Open Record

Dozens of inmates at a southeast Wisconsin jail wrote letters to the judges who sentenced them and asked one basic question: 'Your Honor, can I please get out now?' The Waukesha Huber facility was on lockdown March 27 over concerns about the spread of COVID-19. Inmates once allowed to come and go for work, school, or medical appointments would no longer be able to leave. But now, judges are allowi...

It's a pandemic many say is going to get worse before it gets better and at the front lines of the coronavirus: Health care workers. More than a dozen local health care workers sent emails and social media messages to FOX6; A few agreed to do recorded phone interviews on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the press. In this special edition of Open Record, nurses...

Courthouses in Milwaukee County are postponing jury trials by at least 60 days to protect the public and staff from the threat of COVID-19. That doesn't mean the wheels of justice have stopped turning entirely, though. On a normal day, thousands of people are in and out of the Milwaukee County Courthouse. But right now, nothing is normal. In this special edition of Open Record, FOX6 Investigators...

It's the largest relief bill of its kind in U.S. history. Following days of intense negotiations, a $2 trillion economic stimulus package is headed to President Trump's desk. In this special edition of Open Record, FOX6 Investigators Amanda St. Hilaire and Bryan Polcyn break down the important questions with the help of FOX6 political reporter Jason Calvi: What's in The CARES Act? What does it mea...

Typically, Open Record is a podcast that takes you behind the scenes of FOX6 Investigative reports. But we’re changing things up a bit for the time being: We’re bringing you the latest on our coverage of COVID-19 here in Wisconsin. We’ll bring you more frequent episodes over the next few weeks as we navigate this. In this special edition of Open Record, FOX6 Investigators Amanda St. Hilaire and Br...

Typically, Open Record is a podcast that takes you behind the scenes of FOX6 Investigative reports. But we’re changing things up a bit for the time being: We’re bringing you the latest on our coverage of COVID-19 here in Wisconsin. We’ll bring you more frequent episodes over the next few weeks as we navigate this. In this special edition of Open Record, FOX6 Investigators Amanda St. Hilaire and Br...

Typically, Open Record is a podcast that takes you behind the scenes of FOX6 Investigative reports. But we’re changing things up a bit for the time being: We’re bringing you the latest on our coverage of COVID-19 here in Wisconsin. We’ll bring you more frequent episodes over the next few weeks as we navigate this. In this special edition of Open Record, FOX6 Investigators Amanda St. Hilaire and Br...

Typically, Open Record is a podcast that takes you behind the scenes of FOX6 Investigative reports. But we’re changing things up a bit for the time being: We’re bringing you the latest on our coverage of COVID-19 here in Wisconsin. We’ll bring you more frequent episodes over the next few weeks as we navigate this. In this special edition of Open Record, FOX6 Investigators Amanda St. Hilaire and Br...

Typically, Open Record is a podcast that takes you behind the scenes of FOX6 Investigative reports. But we’re changing things up a bit for the time being: We’re bringing you the latest on our coverage of COVID-19 here in Wisconsin. We’ll bring you more frequent episodes over the next few weeks as we navigate this. In this special edition of Open Record, FOX6 Investigators Amanda St. Hilaire and Br...

Typically, Open Record is a podcast that takes you behind the scenes of FOX6 Investigative reports. But we’re changing things up a bit for the time being: We’re bringing you the latest on our coverage of COVID-19 here in Wisconsin. We’ll bring you more frequent episodes over the next few weeks as we navigate this. In this special edition of Open Record, FOX6 Investigators Amanda St. Hilaire and Br...

Typically, Open Record is a podcast that takes you behind the scenes of FOX6 Investigative reports. But we're changing things up a bit for the time being: We're bringing you the latest on our coverage of COVID-19 here in Wisconsin. We'll bring you more frequent episodes over the next few weeks as we navigate this. In this special edition of Open Record, FOX6 Investigators Bryan Polcyn and Amanda S...

It's a program designed to prevent emergencies instead of just responding to them. The most common term for this is Community EMS -- making non-emergency visits now to prevent 911 calls later. In this episode of Open Record, Amanda St. Hilaire introduces us to one city's fire department who actively uses Community EMS. Plus, FOX6 gets access to sit in on one man's appointment. Why more cities aren...

It's one of the most frightening thoughts for any expecting parent: What if my child is born with a serious health problem? A Wisconsin Rapids couple says they prayed for a healthy baby. When their son was born, he appeared perfectly healthy. But after 9 months, everything changed. In this episode of Open Record, Bryan Polcyn explores Krabbe Disease and why a $4 test that could save a child's life...

Customers wanted to make solar energy, investing in solar panels on their homes. But they found themselves off the grid instead. With no solar power and looming loan payments, customers reached out to Contact 6. In this episode of Open Record, Jenna Sachs reveals how she found many people who took out massive loans to have these panels installed and the panels didn't work. Plus, the company at the...

Chances are, you've taken prescribed medication at some point. Most of us don't think twice about showing up at the pharmacy to pick up that prescription. But doctors, counselors, pharmacists, and patients told FOX6 Investigators that this "quick errand" has morphed into something far more stressful. In this episode of Open Record, FOX6 Investigators look at the delicate balance of treatment and p...

If you need to find a licensed optometrist in Wisconsin, you can do so by checking out the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services website. But the truth is, most people don't take the time to check out those kinds of things before they get an eye exam. In this episode of Open Record, FOX6 Investigator Bryan Polcyn goes in-depth about a story he did with a local woman who wishes s...

We're doing something different for this episode of "Open Record." A few weeks ago, we got an email asking if we would speak to a group of students at The Milwaukee School of Engineering. That part's not unusual, we get those all the time. But this was for a class called, "Death and Dying." It's an issue we encounter repeatedly as journalists. We asked MSOE if we could record the conversation and...

Building a home can be a rewarding, but tedious process. A lot of people who have done it will say they've experienced some sort of delay or unforeseen cost. In this episode of Open Record, Jenna Sachs takes an in-depth look at one man who filed a complaint with Contact 6 after he had an unusual cost pop-up that he didn't think he should have to pay. In the Dinner Party Question, the Open Record t...

If you want to know exactly where your money is going, you need receipts. If you want to know what your government is doing, you need the emails. So, what does it mean for YOU when the Governor's Office won't turn over those public records? In this episode of Open Record, Amanda St. Hilaire takes an in-depth look at a routine open records request denied by the Governor's Office and how the process...

When public agencies investigate employees, the records tell you how the people you're paying are behaving and how they're investigating that behavior. The law says the records are yours. So, why can't you see them? In this episode of Open Record, Amanda St. Hilaire explains how a routine open records request turned into her calling all 132 Wisconsin lawmakers and discovering an issue when it come...

In 1984, the body of Traci Hammerberg was found early in the morning in a driveway in Grafton. Investigators would reveal Hammerberg had been raped, beaten and bludgeoned to death. 35 years later, investigators finally solved the cold case. In this episode of Open Record, Bryan Polcyn takes you inside the investigation of Hammerberg's death and explains how emerging science helped track down the m...

Have you thought about becoming a bartender? In this episode of Open Record, Jenna Sachs takes an in-depth look at a bartending school that's received several complaints. The Open Record team discusses how they decide to pursue a story and what happens when the subject of a story won't do an interview. In the Dinner Party Question, the team chats about the most challenging story they've worked on...

Drinking and driving is against the law, but should it be a crime? In Wisconsin, the first OWI offense is not considered a criminal act. In this episode of Open Record, Bryan Polcyn breaks down the history of OWI laws in Wisconsin and what the driving force is behind the state's unique perspective on how drinking and driving is handled. In the Dinner Party Question, the Open Record team reveals if...

A morning routine turned chaotic after buses show up late to pick up kids or failed to pick them up at all. Parents turned to FOX6 and the team investigated. In this episode of Open Record, Amanda St. Hilaire takes listeners inside the process of uncovering why students were left waiting at the bus stop and what it took to get parents, kids and administrators to talk. In the Dinner Party Question,...

Every fall, stores everywhere fill up with Halloween masks in preparation for holiday. Those masks sitting on shelves may have things lurking inside them scarier than the actual mask. In this episode of Open Record, Jenna Sachs, Amanda St. Hilaire and Bryan Polcyn take you inside a Contact 6 investigation about Halloween mask germs. Sachs reveals the process behind collecting samples, the results...