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Milwaukee bankruptcy avoidance plan up for approval in Wisconsin Legislature

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Milwaukee bankruptcy avoidance plan up for approval in Wisconsin Legislature


MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A plan to prevent Milwaukee from going bankrupt, struck between Republican lawmakers, leaders in the heavily Democratic city and Gov. Tony Evers, was expected to win bipartisan approval Wednesday in the Wisconsin Legislature.

The measure is part of a larger deal reached with the Democratic governor and Republicans who control the Legislature that also includes spending more than $1 billion more on K-12 schools. Once approved by the Legislature, the bills would head to Evers, who is expected to sign them into law.

Both the Milwaukee plan and the corresponding school funding proposal have their detractors, despite the bipartisan deal.

Conservatives deride the Milwaukee bill as a bailout for the state’s largest and most Democratic city and say local sales tax increases should need voter approval. The state schoolteachers union doesn’t like increasing voucher payments to private schools that are a part of the education funding plan and called on Evers to veto it.

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“I think we can do better,” Rep. Evan Goyke said Tuesday. He is one of several Democratic lawmakers who have vowed to vote against the education spending plan. The Milwaukee funding bill is expected to have broader bipartisan support.

Evers and Republicans have praised the deals as transformational wins for Milwaukee and local governors, as well as the state’s schools, while conceding that there are elements they oppose.

Evers, a former state superintendent, has long opposed expanding the state’s private school voucher system, which allows public school students to attend private schools for free. Under the deal, payments that private schools receive to accept public school students would increase. That would lower costs to allow schools to expand the number of non-voucher students they accept.

Advocates for voucher schools say the additional funding will help slow the closure of cash-strapped voucher schools. More than 40% of private schools that received vouchers have closed since the program began in Milwaukee in 1990. That was the first voucher program in the country. It expanded statewide in Wisconsin in 2013, but there are enrollment caps that would not grow under the deal.

The plan also calls for spending $50 million more on reading and literacy programs in schools, but what exactly those programs are aren’t detailed. Republicans are pushing a plan they negotiated with the Evers administration to change the way most public schools teach children to read. It would require teaching reading through a phonics-based approach that focuses on learning to sound out letters and phrases.

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The bill will also increase a reimbursement for special education costs to cover a third of districts’ expenses and dedicate $30 million to address mental health in schools, both priorities for Evers and Democrats.

The long-sought-after plan sending more money to all of Wisconsin’s towns, villages, cities and counties became a top priority in the Legislature this year amid warnings of impending financial doom in Milwaukee. Leaders there warned of dire consequences and catastrophic budget cuts as the city faces bankruptcy by 2025.

Milwaukee is struggling with an underfunded pension system and not enough money to maintain essential police, fire and emergency services.

The deal resolved the largest sticking point over who could determine whether Milwaukee city and county can raise the local sales tax to pay for pension costs and emergency services. Under the bill, that power rests with the Milwaukee County Board and the Milwaukee Common Council. Some Republicans wanted to require voter approval before taxes could be raised.

Roughly $1.6 billion in aid to local governments — known as shared revenue — would be paid for by tapping 20% of the state’s 5-cent sales tax. Aid would then grow along with sales tax revenue.

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Local leaders had been pushing for the change, hoping that getting their funding from the sales tax would negate the need to constantly be lobbying the Legislature for increases.

Shared revenue to local governments has remained nearly unchanged for almost 30 years and was cut in 2004, 2010 and 2012.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.



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Milwaukee, WI

Studio Milwaukee at The Cooperage: Brigitte Calls Me Baby

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Studio Milwaukee at The Cooperage: Brigitte Calls Me Baby


While Studio Milwaukee Sessions at The Cooperage are inarguably a brand-new thing for us, Thursday afternoon’s performance by Brigitte Calls Me Baby may have been another landmark moment: most rock-and-roll swagger at a single session.

The boys from Chicago zipped up I-94 for an evening at Summerfest’s Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard but prior to that made the short trip across the water to play a mini-set for Radio Milwaukee members and lucky ticket winners.

Even before playing their first note, Brigitte Calls Me Baby exuded old-school rock vibes the moment they stepped right through the crowd on their way to the stage. From Leavins’ sunglasses-and-pompadour combo to bassist Devin Wessels’ expansive ’do to the CBGB style of guitarists Jack Fluegel and Trevor Lynch, there’s a throwback feel to the group that carries over to their performance.

Leavins’ vocals do a lot of that work, alternating between crooning and crowing while showing off his remarkable range — something that was present throughout the session. If the audience wasn’t won over by the time the band rolled through “Eddie My Love” and “Palm of Your Hand,’ Leavins clinched it when he was asked what he knew about Summerfest and answered, “it’s better than Lollapalooza, some say.”

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Whatever holdouts were left couldn’t help but be won over by set finale “Impressively Average,” the single we’ve been spinning with regularity on 88Nine. It’s a “gotta dance” kind of song, and the crowd was happy to move while no doubt making plans to use the free Summerfest ticket they scored to check out the band’s full set later in the evening.

You can listen to the full session using the player at the top of the page, and if you want to catch any of the remaining sessions at The Cooperage, check out our contests. There’s also a way for you to guarantee yourself an invite to all of our Studio Milwaukee Sessions, which you can learn all about on our membership page.

Set list

  1. “Eddie My Love”
  2. “Palm of Your Hand”
  3. “Impressively Average”
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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee high-risk traffic stop; man arrested, drugs, guns recovered

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Milwaukee high-risk traffic stop; man arrested, drugs, guns recovered


High-risk traffic stop at 27th and Capitol, Milwaukee

Milwaukee police conducted a high-risk traffic stop of a vehicle on Thursday, June 27, which led to an arrest and the recovery of a gun and drugs. 

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Officials say around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, officers conducted the traffic stop near 26th and Capitol. The vehicle matched the description of a vehicle wanted in connection to a shooting. 

The driver, a 32-year-old man, was arrested. A firearm and illegal narcotics were recovered. 

High-risk traffic stop at 27th and Capitol, Milwaukee

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High-risk traffic stop at 27th and Capitol, Milwaukee

Criminal charges will be referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.   

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee Catholic Home reborn as part of new management company, Trinity Senior Services

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Milwaukee Catholic Home reborn as part of new management company, Trinity Senior Services


Since 1913, the Milwaukee Catholic Home has provided care for older adults. Still thriving, the retirement community is now part of a new management company known as Trinity Senior Services.

Trinity Senior Services oversees:

  • Milwaukee Catholic Home, which provides a continuum of services, including independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation;
  • Trinity Woods, which provides care to older adults and retired School Sisters of Notre Dame;
  • Clare Gardens, a sustainable farm operated in partnership with Catholic Ecology Center, which provides produce for Milwaukee Catholic Home, Trinity Woods and other senior living communities;
  • Our Lady of the Angels Covenant, a 48-unit religious community in Greenfield, WI;
  • Queen of Peace Friary; a Burlington, WI, senior housing community that is home to the retired Franciscan Friars of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe; and
  • Trinity Senior Services Care Partner Program, which provides home- and community-based services.

Both Milwaukee Catholic Home and Trinity Woods have on-site day care that collectively serves 170 children.

“The launch of Trinity Senior Services is the continuation of an amazing history that reaches back more than a century in Milwaukee,” Trinity Senior Services CEO Dave Fulcher stated in a press release. “The community of care we’ve nurtured for generations continues only to grow and our team is inspired by the opportunities ahead.”

The Trinity Senior Services network is best known for the Milwaukee Catholic Home and Trinity Woods, according to the company, which added that “the Trinity Senior Services network is unlike any nationwide.”

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“Its intergenerational impact reaches from the more than 800 older adults at one of its four senior communities to its 500-plus employees to the nearly 200 children attending day care located at its communities,” according to the company. “All services are now united under one management company and brand.”

Trinity Senior Services also offers a holistic program, A Life Engaged, that includes social, physical, nutritional, spiritual and cognitive components. 

“Our philosophy, Life Engaged, means that we serve seniors by empowering them to live a full life,” Fulcher said. “We believe a full life happens in community, where a sense of purpose and belonging to something bigger than self gives meaning and creates opportunities for health, wellness, learning, joy and hope. 

According to Trinity Senior Services, America’s aging population makes this the perfect time to establish the new organization, as more than 70 million baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, will be aged 65 or more years by 2030.

“We’re growing this community with intention so everyone involved feels a sense of purpose and feels they are a part of something larger than themselves,” Fulcher said. “Whether they’re a resident, a loved one, a team member or anybody else impacted by our services, we are here to help them to lead meaningful lives.”

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