Milwaukee, WI

Gov. Evers appoints longtime state Sen. Lena Taylor to be Milwaukee judge

Published

2 years ago

January 26, 2024

Gov. Evers appoints longtime state Sen. Lena Taylor to be Milwaukee judge

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers appointed longtime Democratic state Sen. Lena Taylor, a 20-year veteran of the Legislature who has mounted numerous unsuccessful campaigns for local office, to be a Milwaukee County judge Friday.

Taylor, 57, was first elected to the Assembly in 2003 and has been in the Senate since 2005. She resigned Friday and will take over as a Milwaukee County circuit judge Tuesday. Her departure leaves Republicans with a 22-10 majority in the Senate.

Evers appointed Taylor to succeed Audrey Skwierawski, who resigned last month after being named by the new liberal majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court as state court administrator. Taylor will complete the remainder of her term, which ends July 31, 2025, and would have to run in the 2025 spring election to serve a full term.

Evers will call a special election to replace Taylor in the Legislature this spring, his spokesperson Britt Cudaback said. Whoever wins would have to run again in the general election because the seat is up for election this year. Further complicating things, the district lines may be redrawn as the Wisconsin Supreme Court ponders new legislative map s after tossing the current Republican-drawn ones as unconstitutional.

Taylor ran to be a Milwaukee municipal judge last year and lost. She also was defeated in races for Milwaukee mayor in 2020 and 2022, lieutenant governor in 2022 and Milwaukee County executive in 2008.

“Sen. Taylor is a committed public servant who has dedicated her life to pursuing justice for her community and the people of Wisconsin,” Evers said in a statement announcing the appointment.

During her time in the Legislature, most of which she was the only Black member of the Senate, Taylor has been a vocal advocate for justice reform and Milwaukee. She previously served as chair of the Judiciary Committee.

Taylor, who began her legal career as a public defender, said being named judge is a “full circle moment.” She said justice reform remains a priority.

She has also faced controversies, most notably in 2018 when she was cited for disorderly conduct. The police report quoted multiple witnesses saying they heard Taylor call a Black bank teller a racial slur. Taylor defended her use of the term, saying she thought she could speak that way because both she and the teller are Black and conversations within Black culture are different than other conversations.

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Milwaukee, WI

Downtown Milwaukee temporary steam outage, We Energies restoring service

Published

10 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Downtown Milwaukee temporary steam outage, We Energies restoring service

article

MILWAUKEE – An issue at the Valley Power Plant caused a temporary steam outage for downtown Milwaukee buildings on Saturday, Dec. 13.

Steam service interrupted

What we know:

According to We Energies, the gas supply to the Valley Power Plant was interrupted on Saturday morning, causing it to go offline. The plant produces steam for downtown buildings for heating.

We Energies says it has restored service to the steam system and is bringing steam back to customers, but the restoration process requires steam pressure to build back up in the steam system. Once pressure reaches safe levels, steam service can be delivered to customers.

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Customers should begin to see service return over the next few hours, and some are already restored.

We Energies says it does not anticipate any more steam outages, and that this issue is not affecting electric or natural gas service.

Show canceled

What we know:

The Marcus Performing Arts Center says its building has been impacted by the steam outage and, as a result, had to cancel its 1 p.m. matinée performance of The Pigeon Gets A Big Time Holiday Extravaganza!

Ticket holders will be contacted directly to get further information about next steps.

All other shows at the Marcus Performing Arts Center will go on as scheduled.

The Source: We Energies and The Marcus Performing Arts Center sent FOX6 the information.

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Milwaukee, WI

Admirals lose to IceHogs, comeback bid falls short in Rockford

Published

22 hours ago

December 13, 2025

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Admirals lose to IceHogs, comeback bid falls short in Rockford

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ROCKFORD, Ill. – Goalie Laurent Brossoit stopped 33 shots – and scored a goal – to lead the Rockford IceHogs to a 5-3 win over the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday.

The loss extended the Admirals losing streak to four games.

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By the numbers:

With goalie Matt Murray pulled, the Admirals dumped the puck into the IceHogs zone from the red line. Brossoit tracked it down behind his goal and sailed a shot into the empty Milwaukee cage at 18:56 of the final frame.

The teams waited until the second period to start scoring goals. IceHogs forward Nick Lardis started the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 1:18 of the second frame. He sent a wrist shot from the slot into the net just as Milwaukee had two players leave the penalty box.

Just 0:33 later, Rockford’s Brett Seney exited the penalty box and grabbed a loose puck at the Admirals blue line. He moved to the right circle and sent a shot over the glove of Admirals goalie Matt Murray at 1:51.

Milwaukee got on the board with a power-play goal at 4:56 of the second frame. Oasiz Wiesblatt skated with the puck from the left point to the right circle and slid a pass to the crease. Daniel Carr redirected the puck past IceHogs goalie Brossoit for his team-leading tenth goal of the season, and seventh on the power play. Wiesblatt and Joakim Kemell assisted.

Rockford scored two more before the close of the second period. Martin Misiak scored his first pro goal at 15:39 and Jamie Engelbert added a 4-on-4 goal at 18:45 to give the IceHogs a 4-1 lead after two frames.

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The Admirals cut the deficit to 4-2 when Jake Lucchini scored his sixth goal of the season at 11:21 of the third period. Lucchini slammed a rebound of a Jordan Oesterle shot into the net. Cole O’Hara and Oesterle were awarded assists.

The Ads got within one just :36 later when O’Hara shot a blocked puck into the net from the right circle. Oesterle and Ryan Ufko assisted on the goal at 11:57 of the third period.

Milwaukee returns to UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena to host the Chicago Wolves on Saturday, Dec. 13.

The Source: The Milwaukee Admirals provided this report.

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee parents sue MPS saying staff member locked students in ‘dungeon’ as punishment

Published

1 day ago

December 12, 2025

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Milwaukee parents sue MPS saying staff member locked students in ‘dungeon’ as punishment

Children at Thurston Woods School in Milwaukee were locked in a boiler room as a punishment, a group of parents say in a recently filed lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed Dec. 8 in the Milwaukee County Circuit Court’s civil division by three sets of parents. The Milwaukee Board of School Directors is among the defendants.

The parents claim in court papers several employees at the K4-8 elementary school on North 35th Street sent kids to the boiler room if they misbehaved.

Some of those staff members, as well as students, referred to the boiler room as “The Dungeon,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims a former male paraprofessional at the school locked three students in a boiler room multiple times during the 2022-’23 and 2023-’24 school years.

In the lawsuit, the parents said the “dungeon” presented a serious hazard to the children because of the potential exposure to “chemicals, cleaning agents, boilers, and other machinery.”

The paraprofessional resigned in November 2023 after he was investigated for violating several school district policies. At the time, he told district officials he placed the students in the room as a scare tactic, the lawsuit states.

Among the defendants is former assistant principal Dennis Daniels.

He pleaded guilty in January to a misdemeanor charge of attempted misconduct in public office after failing to alert police that an 11-year-old student brought a gun to school in February 2024.

He initially was charged with a felony, but brokered a deal with prosecutors to instead plead to an amended lesser charge.

“Milwaukee Public Schools is committed to maintaining safe and welcoming learning environments for all students and staff,” Stephen Davis, an MPS spokesman, said in a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, the district thoroughly investigated this matter in 2023 and took appropriate disciplinary action which included termination of employment.”

In a statement, Milwaukee attorney Drew DeVinney, who represents the parents, described the alleged behavior of school staff as “disbursing and egregious,” and that it appeared no one intervened to stop it.

He urged other families to come forward if they also were impacted.

“Concerningly, MPS did not report any of these instances of seclusion and restraint to the Department of Public Instruction, in violation of Wisconsin law.

“We hope that this lawsuit will serve as a vehicle to prevent further incidents and abuse, and to obtain justice for our clients.”

Chris Ramirez covers courts for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at caramirez@gannett.com.

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