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
Perry Perkins, a student at Lynde and Harry Bradley Technology and Trade School, was one of five students who said buses to Milwaukee Public Schools are routinely late in the morning. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
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.”
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.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Galo Suárez (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Galo Suárez, 25, was in a car near the El Rey Food Market on 13th St. in Milwaukee with his fiance Reyna Elizabeth Garcia and her brother Teodoro last weekend, when they realized they were being followed. A truck stopped in front of them and four more pulled up behind them. Suárez, related the experience in Spanish as members of Voces de la Frontera translated during a Tuesday press conference. He said masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began breaking their car windows and threatened them with “several heavy consequences” if they didn’t comply.
“They had guns pointed at us,” Suárez said, as he sat beside other witnesses of ICE arrests, Voces de la Frontera leaders and local elected officials at the Voces office in Milwaukee. “They didn’t ask us for our names, they didn’t ask us for an I.D. They took us violently out of the car.” His fiance was put against the car “in a very violent way” said Suárez. The agents called her a dog, he said, and told her “that is what happens to you.”
The encounter was not an anomaly. As of Tuesday, Voces de la Frontera’s hotline had corroborated 26-28 ICE detentions over the last few days in Wisconsin. “We know that many of the people are being held in Dodge, Waukesha County, Chicago-Maywood, Kentucky, Miami, Florida,” Voces said in a statement. Even as the press conference played out, two more confirmed ICE reports came in from Fitchburg, a suburb of Madison.
Federal immigration agents arrest Reyna Elizabeth Garcia, her brother, and her fiance Galo Suárez. (Photo courtesy of Voces de la Frontera).
Some detainees have serious medical conditions, Voces director Christine Neumann-Ortiz said, adding that the detentions have been traumatic. She said Voces has documented four cases of excessive use of force and two cases of people who were crime victims actively going through legal proceedings when they were detained by ICE. “One of which is a U-Visa applicant, that is not supposed to be deportable,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said in an email statement that ICE arrested “39 illegal aliens” in Wisconsin over the weekend, stating that “many of them” had criminal histories including sexual assault, driving under the influence, obstructing police, domestic abuse, property damage, “dangerous drug possession,” and other crimes. The spokesperson said that all detainees receive due process, and that pending applications for protected status or asylum “do not confer legal status in this country.”
Neumann-Ortiz called this “a targeted ICE surge” hitting “working-class families” including those seeking asylum from violence in their home countries and people with Temporary Protected Status. The “overwhelming majority” of the people ICE has swept up in Wisconsin over the last several days have no criminal record, Neumann-Ortiz said, though some have deportation orders. Voces is partnering with the Community Immigration Law Center to review cases, help families locate their loved ones and to prepare legal support.
Violence, insults and trauma from federal agents
Suárez said that he and his family were handcuffed by agents who refused to tell them where they were going and would not allow them to speak. “They said I didn’t have the right to know anything, “perro” — dog,” said Suárez, his words translated into English by Alexandra Guevara, communications director for Voces de la Frontera. “We stopped at a parking lot. They took my belongings. They took my wallet, found my working permit. They were trying to force me to say it was fake. I insisted that it was real and that he could check online, so he did.” Most of the agents behaved this way, Suárez told Wisconsin Examiner.
He kept asking the agents about his fiance, as they had been separated by the agents. “The agents said that she definitely would be detained and not come back yet,” he said. When one of the agents found his documentation and said he’d be freed, another reneged the assurance because they also wanted to look for drugs among his belongings. When the agents questioned why he had money in his wallet, Suárez said it’s because he works. They checked the work permit again, said, “You’re a good person,” and agreed to release him. They took the cuffs off and told him to “run and not look back, because if I looked back I would regret it.”
Reyna Elizabeth Garcia (Photo courtesy of Voces de la Frontera)
His fiance, who also has a work permit, and her brother were kept in detention. Although Suárez has been able to contact his fiance, who was taken to Kenosha, he hasn’t been able to find her brother. “We don’t know where he is,” said Suárez.
Jacqueline Eckstrom, a resident of the suburban city of Greenfield, witnessed another arrest. On Friday afternoon she has just left a market where she was buying food when she saw SUVs with Illinois license plates blocking the road. She chose to park behind the vehicles instead of driving into oncoming traffic. “They did have police vests, but they also had masks,” Eckstrom said, adding that she knows Milwaukee well enough to know that police officers don’t wear masks. “They proceeded, they smashed the window of the car and grabbed the mom aggressively out of the car. And it all happened real quickly, and they took off.”
Eckstrom remembers crying children, and walking up to the car’s broken window. “There’s shards of glass everywhere,” she said, “and there’s two kids in the backseat.” Her voice trembled as she spoke. Eckstrom recalled that “the sister was hugging her brother. It broke my heart.” Neumann-Ortiz translated Eckstrom’s words, her voice also strained with emotion. Eckstrom recalled meeting a child whose mother had been deported and who came through her foster home a decade ago. “He had trauma, but he never watched his mom smashed and grabbed out the car,” said Eckstrom. “I can’t get it out my mind, this weekend, the trauma that these kids are going to think, with someone wearing police vests, that’s not the police, with masks on their head, taking their mom.”
Quotation
I just felt like I had witnessed a crime.
– Jacqueline Eckstrom, witness to ICE arrest in Milwaukee
A neighbor and the fiance of Estenderly Marte Polanco, from the Dominican Republic, also spoke at the Voces office Tuesday. Polanco was arrested on Saturday. The neighbor said she’d gotten a call from her 11-year-old son, who was crying because he didn’t know how to console Polanco’s distraught son, who was in the backseat when agents removed his mother from the car. Her neighbor said that Polaco fainted at one point, and that she was telling agents they were hurting her as she was taken to the car. The arrest was captured on video.
The masked agents took the keys and made the father and the son walk home. The neighbor said she’d lived near Polanco for two years, and sees her as a dedicated mother who is not a threat to the community. Her fiance called her “a very good person” and said the arrest has been “very devastating for our family.” She added that the agents busted Polanco’s lip, threw her on the ground, called her names and choked her. “They had her face in between her legs where she couldn’t breath,” Polanco’s fiance said, stating that she had to bite one of them to make him let her go.
Estenderly Marte Polanco (Photo courtesy of Voces de la Frontera)
The sister of a Nicaraguan man who was arrested on Friday also spoke at the press conference. She said that her brother has kidney disease and is sick. “It’s a serious problem,” the woman said in Spanish as Guevara translated. She described him as a shy, hard worker who supports his kids and takes care of his mother. She said that she has been trying desperately to reach him. “He is in urgent need of medicine or his kidneys could collapse and he could even die,” Guevara translated. “He really needs special attention and special food.” The arrest has devastated his family and his sister. Unsure of what to do, they are begging for assistance.
A Homeland Security spokesperson said that ICE agents are trained to use “the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve dangerous situations,” and that agents prioritize the safety of detainees, the public and officers. All use of force incidents are documented and subject to review, the spokesperson said. Although the spokesperson said that detainees get “comprehensive medical care,” deaths in ICE custody in 2026 are outpacing those from 2025, when 32 people died, making it the worst year for deaths in ICE custody in two decades.
Broken trust and promises with Milwaukee PD and sheriff
Like Neumann-Ortiz, Milwaukee city Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic and Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Juan Miguel Martinez — who also attended the Tuesday press conference — became emotional while listening to the stories of witnesses. Dimitrijevic shook her head, looking disgusted. Neumann-Ortiz cried at one point, and Martinez looked weary and sad.
Video of the arrests shows ICE agents violating the city’s prohibition on law enforcement wearing masks. The prohibition is part of Milwaukee’s “ICE Out Package,” which local officials passed almost unanimously after watching the scenes of violence during the ICE surge in Minnesota.
A Homeland Security spokesperson said that such local orders are unconstitutional, that federal law trumps state or local laws, and that agents wear masks to protect themselves and their families from “real-world threats,” claiming that assaults on agents are up more than 1,300%, vehicular attacks by more than 3,300%, and death threats death threats by 8,000%. Dimitrijevic said that masked agents are unidentifiable and are terrifying to local residents.
Luis Manuel Valle Gonzalez, one of the people recently arrested in an immigration enforcement surge. (Photo courtesy of Voces de la Frontera)
Dimitrijevic said that the recent arrests do not make the city safer. She also said that city officials were shocked to learn that some of ICE’s activities were filmed taking place at a Milwaukee Police Department station. “We didn’t believe it, we couldn’t believe it,” she said. Not only did the ICE Out Package prohibit that sort of thing from happening, but MPD has its own long-standing policy of not cooperating with or participating in immigration enforcement in order to preserve the community’s trust in local law enforcement.
An MPD spokesperson confirmed that ICE agents used the District 2 station on Milwaukee’s South Side. The spokesperson said that MPD has asked ICE to not use the parking lot, and that the department did not know in advance that ICE would be using it. MPD also said that no one, including the district’s command staff, gave ICE permission to use the parking lot or allowed them in.
Suárez said that he was confused by the use of MPD facilities by ICE. “It’s very confusing to think that they’re taking us to a parking spot that is the police’s parking spot,” said Suárez, as Guevara translated, recalling his arrest. “And knowing that they’re not supposed to collaborate, but all of a sudden we’re there in front of that area. And so it does make me think and wonder if they’re not really collaborating.”
Quotation
Stay Vigilant. Stay Organized. Keep reporting.
– Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic
Martinez said that the county board learned that ICE had staged in a county park, violating a local ordinance. Sheriff Denita Ball said that she only found out after the fact, and that deputies will communicate to ICE in the future that the agency can’t stage in the parks.
Martinez urged residents to continue documenting these instances so that the county can sue ICE in the future for not complying with local ordinances.
“These are kind of small things that we’re trying to get done,” said Martinez. “Not allowing them in our parks is the idea here to slow them down or stop what they’re doing to terrorize our communities as much as possible. Just hearing these stories…My brain is a little bit scrambled right now. I feel like we’re not dealing with people. I feel like we’re dealing with some kind of entity that’s just here to terrorize, and disrupt, and break apart our way of life.”
Dimitrijevic said that moving forward the city will need to trust what MPD says about ICE activity, but also verify it. “And there is now going to be more questions and an investigation into what happened, who knew, etc.,” she told the Examiner. Martinez said he’s been skeptical of law enforcement ever since officers pulled guns on him when he was 11 years old. “I would hope that they would do what they’re supposed to do,” he told the Examiner. “And all I can do is just keep pushing and making sure that they’re going to do what they’re going to do.”
Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic (left), Christine Neumann-Ortiz (center) and Milwaukee County Supervisor Juan Miguel Martinez (right). (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
He also rejected a suggestion from a reporter that the ICE Out Package was a bad idea and put a target on the city. Pointing to President Donald Trump’s promises of a mass deportation campaign, and internal ICE memos saying that judicial warrants aren’t needed to enter homes, and other examples, Martinez said, “We had to prepare for what was coming and what we were going to be dealing with.”
A Homeland Security spokesperson said that “being in detention is a choice.” The agency encouraged “all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App,” adding that immigrants without documents are being offered $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport. “We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”
Neumann-Ortiz said that ICE needs to be abolished. “It’s a fairly new agency,” and yet it has a “long record of functioning like a rogue agency,” she said.
She said ICE has been one of the worst agencies in terms of oversight and accountability. “And I think that has just reached its most extreme level, and clearly the priorities are not safety. It is white nationalist ideology, and it’s using violence to enforce this,” Neumann-Ortiz said. She called for comprehensive immigration reform and said Wisconsin’s political importance is also a reason why the surge is happening now.
“I want people to know that they are lying,” Suárez told the Examiner. “They’re saying that they are only detaining criminals, but the truth is my fiance and her brother are good people, they’re hardworking, they have no record, and those lies are being used against us and to confuse us.”
People sit with their feet in the fountain at the World War II Monument amidst a heat wave on the National Mall on June 19, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Temperatures in Washington reached 98 degrees as heat rose drastically throughout the East Coast. (Anna Rose Layden | Getty Images)
Communities across Wisconsin are enduring a heatwave that’s breaking records across the nation and around the world. According to the National Weather Service, east central, south central and southeast Wisconsin are all under an extreme heat warning until 7 p.m. Wednesday, with the heat index nearing or exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Milwaukee, Kenosha, Madison and Green Bay. Local officials are highlighting access to cooling shelters and other emergency resources.
In Kenosha, heat index could reach 107 degrees Fahrenheit, city officials warn. Residents should stay hydrated by drinking water, staying cool indoors and be aware of signs of heat stroke including confusion, dizziness, nausea or headaches. The Milwaukee Health Department offered similar warnings.
A spokesperson for the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services said the county has a “No Wrong Door” model, which allows residents to connect with the department at many different health and human services agencies. Local housing navigators are out in the community checking on people who are unhoused and offering them access to cooling sites, shelters and temporary housing. Residents can locate cooling sites by dialing 2-1-1 and many public cooling sites have been set up along county transit routes. Residents who own properties they want to turn into a public cooling location should email IMPACT 211 at resourcechange@impactinc.org.
The Department of Natural Resources has issued air quality alerts for the Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine, Ozaukee, Racine and Sheboygan counties. Local health officials in Dane County and Madison noted that over 1,000 deaths from extreme heat occur each year in the United States. People who are most at risk are older adults, people working outside, infants, children, unhoused people and those with chronic medical conditions.
Wisconsin state law prohibits a utility from disconnecting electrical service to occupied dwellings during a heat advisory, warning, or emergency situation, according to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.
Utilities are also required to make “reasonable attempts” to reconnect service to dwellings disconnected due to unpaid bills when an occupant notifies them that there is a potential threat to health or life. However, the utility may require a licensed physician’s statement or a notice from a public health, social service or law enforcement official in those circumstances. When the heat warning is over, the utility is allowed to disconnect the power again.
Scientists have long warned that worsening heatwaves and extreme weather are becoming more common due to man-made climate change. Green Bay is still recovering from severe floods that hit last week, damaging roadways and businesses. In April, Milwaukee County, which has also experienced historic flooding in the last year, re-affirmed its commitment to the Paris Climate Accords, which called on the world to take necessary steps to prevent average global temperatures from increasing beyond 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.
Aminat Bakare, who has grandsons ages 8 to 19, is looking for programs that could help them.
“I have a lot of grandsons,” Bakare said. “I want to know what’s going on as far as different programs that can help them to stay on the right path.”
She was among residents on hand Wednesday for Milwaukee County’s launch of the Destined for Greater initiative, a collaborative effort to reduce violence.
Milwaukee County officials announced during the event, held at the Wisconsin Black Historical Society and Museum, they will use $1.5 million in state violence prevention funds to help connect residents in high-need neighborhoods with employment opportunities, housing assistance, mental health support and violence intervention services.
The initiative, overseen by the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services, brings together existing violence intervention programs, wellness services and projects funded through the $1.5 million in state funding.
Bakare, who lives on the Northwest Side, said peer pressure is one of the biggest challenges facing her grandsons.
She said she was particularly hopeful the initiative will result in employment opportunities.
“Something that can spark their interest,” she said.
Robert Fisher, 15, attended the event with a mentor from the city’s 414LIFE, a community and hospital-based violence intervention program, to learn about the same opportunities.
Fisher said jobs and opportunities to create things are also hard to come by.
‘This is about peace’
Kenneth Burns talks during the launch event for Destined for Greater on Wednesday, June 24, 2026 in Milwaukee. Destined for Greater is a collaborative effort to improve public safety, support young people and families, and build healthier, more connected communities throughout Milwaukee County. (Photo by Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Violence prevention workers and community members say the increased state funding could expand services and strengthen partnerships to help improve public safety.
Among the most enthusiastic was Kenneth Burns, a Milwaukee Public Schools student who described the benefits of INPOWER Solutions’ Grow Rich Initiative, which teaches gardening, entrepreneurship and other job-readiness skills. INPOWER is one of several organizations participating in the initiative.
“For me, this is about peace,” Burns said. “Being in the garden gives me a place to slow down, build on something positive.”
Other partners include Milwaukee Turners, Milwaukee Bucks Foundation, Bloom Art and Integrated Therapies, and Community Justice Council.
According to a county press release, the Destined for Greater initiative will reduce community violence by building on the success of existing programs.
The release cited the Advance Peace Fellowship, created in 2024, and the Credible Messenger program, as examples.
The release said 95% of fellows reported no new gun injuries and that 76% of youths who participated in Credible Messenger recently had no referral or offense while in the program.
Moving forward
Attendees applaud during the launch event for Destined for Greater on Wednesday, June 24, 2026 in Milwaukee. Destined for Greater is a collaborative effort to improve public safety, support young people and families, and build healthier, more connected communities throughout Milwaukee County. (Photo by Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Crowley told NNS the goal of the initiative is to create collaboration in which organizations understand each other’s roles and can connect residents to needed services, even when they cannot provide those services themselves.
Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern told NNS he supports the effort.
“This is good news,” Lovern said. “It is important that this work is community-led.”
Both Bakare and Fisher said they, too, liked what they heard.
“I was very impressed,” Bakare said.
What’s next?
The county and its partners plan to provide regular updates on the implementation and progress of the initiative.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
But for business owners like Daniel Balderas, who owns two centers, a monthly stabilization payment from the federal government called Child Care Counts was a major help to bring the children on field trips and take care of his employees.
“I’m giving teachers bonuses based on performance, or sometimes it’s random or I see teachers working hard,” Balderas said. “Gifts for teachers’ birthdays, I buy the teachers’ lunches often.”
When those funds dried up last year, the state stepped in to offer one more year of stabilization payments through a Child Care Bridge Payment Program.
Now, Balderas’ daycares are among almost 1,400 child care centers in Milwaukee that will lose state funding at the end of June.
Without the support, about one in five Milwaukee County child care providers predict they’ll have to close, 39% will have to raise tuition and another 44% will have longer waitlists, according to a 2025 study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Institute for Research on Poverty.
‘Don’t got the funding anymore’
Daniel Balderas picks up his daughter Mila, 2, inside of his PaPa Bear Daycare on June 11, 2026. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Balderas’ biggest challenge has been finding and retaining staff.
Balderas, who is also certified as a lead teacher, said he’s lost some great teachers to schools or franchises that offer higher pay he can’t afford to match. As a result, he covers shifts, and employees sometimes work between his two child care centers when they are short-staffed.
The number of children a child care center can legally serve is limited by the number of staff working at that business, even if a facility has the physical space and materials to accommodate more, said Paula Drew, director of Early Care and Education Policy and Research at the Wisconsin Early Childcare Association.
Balderas has not struggled with retention alone. Research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2024 found that about 33,000 potential child care spots across the state could be filled if staffing barriers were addressed.
Child care stabilization funding made it easier for providers like Balderas to offer more competitive benefits to retain staff.
Daniel Balderas is one of many Milwaukee child care providers who struggle with vacancies. Child care stabilization payments helped him offer more competitive pay and benefits for staff. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
But when the federal government cut Child Care Counts funding in half in 2023, Balderas said there were times that the business was merely breaking even as he continued supporting the staff with the reduced funds.
Ninety percent of providers who received Child Care Counts funding before payments were cut in 2023 said the funding cuts changed their ability to offer competitive compensation, and 81% said the payment cuts contributed to changes in their ability to hire new staff, according to the 2024 study.
Balderas said he can keep his business afloat once the state’s child care stabilization payments end this month, but it will cut into his bottom line and he will have to absorb the losses.
“I can’t tell a teacher that deserves a raise that ‘well, we don’t got the funding anymore, I can’t give you the raise I promised,’” Balderas said.
Subsidy payments may not adjust for tuition increases
With 39% of Milwaukee County child care providers reporting they will have to raise tuition after child care stabilization payments end, one of the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association’s biggest concerns for Milwaukee is how the tuition increases will impact families on subsidy.
Ruth Schmidt, executive director at the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association, said child care tuition in Milwaukee is already one of the highest in the state, and Wisconsin does not have the ongoing funding to support increased subsidy payments for growing tuition.
Schmidt said she’s concerned that the state subsidy payments will not keep up with rising tuition.
“It will be underfunded as it exists right now,” Schmidt said.
Almost all of Balderas’ families at his two child care centers receive child care subsidies.
A play area inside of Papa Bear Daycare on June 11, 2026. Wisconsin Shares subsidies are serving more Milwaukee County children than ever before. As child care tuition starts to rise, experts worry subsidy payments won’t be able to catch up. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
The state is also paying more toward child care subsidies than it ever has in the last 24 months. As of March 2026, the state paid $28.4 million in Wisconsin Shares child care subsidy payments to Milwaukee County families, supporting almost 25,000 children in the county.
Wisconsin did invest in education for 4-year-olds in last year’s budget, Drew said. She anticipates that more providers will turn to serve these ages due to the expenses of providing care for infants and toddlers.
State lags behind with solutions
State Sen. LaTonya Johnson, who represents District 6 on Milwaukee’s North Side, can relate to the challenges of Milwaukee child care providers.
Sen. LaTonya Johnson, pictured here with Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde at Auer Avenue School’s 105th Anniversary celebration in 2017. Johnson is a former child care center owner. (NNS file photo)
A former early childhood educator, Johnson transitioned her daycare, open 24 hours, seven days a week, to entirely serve families on subsidies.
“For my kids, that was one of the best things that ever happened to them,” Johnson said. “But for me, by the time I ran for the seat, my house was in foreclosure. I almost lost my house.”
Since the state bridge payments were temporary, Johnson and her colleagues introduced a bill last year to allocate $220 million in child care stabilization payments for 2025-26 and 2026-27 using federal Child Care Development Funds and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grants.
The bill also would have provided additional subsidies for child care providers to cover the costs to care that family subsidies don’t cover.
Johnson said those bills died because Republican colleagues did not give the bills public hearings before the legislative sessions ended.
A play area inside of Papa Bear Daycare on June 11, 2026. After the bridge program ends, Wisconsin will not have any dedicated funds for child care centers serving infants or toddlers. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
The Wisconsin Early Childcare Association is watching states like New Mexico, Louisiana and Alaska that are finding new ways to fund child care on a long-term scale, but the state is falling behind.
“Wisconsin is one of the very few states that does not put state revenue directly into child care, or didn’t until last year,” Schmidt said. “They now do through the 4-year-old program.”
Balderas said there isn’t much other funding for child care owners like him who take care of toddlers and infants. He said there’s a food program, but “it’s super tedious,” requiring providers to serve certain food with specific portions.
“I try to apply for grants for improving our flooring, painting on the outside, stuff like that,” he said. “There’s really no help.”
Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
A federal judge on Tuesday declined to overturn a Wisconsin judge’s obstruction of justice conviction for helping a man evade immigration officers who showed up at a courtroom looking to detain him.
The case against Hannah Dugan, who resigned from the Milwaukee County Circuit Court following her conviction, was an early test of how the courts would respond to President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Trump allies branded Dugan as an activist judge, while her supporters said she was unfairly targeted.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman postponed Dugan’s sentencing on June 3 to consider arguments about whether he should overturn her conviction. But Adelman said in his ruling Tuesday that Dugan’s conviction would stand. He did not immediately set a sentencing date.
“The court’s decision is wrong,” Dugan’s legal defense team said in a statement.
Questions about a similar case in Virginia
Dugan’s attorney had argued that her conviction in helping Eduardo Flores-Ruiz leave the courthouse was invalid and should be overturned. He said that was necessary because a federal appeals court in April overturned a key Virginia immigration case that the judge and prosecutors had cited in Dugan’s case.
In the Virginia case, an immigrant who was in the country illegally was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and later escaped. He was recaptured and indicted on a charge of obstructing a pending immigration proceeding.
The federal appeals court found that the ICE action did not constitute a “pending proceeding,” as is required under the federal obstruction law.
Dugan’s attorneys argue that she should not have been charged because there was no “pending proceeding” against the immigrant in her courtroom being sought by ICE agents, only a warrant filed for his arrest. The filing of a warrant does not constitute a “proceeding” under the law, Dugan’s attorneys argued.
Prosecutors countered that the facts in the Virginia case are different and don’t apply to Dugan’s. They also argued that other cases support Dugan’s conviction.
Adelman said the attempted arrest of Flores-Ruiz did count as a “pending proceeding,” in part because it was a planned and targeted operation rather than an arrest resulting from a random encounter.
“Defendant argues that ICE was acting as a law enforcement agency here,” Adelman wrote. “But this ignores the fact that, unlike, say, the FBI, ICE can issue its own warrants and adjudicate and effectuate a removal, as it did with Flores-Ruiz, without the involvement of a court. This makes a difference.”
Dugan faces 5 years in prison, but will likely get probation
Dugan, 67, faces up to five years in prison after a jury convicted her on Dec. 19, but she is unlikely to be sentenced to time behind bars. Federal sentencing guidelines generally call for probation for defendants like her, who have no criminal history and are convicted of a nonviolent crime.
Dugan resigned from her position as a Milwaukee County circuit judge two weeks after her conviction amid threats of impeachment from Republican state lawmakers. She had been a judge for nine years.
The Trump administration brought the case against Dugan as the president pressed ahead with his sweeping immigration crackdown.
Trump’s administration and his allies branded Dugan as an activist judge, while Dugan’s attorneys said she was being unfairly targeted and argued, unsuccessfully, that she was immune from being charged because she was a judge.
Dugan’s case marked the first time that a state judge in Wisconsin went to trial on charges of obstructing immigration agents. She was acquitted of concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor.
Dugan helped an immigrant wanted by ICE agents
On April 18, 2025, immigration officers went to the Milwaukee County courthouse after learning Flores-Ruiz 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 because she told them their administrative warrant wasn’t sufficient grounds to arrest Flores-Ruiz.
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.
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.
Isaac Solis knows all too well how taking a pill bought off the street can lead to tragedy.
His son Isaac Solis Jr., known as “Bubba,” died in 2019 after taking what he thought was the prescription drug Percocet.
Instead, it was a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can kill in trace amounts.
Isaac Solis’ son Bubba died in 2019 after taking a fake Percocet laced with fentanyl. (Courtesy of Isaac Solis)
Since then, he’s been on a mission to help prevent others from losing loved ones through his “One Pill Kills” awareness campaign.
His message is being amplified in time for Fentanyl Awareness Day, observed nationally on April 29, through three billboards that feature his son. The billboards direct residents to the 1pillkills.org website and social media pages and include the message: Together We Will Save Lives.
“It’s about spreading awareness obviously that even one pill can kill you, one line can kill you,” Solis said. “If one family sees it and reaches out to their loved one and one life is saved, that’s our goal.”
Two of the billboards can be seen off of Interstate 94 in Milwaukee near West Becher and South Fourth streets, and the other is a north/south display on South 27th Street and West Morgan Avenue. The billboard near West Becher will be up for eight weeks and the one on West Morgan for four.
Solis’s campaign has utilized several billboards over the years to increase community awareness on fentanyl.
The message on the first billboard, he said, was very aggressive.
“Our grief was a bit more raw at that time,” Solis said.
Another billboard featured photos of individuals who lost their lives to fentanyl.
“Eight families put their angels up there,” he said.
Drop in overdose deaths
Fentanyl has fueled the opioid epidemic nationally and a rise in overdose deaths.
The drug had devastating impacts on Milwaukee County, which experienced multiple years of record high drug overdose deaths in the 2010s and 2020s. Those totals peaked at 674 in 2022 and 667 in 2023, according to data from the Milwaukee County Overdose Dashboard. Most of the deaths were caused by fentanyl alone or in combination with other substances.
Since then, the number of fatal overdoses has fallen. Last year 387 died, with 236 of those cases involving fentanyl.
County Executive David Crowley credits increased funding for opioid prevention and collaboration for the decrease.
“Thanks to the investment of opioid settlement dollars, increased access to free harm reduction supplies, and efforts to eliminate the stigma surrounding substance use disorder, fewer people are dying of overdose, which means more opportunities for treatment, recovery and a path forward,” Crowley said in a statement.
A OnePillKills billboard is on display next to I-94 near the intersection of South 4th and West Becher streets in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Fentanyl still a major problem
While Solis said the drop in fatal overdoses is great, it’s also concerning.
“The troublesome part is we don’t know what amount of people are addicted to fentanyl and using it daily,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to do.The closer we get to zero deaths, the better.”
He said fentanyl products continue to evolve and get more potent, and it can be in powder or liquid form, and even in vapes.
“It can be hidden in something but you can have no idea what,” Solis said. “There’s always a threat of it being in any type of drug.”
Working together
Like Crowley, Solis credits collaboration for the progress made in addressing the opioid epidemic. He partners regularly with Team HAVOC, a grassroots South Side group.
Rafael Mercado, founder of Team HAVOC, said Solis’ story and “One Pill Kills” message are having an impact.
“He does a lot to bring awareness by way of billboards, social media and pop-ups,” Mercado said. “He has lost a son to this, so he knows firsthand the pain and suffering a family goes through and the ripple effect of addiction on a family.”
Solis also partners with Samad’s House, a Milwaukee-based sober living home and behavioral health clinic dedicated to supporting women. He said he’s working with Tahira Malik, founder and chief operating officer of Samad’s House, to help organize a Walk for Lives event on July 11. Walk for Lives is a nationwide movement to raise awareness about those who died from fentanyl.
Solis said he wishes he could do even more but knows that ending the fentanyl crisis won’t happen quickly.
“The problem didn’t happen overnight,” he said. “It’s not gonna be any one group, not any one solution. Together we will save lives.”
Isaac Solis Jr., who died in 2019, had a passion for working on cars. (Courtesy of Isaac Solis)
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
Initial damage assessment reports indicate that this month’s flood damage is smaller in scale to last year’s storms and will not meet the requirements to request federal assistance, according to county and city officials.
Milwaukee County is coordinating with municipal emergency managers to evaluate damage using resident reports to 2-1-1 and communication with local and regional partners, according to Emily Tau, public affairs director with the Milwaukee County Office of the County Executive.
“While the impacts to affected households are significant and taken seriously, at this time, the impacts from this flooding in Milwaukee County do not meet the thresholds required to initiate a FEMA Preliminary Damage Assessment and potential Presidential Disaster Declaration,” Tau said.
The FEMA Disaster Recovery Area at McNair Elementary School provided assistance to residents affected by the August floods. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Ryan Zollicoffer, director of the City of Milwaukee Office of Emergency Management, said joint teams from the Department of Neighborhood Services and the Milwaukee Fire Department are continuing on-site evaluations of the most impacted residential areas.
Based on preliminary reports, both Zollicoffer and Tau said the magnitude of damage to date appears substantially lower than after August’s flooding, when historic rainfall exceeded 10 inches in parts of Milwaukee. Rainfall totals from April 13 to April 15 topped 5 inches in the city.
The city and county will then work with the state to determine whether any additional recovery resources or support mechanisms are warranted, he said.
Some elected leaders have expressed interest in exploring options to request aid.
Governor’s effort
On Wednesday, Gov. Tony Evers announced that he directed Wisconsin Emergency Management to submit a request for FEMA to assist the state in conducting a formal federal preliminary damage assessment from recent extreme storms and flooding throughout the state.
Wisconsin Emergency Management is the division of the state’s Department of Military Affairs that coordinates disaster and emergency responses.
Evers signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency on April 15 and authorized the Wisconsin National Guard to assist in relief and recovery efforts from flooding, hail, strong winds and tornadoes that hit communities across Wisconsin in April.
In an April 17 letter, Evers requested Wisconsin’s two U.S. senators and eight U.S. representatives help urge the Trump administration to reconsider the denials of the state’s requests for assistance from August’s storms and approve outstanding requests.
President Donald Trump approved individual assistance to Wisconsin homeowners and residents after the August flooding. However, the administration denied requests for assistance to repair public infrastructure and for the hazard mitigation grant program.
Wisconsin appealed both decisions to FEMA but was once again denied public assistance and is still waiting on a response for the hazard mitigation grant.
“These denials and delays have left Wisconsin more vulnerable to this next wave of storms and flooding,” Evers wrote.
Wisconsin does not have its own standing assistance program to help property owners make repairs from flooding or storms, according to Wisconsin Emergency Management, the division of the state’s Department of Military Affairs that coordinates disaster and emergency responses.
Next steps
Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson-Bovell authored a resolution to be introduced at the outset of the new board term in May that requests the county Office of Emergency Management conduct a comprehensive assessment of the damage from April’s storms, according to Erin Caffrey, communications specialist with the Milwaukee County Clerk’s Office.
The countywide review of damage would be used to inform recovery efforts and strengthen future applications for state and federal aid, she said. It would also support the development of a coordinated flood preparedness, response and communications plan that would create a flooding information alert system and help supervisors effectively engage with residents, Caffrey said.
“This resolution is about bringing our partners together, assessing the damage, improving communication with residents and making sure we are better prepared before the next storm hits,” Nicholson-Bovell said in a statement. “Our communities deserve a coordinated response and the long-term investments needed to protect homes, neighborhoods and businesses.”
Ald. Andrea Pratt introduced a communication file to the Milwaukee Common Council to discuss city intersections and areas that are hot spots for flooding, which was on the agenda for a Public Works Committee meeting on Wednesday morning at City Hall.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson, County Executive David Crowley and Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Executive Director Kevin Shafer formed a Flood Mitigation Task Force to evaluate mitigation efforts to reduce impacts from future storms and solicit feedback. It is expected to meet soon.
Other resources
Anyone can report storm damage or request to be connected to volunteer cleanup resources by calling 2-1-1 or submitting a report online through the 211 Wisconsin website.
The Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church, in partnership with UMCOR and Team Rubicon USA, is organizing 100 volunteers to assist families with cleanup in Milwaukee County in the coming weeks and months, Tau said. The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army are also active in support efforts.
Organizations interested in coordinating with partners through the Southeast Wisconsin Community Organizations Active in Disasters can visit sewicoad.org or contact coadsewi@gmail.com.
Residents who lost food purchased with FoodShare can apply for replacement benefits through the Wisconsin Department of Health Services until the extended deadline of May 4..
Call or text the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990 for free, 24/7, confidential, multilingual emotional support.
The Department of Neighborhood Services’ Compliance Loan Program helps owner-occupied properties address building code violations with a no-interest, deferred payment loan. Residents can apply if flood damage is under the purview of the program and they meet the requirements.
Jeremy McGovern, marketing and communications officer for the Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services, said the department would not be opposed to waiving permit fees related to flood damage repairs like it did for the August floods, but doing so would require Common Council authorization.
He also said the city’s Neighborhood Improvement Project inspectors and plan examiners can be resources in helping navigate timelines and repairs.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods 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.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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