Jason Rae has a classic baby face, but it doesn’t seem to have stopped people from taking him seriously.The youngest person ever to win election to the Democratic National Committee, he recently became, at age 30, one of the youngest to be elected DNC secretary.The Rice Lake native remembers admonishing his parents to vote for Bill Clinton when they dropped him off at a babysitter’s place .... Read More
You won’t find “ventriloquist” among the qualifications at the top of Judge Scott Wales’ campaign website. But the story of how he learned the art provides insight into his character.Wales was born with Moebius syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that paralyzed one side of his face, freezing facial muscles and greatly restricting movement in one eye and half of his palette. His tongue.... Read More
An attack on a Jewish cemetery in Rochester, New York, is the latest in an avalanche of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States, including bomb threats at more than 90 Jewish community centers and schools around the country since the year began.The Jewish Community Center in Whitefish Bay, a northern suburb of Milwaukee, was one of those threatened.As many as 16 headstones were toppled.... Read More
Environmental, civil rights and social justice groups jointly have filed a federal lawsuit in challenging the expansion of I-94 in Milwaukee.The litigation focuses specifically on plans to widen — by one lane in each direction — a 3.5-mile stretch of the interstate highway between 16th Street and 70th Street.The plaintiffs in NAACP Milwaukee Chapter v Ross (case number Case 2:17-CV-297.... Read More
Environmental, civil rights and social justice groups have joined forces in filing a federal lawsuit challenging the expansion of I-94 in Milwaukee.Plaintiffs in the case contend that the I-94 construction project will “have the likely effect of exacerbating regional racial segregation” as well as “adverse environmental effects on air quality and water resources,” according to the cou.... Read More
Ninety independent movie theaters nationwide are screening 1984 on April 4 to protest Donald Trump’s authoritarian approach to government.So far, none of the theaters in Wisconsin has announced participation in the project.The movie 1984 is based on the classic novel of the same name by George Orwell. The setting is a dystopian future in which the government manufactures facts, revises .... Read More
House Speaker Paul Ryan has a reputation for policy wonkishness, which he doesn’t deserve. He also has a reputation for raising boatloads of cash, which he does deserve. Care to guess which one’s driving his healthcare priorities? For bonus points, name the two billionaire brothers who are glad to see him do it.Ryan did a fundraising “physicians and dentist industry” breakfast on Feb. .... Read More
Many successful actors got their start at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater and one of the best known among them is lending her voice to the United Performing Arts Fund’s 50th anniversary campaign.Erika Slezak is most famous for her role as Victoria Lord on the daytime soap opera One Life to Live, a role for which she earned a record six daytime Emmy Awards for best actress. Slezak says her earl.... Read More
Donald Trump has “electrified” the radical right, contributing to an alarming spike in the number of hate groups operating in the United States, particularly anti-Muslim groups.That’s the prominent finding in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report, released Feb. 15.SPLC has monitored hate and extremist groups in the United States for 30 years. Its report is based on an a.... Read More
Republican state Sen. Leah Vukmir says she was seriously considering running for U.S. Senate before U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy announced he would not be a candidate.And with the news that he's out, she is moving forward with evaluating whether to get in. But she says there's no timeline for when she will make a final decision.Vukmir lives in Brookfield and has been in the state Legislature sinc.... Read More