Since working for NNS, I’ve covered different types of stories. But what I have been drawn to most is reporting on the artists and creators of color who craft, celebrate and illuminate the pulse of their communities. 

Milwaukee’s Culture Makers is a visual series that follows artists, musicians, chefs, designers and other types of creatives at work, capturing not only what they create but why they create.

In this ongoing series, we will introduce you to new and longtime artists of color whose extraordinary creativity and community pride is shaping Milwaukee.

Meet some of Milwaukee’s Culture Makers

Ernesto “Neto” Atkinson: Opened in 2024 by Atkinson, The Catacombs of Neto Art Museum was designed as a space for conversation and connection but not silence.

RedNationBoyz: The Nahwahquaw brothers formed the drum group to connect local Indigenous boys, ranging in age from 10 to 20, to their roots.

Tia Richardson: For more than two decades, Richardson has helped residents transform not just walls but how they see themselves and their communities through collaborative murals.

My ask from you

I’m looking to hear directly from our readers: 

• Who are the cultural makers of color in Milwaukee you believe deserve to be seen and celebrated? 
• How is their creativity shaping the city of Milwaukee and its residents in meaningful ways?

Email me your nominations, including how their work has impacted you, to help us recognize and uplift the people creating culture and connection across our neighborhoods.

It’s been an honor to help tell their stories and I look forward to sharing many more.

To read more articles about Milwaukee’s Culture Makers, click here.

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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Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service Reporter PrincessSafiya Byers has been selected for the prestigious O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism at Marquette University. 

The fellowship, which begins in August, will allow Byers to produce an in-depth series of stories that explore how mental health challenges, gaps in school support and insufficient city and county resources push young people into housing instability and often trap them in cycles that extend into adulthood. 

Byers is the first journalist from a community-based nonprofit newsroom to be selected in the O’Brien Fellowship’s history. She and four other fellows will be teamed with two Marquette University students to assist with their projects.

“This talented group of journalists was selected from the largest applicant pool in O’Brien’s 14-year history,” Jeffery Gerritt, director of the O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism, said. “The diversity of their projects reflects both the future of journalism and O’Brien’s traditional mission of advancing justice and equity.” 

The fellows or their news organization will receive $75,000, with additional stipends for research, travel, and housing, to complete journalism projects that will advance justice and equity on local and national issues. 

Byers, who interned at NNS while a student at Marquette University before graduating in 2020. That year, she became NNS’s first full-time reporter through a partnership with Report For America.

“The selection of Princess to do a long-form special public service project also shows the value of investing in reporters,” said Ron Smith, executive director of the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. “We have become a destination for early-career reporters and a newsroom for veteran reporters who want to do great work in a newsroom that centers community and high-quality journalism.”

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Sunday is Mother’s Day. To honor mothers, we’re asking you to share a story about someone you think is one of Milwaukee’s best mothers or mother figures.  The last day to submit a story is Thursday, May 7.

To do so, it’s easy. Just send us your name and age, and a paragraph or two about why the person you’re writing about is the type of mother everyone should cherish. Please include a photo with your story and email both to me.  

Here’s a story you helped us write about Milwaukee’s best mothers in the past. 

Selected stories will be published on Mother’s Day! We can’t wait to hear from you. 

Sincerely,

Edgar Mendez

Managing Editor

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

The post Is there a mother or mother-figure you want us to celebrate for Mother’s Day? There’s still time! appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Gun violence continues to be a stubbornly persistent area of concern throughout Milwaukee. Although boys and men have been centered in discussions, the effects on women and teen girls have not been fully explored. 

To help create a space for them, NNS is hosting a series of intergenerational dialogues bringing together women and teen girls of all generations to talk about safety, conflict and violence in Milwaukee.

The April sessions will create space for participants to share experiences, reflect across generations and to explore solutions. Guided by facilitators Sandra Hernandez and Sylvia Wilson, conversations will be trauma-informed and designed to move beyond individual incidents to deeper patterns and root causes.

Through guided discussion, participants will reflect on what safety looks and feels like, what helps create it, what challenges it and what needs to change. The dialogues aim to surface impacts often overlooked in public conversations while also highlighting resilience and community strength.

A key goal is to bridge generational perspectives, ensuring youths feel heard and elders feel valued, while positioning women and girls as problem-solvers and co-creators of solutions. 

The information gleaned from the dialogues will help shape future reporting, and we will share our findings with community partners and civic leaders to help forge a path toward solutions.

The dialogues will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the following locations:

Thursday, April 16: Peak Initiative, 2480 W. Cherry St.

Tuesday, April 21:  Leaders Igniting Transformation, 132 W. Mineral St.

Tuesday, April 28: Milwaukee Community Crossroads, 807 S. 14th St. (Spanish-language dialogue)

Wednesday, April 29: Greater Little Hill Church of God in Christ, 2480 W. Locust St.

Meals will be provided, and community organizations will be on site with resources.The events are free, but space is limited. These events are for women and girls only. Register today.

The post NNS to bring Milwaukee women and teen girls together for intergenerational dialogues on safety, violence and solutions appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

In an emergency, we pick up the phone and dial 9-1-1 without much thought as to whether someone will answer. 

Increasingly though, communities across Wisconsin face a shortage of 911 dispatchers. 

Who will answer our calls if the crisis continues? And how can communities turn the shortage around?

That’s what we’ll explore in a free, virtual event on Feb. 18 from noon to 1:15 p.m. Reporter Miranda Dunlap will moderate a panel discussion featuring industry professionals and educators. The panelists are: 

• Billi Jo Baneck, instructor, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.
• Andrew Baus, associate dean, Moraine Park Technical College.
• Gail Goodchild, emergency preparedness director, Waukesha County.
• Tamee Thom, emergency communications center director, Chippewa County.

Goodchild and her team went from 20 vacancies in 2023 to just two in July 2025, according to Miranda’s reporting. We’ll ask Goodchild to share what steps Waukesha County took to make that happen, the challenges officials faced along the way and how things are going now. 

Baneck and Baus represent colleges where students train to become emergency telecommunicators. We’ll ask them what the training looks like, how they market their programs and more. 

Thom spent 21 years as a 911 dispatcher and has been leading Chippewa County’s emergency communications center for six years. We’ll ask her about the pros and cons of being a dispatcher and how the job has changed over the past two decades.

Register for the free event here. Submit a question for the panelists when you register, or email me at jzvandenhouten@wisconsinwatch.org. 

P.S. We’re launching an email newsletter focused on northeast Wisconsin! Cast a vote and sign up to receive the newsletter here. Watch for it in your inbox next month.

The post Who you gonna call? Panel will explore 911 dispatcher shortage appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Wisconsin Watch, the publisher of the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and one of the nation’s most successful nonprofit news organizations, will come under new leadership March 2 when Andy Pennington succeeds retiring CEO George Stanley.

Pennington has been regional president for Adams Multimedia, overseeing 10 Wisconsin news outlets and 150 employees. Prior to this, he was president and director of strategy for the Anchorage Daily News. In 2018, a new owner bought the bankrupt Daily News and recruited Pennington to build a thriving, sustainable digital-first news enterprise. 

In 2020, the Anchorage Daily News won the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service for its investigation into lawlessness ravaging Alaskan communities. Its longtime editor, David Hulen, said Pennington was a huge supporter of the newsroom’s mission, which was all about public service to the people of Alaska. 

Wisconsin Watch Board Chair, Kathy Bissen, says “Andy has exceptional expertise on the business side of journalism, combined with a passion for the critical value of local public service journalism. The Board is enthusiastic about Andy’s ability to continue growing Wisconsin Watch’s impact statewide.”

A native of Wisconsin, Pennington decided after seven years in Anchorage to return home, where he has overseen print and digital publications for the Janesville Gazette, Beloit Daily News, Watertown Daily Times, Daily Jefferson County Union, the Hometown Group, Antigo Daily Journal and Marinette Eagle Herald. 

In all, he has spent more than 20 years leading local news organizations and building revenue models that support strong independent journalism. 

 “I am excited about leading Wisconsin Watch,” Pennington said. “The work aligns closely with my experience and what I care about most: expanding access to trusted information, strengthening local journalism across Wisconsin communities, building sustainable financial models, and supporting talented journalists and staff.”

Pennington has a passion, Stanley said, for collaboration, community engagement and serving the most important needs of readers, all of which make him a great fit for leading a statewide news organization with the public service mission of “using journalism to make the communities of Wisconsin strong, informed and connected.”

“Andy has the right blend of knowledge, creativity, enthusiasm and appreciation for our mission that’s needed in the next leader of Wisconsin Watch,” Stanley said. “We’re building on a strong record of partnering with others and sharing important, impactful reporting, work begun by Dee and Andy Hall.” 

The Halls launched Wisconsin Watch in 2009 as the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism to produce important, labor-intensive investigative reports that had declined in Wisconsin and nationwide as the business model that long supported local news collapsed and newsrooms shrank. Wisconsin Watch continues to produce impactful special reports while expanding in recent years to fill growing local news voids across the state. 

George Stanley joined Wisconsin Watch in 2023 after the founders retired. Under Stanley, Wisconsin Watch made great strides in its mission to use journalism to make Wisconsin communities strong, informed and connected.

In 2024, Wisconsin Watch merged with Milwaukee’s Neighborhood News Service, which serves under-served Milwaukee neighborhoods. In 2025, Wisconsin Watch opened a satellite operation in Green Bay to better serve the Fox Valley.

Prior to coming to Wisconsin Watch, Stanley led the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newsroom as managing editor and editor from 1997 until his retirement from that position in January 2023. Over that time, the Journal Sentinel received virtually every major national journalism honor, including 10 Pulitzer Prize finalists.

“George is nationally recognized for his journalism and leadership expertise,” says Bissen. “I can’t imagine anyone who could have stepped in and built upon the founding work of Andy and Dee as successfully as George. To retire knowing that you made such an important impact statewide is amazing.” 

Wisconsin Watch, a 501(c)(3) organization, is supported by its members and Wisconsin philanthropies, including the Joseph and Vera Zilber Family Foundation, the Ascendium Education Group, the Kingsbury Family Fund, the Greater Milwaukee and Greater Green Bay Community Foundations, the Journal Foundation, The Brico Fund and Bader Philanthropies.  It is also supported nationally by the American Journalism Project, Emerson Collective, the Joyce Foundation, Arnold Ventures, the Ford Foundation, the Reva and David Logan Foundation and the Jampart Charitable Trust, among others. 

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Two of the Trump administration’s largest immigration enforcement operations have unfolded just across Wisconsin’s border. 

In September, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security dispatched hundreds of federal agents to Illinois, citing state “sanctuary policies” that bar local law enforcement from participating in immigration enforcement. In a press release announcing the operation, DHS Assistant Secretary Trisha McLaughlin called Illinois “a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens.” 

Dubbed “Midway Blitz,” the operation dramatically increased the pace of immigration arrests in greater Chicago within its first month-and-a-half. The surge coincided with frequent clashes between federal agents and protesters, who documented incidents in which agents drew firearms while conducting immigration arrests or facing demonstrators. Within a month, the operation resulted in two shootings by federal agents.

DHS withdrew from the operation’s command center at Naval Station Great Lakes by mid-November, as did Texas National Guard members deployed to support immigration enforcement officers. The agency in December shifted its attention to Minnesota, where it launched “Operation Metro Surge.” That operation has already resulted in thousands of arrests, DHS announced Monday. As in Chicago, it has also sparked daily confrontations between activists and immigration officers and led to two shootings, including the Jan. 7 incident in which an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, a U.S. citizen.

News of the immigration crackdowns in neighboring states has prompted some in Wisconsin to wonder: Might our communities be next?

While the Illinois and Minnesota operations have undoubtedly touched Wisconsin — some immigrants detained in Chicago last fall passed through Milwaukee while in ICE detention, for instance — DHS has yet to devote the same attention to Wisconsin.

Still, Wisconsin Watch has tracked agency arrest and detention records for months, noting a sharp increase in apprehensions beginning shortly after President Trump’s inauguration last January. 

Here are some other storylines we’ve followed: 

• A vast majority of the roughly 1,000 immigrants arrested by ICE in Wisconsin between January and October of last year had prior criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. But arrests in Wisconsin of immigrants with no criminal history were ticking upward. Roughly 17% had no prior criminal convictions or pending charges. Roughly half of those without criminal histories were arrested at DHS’ downtown Milwaukee office, often while checking in on the status of their immigration cases. 
• Immigrants picked up by ICE while awaiting a decision in a criminal case often forfeit their bail. In many cases, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said, prosecutors are left in the dark when ICE detains a defendant in their jurisdiction. 
• DHS’s claims about arrestees’ criminal histories do not always match court records. Among the two dozen immigrants arrested in Manitowoc last October — the largest ICE raid in Wisconsin since Trump took office — was Abraham Maldonado Almanza, a dairy worker from Mexico. DHS claimed he had a prior conviction for identity theft, but court records in Wisconsin and Iowa, where Maldonado Almanza lived before moving to Manitowoc, show nothing to corroborate the claim. DHS also claimed that the Manitowoc operation netted a Honduran national charged with sexual assault of a child, but that man, Hilario Moreno Portillo, had been in ICE custody for months at the time of the Manitowoc arrests, court records showed.

Even without enforcement surges like those in Illinois and Minnesota, the Trump administration’s immigration policy overhauls are reshaping Wisconsin. We recently documented the consequences for two immigrant workers in key sectors of the state’s economy: a Mexican engineer at an aluminum foundry in Manitowoc and a Nicaraguan herdsman who lacks legal status while working on a dairy farm near Madison. Their employers, who rely on immigrant labor to expand or maintain their operations, are also feeling the pinch, as will consumers if farmers’ and manufacturers’ hiring woes drive up prices.

You can find more of our immigration coverage here. 

As we continue reporting on the White House’s immigration crackdown, we want to hear from you. What questions would you like us to answer? What are we missing? Where should we look next? 

Email me at pkiefer@wisconsinwatch.org.

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Wisconsin Watch, a nonprofit news organization that uses journalism to make communities strong, informed and connected, is seeking a Pathways to Success Reporter focused on southeast Wisconsin. This reporter will explore what’s needed for residents to build thriving careers in the future economy — and what’s standing in the way. That includes expanding coverage of postsecondary education and workforce training, focusing on how education and economic trends impact people’s lives. The role centers on solution-oriented journalism that serves the public, strengthens community life, and holds those in power accountable. 

This Milwaukee-based reporter will join a four-person pathways-focused team that includes an editor, Madison-based statewide reporter and northeast Wisconsin reporter in Green Bay. 

You can read our pathways coverage here, and read more about our approach to the beat here and here. 

About Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Founded in 2009, Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to producing nonpartisan journalism that makes the communities of Wisconsin strong, informed and connected. We believe that access to local representative news is critical to a healthy democracy and to finding solutions to the most pressing problems of everyday life. Under the Wisconsin Watch umbrella, we have three independent news divisions, a statewide investigative newsroom, a regional collaboration in Northeast Wisconsin called the NEW News Lab, and the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service (NNS). All three divisions maintain their unique reporting areas and together are positioned to grow and serve our communities with greater efficiency and impact. 

About this position

The ideal candidate will have at least 2 years of experience researching, reporting, and writing original published new stories, bring a public service mindset and a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisan journalism ethics, including a commitment to abide by Wisconsin Watch’s ethics policies, and have experience working collaboratively to report stories that explore solutions to challenges residents face.

Click here for a full job description.

Location: The reporter will be based in Milwaukee. They will have space to work in the Milwaukee NNS newsroom (NNS is a division of Wisconsin Watch). 

Salary and benefits: The salary range is $45,500-$64,500. Final offer amounts will carefully consider multiple factors, and higher compensation may be available for someone with advanced skills and/or experience. Wisconsin Watch offers competitive benefits, including generous vacation (five weeks), a retirement fund contribution, paid sick days, paid family and caregiver leave, subsidized medical and dental premiums, vision coverage, and more.

To apply: Please submit a PDF of your resume, work samples and answer some brief questions in this application form. If you’d like to chat about the job before applying, contact Northeast Wisconsin/Pathways Editor Jennifer Zettel-Vandenhouten at jzvandenhouten@wisconsinwatch.org. 

Deadline: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Apply by Jan. 9, 2026 for best consideration.

Wisconsin Watch is dedicated to improving our newsroom by better reflecting the people we cover. We are committed to fostering an equitable workplace that reflects, understands, and listens to the people we serve. We are an equal-opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, or any other status protected under applicable law.

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You ought to be in pictures for the holidays!

And your favorite newsroom has got you covered.

Milwaukee NNS photojournalist Jonathan Aguilar will be available to take your family’s front porch holiday photo on Saturday, Dec. 13.

The photo shoots are for North Side and South Side neighborhoods.

Book a time here.

We’ll follow up with a specific 30-minute time slot for your family’s photo.

These portraits will be featured in Milwaukee NNS as part of our holiday coverage.

The post Milwaukee, we’re coming for you appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

The Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service’s Ron Smith has been named the 2025 IDEA Champion of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Southeastern Wisconsin.

This honor, presented as part of National Philanthropy Day, recognizes leaders whose work advances Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) in the philanthropic and nonprofit community.

NNS was celebrated alongside other changemakers on Nov. 20 during a special event that spotlighted individuals whose generosity, leadership and commitment are shaping a stronger, more connected Southeastern Wisconsin.

In the nomination, the writers highlighted NNS’s mission-driven journalism that amplifies underrepresented voices, deepens public understanding and builds bridges across Milwaukee’s most diverse neighborhoods. 

NNS has continued to model what equitable, community-centered journalism looks like in practice: reporting that listens first, collaborates deeply and informs with heart and integrity.

Smith, the executive director of NNS, is an award-winning journalist who served as the managing editor for news at USA TODAY before returning to Milwaukee.

Smith also worked as the deputy managing editor for daily news and production at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where he oversaw the breaking news hub and production desks and was the key point person for print story selections and workflow.

He also has been an editor at The Oregonian, the Los Angeles Times and Newsday and has edited three Pulitzer Prize-winning newsroom projects.  In 2024, he was inducted into the Milwaukee Press Club’s Media Hall of Fame.

Other honorees included:

Brian A. McCarty, Philanthropist of the Year

Brenda Skelton, Volunteer of the Year

Nazaria Hooks, Philanthropic Youth of Today

Kelley McCaskill, Fundraising Professional of the Year

Froedtert Health & Medical College of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Organization Philanthropy Award

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Last holiday season, we started a new tradition at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. We reached out to you, our neighbors, to see how you celebrate the season of gratitude and giving, and what you’re thankful for. The responses we received warmed our hearts.

Here’s one.

‘Everything in my life’

Name: Lashawn Robinson
Age: 16
Occupation: Golda Meir School student
Neighborhood: Parkway Hills

What are you thankful for this season and why?

“I’m thankful to God for giving me a beautiful mom and family to wake up to. I’m really thankful for everything in my life because I used to be bad … like I had bad behavior so I am thankful for how far I’ve come. That I’ve been able to meet people like Milton (his supervisor) and how far God has brought me as an individual.” 

Here’s what others said.

We want to know what you’re thankful for

This Thanksgiving, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, also known as NNS, wants to uplift the people, organizations and spaces that make Milwaukee a better place.

Tell us: Who or what are you thankful for in your neighborhood?

We’re gathering short reflections from community members across the city. Your shout-out may be featured in our annual Thanksgiving article.

Let’s celebrate gratitude and community, together.

You can share what you’re thankful for by filling out this short form. The deadline to submit is Monday, Nov. 24.

Thank you and Happy Holidays.

The post What are you thankful for this season? appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Do your outdoor Halloween decorations light up the neighborhood and scare away local kids? Did you create a Dia De Los Muertos ofrenda to honor and celebrate your loved one? 

If so, we want to see your photos. Your photos could be featured in upcoming photo essays celebrating the beauty and creativity across Milwaukee. 

Submit your Halloween photos here.  

Submit photos of your ofrenda here.

The post Do you have an ofrenda or spooktacular outdoor Halloween setup you’d like to showcase? Let us know! appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Tannette Elie, former managing editor of the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, will be inducted into the Milwaukee Press Club’s Media Hall of Fame for 2025 on Friday, Oct. 3.

“Our Hall of Fame keeps getting better and better,” Tom Daykin, press club president-elect, said in a news release. “This year’s honorees represent the best in local journalism. It’s so critically important to celebrate their impactful work and dedication to our industry and community.”

Elie retired from NNS in January and spent 20 years as a reporter and business columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel before leaving the news organization in 2009.

Other inductees include:
• Morry Gash, Associated Press

• Kristyn Halbig Ziehm, Ozaukee Press

• Tom Heinen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (retired)

• Lori Nickel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

• Sean O’Flaherty, TMJ4 (deceased)

• Mike Strehlow, CBS58

Last year, NNS Executive Director Ron Smith was inducted into the Media Hall of Fame; NNS Founding Editor Sharon McGowan became an inductee in 2019.

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As of July, two dozen Ashland residents had cases pending in federal immigration court. Attending court dates in person would require at least a three-and-a-half-hour trek to Fort Snelling in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Two mosques in Barron owe their existence to a nearby Jennie-O turkey plant, which has employed Somali refugees on its processing line since the 1990s.

And for the first time in five decades, Milwaukee’s Oklahoma Avenue did not host a Mexican independence day parade this September. Instead, a smaller crowd marked the holiday on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Mitchell Park, and a small convoy of pickup trucks flying Mexican flags spent the weekend cruising Milwaukee’s South Side, eliciting friendly honks from supportive fellow drivers.  

Immigration is as front-of-mind in Wisconsin as it is across the country. If it’s at the front of your mind, Wisconsin Watch wants to hear from you.

Are you an immigrant yourself? A business owner sponsoring an employee’s green card? A teacher meeting with parents from a half-dozen countries? A public official in a town like Barron? Does your farm rely on seasonal guest workers? Whoever you are, we want your help building a clearer picture of how immigration is reshaping Wisconsin – and how Wisconsin is shaping its immigrant communities.

Wisconsin Watch has covered immigration for more than a decade, but this year, we’re devoting new energy to the subject. That’s where I come in.

I’m Paul Kiefer, Wisconsin Watch’s first dedicated immigration reporter, albeit as a one-year Roy W. Howard fellow. I’m new to Wisconsin, but I’ve covered immigration before, most recently for the Washington Post on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where a fast-growing Haitian community is reassessing its relationship with the region’s poultry industry.

Immigration is rarely a stand-alone subject, and we plan to explore the intersections with Wisconsin Watch’s other coverage areas. What role will immigrants play in the future of Wisconsin’s paper mills? What becomes of homes left empty when their residents are deported? What trade-offs are involved when a county jail dedicates cell space to hold ICE detainees?

Above all else, we want our immigration coverage to reach as broad a cross section of Wisconsin as possible. That means considering the input of Wisconsinites from every walk of life, always with our mission – to inform, to connect and to hold officials accountable – in mind.

If you have suggestions, tips or questions, please reach out to me at pkiefer@wisconsinwatch.org. I speak English and Spanish; if you speak another language, we can work out a way to communicate.

The post Help shape our immigration reporting appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Sometimes life hits you with full-circle moments. For me, writing this is one of them. 

After eight years away from the Badger State, I returned home this month to start my role as the new state government and politics reporter at Wisconsin Watch. I will be following the major stories inside the Capitol and connecting with key players in and outside of the building to make sure Wisconsinites understand what is happening in their government and how it affects their lives. 

This work is important to me because Wisconsin is my home. I grew up in the Milwaukee area and graduated from Marquette University, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Real-world reporting opportunities in college at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service launched my career and taught me the value of community journalism. (NNS is now part of Wisconsin Watch, another full-circle moment.) 

I spent my post-college years reporting on local government at the Naples Daily News in southwest Florida and most recently in Indiana at the Indianapolis Star. Over four-and-a-half years in Indianapolis, I covered local, state and federal politics in the Hoosier State, which included stories on Democratic infighting over reproductive care, the dilemma over how far Republicans should go on property tax reform and how the state’s child labor violations rose as lawmakers rolled back existing protections. 

One thing never changed during my time away: Wisconsin was always on my mind, and frequently in the national spotlight. (It hasn’t even been six months since the April Supreme Court race set another spending record.) I felt a pull to return home, and Wisconsin Watch gave me that rare opportunity. 

I’m thrilled to be back and to contribute to the important journalism my colleagues are doing every day across the state.

In the meantime, you can help me get going in this essential work. Email me at bcarloni@wisconsinwatch.org with your ideas on what to look into, questions about why our government works the way it does and suggestions for who I should meet. You can also subscribe to our weekly politics newsletter, Forward, to stay informed about what’s coming each week at the Capitol.

The post When it comes to covering state government and politics, there’s no place like Wisconsin appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Back in 2010, I wasn’t just struggling to find work in journalism, I couldn’t find a full-time job, period. I was renting a room from a friend, surviving off what little money I had saved and what I was making writing a column here and there for El Conquistador Latino Newspaper. 

My dream of being a reporter was fading when my dream job appeared. The Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, a yet-to-be launched media source, was looking for a reporter to cover Clarke Square, the neighborhood I still live in. 

Milwaukee NNS was a new project of Marquette University and the Zilber Family Foundation. It was created to cover underrepresented communities and show a balanced and more accurate picture of Milwaukee and its residents. I was hired and my NNS journey began. 

My journey

During my 15 years at NNS I’ve experienced many personal changes. I became a father. My family has grown since then. I completed graduate school. I got engaged. I’ve covered education, the opioid epidemic, the police department, city, county and state government, and the criminal justice system. 

I wrote hundreds of stories and spoke with thousands of people. Along the way, I’ve met countless individuals and organizations making a difference: champions in our community. 

In July 2024, I finally joined NNS full time, becoming its gun violence solutions reporter. It was a role I relished as someone who has been impacted on multiple levels by violence. 

The role was challenging but fortified my love for being a reporter. To be honest, I never viewed myself as being anything other than a reporter. But something changed in recent months. 

New horizons

I got a chance to lead. Not just by example, but by being placed at the helm of the newsroom as our executive director was away. The experience was eye-opening to say the least. It helped me become more confident in my ability to edit and help craft a story and in my skills as a leader. 

But most importantly, it helped me see the joy in working alongside reporters to help them hone their skills as they tell the stories about our communities and residents. Seeing a story published that I edited with a reporter was as rewarding as writing my own. 

When the opportunity came to include myself in a national search for NNS’ next managing editor, I took the plunge. Weeks later, the news came. I was chosen to help lead NNS into the future. 

I wholeheartedly believe in the mission of NNS. I know the passion of our reporters. I love the city of Milwaukee and its residents. I take on this mission with great pride and great responsibility to you, our readers, our reporters and the community as a whole. 

I thank the village that supported me along the way. Those who believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. I’m happy I never gave up. I’m happy I chose NNS and that NNS chose me. Now it’s time to keep us moving forward! Adelante! 

The post Opinion: I chose NNS and NNS chose me: My journey to becoming managing editor appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, the nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering the city’s diverse neighborhoods, has promoted veteran journalist Edgar Mendez to managing editor following a national search. 

Mendez, a Milwaukee native and one of the newsroom’s founding reporters, will guide the award-winning newsroom into its next chapter of community-driven journalism.

Mendez’s promotion marks a moment of growth, as NNS expands its staff. Alex Klaus joins as an education reporter focused on accountability and solutions in Milwaukee’s K-12 schools, while Jonathan Aguilar, a bilingual multimedia journalist, brings reporting and photojournalism expertise to the team.

‘Trust and respect in the community’

A resident of Milwaukee’s Clarke Square neighborhood, Mendez has long grounded his work in the needs of the community. “I’m beyond excited to lead NNS through its next chapter of growth, as we continue to build on a strong foundation of trust and respect in the community,” Mendez said. “Our focus is going to be guided by their needs as we map out our future.”

Ron Smith, executive director of NNS, said the newsroom’s national candidate search confirmed what Milwaukee already knew: Mendez’s leadership, track record and connection to the city make him uniquely suited for the role.

“It’s funny how the national search for managing editor led us to a local treasure who was already in our newsroom,” Smith said. “Edgar has been with us since our beginning and has built trust in our community through his rigorous, people-centric reporting. He’s not only a champion of great journalism, he’s also a champion of the great journalists who do the work.”

A distinguished career

Mendez has built a career telling the stories of his Clarke Square neighborhood and beyond. His award-winning reporting has earned him a 2018 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and multiple Milwaukee Press Club honors.

He has reported on critical community issues ranging from taverns and marijuana law enforcement to lead in water service lines and the opioid epidemic. Notable stories include an examination of families of homicide victims fighting for justice in Milwaukee’s hundreds of unsolved murder cases; an investigation into the city’s drug crisis, revealing how older Black men are dying of overdoses at staggering rates; and a look at Sherman Park three years after unrest, probing whether reforms improved police-community relations.

With Mendez’s appointment and the additions of Klaus and Aguilar, NNS is strengthening its capacity to deliver fearless, fact-based reporting to communities of color in Milwaukee. 

Mendez’s deep roots in Milwaukee and his reputation for editorial excellence align with NNS’s mission to elevate local voices and cover stories that matter to the people who live, work and serve in city neighborhoods. As part of Wisconsin Watch, NNS continues to expand its impact and rebuild local news in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin.

“We want to give Milwaukee the newsroom it deserves,” Smith added. “The hiring of Edgar gives us the momentum we need to serve our neighbors at a time when fearless, community-centered journalism is needed more than ever.”

The post Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service names Edgar Mendez managing editor following national search appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

My name is Alex Klaus, and I’m the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service’s new education solutions reporter and a Report for America corps member. 

Solutions to problems in education have been on my mind for a long time. 

I grew up in South Lyon, a quickly developing Detroit suburb. Though my school district was highly rated, we didn’t receive as much funding as nearby schools. I felt those impacts while trying to navigate the special education system. 

I had an undiagnosed disability and the already under-resourced special education system could not provide me with the support I needed. I’m naturally curious and love learning, but I hated school and couldn’t wait to leave by the time I graduated. I thought I wasn’t capable of being a good student when really I just needed accommodations for my disability. 

Making the educational system better

I spent a lot of time as a student thinking about how to make things better. 

How could schools ensure no more students with undiagnosed disabilities fall through the cracks? 

How can we equip special education programs to meet the diverse needs of students with disabilities? 

Most importantly, how can we help students leave school with a love for learning? 

313 to 414

I moved from South Lyon to Detroit in 2022 to pursue a degree in urban studies and public history at Wayne State University. As my degree suggests, I’m a big urban planning and history nerd. 

I discovered my love for local government while covering city meetings for Detroit Documenters. I reported on a wide variety of city agencies like the City Council, Board of Police Commissioners, school board, planning department, and more. 

Last summer, I got my start in education reporting as a summer intern at Chalkbeat Detroit. 

Detroit’s school district has a bad reputation for low test scores, public safety issues, chronic absenteeism and more. The challenges are largely associated with the district’s complex history including divestment caused by white flight and segregation, then being taken over by state emergency management and forced to close dozens of neighborhood schools. 

I loved Chalkbeat because I was not just tasked with putting another spotlight on these already evident issues, I  wrote about what the district was doing to ensure student success as it recovered.

What does ‘education solutions’ mean? Plus, what I’m looking for from you!

Now that I’m in Milwaukee, I’m talking to folks and already understanding that local schools and school systems have both a multitude of challenges and potential for growth. 

Detroit shares many educational struggles with Milwaukee. Seeing Detroit pilot innovative solutions to persistent problems taught me that it is possible for other districts to try innovative things, even if they’ve faced enormous financial and leadership challenges. 

As a new superintendent begins her tenure as the leader of the troubled Milwaukee Public Schools system, and charter and other schools also face challenges, it’s a more important time than ever to bring a spotlight to tangible solutions. 

So tell me: What problems do you see in our local education system? What solutions do you want to see? What solutions are working and which aren’t having the impact that they’re supposed to? 

Let me know your thoughts, or any other Milwaukee-area recommendations you have for a city newbie (bonus if it’s a yummy restaurant). My email is aklaus@milwaukeenns.org.

I’m so excited to serve you as an NNS reporter and Report forAmerica corps member! 

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.

The post Inside the NNS Newsroom: Meet Alex Klaus, our education solutions reporter appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Hello, Milwaukee! My name is Jonathan Aguilar, and I am joining the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service as a photojournalist as well as a Report for America corps member and a Catchlight fellow.

Report for America is a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities.

Catchlight is a visual-first media organization that leverages the power of visual storytelling to inform, connect and transform communities. Through both programs, I’m proud to focus on visual storytelling for Milwaukee.     

Why I choose journalism

I am a bilingual, multimedia journalist coming from the suburbs of Chicago. In 2017, I traveled to Mexico and stayed with my extended family in Tampico, even though the American government had placed my parents’ hometown on a “Do Not Travel” list.

The media had portrayed Mexico as a country overrun with crime, violence, instability, and poverty. But what I encountered was something completely different: a vibrant community full of life, resilience and rich culture.

I was welcomed with warmth and generosity, and I saw firsthand the strength of families, the creativity of local artisans and the beauty of their everyday routines. The disconnect between what I had been told in American media and what I actually experienced was striking. I felt compelled through my photography to capture what I witnessed: the humanity, spirit and depth of the people.

That trip became a turning point for me, deepening my passion for storytelling and fueling my commitment to give a platform to the voices of communities that are often misunderstood or overlooked in mainstream media. 

My background

My passion for visibility through journalism led me to help establish the National Association of Hispanic Journalists chapter at DePaul University, and this gave way to me becoming a founding member of La DePaulia, the first Spanish-speaking newsroom at DePaul University.

For my master’s degree, I attended graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism while freelancing for several local Chicago publications, like Borderless and the Chicago Reader. From there, I spent two years as a photographer at one of America’s oldest continuously published daily newspapers, The Blade, in Toledo, Ohio.

What I want to do for Milwaukee

I believe photojournalism is just as vital as written reporting. Photographs can often capture moments and emotions that words cannot fully express. They serve as historical records, emotional touchstones and powerful tools for understanding. 

Unfortunately, many newsrooms have downsized or eliminated their photography departments. Yet visual journalism remains essential, and often speaks when others cannot. As the famous quote says, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Now in Milwaukee, I look forward to meeting and working with you. I want to hear your stories and share them through a visual lens that honors your experiences. You can reach me by email at jaguilar@milwaukeenns.org

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 post Inside the NNS Newsroom: Meet Jonathan Aguilar, our new photojournalist  appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

I’m doing something a little crazy this week. 

My 35-year college reunion starts Friday at Marquette University. 

I’m riding my bicycle across Wisconsin to get there. 

I left Monday from Red Wing, Minnesota  I will bike 317 miles, and it will take me five days.

Why?

First, to do something I have long wanted to do before age takes the opportunity away.

Second, to raise money for two organizations: Neighborhood House, a social services organization in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where I  serve on the board; and the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, which has a long affiliation with Marquette and offers me a way to honor my journalism education there.

Also why: There’s a lot of arguing about ideas and opinions and who is right and who is wrong, but something matters more – what we DO to make our communities and world better for everyone.

And that’s why I am asking for donations to these organizations as part of my ride. Both organizations make people’s lives better. I will match ALL donations up to $5,000.

NNS is led by Ron Smith, who was the first person to greet me at the Marquette Tribune offices 39 years ago and get me started there. 

Today, NNS reporters bring news to neighborhoods that are underserved by major media, and they tell their stories as a trusted messenger.

I will post daily as I proceed.

The donation link is here.

Gregory J. Myers is a partner at Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP, which serves clients throughout Minnesota, Illinois, Massachusetts and across the country.

The post Inside the NNS Newsroom: I’m biking across Wisconsin to raise money for NNS appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.