Uniquely Milwaukee

BLOC, or Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, was a response to local and nationwide criticism of low voter turnouts in African-American communities. Executive Director Angela Lang breaks down BLOC's educational canvassing program and their free ride to the polls initiative, which she hopes will increase voter turnout and overall civic engagement in Milwaukee's Black community.

Last week, Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church hosted dozens of Sherman Park residents for a Building Bridges listening circle. Community members, young and older, were invited to meet their local law enforcement officers and to share any hopes or concerns for improving the Sherman Park neighborhood and the relationship between officers and residents

Sky High skate shop celebrates 30 years of cultivating Milwaukee's skateboard scene. Meet the man behind the Bay View shop - Aaron Polaski.

Black Girl Training is about identity and bringing filmmakers of color together in Milwaukee

NCSL, or Neighborhood Children's Sports League, is making organized football easily accessible and affordable for inner-city children in Milwaukee.

There’s something special about Kavon Cortez Jones. The 22-year-old spoken word artist speaks softly, but eloquently, making every word count. He’s a lifelong Milwaukeean, a graduate of Riverside High School, and has spent his adult life pursuing his three major passions: mentoring kids, cycling and, above all, penning poetry.

“Little convicts.” That was the phrase recently used by a conservative blogger to describe students at Vincent High School. Hear how the Milwaukee Youth Council is responding.

Ever wondered what's inside? What exactly is a "recreation area?" How did it get the name "Bong?" 88Nine's Nate Imig went to Kansasville to find out.

On July 31, public housing across the nation went smoke free. The federal Housing and Urban Development issued a new rule banning tobacco use in and near public housing complexes, and Milwaukee is starting to witness its success. Meet Dorise, an older African-American woman who started smoking at a young age and just successfully quit smoking thanks to this new initiative to keep public housing re...

MS Run the US is a 3,100-mile long relay race from Los Angeles, California to New York. The run was started in Brookfield, Wisconsin in 2009 to raise awareness and research funds for Multiple Sclerosis. The organization also raises money to assist those currently living with MS. Ricardo Contreras, who studies Exercise Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, participated in last month’s r...

The City of Milwaukee recently partnered with America Works WI to provide suits -- at no cost -- to men looking for work. Hear from a homeless man who is working to turn his life around.

Invisible Lines creators Laura Kezman, Vianca Fuster and Nate Imig discuss the next chapter for 88Nine's first feature-length documentary, debuting Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018 at 3:30 p.m. Trailer: InvisibleLinesMKE.com Tickets: mkefilm.org.

Arts @ Large partnered with the sweet folks at Burke Candy in Riverwest to design a Milwaukee-themed chocolate box. Summer interns for the non-profit arts organization collaborated with a local Milwaukee artist to design the art for the box of candy, which is now being sold at Burke Candy and the Arts @ Large Café in Walker’s Point.

Rosa Yeh is a New York-turned-Milwaukeean who has depended on public transportation her entire life. She came to Milwaukee to attend Marquette University, and when she graduated, the job market was rough. Though it took a lot of work and patience, Yeh found a job in MenomoneeFalls. For the last five years, she has relied on Milwaukee County Transit Services to get her from the South Side of Milwau...

How often do you think about how your shopping and dining habits may have an impact on our planet? We’re being asked to consider it more as cities like Chicago have implemented plastic bag taxes to reduce use of plastic, but it’s also understandable that environmental impact is not an everyday thought for people. The Milwaukee VA Medical Center is striving to be a leader in the community when it c...

Every year for the last five years, Milwaukee Renaissance Theaterworks hosts the Br! NK Festival as a way to uplift the voices and stories of women playwrights in Milwaukee and around the Midwest. This year a young woman named Nabra Nelson was one of two resident playwrights for the Br! NK Festival, which gave her an opportunity to turn a story close to her heart into a full-length play.

The rare art of a handwritten letter, dare I say, in cursive, has become nearly extinct. Penpals, however, have managed to survive natural selection and make a comeback for the greater good. Listen in on a volunteer group of Milwaukee penpals, forming friendships with incarcerated LGBTQ people.

UW-Milwaukee's Enquest engineering camp was created eight years ago to give high school girls exposure to an education and career in engineering. This summer, the girls created solar panel USB phone charging stations to send to a village in Guatemala. Listen to the audio story to learn more about their project.

“It’s really a beautiful experience… to be surrounded by young minds in a beautiful garden, it’s a great experience,” said Jeff Brown, as we were surrounded by the same garden he mentioned. I met Brown at Alice’s Garden on a Thursday evening for “Brown Boys Bonding Thru Books,” a community program Brown inherited from the owner of the garden Venice Williams.

The bright neon lights of rollercoaster rides and carnival games light up I-94 every August – but have you ever wondered who it is that helps make the Wisconsin State Fair glow? Meet Shari Black, the woman filling your stomach with fried foods and nacho cheese then turning it upside down on rollercoasters at State Fair’s Spin City.

Kyle Denton is an herbalist. His expertise revolves around all that grows from the ground: plants, flowers, fruits and more. He also owns Tippecanoe Herbs & Apothecary, a Walker’s Point boutique-style store selling herbal medicines, trinkets, household items and more. Throughout the summer, Denton leads Milwaukeeans on herb walks where he teaches them about herbs and plants to forage around th...

Christine Conley, whose grandparents are from Italy, has been a festivalgoer and volunteer from just about the beginning. She currently manages the Italian Heritage Photo Exhibit, which has a lifespan as long as the festival. It’s made up of religious artifacts and photos from Milwaukee’s Italian community dating back to the late 1800s.

Les Paul Foundation's Sue Baker talks about Paul's innovative work designing one of the most well known recording studios in the world, Capitol Records in Los Angeles.

Les Paul would have celebrated his 103rd birthday this year, and all these years later, the Wisconsin native's influence is still heard in virtually every genre of recorded music. Listen to my conversation with Sue Baker, program manager for the Les Paul foundation and close personal friend of Les', as she talks about his life of innovation.

Habitat Hotels give shelter to fish in Milwaukee's harbor