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‘I just feel like a person’: Milwaukee rapper with cerebral palsy dreams of performing on stage

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‘I just feel like a person’: Milwaukee rapper with cerebral palsy dreams of performing on stage


MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — For twenty-four-year-old Milwaukee native Jaquawn Gaston, rap music is greater than only a beat and a few rhymes.

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“My music is my all the things,” Gaston mentioned. “Each time I am doing my music, I simply be at liberty; like I do not really feel like I am in a wheelchair or like I’ve a incapacity.”

Identified with cerebral palsy, Gaston is bodily confined to his wheelchair. Psychologically, there’s nothing that is holding him again.

“I accepted early in life that that is my situation,” Gaston mentioned. “I’ve to make the most effective out of what I am put in.”

Within the bed room of his Milwaukee condo, Gaston, higher recognized within the music business as Rap J, will discover a beat he likes and begins to piece collectively strains.

“In case you have the mindset that you will be actually nice at one thing, you then might be nice,” Gaston mentioned. “I’ve simply sort of all the time had a constructive mindset to all the time maintain pushing by way of any challenges that come, and to show individuals flawed about me.”

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His hours of dedication to his music, one thing he is practiced for 18 years, has led to the discharge of two albums and over a dozen songs. His music serves as an outlet for a younger man who refuses to let the world win, even when his again is towards the wall.

“I’d love to offer credit score to my mom. She not too long ago handed,” Gaston mentioned. “My mom and my grandmother. They each meant the world to me, and so they just about raised me with the mindset that the world goes to maintain shifting regardless, so you must put your greatest foot ahead and something you place your thoughts to is feasible.”

The lack of his mom, Tracy, proved to be a tricky time for Gaston. He felt misplaced and trapped. Nonetheless, one factor remained fixed: his love for rap.

“Shedding my mother was and nonetheless is among the hardest issues, if not the hardest problem, that I’ve needed to overcome,” Gaston mentioned. “Shedding my mother was like the entire inspiration behind my latest album. I’d simply play beats and take heed to them, and it has sort of helped me maintain going and push by way of it.”

Alongside along with his musical assist, Gaston has the assistance of shut mates, together with his caregiver, Wanda Webb.

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“it has been magical simply watching him develop as a younger man right into a younger grownup,” Webb mentioned. “Simply watching his willpower; him by no means giving up.”

Like Gaston, Webb has skilled private tragedy with the lack of her mom and her son. She says caring for Gaston has been as a lot assist for her because it has for him.

“Assembly him gave me a number of energy. It made me overcome a number of grief that I used to be carrying on as a result of I nonetheless had anyone to take care of,” Webb defined. “Someone younger, anyone nonetheless to encourage, anyone that regarded for me every single day, anyone that counted on me every single day. I nonetheless discovered that in him once I got here right here every single day.”

5 and a half years later, Webb continues to behave not solely as Gaston’s caregiver, however J Raps largest cheerleader, persevering with to encourage him to proceed making music and to attain his dream of someday performing in entrance of a dwell crowd.

“He’s very gifted and he is sticking to his expertise and his dream, and that is what he needs to achieve success at,” Webb mentioned. “I believe that he will go, I believe he will go very far with it. I believe he will meet a number of his expectations; I actually do.”

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It is a dream Gaston is set to attain, it doesn’t matter what sort of curveballs life throws at him, together with the current breakdown of his electrical powerchair, forcing him to stay in his condo. Nonetheless, it would not’ trouble him.

“Whenever you’re youthful and the chair breaks down, it is like the tip of the world. Being on the age I’m now, I perceive that chairs are going to interrupt down,” Gaston mentioned. “The whole lot man-made breaks down. I do know that I can not break down as a result of if I break down, nothing good is ever going to return out of something.”

It is that inspiring perspective that he hopes to share with the world, one tune at a time.

“I simply need to present the world like, ‘Hey, I am right here and that I am going to by no means stop. I am going to by no means surrender.’ If I can do it, you are able to do it and we can all obtain our desires collectively,” Gaston mentioned. “That is my largest dream, is to unfold that message to the world.”

A GoFundMe has been arrange by mates of Jaquawn Gaston to present him with a brand new electrical wheelchair. These fascinated with donating can do so right here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jaquawn-wheelchair-fund?+share-sheet&&

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Milwaukee, WI

Hazmat crew at Milwaukee Police District 2; streets blocked off

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Hazmat crew at Milwaukee Police District 2; streets blocked off


Streets are blocked off around Milwaukee Police Department – District 2 because of a hazmat situation on Wednesday evening, May 22.

Streets around 3rd and Lincoln are blocked off.

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The Milwaukee Fire Department is on the scene. A fire official said an update will be given in the evening.

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This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.

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Bodycam footage shows a Milwaukee police shootout with a man who fled from officers

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Bodycam footage shows a Milwaukee police shootout with a man who fled from officers


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A man who Milwaukee police shot after a short foot chase on the city’s north side pleaded not guilty to attempted homicide charges.

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Marquis Little was arraigned in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Wednesday, roughly three months after he was shot by officers who were responding to a shots-fired call. Police released bodycam video of the incident on May 9.

Little, 20, of Milwaukee, appeared in court with his attorney Andrew Sargent to enter his plea, but he already may be positioning himself to change his mind. A plea hearing in the case has been scheduled in six weeks, online court records show.

More: Milwaukee police arrest 13-year-old boy in connection to the fatal shootings of two 15-year-olds

Three officers have been placed on administrative duty as the Wauwatosa Police Department leads an investigation into the shooting. Police recovered a gun at the scene.

Here’s what happened:

In a criminal complaint, police say they got several calls about shots fired on March 24 around 11:15 p.m. The shots appeared to have been fired near North 64th Street and Sheridan Avenue.

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Officers arrived and found a man armed with a handgun, who they say ran and ignored their commands for him to stop.

The body camera footage of the pursuit opens with images from inside an apartment building of a man running down a set of stairs, trying to get away from police. It then switches to a scene outside. Officers are heard giving out a description of the suspect over the radio — that of a male wearing an orange hoodie and a black backpack.

Police chased the man for about two blocks.

The footage appears to show the man failing to comply with repeated orders to stop. At times, one officer could be heard warning the man he would be tased or shot if he didn’t stop.

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“Stop! Stop! … You’re gonna get shot,” an officer yells out. But the suspect continues to run.

More: Mount Horeb student shot, killed by police for bringing rifle to school has been identified

The video shows the man stop in a clearing next to a building, at which time, the buzz of a taser is heard. The officer, with his handgun drawn, orders the man to drop his weapon.

Police said the man fired two shots at the officers, who returned fire, hitting him. About a dozen shots are heard in the video, though it was not immediately clear how many shots each officer fired.

The man is seen running again, but he collapses a few yards away.

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Officers can be seen on the recording giving the man medical attention until emergency medical technicians arrived.

What are the charges?

Little faces a charge of attempted first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety.

What is next for Marquis Little?

His next court appearance will be the plea hearing, which is scheduled for July 2.

Circuit Court Judge Laura Crivello set Little’s bond in April at $150,000. He remained in the Milwaukee County Jail on Wednesday, online court records show.



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Palermo's Pizza celebrating 60 years in operation

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Palermo's Pizza celebrating 60 years in operation


MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee’s own Palermo’s Pizza is expanding. The company will start building a new 200,000 square-foot facility this summer in West Milwaukee. 


What You Need To Know

  • Palermo’s Pizza was founded by Italian immigrants in the 1950s
  • It’s expanding into a new 200,000 square-foot facility this summer
  • That means the company is hiring for 50 new positions

It will allow Palermo’s to grow its production capacity and add 50 new jobs. This comes as the family-owned business is celebrating 60 years in operation. 

Founded by Italian immigrants in the 1950s, Palermo’s Pizza has deep roots in Milwaukee, family and tradition.

“My grandparents came over from Italy with nothing in their pocket,” said Nick Falluca, chief product and innovation officer at Palermo’s.

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He said they worked hard and eventually turned some of their favorite Italian recipes into a business.

In 1964, the Falluca family opened a bakery out of a house on Milwaukee’s East Side. Four years later, they transitioned that bakery into an Italian restaurant. That’s where the family began offering their signature frozen pizzas for customers to buy and make at home. From there, they started selling those frozen pizzas at local grocery stores and bars.

Decades later, Palermo’s Pizza has grown into a national and international brand, selling millions of pizzas each year at major retailers, like Costco. Despite its growth, Palermo’s remains committed to its roots and values.

Still, every one of its frozen pizzas ties back to grandma and grandpa.

“We’d be at the dinner table, and everybody would be like, ‘Why is he screaming?’ And we would be like, ‘No, that’s just how grandpa talks,’” Falluca said. “He was loud and vibrant. That’s how the name ‘Screaming Sicilian’ came about.” 

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Dax Schaefer is the corporate chef for Palermo’s, and Brianna Fyock is a manager and senior food scientist for the company. They both said while they are not related to the Falluca family by blood, anyone who works for Palermo’s is treated like family.

“The Falluca family has been nothing but generous to their employees,” Schaefer said.

“It really does feel like family here,” Fyock added. “To actually see the start to finish, from the idea of a pizza to creation, and then be able to buy it for your family in a grocery store, is such a great experience.”

Falluca said prioritizing the customer, employees and a quality product also comes from grandpa.

“That’s how he ran the restaurant, putting the customer first, really great food, and focusing on your employees,” Falluca said. “That’s how to create a great business, product and customer service.”

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