounding a third, non-fatal shooting in Minnesota, Homeland Security officials admitted in February. Concern was high, town halls were filled with people worried about their communities and wanting elected officials to do something about it, even if it later got struck down in court, Ald. Alex Brower said at the time. 

It’s unclear how local officials will respond to the letter from the federal government. The city attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

A report published earlier this year by the University of Wisconsin Law School’s State Democracy Research Initiative noted that “courts and commentators have long pondered and debated the question of when and how state and local governments can regulate federal officers.” Local efforts to prevent agents from wearing masks “highlight unanswered questions in the Supremacy Clause and Intergovernmental Immunity doctrines,” the report states. “How should courts determine what actions are ‘authorized’ by federal law? When is something necessary and proper to the fulfillment of federal duties? Where is the line between state-laws that incidentally burden the federal government and those that directly regulate it? These are the questions that will be sorted out in court. While existing doctrine gives opponents of these laws ample grounds to challenge them, it also offers proponents a variety of cogent defenses.”

A spokesperson for Johnson said in an email that the mayor maintains that “some actions and behavior of Federal immigration agents have been inappropriate and dangerous.” The spokesperson added, “Federal agents are undermining the trust our residents have with their aggressive enforcement efforts.”

 

Elected leaders and civil rights groups gathered in Milwaukee Thursday to denounce the recent surge of arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Wisconsin. U.S. Rep Gwen Moore said that rather than going after violent criminals, the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign has targeted people without criminal records, and has resulted in the deaths of American citizens. 

Moore was joined by Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Common Council President Jose Perez, Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee), Voces de la Frontera executive director Christine Neumann-Ortiz, state Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D-Milwaukee), and others. 

Moore  pointed to the case of Yessenia Ruano as a prime example of the kinds of people being targeted by ICE. Ruano, a public school teacher’s aid in Milwaukee, self-deported last year to El Salvador, along with her young twin daughters who were born in the United States. She crossed the border in 2011, fleeing gang violence after the murder of her brother. 

Ruano had no criminal record and was applying for a T-Visa, which would have protected her as a victim of human trafficking, yet, ICE denied her request for an emergency stay to her deportation proceedings. Earlier this week, Ruano returned home to Milwaukee, following a federal judge’s ruling in May that she must be allowed to return to the United States.

Moore stressed that while a judge eventually ruled in her favor, “that didn’t stop the separation, the anxiety, the expense, the GoFundMes, all of the trouble that we’re putting innocent people through.” She added that Ruano “was certainly not a rapist, not a murderer. She had a T-Visa, she didn’t even have any parking tickets, which many of us cannot say that we don’t have.” Moore also mentioned Salah Sarsour, the president of Milwaukee’s Islamic Society, who was arrested by ICE earlier this year and detained in a facility in Indiana. A judge later ordered his release, ruling that the arrest was First Amendment retaliation for Sarsour’s criticism of the Israeli government and his advocacy for Palestinian people.

“Thank God that he is free today,” said Moore. “But again, here’s someone punished for their speech, for their high profile in the Muslim community as the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, and because of his high profile, his criticism of American policy and what is going on in Gaza, he became a target. And you know, everything that they can’t prove they just make up about you.” 

Sarsour had also been in the country for decades, and had never accumulated a criminal record in the United States. “These are just a couple of stories, but there’s people’s names that we don’t know,” said Moore. “They’re being kidnapped, as my colleague Pramila Jayapal shared with us, they’re being disappeared, they’re being rushed through a judicial process without due process because they don’t have any money, and we’re here to decry that.”

Mayor Johnson said that ICE is “violating constituents’  trust in federal agencies and putting our residents in Milwaukee at greater risk with the aggressive operations that they’ve been deploying, not just here but in communities all across this country.” Johnson said that while arresting serious felons and other criminals not controversial, “aggressively snatching our residents off the street, taking actions like that — including people who are in the midst of the formal proceedings necessary in order to obtain legal status — is just plainly wrong. It’s just wrong.”

Neighbors, educators, family members, and workers in restaurants, hotels and hospitals, shouldn’t be targeted by ICE, said Johnson. “So the behavior that ICE has done here has incited chaos, and fear, in communities that every single one of us is tasked to serve and tasked to protect,” said Johnson. 

He highlighted local government efforts to regulate ICE activity, such as by prohibiting ICE agents from wearing masks or using city property. The city of Milwaukee passed those  policies in  a local ICE Out package, and the county board has approved similar restrictions. However, ICE made it clear through their actions and public statements that the agency has no intention of respecting  local ordinances. 

During the surge earlier this month, which led to the arrest of nearly 60 people, ICE agents were filmed staging in a Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) parking lot, despite the department’s explicit policies prohibiting cooperation with ICE. MPD said that it did not give permission for ICE to use the lot, and that the federal agency was reminded to not use city police property. Agents were also reminded by the sheriff’s office to not use county parks after they’d been seen there as well, in violation of local policies and ordinances. 

The Wisconsin Examiner asked Johnson whether any efforts have been made to ensure that MPD’s Homeland Security-adjacent intelligence Fusion Center isn’t also cooperating with ICE, but the mayor pointed  to the department’s policy against working with the immigration agency. There are also growing concerns in the neighboring city of West Allis, which does not include a requirement for a judicial warrant for arrests by  ICE.

The surge has eroded trust in local law enforcement’s pledges to not work with ICE, and raised doubts about whether local elected officials can do anything at all to rein in the agents. Several arrests that have been witnessed or filmed by residents showed masked agents violently wrestling people to the ground and detaining them. One detained man, Galo Suárez, 25, said that agents repeatedly called him and his fiance “dogs” in Spanish, and that they refused to release his fiance, Reyna Elizebeth Garcia, despite the fact that they both had work permits. Suárez said that the agents told him to walk away and that he wouldn’t like what happened to him if he chose to look back. Other witnesses described ICE agents leaving unattended children behind in cars filled with broken glass, after shattering windows to arrest their parents in front of them. In one case, ICE reportedly left an abandoned vehicle flipped on its side in the middle of the street.

Johnson wanted to assure residents that “they are not without recourse” and that “there still are options out there.”  He encouraged voters to “send a message to the president” that “change is coming,” and that people who don’t support Trump’s crackdown policies will be elected to office. 

Carpenter said that Trump’s immigration policy has failed, and that he doesn’t hear any conversation about providing a pathway to citizenship for people in the country without full legal documentation. Carpenter compared the way ICE has arrested people on the street to the way human traffickers operate. “I’ve seen it out there…white vans…I don’t know what’s going on at some of these stops,” said Carpenter. “They are very scary. I don’t know if something’s going on and I should intervene, but then I would be breaking the law or get in trouble. But I can guarantee you that on streets like Greenfield, National, Mitchell Street, there are abductions going on right now for people that are going into human trafficking slavery.” 

The senator called the trauma being experienced by the children of immigrants targeted by ICE “reprehensible,” “anti-family,” and “anti-American.” While he condones the arrests of people who are criminals, Carpenter condemns the recent arrests and detentions  in Wisconsin. Perez  said that communities are sending a message to Trump that they do not consent to these policies. “Due process is a fundamental right in this country,” said Perez. “Every person deserves to be treated with dignity, fairness, and respect under the law. And we will make our voices heard, waiting for the time when we can again trust those charged with our protection.”

Neumann-Ortiz asked for a moment of silence for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican immigrant and Texas resident who was killed by ICE during an attempted traffic stop. Araujo was reportedly picking up workers in his van when ICE attempted to stop the car. ICE has said that the agents fired after Arajuo, the father of three U.S. citizens who lived in the U.S. for nearly 35 years, attempted to “weaponize” his vehicle. His family has called for an independent criminal investigation. Neumann-Ortiz  said that this is another example of an agency which is “completely out of control, makes our communities less safe, and is a gross misuse of public dollars.” 

In Milwaukee, several groups are  conducting know your rights training, canvassing neighborhoods, protesting, and verifying ICE sightings. Neumann-Ortiz said that Voces de la Frontera is tracking multiple cases of excessive force, injuries to arrested people, and questionable access to due process. One child, who witnessed his mother’s arrest, remains traumatized after the incident, Neumann-Ortiz said. The son replays the arrest over and over in his head, and he gets scared whenever he sees police, fearing  that they’re coming to take his father as well. “That’s post-traumatic  syndrome, that’s what that is,” said Neumann-Ortiz. “How is that making us any safer?” 

Neumann-Ortiz encouraged residents to get informed on what their rights are and to use  the 1-800-427-0213 hotline number if they see or encounter ICE. She also praised mutual aid efforts like donating food and other supplies which are  distributed to  neighbors afraid to leave their homes  by volunteers, as well as groups providing legal aid and advice. These are examples  of what’s possible “when we unite,” said Neumann-Ortiz.

The typical We Energies customer using 660 kilowatt hours of energy per month is paying $144 each month for that power, according to Wisconsin Public Service Commission data. That bill is far higher than most other people in the state and has increased substantially in recent years. 

Frustration with rising energy bills, increasing skepticism about investor-owned utilities, anxiety over the growth of data centers and fears about the rising cost of living led Milwaukee city officials last month to hold a meeting aimed at kickstarting debate about municipalization — the process of a local government taking over utility services. 

In late June, Milwaukee’s Public Transportation, Utilities and Waterways Review Board held its first meeting since 2023 to discuss a city-owned electric utility. 

There are dozens of municipal-owned utilities across Wisconsin providing residents with their water and power. Up north, Superior is in the midst of its own debate over acquiring the local water utility. 

“The overarching concern and preference for municipalization is that there are no shareholders and hence no need for the elevated profits that the investor-owned utilities all receive,” Tom Content, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin, said in an email, noting that We Energies’ profits range from 10-13% on its various plants and projects. “Municipal utilities by their nature are more responsive to their local customers, because those customers are also the voters who elect the local government, as in the mayor or village chair who appoint the utility commissions.”

State law allows municipal governments to acquire utilities’ property through eminent domain or a negotiated purchase agreement. 

Milwaukee is in the early stages of discussing the possibility. There are serious hurdles,  including the fact that We Energies power generation does not take place within city limits, complications over how Act 10 would affect unionized utility workers and the prospect of facing a well-funded and well-connected opponent. 

“The utilities have been generous donors to the incumbent party, whichever is in power, over the years,” Content said. “The reckoning and awakening of the public to affordability concerns and data centers is shifting the dynamic on this, which is why we see candidates of all stripes taking more pro-consumer positions like we are advocating for.”

He noted recent polling has shown Wisconsinites are against data center development and concerned about the cost of living.

“From CUB’s POV this all argues for an electorate that wants a reliable energy system that they can afford,” he continued. “And for We Energies customers that’s become more problematic because the typical [residential] bill has surged 30% since 2022, with another 14-15% in the offing for the next two years.” 

Milwaukee Ald. Robert Bauman, who along with Ald. Alex Brower led the June meeting to start exploring the issue, told the Examiner that the debate will come down to determining if municipalization will reduce rates while maintaining reliable service. 

“If someone can come forward and say I have a realistic way of structuring your rates so they’re not going up by as high a percentage and your power is just as reliable and there’s more accountability … that accountability is attractive,” Bauman said, noting he already gets calls complaining about the municipal water utility. 

Milwaukee isn’t the first community across the country to consider taking on this fight. Clearwater, Florida,  recently completed a feasibility study to take over its own electric utility.

Residents in Boulder, Colorado, began a fight to municipalize the local Xcel Energy in 2010, largely due to complaints that the company was dragging its feet on shifting to renewable sources of power. Several times over the next decade, local voters approved ballot measures affirming their desire to take control of the utility. 

Ultimately, Boulder’s effort didn’t get across the finish line. But Leslie Glustrom, a Boulder resident who was active in the fight, told the Wisconsin Examiner that it wasn’t a failure. The threat of losing such a large customer base, she said, put enough leverage on Xcel that locals were able to push for significant policy concessions and the company has shifted away from its earlier dependence on fossil fuels. Xcel now states it will retire its final coal plant by 2030. 

“You can achieve very important gains and make progress on very important objectives, independent of whether the municipalization effort succeeds or not,” she said. 

In Michigan, residents of Ann Arbor have had a harder time, mostly because state law gives the power utility a permanent agreement to operate within its boundary area so residents don’t have the same leverage point. 

But the effort to take over the utility has continued and resulted in the establishment of the city’s Sustainable Energy Utility. For now the SEU is running as a pilot in one neighborhood with plans to expand citywide next year. 

Under the program, the city operates a service in which homes are outfitted with solar panels and backup batteries to provide energy for home use. The city still owns and maintains the infrastructure. 

Brian Geiringer, executive director of Ann Arbor for Public Power, told the Examiner that the city’s lack of leverage, the power of the local utility and the poor reliability of the local service have made it attractive to push for full municipalization

“Our options are very limited, in a region where the [Investor-owned utility] has tons of power, both due to their monopoly status, the forever contract, but also in terms of the amount of lobbying they do of our state government,” he said. “We are left with very few options to sort of hold them accountable and really push back at all against their power.”

He added that the SEU was able to get off the ground because Ann Arbor had a well funded sustainability office, but that it offered a low-friction way to begin showing the benefits of public power. 

“In Ann Arbor, the benefits of public power are so massive, in part, because our [investor-owned utility] has done such a poor job.” It has become clear to citizens, he added, that the benefits of the sustainable energy pilot project  “really just start to scratch the surface of what we would be sort of leaving on the table if we don’t pursue full municipalization.”

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Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan was spared from prison Wednesday for ushering a Mexican defendant out of her courtroom to evade U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. A federal judge fined her $5,000 and cited her otherwise law-abiding life in issuing the sentence.

“I think this is a situation where an otherwise good person, upset by immigration policies in this country, made a bad decision in the moment,” U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman said.

Dugan, 67, was convicted of felony obstruction in December. Her lawyers argued during her trial that President Donald Trump’s administration sought to “crush” Dugan in an effort to ensure judicial compliance with the ICE strategy of targeting immigrants as they showed up for court hearings.

Dugan resigned the Milwaukee County circuit judgeship she had held for nine years in January amid threats of impeachment from Republican state lawmakers who labeled her an activist judge. In her resignation letter, she said her prosecution threatened “the independence of our judiciary.” Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a fierce Trump loyalist running for Wisconsin governor, urged authorities to “lock her up” in a social media post following her conviction.

Two Marquette University law professors spoke on her behalf, including a former state Supreme Court justice and a Jesuit priest who read a statement describing Dugan as a defender of oppressed people and saying he didn’t believe there was a need for punishment. “Hannah models what it means to be a Christian,” Gregory O’Meara said.

Dugan says she was just trying to do her job

Dugan then addressed the court, saying she tried to do her best as a judge and that her actions that day in April 2025 were not done maliciously but rather to maintain the “decorum and safety of the courtroom.”

“I have been cast as both a scofflaw and a hero. I am neither. I am a public servant who’s just trying to do my job,” Dugan said, adding that she has had to retire from public life due to threats against her and her family.

Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Frohling acknowledged that “she has experienced collateral damage because of her conduct,” but said “judges can’t choose to disregard the law.”

The judge then said he doesn’t believe prison is necessary, noting that Dugan lost her job, now has a felony conviction and experienced threats that forced her to move and stop attending community events. He also noted that Dugan’s actions didn’t stop the ICE agents from arresting the defendant outside the courthouse.

“This is a few minutes of conduct for someone who has dedicated her life to public service,” Adelman said. “It’s a marked deviation from an otherwise law-abiding life.”

Prosecutors pushed for a ‘serious sentence’

Prosecutors had argued in a sentencing memo that Dugan violated her oath as a judge and put both law enforcement and the public at risk.

“Judges are entrusted with tremendous discretion, but there is a line they cannot cross,” Frohling wrote. “The defendant crossed that line.”

Dugan’s attorneys argued she has been “punished enough” and should not be sentenced to any jail time beyond the hours she spent in federal custody.

Federal sentencing guidelines called for 15 to 21 months behind bars, but the judge, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997, wasn’t bound by them. Prosecutors did not recommend a sentence, but Frohling wrote that “this was a serious offense, and it warrants a correspondingly serious sentence.”

Attorney Jason Luczak said after the sentencing that they would still appeal Dugan’s felony obstruction conviction. Jurors acquitted her at trial of concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor.

What happened in the courthouse that day

On April 18, 2025, immigration officers went to the Milwaukee County courthouse after learning Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 31, had reentered the country illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state battery case.

Dugan confronted agents outside her courtroom and directed them to the chief judge’s office, saying their administrative warrant wasn’t sufficient to arrest Flores-Ruiz. Her attorneys said she was following protocols that called for court employees to report any immigration agents to their supervisors.

After the agents left, she led Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a private jury door. Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz in the corridor, followed him outside and arrested him after a foot chase. A week later, FBI agents arrested Dugan in the courthouse, leading her outside in handcuffs.

Flores-Ruiz was deported in November.

Associated Press contributors include Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa. Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters to get our investigative stories and Friday news roundup. This story is published in partnership with The Associated Press.

Former Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan spared prison for obstructing ICE arrest 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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Researchers from Children’s Wisconsin and the Medical College of Wisconsin found an association between motor vehicle crash injuries and firearm injuries among children and adolescents.

The findings could help inform violence prevention efforts, said Dr. Mike Levas, one of the authors of the study and a professor of pediatric emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Children’s Wisconsin. 

“I think that car crashes, especially in our teens and young kids, can be a marker for that increased escalation and risky behaviors or risky situations,” said Levas, who is also medical director of Project Ujima. 

Project Ujima is a violence intervention program at Children’s Wisconsin. The program works to end the cycle of violence by providing crisis intervention and other support to youths and adults who are victims of violence.

Findings of the study

Nearly one in four patients treated for a firearm injury had multiple emergency department visits for firearm, non-firearm violence or motor vehicle crash injuries during a four-year period, according to the study.

The study examined 2,614 emergency department visits for violent injuries or motor vehicle crashes involving children and adolescents ages 0 to 17 from 2018 to 2022.

Researchers found a significant association between prior motor vehicle crash injuries and later firearm injuries.

In other words, motor vehicle crash injuries can serve as a marker for increased risk of a firearm injury later on.

Interpretation of findings

Traumatic events often do not occur in isolation, said Dr. Deanna Behrens, a pediatric critical care physician and American Academy of Pediatrics spokesperson.

“We know that there are clusters of activity, like risk-taking behavior, exposure to violence and traumatic injuries, that can happen in adolescence and early adulthood,” she said.

In addition to social and environmental factors, Levas said adolescents are still developing the parts of the brain responsible for decision-making.

“Most people, as they grow, don’t make great choices all the time,” Levas said. 

These developmental realities place some responsibility on society to help young people avoid risk, he said.

“If we don’t have guardrails for them, then I think from a public health standpoint, then we’re not helping the situation, we’re not helping to prevent injury,” he said.

Levas said Children’s Wisconsin is considering whether the findings could help identify opportunities to intervene earlier.

One possibility is expanding Project Ujima. 

Currently, the program serves youths who have been shot, stabbed or physically assaulted and provides case management, mental health services, mentorship and family support.

“One of the things that we’re looking at is: Do we expand our inclusion criteria to include victims of a motor vehicle crash so that we can prevent the firearm injury from happening altogether?” Levas said.

Important to note is that the program doesn’t just serve the direct victim of violence.

“We wrap our arms around the entire family, so not just the immediate victim, but we also support the entire household,” said Brooke Cheaton, manager of Project Ujima. “Those conversations are centered very much around concerns, whether it be for safety, for physical health, for mental well-being, emotional well-being, social supports.”

These types of support are necessary because violence can profoundly change the lives of victims, families and communities, Cheaton said.

“We are always talking about prevention, and early intervention is key to reducing injury and mortality,” said Maria Beyer, one of the authors of the study and a community health evaluation manager at Children’s Wisconsin. 

Collecting information early through interventions, she said, can help them learn of those shared risk factors that might be leading to both reckless driving and also gun violence. 

She said that mentoring and youth development programs are among the resources that could help communities intervene earlier.

What can parents do?

As Children’s Wisconsin explores ways to use the study findings to prevent future injuries, Levas said parents and caregivers can take steps of their own.

On a basic level, he said, parents can start by opening lines of communication with their children and helping them connect with trusted adults.

“Seeking mentorship for your child across multiple sectors is very helpful,” he said. “The more that the youth can get engaged with adults that are guiding them to make better choices, or learn how to stay out of risky situations, the better.”

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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.

Researchers say car crashes could help identify youth at risk of gun violence  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.

After denying requests for disaster relief to Wisconsin over recent months, President Donald Trump has approved $22.6 million in assistance to several counties that experienced extreme weather in April. Wisconsin Emergency Management determined that over $27 million in damage occurred as a result of the historic April storms that hit communities, bringing tornados, heavy rain and flash flooding.

The storms broke records as rivers overflowed and skies darkened under heavy cloud cover, high winds and torrential rain. According to the National Weather Service, a record-breaking 8.56 inches of precipitation accumulated in Green Bay during the month of April, breaking the prior record set in 1929 by more than 2 inches. Wausau also broke the record for precipitation with 8.74 inches accumulating in April, compared to the 6.06 inch record set in 1954. Historic flooding flowed out along the Wolf River basin in Shiocton and New London, as well as near the Embarrass and Peshtigo rivers near Porterfield. The Menominee River at McAllister reached its second highest level on record, and multiple dams overflowed in Waupaca and Shawano counties.

Residents living in the counties of Bayfield, Brown, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, Manitowoc, Marathon, Milwaukee, Outagamie, Racine, Rock, Sauk, Vernon, Washington, Waukesha, Waupaca and Winnebago, along with the Oneida Nation, will have access to the assistance. The funding will cover temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs. Federal funding is also available to state, tribal, and local governments which are eligible for assistance, as well as certain private nonprofit organizations to help replace damaged facilities. 

Trump posted on Truth Social that he’d contacted U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany — the Republican candidate he  endorsed for Wisconsin governor —  about greenlighting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance. Trump said that “the wonderful people of Wisconsin are in good hands with Tom,” alongside other Republican politicians which have been endorsed by the president. Meanwhile, Tiffany posted on X saying he called the White House after the storms and thanking the Trump administration “for their partnership.” Tiffany said in his post, “We’ll keep working to ensure every Wisconsin community has the resources needed to recover.”

Trump’s effort to spotlight Tiffany in connection with the announcement of emergency assistance comes ahead of the gubernatorial primary in August. Tiffany is the leading Republican contender, while six Democrats with a range of experiences and political leanings are competing for their party’s nomination. 

When Trump first announced the emergency relief for Wisconsin, saying he had contacted Tiffany to inform him, neglecting to mention the current Gov. Tony Evers, Evers said in a statement posted to X, “Wisconsinites and I will believe it when we see it.” 

“President Trump and the Trump Administration have declined tens of millions of dollars in Wisconsin disaster relief requests,” Evers wrote, “and have been playing politics by withholding emergency FEMA assistance from states across our country that’s supposed to go to helping families and communities rebuild and recover after a disaster—and all while he uses taxpayer dollars to build himself a golden ballroom.”

In February, the Trump administration denied disaster relief — for a second time — which would have helped Wisconsin communities recover from historic, record-breaking flooding and storms that hit in August. Over 1,800 homes in the Milwaukee area alone were left either damaged or destroyed, and multiple parks were left virtually underwater. The state fair shut down early as people fled the fairgrounds through waist-high water, and some were left stranded on roadways after their vehicles were flooded. Collectively, the August floods caused about $76 million in damage to private homes and public infrastructure, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. 

A letter sent to Evers by FEMA in February said that assistance was “not warranted” but didn’t explain the rationale the agency had used to make that decision. Flood assistance was also denied for Milwaukee in November and October. A month after the FEMA denial, Wisconsinites endured a historic blizzard so bad that it shut down plowing services in a state used to snowfall. This summer, residents have been contending with a dangerous heatwave. 

These are just the latest bouts of extreme and dangerous weather which have challenged the ability of residents to adapt and of local and state governments to respond. Researchers have long warned that extreme weather including more intense flooding, heatwaves and blizzards would become more common due to climate change. Trump has called climate change a hoax and his administration has cut back the federal programs to improve climate resilience. 

Protesters gathered at Kosciuszko Park Wednesday evening to stand in solitary with immigrant families in the predominantly Latino neighborhood in Milwaukee. Speaking to the crowd through a microphone, Alan Chavoya, a local activist with the ICE Out Coalition, said the gathering is both educational and “to show that this community stands together, and we’re ready to fight back.” 

Earlier this week, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents launched a flurry of arrest operations in communities across Wisconsin. In Milwaukee, witnesses described masked agents following people through town, smashing car windows and violently arresting their targets, sometimes in front of young children. 

Local immigrant rights groups and the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) described the surge as “targeted,” with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) saying 39 people had been arrested as of Wednesday. Although the federal agency said that the people arrested had a variety of criminal histories, from sexual assault and domestic violence to property damage and obstruction, local advocates have said that the vast majority of arrestees do not have criminal records. 

ICE agents were also seen staging in a MPD parking lot and county park, despite local ordinances meant to prevent that from happening. During public comment at a Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission meeting Thursday, two residents denounced the presence of ICE at the MPD District 2 parking lot, saying that the department should have prevented it.

Galo Suárez, whose fiance Reyna Elizabeth Garcia was arrested Sunday along with her brother Teodoro, attended the protest Wednesday night to call for their release. “Milwaukee, we have to unite against these people,” he told the crowd, his words translated from Spanish by Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera. “We cannot live in peace when there are people running around who are separating families, who are masked. I am here because I am one of the people that was affected by these people who are terrorizing our community, and who has my loved one incarcerated right now.” 

Neumann-Ortiz and legal observers from the Milwaukee Turners separately told Wisconsin Examiner that ICE agents had been seen earlier that day driving around the park in an apparent attempt to intimidate the people gathering there. 

Suárez told the crowd that when his fiance asked why they were being arrested, agents told her, “you have no rights, dog.” Suárez said that “it’s time for us to unite as a community, to have a single voice, and to help the families that are being impacted by this. We do not want ICE terrorizing our families in the streets.” He added, “It’s time for us to unite, to hold hands, because that’s the way that we’re going to be able to accomplish driving these people out of our streets.”

Chavoya said that “these are humans that are being terrorized by those monsters in ICE.” He described the people being targeted as “hardworking immigrants” and said, “these are not criminals, the criminals are the ones hiding their faces, the ones that have those stupid vests that say ‘police’. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, those are the criminals, those are the people who should be behind bars.” Chavoya translated everything he said into Spanish as well.

ICE Out Coalition members also held a know your rights session. They said that ICE cannot enter your home and workplace without a judicial warrant, unless you give them permission. The crowd was warned that agents may try to use deception to get the access they want. People also have the right to remain silent and not answer questions from ICE agents, organizers said. People also are allowed to film ICE agents. They said that publicizing details about the number of ICE agents, where they are, what they’re doing, what unit they’re from and when sightings occurred are important.

Luz Hernández, vice president of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association (MTEA), said that the Latino community of Milwaukee’s South Side is in distress. Besides ICE agents patrolling neighborhoods, an elementary school  burned down on the same day that Suárez first told the world what happened to his fiance Reyna. Hernández, a bilingual teacher and an immigrant whose parents came from Mexico, said ICE “will not intimidate us, we will not give them that satisfaction!” 

She said “undocumented or documented, we all have inalienable rights, we will defend those rights! We will defend one another, and we refuse to let fear divide us.” Hernández said that “education workers know that no child can learn while living under fear that a parent or family member may disappear.” 

MTEA has established know-your-rights, ICE verifier and legal observer trainings while also organizing “school defense teams, marches, and rallies such as this one,” Hernández said, adding, “together we are building a community that protects its own.”

In temperatures rising to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the protesters marched through the surrounding neighborhood before returning to the park. Suárez was among those at the front, holding a banner that said “stop scapegoating immigrants.”

MPD and Milwaukee County Sheriff vehicles kept a close eye on the protest while also helping block off traffic. A drone shadowed the crowd from a distance. All along the protest route, people came out of their homes to cheer the marchers on. One restaurant worker rushed outside to hand out free drinks, and a woman in the neighborhood wept and thanked the marchers. 

The ICE surge has been distressing for local officials and ordinary residents alike. Milwaukee Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic and County Supervisor Juan Miguel Martinez expressed their concerns earlier this week, asking residents to document what they see while elected officials try to work out legal or legislative solutions. Although the city passed an “ICE Out” package, which included a prohibition on ICE using city property and wearing masks, the agents are openly defying those ordinances, and DHS has said that federal law overrules state and local regulations. Martinez said that residents should document ICE sightings, such as staging in county parks, so that local governments can file lawsuits.

The Fraternal Order of Police in Milwaukee criticized the city’s ICE Out package, calling it divisive and irresponsible. A representative from the order told WISN Channel 12 News that agents hide their faces to protect their families and their personal lives. 

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore denounced the reports of ICE activity in Milwaukee. “Their reckless tactics are terrorizing families and inflicting real harm on our residents, especially across the South Side,” Moore said in a statement. “ICE is operating like a rogue agency and its abuses make clear that serious reforms are long overdue. This is exactly why I refused to give this out-of-control agency one more penny.” Moore added that people “should know they are entitled to due process in our country. Every person has rights, no matter their status.”

ICE arrests are also occurring  outside of Milwaukee. Centro Dane County, a local immigrant outreach group, posted a warning to Facebook Tuesday that seven arrests had occurred in the Madison area. “Do not open the door unless ICE presents a judicial warrant signed by a judge,” the post advised. 

In late June, Diana Socha Torres was arrested by ICE along with her 8-year-old son at their home in the Wisconsin Dells. Socha Torres and her son were taken to an ICE office in downtown Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported and then were transferred to the South Texas Residential Detention Center in Dilley, Texas. Socha Torres had an active asylum case and wore an ICE ankle monitor, and does not have any criminal charges or convictions in Wisconsin.

Socha Torres’ partner of 20 years told reporters that they feel desperate after her arrest. 

Attorney Marc Christopher, who represents Socha Torres, has filed a motion to have her deportation order reconsidered. She has a credible fear of violence, he said, and has carefully followed the rules while seeking asylum. The reason for her arrest was a missed hearing, but she was unaware her hearing had been rescheduled, Christopher said, adding that it was a frequent occurrence as immigration hearings have been rapidly rescheduled recently and many immigrant clients say they were caught unaware.

The Texas detention center where Socha Torres and her 8-year-old son are being held has been cited by Amnesty International for inhumane conditions, including lack of medical care, food and water.  

A DHS spokesperson said in a statement earlier this week that “being in detention is a choice.” The agency has not responded to a request for updated arrest numbers. 

People can call 1-800-427-0213 to report ICE detentions or credible sightings, Centro Dane County posted.

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday that its agents arrested 39 people across Wisconsin over the final weekend in June — among the largest enforcement operations in the state since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.

An ICE spokesperson claimed that “many” of those arrested had criminal records, including convictions for sexual abuse, driving under the influence and drug possession; Wisconsin Watch and NNS could not independently verify the agency’s count nor the number of detainees with prior convictions.

“All of the illegal aliens arrested have or will receive full due process. They will remain in ICE custody pending their removal or removal proceedings,” the spokesperson wrote.

The operation sent shock waves through the city’s immigrant neighborhoods as residents shared video and photos of alleged ICE enforcement actions in Milwaukee across social media. 

Immigrant rights advocacy group Voces de la Frontera told reporters at a Tuesday morning press conference that its network of volunteers has recorded more than two dozen arrests over the past week, primarily in and around Milwaukee. Executive Director Christine Neumann-Ortiz interrupted her remarks to share reports of an additional three arrests in Fitchburg, a Madison suburb. Neumann-Ortiz said her team is aware of Wisconsin detainees held as far away as Florida, though many remain in detention facilities in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Neumann-Ortiz, flanked by Milwaukee Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic and Milwaukee County supervisor Juan Miguel Martinez, also noted that ICE agents used the Milwaukee Police Department’s (MPD) District 2 station parking lot as a staging area for operations at least once during the weekend’s operation. MPD has since clarified that it did not give ICE officers permission to use the parking lot and, upon learning of the incident, asked the federal agency not to stage in the lot.

The Common Council voted unanimously in March to bar ICE officers from using city property as staging areas during enforcement operations. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson enacted a similar rule via executive order last fall as ICE mounted a much larger enforcement push in Illinois.

Milwaukee’s policy includes no clear enforcement mechanism, nor does Milwaukee County’s new requirement that immigration authorities secure permission before staging in county parks — a policy Martinez claims agents also violated over the weekend by gathering at Mitchell Park on Milwaukee’s South Side. “It’s not that (the city’s rule) is not working,” said Dimitrijevic. “It’s not being respected.” 

While both MPD and the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office do not conduct immigration arrests as a matter of policy, both agencies have raised questions about their roles in enforcing local laws intended to constrain ICE activity. “No one has given us an answer” as to the circumstances in which local law enforcement officers could arrest a federal counterpart, Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball said during a February town hall on Milwaukee’s South Side. 

“Given the legal questions that have been presented,” an MPD spokesperson wrote in an email on Tuesday afternoon, “the Department has requested a formal written legal opinion from the City Attorney’s Office regarding the ordinance’s applicability and enforceability.” The Milwaukee City Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Martinez suggested that local governments could sue the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — ICE’s parent agency — for violating city and county rules. “Right now, we’re just gathering as much information as we possibly can,” he said on Tuesday.

ICE’s ongoing operation in Wisconsin seems to mark a departure from the agency’s standard operations in the state over the past year. Agency records indicate most of the at least 1,700 immigration arrests in Wisconsin over the past year took place in prisons, jails, courts and the DHS field office in downtown Milwaukee. 

While roughly 80% of those arrested by ICE in Wisconsin between January 2025 and March 2026 had prior criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, most immigrants arrested during check-ins at the DHS office had no prior criminal history.

Daylight arrests in full view of the public have been relatively rare, but relatives of those arrested over the weekend — and some detainees themselves — describe a shift in tactics. 

Galo Suárez, a Nicaraguan asylum seeker detained alongside his fiancee and her brother on Sunday, offered a vivid account of his arrest on Milwaukee’s South Side. An unmarked truck pulled in front of his car along S. 13th Street, and four more appeared to box him in. “An agent broke the window with his gun drawn,” he told reporters. “They didn’t ask for our identification, they didn’t ask for our names. They just took us down violently, and when my fiancee tried to ask why, one of them pushed her against the car (and) said she was provoking him.” 

He also alleged that an agent called his fiancee a “bitch” during the arrest.  

Asylum seekers like Suárez, his fiancee and her brother are eligible for work permits while awaiting rulings on their asylum applications. The agent who found his work permit while searching his wallet insisted it was forged, Suárez said. 

Agents released Suárez later that day, but his fiancee, 25-year-old Reyna Elizabeth Garcia, remains in custody in Kenosha County. He doesn’t know the whereabouts of his would-be brother-in-law, 37-year-old Teodoro Rafael Garcia. “They took the cuffs off and told me to not look back,” he said. Shaken by his run-in with immigration authorities, Suárez said he plans to leave Milwaukee for the time being. 

Friends and relatives of Estenderly Marte Polanco, an undocumented immigrant from the Dominican Republic, shared photographs of bruises, scrapes and cuts on Marte Polanco’s neck, arms and lip — all allegedly left by immigration officers who pulled her out of her car on Saturday morning during a traffic stop on Milwaukee’s South Side. Marte Polanco’s son watched the arrest from the car’s back seat. 

“Our kids are not doing well,” said Frankeli, the father of Marte Polanco’s children. Frankeli, who is undocumented, asked Wisconsin Watch to refer to him by his first name alone while he navigates the aftermath of Marte Polanco’s arrest. 

Wisconsin court records show no prior convictions or citations under Marte Polanco’s name, nor any prior convictions or citations tied to Suárez, his fiancee or her brother.

Olivia Villarreal, the wife and business partner of El Rey grocery store chain co-founder Ernesto Villarreal, said a manager of her store on West Burnham Street saw ICE agents follow a vehicle into the parking lot, arrest a man and leave quickly Monday. An onlooker caught the arrest on video. 

Villarreal’s message for the wary public: “Don’t be intimidated and try to live your normal life.  You have to live and feed your family, attend church and school.”

ICE announces 39 Wisconsin arrests in one of state’s largest immigration enforcement sweeps 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.