MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee’s beloved Jingle Bus holiday lights tour is back for another season, offering families a cozy way to experience downtown’s festive decorations while learning about the city’s history and landmarks.

Watch: Milwaukee’s Jingle Bus adds new Red Arrow Park warming house location

Jingle bus returns for the holidays

The 40-minute tour through downtown Milwaukee has become a seasonal favorite, now featuring a brand new warming house location at Red Arrow Park in the heart of downtown. Each ticket includes a free cup of cocoa and warm cookie from Bigby Coffee.

“We’re in the heart of downtown at Red Arrow Park, and this is our brand new warming house location, and we’re so excited,” said Isabel Ullrich, with Milwaukee Downtown, BID 21.

The comfortable coach bus takes passengers around the city to see holiday lights while guides narrate information about Milwaukee’s landmarks along the way. For Shaina, who has been riding the Jingle Bus for 15 years, the experience never gets old.

“I love that it’s a comfy coach bus that takes you around to see the lights, and they narrate as you’re going by the landmarks in Milwaukee,” Shaina said.

The Jingle Bus operates Friday through Sunday throughout the holiday season. Since 2018, the tour has offered special Spanish-language tours on Sundays, led by Sandra Dempsey, to better serve Milwaukee’s Latino community.

“It was a great addition from Milwaukee downtown to include and incorporate something new and different for the Latino community,” Sandra said. “We do them in Spanish, so we also get to say some jokes in Spanish, so it’s been really fun for the Latinos to come and actually enjoy downtown in their own language.”

Sandra emphasized that the Jingle Bus serves as more than just entertainment – it’s an educational experience that helps families learn about their city while establishing new traditions.

“Jingle Bus is a great way to establish a tradition with your family, right? Getting to know Milwaukee downtown,” Sandra said. “Some people don’t know some facts or history about Milwaukee. So coming to the Jingle bus tour helps them to understand more like what is the city about, what the city offers, so it’s been a great way for families to come, learn more about Milwaukee, and do it in their own language.”

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.

Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.

Report a typo or error // Submit a news tip

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee residents are expressing frustration as leaf piles remain buried under snow and ice more than a week after a post-Thanksgiving snowstorm, with some areas still waiting for city cleanup crews to address the mess.

The issue has become one of the main complaints brought to Alderman Lamont Westmoreland’s office, discussed during this month’s town hall meeting focused on the city’s leaf collection problems.

“In our area, they have done a terrible job as well,” Rose Lane said.

The Department of Public Works had not finished its leaf collection before the snowstorm hit shortly after Thanksgiving. When snow plows made their way through the streets, they avoided large leaf piles and pushed smaller ones back up into the curb, creating additional problems for residents.

“Pretty soon, the entire street was occupied by leaves, and nobody could park,” said Randy Crawford, a resident of the fifth district.

Watch: Milwaukee residents frustrated as leaf piles remain buried under snow

Leaf cleanup delays frustrate Milwaukee residents after snowstorm

Not everyone blames the city entirely for the situation.

“But I don’t think it was entirely the city’s fault, like I said, it’s just Mother Nature,” Crawford said.

In a release on Monday, DPW said many large piles of leaves around the city are marked and will be addressed in the coming weeks. Residents can report large piles for the department’s consideration.

However, the city says leaves pushed to the curb or into driveways by snow plows generally won’t be addressed, meaning some areas might not see cleanup until spring.

DPW says it’s not feasible to resume rake-out and leaf consolidation until warmer weather returns.

Some residents hope for earlier action if conditions improve.

“I think if we do get a break in the weather in January, we should address that,” Crawford said.

Others are already planning for spring cleanup.

“I’ll have to do whatever I have to do to get rid of the leaves I don’t want my grass to die, so we’ll see what we do,” Joe Schorse said.

Brendyn Jones/TMJ4

For now, many leaves will remain stuck to the curb throughout the winter months.

This story was reported on-air by Brendyn Jones and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.

Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.

Report a typo or error // Submit a news tip

The shortest day of the year is less than two weeks away, but many Wisconsinites are likely already looking forward to the return of daylight saving time — which will bring longer days and later sunsets.

As of Dec. 8, the sun is setting around 4:18 p.m. in Milwaukee, timeanddate.com shows. While daylight hours are gradually increasing, there’s still a bit of time before Milwaukee will see another 5 p.m. sunset.

Here’s what to know as we approach the winter solstice:

When will the sun start setting after 5 p.m. in Milwaukee?

In 2026, the first sunset after 5 p.m. in Milwaukee will be on Jan. 29, according to timeanddate.com. On this day, the sun will rise at 7:09 a.m. and set at 5 p.m. — giving the Cream City nine hours and 51 minutes of daylight.

When does daylight savings time begin in 2026?

Daylight saving time begins March 8, 2026 between 2 and 3 a.m.

More: Does daylight saving time 2025 end this weekend in Wisconsin? When does the time change?

When will the days get longer in Milwaukee again this winter?

Here’s an overview of when Milwaukee will start seeing longer days, according to data from timeanddate.com: