Milwaukee, WI

Criminal justice advocates express high hopes for Milwaukee’s new district attorney | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Published

12 months ago

January 14, 2025

Criminal justice advocates express high hopes for Milwaukee’s new district attorney | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

In the Milwaukee County Safety Building at 821 W. State St., Kent Lovern discusses his past, present and future as a prosecutor within the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office. (Photo by Devin Blake)

District Attorney-elect Kent Lovern has made it a priority to listen to residents on the North and South sides of Milwaukee.

“What I have heard loudly and clearly is everyone wants to feel safe, and everyone wants that safety in their daily lives, and they want that for their children,” Lovern said.

At a ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 16, Lovern will be publicly recognized in his new role. With nearly 30 years of experience as a prosecutor, he’s recognized for his collaborative approach to systemic issues.

Lovern focuses on collaborations outside his office, in part, because he believes these collaborations are necessary to sustainably reduce violence and increase public safety in Milwaukee.

“I just feel like we need to better connect into one another and develop our own system of public safety – one that is really framed up as community development, economic development, educational development and the public safety comes with that,” he said.

Among Milwaukee’s large network of criminal justice advocates, many say they feel heard by Lovern.

“Kent has always been thoughtful and responsive to me,” said Emilio De Torre, executive director of Milwaukee Turners, which advocates for various criminal justice initiatives as well as those impacted by the criminal justice system.

Working together

“We can’t unring the bell of a crime, right? If somebody commits a crime, like myself, they need to be prosecuted,” said Adam Procell, who coordinates the monthly resource fair Home to Stay, for formerly incarcerated individuals reentering society. “But after that time period, when somebody gets out, he (Lovern) also understands that if we don’t provide the person with an opportunity to lead an optimal lifestyle, they’re going to have to prosecute them again for another crime.”

For Lovern, people reentering have a unique ability to lead others away from crime.

“People returning back to communities, looking to be proactive members of their community, looking for ways to help mentor young people and help instruct young people about the pitfalls and the mistakes they made – that’s a very powerful group,” he said.

Milwaukee County has the largest population of people on parole, probation or extended supervision in the state. At the end of October, nearly 13,000 people were under supervision, state correctional data show.

“On the whole, I have heard more interest in reentry across the board … than I have heard at any time in my career,” Lovern said.

Causes of crime

Lovern’s support of reentry is consistent with an overall preventive approach to crime.

He cites the relationship between drug addiction and crime as a good example.

“We’ve had a strong approach to this for some time, because right after John (Chisholm) was elected, 18 years ago, we created an early intervention unit, and that was immediately designed to offer opportunities for people to work through a criminal charge…and we’ve seen a lot of success with that.”

WISDOM, a statewide faith-based organization, wants Lovern to expand on this philosophy.

“There’s a lot of room for certainly expanding treatment alternatives to incarceration for people living with mental illness and with addiction issues, and there are many opportunities to divert more people from the system. I’m definitely optimistic that those types of programs will continue and will expand,” said Mark Rice, coordinator of WISDOM’s Wisconsin Transformational Justice Campaign.

Lovern is proud of Milwaukee’s mental health courts, which address cases involving mental health concerns, including assessments of competence and insanity pleas.

An intermediate goal the DA’s office is close to achieving, he said, is increasing the number of cases handled in these courts to 30 cases on an ongoing basis, compared to 10 cases previously.

“Somebody might come first through the police department or to the DA ‘s office, and we may be saying, ‘Look, this person isn’t really committing criminal behavior – the bigger concern here is the mental health piece,’” said Lovern.

Current crime and safety risks

Recent data from the Milwaukee Police Department show notable declines since 2023 in violent crimes, especially homicides and non-fatal shootings, and a reduction in most property crimes.

But certain violent crimes have increased since 2022, including robberies and carjackings.

“There’s no question that there is additional work that needs to be done to drive down the level of violent crime we see in this community,” Lovern said.

The problem, he added, is not evenly spread throughout the city.

A quarter of Milwaukee County homicides since 2023 occurred in only two ZIP codes.

“Everyone’s concerned about crime everywhere, but we know where the concentrations of violent crime exist,” said Lovern, adding that many residents in these neighborhoods tell him that we need “a strong response” to crime and that these “neighborhoods need to be valued.”

Limits of the office

Rice, of WISDOM, does not want fairness and justice to be lost, however.

“We still in Wisconsin incarcerate Black people at one of the highest rates in the nation,” he said. “There’s a lot of discretion up front when plea bargains are reached in terms of who gets diverted from the system and who goes in.”

Rice and others also worry about the systemic limitations of the DA’s office to address such problems.

“Jobs like the DA’s office, mayor’s office, police chief tend to be very difficult, with unforeseen pressures and inherent flaws in how they’ve been systemized over the years,” said De Torre, of Milwaukee Turners. “The real test is how a person acts and what they do within a flawed system.”

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee shoppers frustrated by grocery prices as election year nears

Published

5 days ago

December 29, 2025

Press Room

Milwaukee shoppers frustrated by grocery prices as election year nears

Voters in Wisconsin are frustrated with high prices, which could impact the 2026 midterm elections.
Financial experts suggest that prices, which have risen significantly since 2020, are unlikely to decrease.
Many shoppers are cutting back on expenses like food, travel, and personal care to cope with the rising cost of living.
A recent poll found that 75% of Wisconsin residents surveyed said their grocery costs have gone up.

Adriana Maldonado is a yoga therapist in Wauwatosa with two children at home and three who are grown up that she tries to help with groceries. She has a one-word description for the economy.

“Awful.”

Maldonado said she’s had to pick up extra work to pay bills and other expenses.

“I also bartend at Gibraltar’s, and I also drive for Veyo, which picks up medical patients,” Maldonado said. “And whatever odds and ends I can do, I will do.”

Maldonado added she has cut back on some spending.

“I had to get rid of car insurance for a little while and then I just picked up a cheaper (policy),” Maldonado said. “I cut back on any eating out.”

Maldonado said her faith in the political system and in politicians is broken.

“This is just playing a game on humans,” Maldonado said of the political process.

Maldonado said she encourages people to shop at small local businesses.

“Stop shopping at large companies, come to more local places, put money back into our community,” Maldonado said. “It makes more sense. If we continue to shop the big (stores) we’re going to lose people. There’s so many businesses closing right now, it’s so sad.”

Maldonado is in the sweet spot for one of the most consequential discussions happening across the country: How is the country doing economically? Is daily life affordable? Are we facing sticker shock at the grocery store?

And the enduring political question: Are we better off today than the last time we voted?

President Donald Trump says the Golden Age is upon us, complaints about affordability are a hoax, and any concerns are the fault of the Biden administration combined with the Federal Reserve’s refusal to slash interest rates.

Countering that perspective:

National consumer sentiment sits near all-time lows, according to the University of Michigan’s monthly survey. The latest survey released Dec. 5 found sentiment improved slightly from November but remained 28 percentage points below December 2024 levels. “Consumers see modest improvements from November on a few dimensions, but the overall tenor of views is broadly somber, as consumers continue to cite the burden of high prices,” University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu said.
The U.S. job market is showing signs of slowing, adding just 64,000 jobs in November, according to the most recent employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, the highest in four years. Preliminary data for October 2025 released Dec. 16 showed a loss of 105,000 jobs that month, largely driven by layoffs of federal workers.
The Urban Institute reported in October that Americans are struggling to afford essentials like food, childcare and housing. Nearly four in five Americans believe the U.S. economy will not improve in the year ahead.
The U.S. job market has been stagnant in recent months, and paycheck growth has been falling steadily for more than three years.
Consumers never adjusted to the supply chain chaos and dramatic rise in prices during the COVID pandemic. Many of those prices never came down. “The price level changed so much because we had such high inflation for a couple of years there and you’re continuing to add inflation to an already high price level … people haven’t had time to adjust to that,” said Dominic Ceci, chief investing officer for Johnson Financial Group. “In the last five years, we’ve had more inflation than we did in a long time. If you think about prices in 2020, pre-pandemic versus now, it’s a huge difference. It’s a whiplash effect.”

Marquette Poll indicates widespread pessimism

According to the most recent Marquette Law School Poll, 47% of those surveyed in early November said their groceries have “gone up a lot,” and 28% said groceries have “gone up a little.”

In the same poll, people were asked to predict if the cost of living would increase, decrease or stay the same in the next 12 months. Two-thirds said they expect the cost of living to go up.

Historically, the party in power performs poorly in midterm elections. That means Republicans and Trump are running short on time to change people’s minds, according to Marquette Law School Poll director Charles Franklin.

“He is now suffering from this widespread perception, and especially with swing voters, these policies aren’t helping inflation, they’re really exacerbating it,” Franklin said. “That’s tied to tariffs but also other things.”

The widespread frustration with the economy helped Democratic candidates in New York, Virginia, New Jersey and Miami win races in 2025.

“Politicians need to react to that,” Ceci said of voters’ feelings on the economy. “There’s some stuff they can do. There’s tax policy. There’s all kinds of things, but is it realistic that any of that gets done or gets done effectively? Probably not. You really need all of the people to come together to agree to pass bills and make things happen.”

People coming together is not exactly a hallmark of today’s politics.

Milwaukee resident Blanca Rivera, a former parent educator with Bay View Community Center, said food in particular has gotten more expensive. She has three children, and two of them have already moved out or contribute financially to her household.

Even with fewer people to feed, Rivera said she’s spending around $400 per week on food for her family.

“The same amount of money that we spend now for only us three, it’s the same amount of money I used to spend for four to six people before,” said Rivera, who sometimes also shops for other relatives.

To save money, Rivera has cut back on trips to see family members in El Salvador. She used to visit at least two or three times per year, but her budget now only allows for one.

“When you want to go over there, you don’t want to go empty handed. You wanted to bring something” for relatives, Rivera said. “I used to bring seven luggage bags – now I bring two.”

Rivera is also reducing personal care-related expenses to save more money for her family’s more basic needs.

“Before, I used to go and do my nails, my hair, maybe go to buy a nice perfume,” she said. “Now, I’ve got to wait three, four months to do my hair.”

The Journal Sentinel went shopping last year. And then went back.

President Trump said prices would start falling shortly after he took office in January 2025, and in recent months said his administration is bringing down some prices and slowing inflation.

But lower prices have not been seen in Milwaukee area grocery stores.

In August 2024, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel collected the price of a basket of groceries at five Milwaukee-area stores: Walmart, Pick ‘n Save, Target, Festival Foods and Woodman’s.

On Dec. 2, 2025, the Journal Sentinel returned to the same stores to compare how prices changed over the past 16 months. Totals were collected using the same list of common staple items across all five stores. Name brand items were purchased; some stores offer house brands that would significantly bring down prices.

The full grocery list was:

Almond Milk: 64 ounces
100% whole wheat bread: 24-ounce loaf
Bacon: one pound
Bananas
Beef: one pound, 80% lean, not certified Angus
Butter: one pound
Cheerios: 8.9-ounce box
Cheez-its: 12.4-ounce box
Eggs: one dozen
Flour: five pounds
Green beans (canned)
Strawberry jelly/jam: 18 ounces
Iceberg lettuce: one head
Milk: one gallon
Oranges
Paper towel: two-roll package
Peanut butter: 18 ounces
Toilet paper: six pack

At Walmart, 401 E. Capitol Drive in Milwaukee, the cost was $63.84 in August 2024, and $69.31 on Dec. 2 2025, up around 8.6%. Walmart remains the cheapest of the five stores.

At Woodman’s, 8131 S. Howell Ave. in Oak Creek, the cost was $61.38 in 2024 and $69.80 on Dec. 2, an increase of 13.7%.

At Festival Foods, 11111 W. Greenfield Ave., in West Allis, the cost was $85.62 in 2024 and $94.58 on Dec. 2, an increase of 10.5%.

At Target, 2950 S. Chase Ave., in Milwaukee, the cost was $69.88 in 2024 and $70.21 on Dec. 2, an increase of 0.5%. However, this Target does not carry a name-brand bag of flour, the house brand was substituted, likely lowering the overall cost.

Finally, at Pick ‘n Save, 605 E. Lyon St. in Milwaukee, the price was $83.18 in 2024 and $81.53 on Dec. 2. That’s a decrease of 2%.

Substituting store-brand alternatives for name-brand grocery items does offer some savings for customers. For example, Pick ‘n Save’s store-brand grocery list cost $57.33 in December.

Some items fluctuated wildly in price since August 2024. A bird flu epidemic drove national egg prices to more than $6 per dozen in March 2025. Prices have dropped significantly since then, but the national average price of a dozen eggs in September 2025 remained above August 2024 levels.

The cost of a dozen Grade A large eggs at the five Milwaukee-area stores ranged from $1.97 to $2.49 on Dec. 2.

Is the affordability issue overblown?

Chris Dare was at the Milwaukee Public Market with his son Jake and noticed that meat prices were higher than at their butcher shop back home in Oshkosh.

Still, both wondered if the broad reaction to elevated prices wasn’t a bit exaggerated.

“I don’t think it’s as bad as people are making it sound,” Chris Dare said. “The disappointing thing for me was COVID was an open door for prices to go up, with somewhat legitimate reasons, but of course when those reasons went away, prices didn’t go back down, which we knew was going to happen.”

His son Jake believes candidates will “weaponize” prices in upcoming elections.

“The cost of living and the cost of buying things, the purchasing power of the wages you make is going to affect politics,” Jake Dare said. “After the elections come and go, I think it’ll flatten back out again and you’ll have two years of, probably, steady increases … it’s cyclical, any time the elections come around.”

Both father and son think about how prices impact them when they go to the polls, and they encourage other voters to research candidates and vote based on what impacts them personally.

“I don’t think anybody wants to admit it,” Chris Dare said, but “let’s be realistic, I’m voting 100% selfishly how things affect me.”

Chris and Jake consider themselves conservative, but question what Trump could do in the near-term to lower prices.

“And unfortunately I don’t think any president has that much immediate control over the economy,” Chris Dare said. “As much as you’d like to have somebody march in and suddenly things turn around. … it doesn’t happen that quickly on the economy side.”

Shoppers want specifics from candidates on solutions

Karen and Lee Veldboom live in the city of Waukesha and have learned to be more selective when at the grocery store.

“We don’t buy beef,” Karen Veldboom said, adding that her family has cut back on sweets and other treats as well. “Everything is so volatile right now, you kind of go with what it is.”

Both believe prices and the economy will play a role in how people vote in 2026. And both yearn for the days of more civility and less anger.

“We lean conservative but there’s so much craziness going on now, you don’t even know who to support,” Lee Veldboom said. “You can’t go two days in a row without hearing something totally outrageous.”

Heather Wiese from Pewaukee has taken up thrift shopping since doing it with her daughter in 2020.

It’s a good way for her to save money and support smaller businesses, she said.

But it’s a different feeling at the grocery store.

“Prices are high, holy moly,” Wiese said. “The price of beef is way up. The price of everything is way up.”

Wiese doesn’t expect the issue of affordability to go away anytime soon.

“People really can’t afford a lot of stuff right now,” Wiese said.

What she doesn’t want to hear is a lot of rhetoric without specifics.

“I would like more details,” Wiese said. “I don’t think on day one everything is going to go down.”

Despite promises, they certainly haven’t in the past.

The grocery bill is just one of many factors affecting households each month. Here’s the price of other common household expenses as of Dec. 16, 2025, compared to a year ago:

Gas, Milwaukee- Waukesha metro average: $2.499
Utility Bill, Typical We Energies customer: $135.94 per month
30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate, U.S. average: 6.22%
Rent, Milwaukee average: $1,250

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Milwaukee, WI

Wisconsin winter weather: Hazardous travel due to snow, high winds

Published

6 days ago

December 28, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin winter weather: Hazardous travel due to snow, high winds

article

MILWAUKEE – A winter weather advisory has been issued and expanded for Dodge, Washington, Ozaukee, Jefferson, and Waukesha Counties from 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 28 to 12 p.m. Monday, Dec. 29.

A winter storm warning has been issued for Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties from 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 28 to 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 29.

A combination of wet surfaces freezing over, accumulating snowfall, and strong winds reducing visibility warranted this. This strengthening system is creating winter across the upper Midwest and Northeast with winter weather advisories, winter storm watches, winter storm warnings, and blizzard warnings.

Snow is expected to accumulate between 2″–4″, with some areas north in Fond du Lac and Dodge Counties that could see 4″–6″. Areas not in the advisory zone, south of I-94 and near the lake, can still receive accumulating snow from 1″-3″.

Projected snow totals as of Dec. 28 at 12 p.m.

With temperatures above freezing for most of the day on Sunday, precipitation will begin as rain through the late afternoon. Rainfall amounts can range 0.25″-0.50.” As polar air moves in behind a cold front, this will transition into snow around 8 p.m. Sunday.

There may be an area of dry air that prevents widespread snow early Sunday night, but as moisture increases, heavier snow will fill into Monday morning. Snow should move out by the mid to late morning hours of Monday.

Overall impacts will be higher on Sunday night and on Monday due to freezing precipitation on surfaces, with the addition of accumulating snowfall. Strong winds arrive on Sunday evening, which complicate this even more.

Sustained northwesterly winds can blow 20 to 30 mph with gusts of 40 to 55 mph. Due to this, a wind advisory has been issued from 6 p.m. Sunday through 6 p.m. Monday for all of southeast Wisconsin.

Winds this strong can cause isolated power outages, so it is important to keep your devices charged. This will also blow around any snow on Monday, reducing visibility for travel. Plan on slippery road conditions that can impact holiday travel late Sunday into the Monday morning commute.

As winds remain strong during the day on Monday, wind chills will be in the single digits.

This low pressure system has the potential of strengthening quickly from Sunday night into Monday morning. This is signified by a quick drop in central air pressure. If the air pressure drops at least 24 millibars in 24 hours, which is possible, this would be classified as a bomb cyclone.

Arctic high pressure will continue to pull in very cold temperatures wrapping up 2025 and entering 2026. High temps next week will be in the lower 20s with the teens on Thursday, which is New Year’s Day. However, winds will bring back wind chills in the single digits and negatives by the end of the week.

Your FOX6 Weather Experts will have you covered all week long!

FOX6 Weather Extras

Local perspective:

Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:

FOX6 Storm Center app

FOX LOCAL Mobile app

FOX Weather app

What is the FOX Model?

FOX Weather Expert Tom Wachs explains the value of the FOX Model for our team — and our viewers.

FOX Weather

Maps and radar

We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.

School and business closings

When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.

FOX6 Weather Experts in social media

The Source: The Fox 6 Weather Experts; NWS – Sullivan

Winter Weather

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee visits Charlotte for conference showdown

Published

6 days ago

December 28, 2025

Press Room

Milwaukee visits Charlotte for conference showdown

Milwaukee Bucks (13-19, 11th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Charlotte Hornets (11-20, 12th in the Eastern Conference)

Charlotte, North Carolina; Monday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Miles Bridges and the Charlotte Hornets host Ryan Rollins and the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Hornets have gone 10-14 against Eastern Conference teams. Charlotte averages 14.9 turnovers per game and is 5-5 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents.

The Bucks are 11-13 in Eastern Conference play. Milwaukee ranks eighth in the Eastern Conference allowing just 116.0 points while holding opponents to 46.9% shooting.

The Hornets are shooting 45.5% from the field this season, 1.4 percentage points lower than the 46.9% the Bucks allow to opponents. The Bucks are shooting 48.5% from the field, 0.1% lower than the 48.6% the Hornets’ opponents have shot this season.

The teams square off for the third time this season. The Bucks won the last matchup 147-134 in overtime on Nov. 15, with Kyle Kuzma scoring 29 points in the win.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bridges is averaging 20.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists for the Hornets. LaMelo Ball is averaging 22.0 points over the last 10 games.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is scoring 28.9 points per game and averaging 10.0 rebounds for the Bucks. Rollins is averaging 5.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Hornets: 5-5, averaging 116.3 points, 45.1 rebounds, 27.4 assists, 7.8 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 45.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 115.1 points per game.

Bucks: 4-6, averaging 105.6 points, 42.2 rebounds, 23.8 assists, 8.3 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 46.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 111.3 points.

INJURIES: Hornets: Mason Plumlee: day to day (groin), Grant Williams: out (acl), Ryan Kalkbrenner: day to day (elbow).

Bucks: Taurean Prince: out (neck), Gary Trent Jr.: day to day (calf).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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