Lake Effect Spotlight

The library is more than just books, and our series with the Milwaukee Public Library called Books and Beyond showcases just that.  This month we are exploring some stories in honor of the spooky season with MPL’s special collections and archives department. They’re hosting an event called ‘Milwaukee Mysteries: True Crime and Paranormal’ to take a historical spin on the theme with real people, pla...

Today, we’re continuing our tour of some of Milwaukee’s Yemeni coffee shops. Over the past year, five of them have opened in the area. The shops offer drinks made with Yemeni coffee beans and stay open late into the night.   WUWM’s Maayan Silver and Eddie Morales visit one shop that has a particularly active evening social scene. 

It’s been just over a decade since the game-changing discovery of gravitational waves in the distant universe. Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time caused by cosmic collisions. By processing massive amounts of data, UW-Milwaukee scientists played key roles in the discovery, contributing to a Nobel Prize in Physics.   The discovery of gravitational waves opened a new door of study, and thi...

A Black-owned art gallery in Milwaukee is at risk of closing. Fatima Laster purchased the building in 2018 seeking to make a communal space for underrepresented artists. Since then, hundreds of artists have come through the doors of the 5 Points Art Gallery.   Laster acquired the building through the city of Milwaukee’s Art and Resource Community Hub loan program, or ARCH. She’s now in talks with...

October marks the start of the respiratory viral vaccine season in earnest. Illnesses like the flu, covid, and RSV are making the rounds. Fortunately, there are tried and tested tools to help us stay healthy while protecting others – like vaccines.   To go over the vaccines available, how they work, and the importance of getting your annual shots, Dr. Jim Conway joins me now. He’s the medical dire...

In the 19th and 20th centuries, thousands of Native American children were sent to schools run by the federal government and churches. Many suffered abuse at the schools, where the goal was to erase Indigenous cultures starting with the communities’ children.      On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we have the story of a Wisconsin survivor of one of these schools. His name is Dewey Schanandore (shan...

Fat Body Hotties is here to celebrate fat joy in Milwaukee and they’re proud about it. Sarah Chojnacki started the group after seeing a need for affordable and size-inclusive clothing. Alongside their co-organizer, Ashley Mertes, they regularly host free clothing swaps for fat folks.   Lake Effect’s Xcaret Nuñez spoke with Chojnacki and Mertes about how the group has created community through its...

For many people facing end-stage organ failure, a donated organ is their only life-saving option. But the waiting list is long, and finding the right organ match is incredibly difficult. In Wisconsin it’s becoming even more difficult, as more than 800 people have removed their names from the organ donor registry this year. Experts say misinformation about organ donation may be driving some of thos...

Wisconsin’s drinking water is facing a growing crisis of nitrate contamination. That’s according to a new report by the Alliance for the Great Lakes. Nitrates are commonly caused by fertilizers, manure, and agricultural runoff. They can be harmful to people at high levels. In Wisconsin, agriculture accounts for 90% of nitrate contamination - but communities are often left footing the bill for clea...

Aspiring actor Matt Kemple first came to Milwaukee in 2005 – he’d only intended to stay for a year, but 20 years later, he’s still here.   During that time, he helped build the Milwaukee comedy scene, including through his work creating and running the annual Milwaukee Comedy Festival. The festival, now in its 20th year, kicks off today [Oct. 7], and runs through Sunday. Kemple was featured in a M...

Milwaukee Public Schools hired more than 200 teachers from other countries to help fill open jobs this year. The school district uses the temporary H-1B visa program to hire international teachers for three years at a time. This type of visa is reserved for people working in “specialty occupations” like teaching, computer sciences and engineering. Many employers like hospitals and tech companies,...

With two weeks left of Latine Heritage Month, WUWM’s Jimmy Gutierrez speaks to three leaders who are building up Latine community and culture in Milwaukee.

Jeremy Novy's signature koi fish stencils have decorated Milwaukee's streets since 2006. His latest piece of street art will be unveiled on October 6th. The Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project commissioned Novy to design rainbow crosswalks at the intersection of 2nd and National in the Walker’s Point neighborhood.

Engravings on bullet casings. Manifestos. Online profiles filled with hate. How deep does the rabbit hole go for mass shooters? Extremism experts warn that politicians and media outlets are getting the motivations of these young, isolated shooters all wrong.

For this edition of Books and Beyond, we’re leaving the library and going out into the community with Milwaukee Public Library’s Educational Outreach Services team.

Three Milwaukee residents have made the trip to the Palestinian territories to offer help where they could and check in on loved ones. WUWM’s Jimmy Gutierrez brings us their stories as they recorded audio diaries of their journeys, documenting what they witnessed firsthand. 

Doors Open Milwaukee celebrates 15 years since its first event in 2011. Learn how the event got started, and what keeps people coming back. 

Jimmy Gutierrez interviews Elizabeth Ai on her new documentary, New Wave, which explores how Vietnamese immigrants influenced new wave music. See it at the Downer Theater at 7 p.m. on Sept. 24.

We’ll explore the State of Working Wisconsin report and learn how federal policies are impacting workers.

The weather is getting a bit cooler, and summer is slowly coming to an end - but Milwaukee musicians are continuing to put out new music. As always, Matt Wild is listening.   Wild is the co-founder of Milwaukee Record and every month, he joins Lake Effect's Joy Powers to share some of the best new music from local artists. 

A 1000-year flood devastated the Milwaukee area in August. The flooding left at least two people dead and caused over 52-million-dollars in damages. Last week, the federal government approved FEMA assistance, which will provide financial relief to residents in three counties who were impacted by the flooding.   Erren Streeter is a FEMA media relations specialist. She joins WUWM’s Jimmy Gutierrez t...

As the weather becomes more unpredictable in Milwaukee — the Milwaukee County Zoo is adapting.   Tracey Dolphin is the zoo’s Director of Animal Management and Health. She says the zoo has emergency plans they update and rehearse year-round. Dolphin speaks with Lake Effect’s Xcaret Nuñez about how the Milwaukee County Zoo prepares for weather disasters — and how they handled the recent historic flo...

Last week, a national tour came to Milwaukee. Bay Area artist James Shields is on his third nationwide tour to interview Black farmers about Black agriculture and history.   Previous legs of the tour brought Shields across the South and Northeast. Now he’s tracing the Midwest, stopping in Milwaukee to interview farmers at Alice’s Garden. He conducts his interviews on a hand-made watermelon couch h...

Last year, Lake Effect reported on MKE Roots - a program from Marquette University that helps Milwaukee-area teachers incorporate local history into their lesson plans. The goal is to make social studies feel more relevant to students by focusing on local history.   But earlier this summer, MKE Roots’ federal grant funding was abruptly cut, along with about 20 programs nationwide. In its place, th...

Last week, President Trump approved 30 million dollars in federal assistance for people impacted by devastating floods in August. That means residents in Milwaukee, Waukesha, and Washington counties whose homes or property were damaged by the floods, may get some relief. One of the homeowners trying to rebuild is Wauwatosa resident Jessica Young.   WUWM Eric Von Fellow Maria Peralta-Arellano spoke...