Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Women's Center helps older women escape domestic violence
This article discusses domestic violence. If you or someone you know has been assaulted, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 for free, 24/7 support.
MILWAUKEE — Survivors of domestic abuse often try to leave their abusive relationships, but don’t have anywhere to go, and risk being homeless.
Stephanie Johnson is a survivor of domestic violence who, until recently, was living comfortably in an apartment in Milwaukee for nine years.
“I ended up being evicted after going back to a bad relationship thinking things were going to change and of course they did not,” said Johnson, whose name and identity has been changed in this story for safety reasons as she’s in the process of fleeing a domestic violence situation.
Johnson has been staying at the Milwaukee Women’s Center since October.
“I was staying with my daughter here and there, bouncing from place to place, I stayed in a hotel for a couple of nights until I ran out of money,” said Johnson.
(Spectrum News 1/Cody Taylor)
She was connected to the Milwaukee Women’s Center’s Older Abused Women’s Program. It offers a place to live and counseling for women over the age of 50.
“If I am not mistaken, we are the only shelter specifically for older, abused women,” said Emergency Shelter Director Shamika May. “At the age where they should be stable and enjoying getting older, they have to deal with things like fleeing domestic violence.”
Johnson, like many other victims of domestic violence, made the choice to return to her abuser.
When asked why she went back to him, she said, “I don’t know… I don’t know.”
(Spectrum News 1/Cody Taylor)
In a study done on 104 females, the National Institutes of Health reported that 66.3% of these victims returned to their abusers at least once and of them, 97.1% of them returned to their abusers more than once.
May said many older women find themselves in unhealthy relationships, without their own financial security. That can lead to feelings of anxiety and hopelessness in finding a job or changing their reality later in life.
“A lot of time we get women that don’t have work experience, they don’t have the tools to do what they need to do to make it in everyday life,” said May. “A lot of older abused women, we are helping them from the beginning.”
The Older Abused Women’s Program only has the ability to offer four beds in its shelter.
“So we do have to turn people away and if I am not mistaken, we are the only shelter specifically for older abused women,” said May.
(Spectrum News 1/Cody Taylor)
Often, being able to escape a domestic violence situation can mean life or death.
Johnson said she is very grateful for the program as it has offered her a safe place to get back on her feet.
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, more than 80% of mothers with children experiencing homelessness had previously experienced domestic violence.
May said the Milwaukee Women’s Center is able to operate off of donations and grant funding, but she worries that money will not be enough as this vulnerable population continues to grow.
“We try to have funding to help these women pay for rent and security deposits because a lot of the time that is a huge barrier to housing,” said May.
At the time of this interview, Johnson was working with housing navigators to find a new place to live.
(Spectrum News 1/Cody Taylor)
“I had been in my house for nine years and there is no reason I should have to be homeless and without housing, but I have to start from scratch again,” said Johnson.
Johnson said she was grateful a bed was open at the Milwaukee Women’s Center when she needed it. As she continues her healing journey, she said she wants others in unhealthy relationships to know there is help and hope out there.
“As long as you have people to support you and keep positive thoughts in your head, you can do it,” she said.
Milwaukee, WI
Arizona Diamondbacks 0/2, Chicago White Sox/Milwaukee Brewers 6/6
Record 7-7. Change on 2025: +0.5. 5-inning record: 4-9-1.
The D-backs found themselves swept on both sides of today’s split squad double-bill, with fairly weak line-ups in both games. Starting off at Salt River Fields, a pair of three-run homers did all the damage as the White Sox blanked the D-backs 6-0. They were allowed by Landon Sims and Joe Ross; the latter came in to relieve Daniel Eagan with two outs and two on in the second, and didn’t. The best of the relievers for Arizona was likely Andrew Hoffman who struck out three batters in a scoreless seventh. The Diamondbacks were held to four hits and two walks: Angel Ortiz had the only extra-base hit, a double, as the team went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Over in Maryvale, the team did at least pick up a five-inning win, leading 2-1 at that point. But the Brewers scored five unanswered runs to beat the D-backs 6-2. Mitch Bratt started, and walked four over 2.2 innings, but gave up just one run on one hit, with two strikeouts. Bryce Jarvis tossed two scoreless, but Juan Burgos, John Curtiss and Taylor Rashi allowed five runs on six hits and two walks, over their three frames. Gavin Conticello and Demetrio Crisantes each went 2-for-3, while DH Manuel Pena had a homer and drew a walk. LuJames Groover drove in Arizona’s other run with a groundout.
Tomorrow, it’s back to one game: that comes at Salt River Fields against the Giants, with a 1:10 pm first pitch, and Kohl Drake starting for the Diamondbacks.
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee oversight body asks for more police pursuit policy changes
Milwaukee police chief says police pursuits a ‘balancing act’
Norman called deaths in police pursuits sad, but said the department needs to hold people accountable. He cited reckless driving specifically.
A Milwaukee oversight body is pushing for further restrictions on how the city’s police decide to chase vehicles, but isn’t ready to move those forward yet.
At its March 5 meeting, the city’s Fire and Police Commission mulled a recommendation the Milwaukee Police Department no longer chase drivers for reckless driving after an attempted traffic stop and stop other chases for reckless driving if it raises danger to the public. The department’s pursuit policy has been a point of contention for years and has come under intense scrutiny after nine people died from police chase crashes in 2025.
But that recommendation was tabled and sent to commission committee for further discussion, after concerns it needed to be further tweaked and receive more police department input.
“I’m trying to find incremental changes we can make to reduce chases,” said Commissioner Bree Spencer, who sponsored the recommendation.
Spencer said she was hesitant to push for policy changes that were too sweeping or too permissive. She said that had happened in years past, when pursuits were heavily restricted in 2010 and then later opened up in 2017 in response to reckless driving, following a then-Fire and Police Commission order.
As has become the norm at the commission’s meetings, a lengthy public comment period was held where some were critical of the proposed changes. Some called for dashcam footage of pursuit-related deaths to be released, as policy requires in officer shootings, and for the city’s costs of police chase-related lawsuits to be publicized.
“Police chases do not keep our community safe,” Angela Lang, the co-executive director of Black Leaders Organizing Change, said during public comment.
The Fire and Police Commission’s proposed recommendation comes after the department voluntarily removed speeding as a permissible reason to chase someone who is recklessly driving. However, that move was met coldly by members of the public and the commission, which is the oversight body for the department, who said it didn’t go far enough.
Generally, department policy considers pursuits “justified” under six circumstances, among those being when an occupant is involved in a violent felony.
Milwaukee Assistant Chief Craig Sarnow said the department was content with its previous change, when commissioners asked him for feedback on the proposed recommendation.
Both the Fire and Police Commission’s drafted recommendation and police department’s change focus on reckless driving chases. Those make up an overwhelming amount of all chases that officers in Milwaukee make – with officers citing reckless driving as the initiating reason in 742 of the 970 chases in 2025, according to police data.
The Fire and Police Commission’s recommendation is also the first time the body has exercised that power since state legislation, 2023 Wisconsin Act 12, was passed. Before that legislation was passed, the commission held the ability to outright change police department policy, but the law shifted that to the city’s Common Council.
Some have called for the Fire and Police Commission to more aggressively issue recommendations like these.
The recommendation will now move to the commission’s Oversight and Accountability Committee. The decision was made after commissioners said they sought more time to tweak the language and for police to provide input.
License plate reading camera use scrutinized
The department’s use of license plate reading cameras, a system known as Flock, came under scrutiny from many attendees at the meeting as well, who called for the city to ban it. Many noted the recent criminal charges brought against Josue Ayala, an officer who prosecutors say improperly used the system to track a former partner and another person.
Ayala resigned and is facing a misdemeanor charge of attempted misconduct in public office. Ayala had previously faced claims of lying and excessive force but was not placed on a Milwaukee County District Attorney’s list of officers with a history of dishonesty, bias or integrity concerns until recently.
That was despite, in 2022, a federal public defender issuing a complaint against Ayala, saying he exaggerated so much in his testimony and reports that it almost seemed “like a compulsion.”
Milwaukee police officials like Heather Hough, the department’s chief of staff, said they were never made aware of that previous concern against Ayala.
“Had we received the information from defense counsel about these concerns they would have been investigated,” she said in an email to the Journal Sentinel.
But that goes against the role of the defense bar, outside experts and defense attorneys locally told the Journal Sentinel. Prosecutors have the ethical duty to share potential Brady material and serve the public, whereas defense attorneys’ obligation is to their client.
Milwaukee police began using Flock cameras in 2022. MPD has a $182,900 contract with Flock for the use of the technology. That contract is active through January 2027 and passed without requiring approval from member of the city’s Common Council, a point criticized by attendees.
The scrutiny against Flock came despite it not being on the meeting’s agenda. Attendees held signs that said things like “GET THE FLOCK OUTTA HERE” and called for the city to be “de-Flocked.”
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@gannett.com.
Milwaukee, WI
Illegal dumping plagues closed Milwaukee Pick ‘n Save
Illegal dumping plagues closed Pick ‘n Save
Neighbors say since a Milwaukee Pick ‘n Save at 35th and North closed in 2025, the parking lot has been filling up, but not with cars or people. It has been attracting illegal dumpers.
MILWAUKEE – Neighbors say since the Milwaukee Pick ‘n Save at 35th and North closed in 2025, the parking lot has been filling up, but not with cars or people. It has been attracting illegal dumpers.
Trash piling up
What we know:
There are old mattresses and furniture in the parking lot. There are piles of garbage at the entrance of the old grocery store. Behind the building, there are tires, more mattresses and more trash.
Illegal dumping at former grocery store near 35th and North, Milwaukee
The Pick ‘n Save stores closed in July 2025. Since then, the building has sat empty.
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FOX6 News was contacted by a man who manages senior and family housing in the area. He said in the last couple of months, he has noticed the stile turn into a place for illegal dumping. The man said he was so fed up, he called the office of Milwaukee Alderman Russell Stamper about the problem. The man said the whole site is an eyesore, and something needs to change.
Illegal dumping at former grocery store near 35th and North, Milwaukee
Change sought
What they’re saying:
“As the snow melts, it’s full of garbage. People are dumping furniture on it, tires,” said Jeffrey Sessions, who manages nearby property. “If you drive around it, it’s garbage everywhere. It’s unsightly for the neighborhood, and it’s probably going to create rats and mice problems.”
FOX6 News reached out to the Department of Neighborhood Services. Officials said the dumping has not been reported. They said the department’s commercial team will now be made aware of the issue.
Illegal dumping at former grocery store near 35th and North, Milwaukee
“It makes the whole neighborhood look like garbage, like nobody’s taking care of anything around here,” Sessions said. “It’s a detriment, it’s unsightly, and it needs to be addressed.”
Illegal dumpers could face fines
Dig deeper:
If the dumpers are caught on camera, they could face fines.
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The owner of the property may also be ordered to clean it up.
Illegal dumping at former grocery store near 35th and North, Milwaukee
The Source: Information in this post was provided by a person who owns property near the former grocery store, as well as Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services.
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