Milwaukee, WI
Government shutdown ends but Milwaukee flyers still face cancellations
MILWAUKEE – The nation’s six-week government shutdown – the longest in U.S. history – came to an end Wednesday night, but its fallout is still rippling through the aviation system.
What we know:
TSA officers resigned during the stalemate, and more than 10,000 flights were canceled in the past week.
Airline schedules remain thin with Thanksgiving approaching. Cancellations are already affecting Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, including flights to Boston, Newark and O’Hare.
What they’re saying:
Darrell English, a TSA officer and union representative for workers in Wisconsin and Illinois, said the loss of experienced staff has created lasting gaps.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android
“Those people that have years in and experience level, and you lose that, that becomes a gap because that’s the experience level that takes years to build up to be able to replace,” English said.
Air traffic controllers also worked without pay throughout the shutdown. Adam Uhan, a commercial pilot, former Air Force pilot and leader of The Pilot Network with about 30,000 members, said the controllers remained steady through the strain.
“The most unsung of the heroes, the people that nobody ever sees or meets are the air traffic controllers,” Uhan said. “They did outstanding work throughout the shutdown.”
Uhan said frustration with the system was felt on the ground and in the cockpit.
“If you feel frustrated, your crew, the people that are working the gate, the people who are working in the bags, the air traffic controllers, they feel your frustration,” he said.
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration directed major cuts at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports – beginning with a 4% reduction and originally slated to reach 10%. With the shutdown over, the Department of Transportation capped the cuts at 6% to relieve the pressure on controllers.
Dig deeper:
Even so, Uhan said he felt safe in the skies.
“Safety was never, ever an issue in my mind. What was an issue in my mind was the people that were involved and their wellbeing. And as things progressed, if they got worse, more people were going to have to find other options to make those ends meet,” he said. “I never feared for my safety because I know the professionals that are involved, and they are simply some of the best people I’ve ever worked with in my life who could have done a number of other things at a very high level, but they chose this path because aviation is just, it’s like a calling.”
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
English cautioned that workers face long-term financial consequences.
“People have to realize that this is not going to be a quick fix, because officers had had devastated their credit ratings, their livelihood. They got behind on bills because of this. And it’s going to take a while for them to actually get themselves out of this hole. An additional on top of that. This may repeat itself in January,” English said. “They’re still struggling to get out of this hole. So when you see these officers, don’t think that, okay, you’re going to get paid, you should be good. It’s not good because these officers now are in debt, to someone or some other agency that they owe money to. So be patient with them. They still have a lot of issues on their mind or how they want to get things paid back. And again, they had that problem down the line in January. How do I prepare for that?”
What’s next:
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said air traffic controllers may receive partial pay within days. The Trump administration said backpay for federal workers could begin this weekend and continue into the middle of next week.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem handed out $10,000 bonus checks to TSA agents she said “served with exemplary service” in Texas on Thursday, with more bonuses potentially on the way. Air traffic controllers may also receive bonuses as flights try to ramp back toward normal levels ahead of the holidays.
The Source: FOX6 News spoke with TSA officer and union representative Darrell English, as well as Adam Uhan, a commercial pilot and leader of The Pilot Network.
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Panthers Putting Together a Great Run in the NCAA Tournament – World Baseball Network
The Milwaukee Panthers are in the driver’s seat in the NCAA Tournament’s Auburn regional. The Panthers have two wins over the Auburn Tigers and UCF Knights and made it to the regional final.
The Panthers are looking to make it to their first super regional in program history.
From a rocky start to a red-hot Horizon League Tournament run
Milwaukee did not have a smooth start to the 2026 college baseball season. The Panthers were 5-22 overall on April 3 and had an uphill battle to climb to end the season.
From April 3 to the end of the regular season, Milwaukee went 17-9. However, they still had a below-average overall record of 22-31. The Panthers needed to win the Horizon League Tournament to make it into the NCAA Tournament as an automatic bid.
The Panthers posted a solid conference record of 14-10 in 2026. This gave them the number two seed in the Horizon League Tournament, which was played at Nischwitz Stadium in Dayton, Ohio.
Milwaukee defeated Northern Kentucky and the tournament host, Wright State, twice to win the tournament title. They outscored their opponents 23-7 across those three games. The 2026 Horizon League Tournament title is the first conference tournament title for the Panthers since 2010.
Milwaukee’s wins over Auburn and UCF
An automatic bid placed Milwaukee as the fourth seed in the Auburn regional. The Panthers faced off against the Tigers on Friday, May 29.
Milwaukee got off to a huge, early lead on Auburn. Heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, the Panthers had a 10-0 lead on the Tigers. Milwaukee would go on to win 13-8.
Joey Spence, John Hadley VI, and Grant Ross led Milwaukee offensively with three hits apiece. Spence had two doubles in the game and an RBI. Hadley VI had a double and a triple against Auburn.
Charlie Marion and Bradyn Horn both had three-run home runs early on in the game that were huge for the Panthers. Those home runs allowed them to gain a big 10-0 lead early.
The magic did not stop on Friday for Milwaukee. On Saturday, May 30, the Panthers defeated the UCF Knights in the “1-0” game by a score of 13-6.
Ross continued his big performance in the regional. After a three-hit game against Auburn, the Milwaukee third baseman hit a home run and a double against UCF. He finished the game with two hits, three RBIs, and five runs scored.
Marion finished with a multi-hit game against the Knights. Milwaukee’s center fielder, Dylan O’Connell, had two doubles in the game that led to four RBIs.
Up next for Milwaukee
The Milwaukee Panthers will play the winner of the game between Auburn and UCF in the Auburn regional final on Sunday, May 31.
The Auburn-UCF elimination game is at 3 p.m. ET at Plainsman Park, and the game can be watched on ESPN2. Milwaukee’s game against the winner will be at 8 p.m. ET. That game will be on ESPN+.
WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
PHOTO: Via Dominic Kibler on Instagram (@dominic.kibler)
How will Auburn baseball approach pitching for rest of NCAA regional?
What’s Auburn baseball’s strategy on the mound after its upset loss to 4-seed Milwaukee? Here’s what Butch Thompson said.
Milwaukee proved its offensive outburst in the Auburn Regional opener was no fluke, though UCF’s pitchers certainly aided the Panthers’ efforts on May 30.
The Horizon League champs tagged the Knights for five extra-base hits and capitalized on five walks in the first three innings to cruise for a 13-6 victory at Plainsman Park. Milwaukee (27-31) sits in the driver’s seat to become just the 10th regional No. 4 seed to advance to supers in NCAA baseball tournament history.
UCF (32-22) will meet Auburn (39-20) at 3 p.m. Sunday in an elimination game. The winner will turn around and face Milwaukee at 8, needing to upend the Panthers twice.
Milwaukee scored the game’s first nine runs to win for the 22nd time in their last 30 games. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead the day before to stun Auburn.
Andrew Williamson demolished his fourth home run of the regional to lead off the sixth inning, a 443-foot blast with an exit velocity of 110 mph off the bat. Evan Jones gave the Knights a chance at an improbable comeback with a career-high 4⅓ innings of two-run relief.
Here are three takeaways from an untimely upset that puts the Knights on the brink of elimination.
UCF had no answers for the top of Milwaukee’s order
Milwaukee’s big bats at the top of the lineup set the tone and proved to be near-impossible outs for UCF’s pitchers.
Panthers leadoff hitter Grant Ross reached base in each of his five plate appearances, including an unorthodox solo home run deflected off the head of UCF center fielder De’Amez Ross — reminiscent of an infamous 1993 José Canseco blooper in Cleveland.
“We’re just gritty, man. We’re grinding it out,” Grant Ross told the ESPN+ broadcast crew after the game. “We knew we had the talent all along. It’s just clicking.”
Charlie Marion singled twice, walked twice, was hit by a pitch and scored twice. Dylan O’Connell smacked doubles in his first two at-bats and drove in four runs.
The Panthers chased Mateo Gray after 1⅓ innings. He found the strike zone on just 13 of his 27 pitches, allowing three hits and three earned runs. UCF burned through five of its bullpen arms, a potentially problematic situation for the rest of the weekend.
Home plate umpire exits after taking foul tip off mask
Play was halted for 20 minutes in the second inning when home plate umpire Blake Felix absorbed a foul ball off the face mask — a fastball thrown by Milwaukee starter Aric Ehmke that UCF catcher Zak Skinner tipped.
Felix was visibly shaken up, and he met with the on-site athletic training staff before heading into the dugout. He underwent testing for a concussion and did not return, replaced behind the plate by second base umpire Travis Carlson.
Alan Gorewitz filled the void at second base for the remainder of the evening.
UCF faces elimination against No. 4 national seed Auburn
The Knights will need to knock out the fourth-ranked team in the country to keep hope of a first trip to supers alive.
Auburn rebounded to eliminate NC State in a 17-13 slugfest in earlier action Saturday. Five Tigers had multi-hit games; Ethin Bingaman and Cade Belyeu each homered twice, and Chase Fralick drove in six RBIs.
UCF has a 5-6 all-time record against the Tigers, though it swept a three-game series at Plainsman Park during the abbreviated 2020 season.
Auburn’s pitching staff has allowed 26 runs through two regional games. During the regular season, the Tigers ranked fourth in Division I with a 3.45 ERA.
Jeremy Peña of the Houston Astros slides into home against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 30. (Photo by Houston Astros/Getty Images)
HOUSTON – Christian Walker hit a three-run homer and Jeremy Peña had a home run among his three hits to help the Houston Astros roll to a 9-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.
By the numbers:
Peña’s two-run shot made it 3-1 in the second and the Astros added three runs in the fifth to pull away after the Brewers got within 1. Walker’s shot to the seats in right field made it 9-2 with two outs in the eighth.
Check out the new and improved FOX Sports app
It’s the seventh win in nine games for the Astros and snaps Milwaukee’s four-game winning streak.
Houston starter Peter Lambert (4-4) allowed five hits and two runs with three walks in five innings for the win.
Milwaukee’s Brandon Sproat (1-4) permitted six hits and five runs in 4 1/3 innings.
William Contreras gave the Brewers an early lead with a two-out RBI double in the first.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android
Cam Smith was on second base with one out in the second when he scored on a single by Jake Meyers to tie it.
The home run by Peña came with two outs in the inning to put the Astros on top 3-1.
Garrett Mitchell walked to start the fifth and moved to second on a wild pitch by Lambert with one out. Christian Yelich walked with two outs before the Brewers cut the lead to 3-2 on an RBI single by Jackson Chourio.
The Astros had runners on first and third with one out in the fifth after Sproat hit Walker with a pitch. Sproat was replaced by Carlos Rodriguez and Taylor Trammell hit an infield RBI single to make it 4-2.
Isaac Paredes then doubled to left field to score two more and put the Astros up 6-2.
What’s next:
Houston RHP Tatsuya Imai (2-2, 6.17 ERA), who was the starter in a combined no-hitter his last time out, starts in the series finale Sunday against RHP Jacob Misiorowski (5-2, 1.83).
The Source: The Associated Press provided this report.
-
Los Angeles, Ca43 minutes agoMan found stabbed to death in Huntington Park
-
Detroit, MI1 hour agoDetroit Grand Prix father-daughter volunteers help make winner’s circle moments shine
-
San Francisco, CA1 hour agoTony Vitello just lost the only Giants allies he has left
-
Dallas, TX1 hour agoFatal crash on LBJ Freeway in Dallas leaves 1 dead, multiple people hospitalized, police say
-
Miami, FL1 hour agoDeputies searching for 2 men accused of shooting man during attempted robbery in SW Miami-Dade
-
Boston, MA1 hour agoFriend of Worcester woman killed in Virginia I-95 crash ‘cannot believe she is gone.’ – The Boston Globe
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoDenver hockey’s Johnny Hicks wins DU Pioneers’ Male Athlete of the Year
-
Seattle, WA2 hours agoVikings stealing Nolan Teasley from Seahawks might be even worse than it appears
