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Nickel: Stolz takes silver in final race, ending streak, but shaking up world of speedskating

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Nickel: Stolz takes silver in final race, ending streak, but shaking up world of speedskating


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Three years ago Jordan Stolz was an almost shy teenager who didn’t even have his driver’s license when he made his big-stage debut here at the U.S. Olympic Trials, just a hometown, homeschooled kid trying to fit in as the fastest American man to qualify for the 2022 Beijing Games.

Stolz, now 20, has robustly shaken up the entire world of long track speedskating, with further confirmation of this fact at the Pettit National Ice Center for the first ISU World Cup event in Milwaukee in 20 years. Last weekend, he was the man to beat. In the 500, 1,000, and 1,500 meters. The six time single distance World Champion, World Allround champion, and world record holder was every topic of conversation and consideration in his homecoming.

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Stolz has left his senior competitors in awe of his emerging greatness, and his younger contemporaries scratching their heads wondering how they can beat him.

But – the streak is over.

On his fourth and final race on Sunday, Stolz showed he was in fact, almost human.

He took a silver medal in the 500 meters, skating a modest-by-his-standards 9.66 seconds opener and unable to make up for it on the back end to meet and beat the man he was paired with, Tatsuya Shinhama of Japan. Shinhama, 28, took gold in 34.14; Stolz’s time was 34.19.

“I thought it was a pretty clean technique on the opener. I just didn’t have the snap today, just fatigued,” said Stolz.

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Just a day earlier, Stolz skated a blistering 33.91 here in the same event in the first 500-meter race of the World Cup, which featured two 500 meter men’s races. Conditions were perfect Saturday and so was Stolz from beginning to end. It’s a tall task to duplicate anything like that.

“I just wish I skated the second turn better, but it’s hard to skate a perfect race every time,” said Stolz.

The silver medal Sunday broke Stolz’s World Cup gold-medal streak at 18, believed to be the longest for a male skater in International Skating Union history (ISU is still counting the streak at 22 in social media posts, but that may be modified).

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Stolz’s World Cup race only gold-medal streak went all the way back to February of 2024 when he skated a rare and extremely unusual long distance 5,000-meter race, in preparation of his pursuit of the World AllRound championship – which he won.

The silver medal Sunday for Stolz diminishes nothing about his season so far or his Milwaukee World Cup or his résumé. He is still a speedskating maverick dominant in the sprints as well as middle distance as the leader in all three events in overall World Cup standings.

Still, take no credit away from veteran Shinhama, who suffered an injury 11 months ago and spent a great deal of effort to make this come back. He’s third in the standings overall, behind Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands. Shinhama had this to say after his big win according to his Japanese to English translator:

“It was his first time come to and skate in Milwaukee. However, he heard about it, about the rink. And also it was a try for him… and is also the win. There was a win! So he was expected to aim for the speed – and got a win. And also the first thing is about the spectators: They are really cheering up for the skaters, so that he really enjoyed the last three days.” The organizers for the Pettit National Ice Center made a strong case that the ISU should host a World Cup in Milwaukee every year with the job that GM Paul Golomski and his team did with making fast ice.  “The ice is always great at the Pettit,” said American Olympic gold medalist Erin Jackson. “Paul does a really good job here. This is my favorite place to race. And he definitely delivered. I was just really excited that we would have a World Cup here so that the rest of the world could come in and see what a great job they do here.” Part of the prep work with the Pettit is taking the rink ice down from 1 to 1.25 inches to less than an inch, between .5 and .75. In the first two days, every individual gold medalist set a Pettit track record. By the end of the even, numerous skaters had recorded personal best times. “We had some great people working on the ice, shaving it down,” said American long distance skater Casey Dawson who set a national record in the 5000 here this weekend. “Making sure its at the right temperature – that helped a lot; they don’t usually do that at the Pettit. Unless it’s a big competition like the Olympic Trials or a World Cup.  “The home ice advantage with the crowd and everything cheering us on I think that helps a lot too.” Even with the glorious bright orange of the Dutch, a dominant world skating team, the American contingent of spectators was the strongest. It’s rare to have a World Cup in the U.S. and especially outside of Salt Lake City. The Pettit was sold out and drew a standing room-only crowd, estimated to be 1,500 a day, many of them kids, perhaps inspiring the future of the sport for the next generation.  “Its amazing being Jordan’s teammate and just seeing what he’s doing for the sport,” said Jackson. “He’s just phenomenal. It’s really impressive to see him keep pulling out these wins time and time again. And not even just wins – he’s pretty much smashing the competition. “Its really encouraging for the team because when one of us wins we all win. So its really awesome to be living in the same generation as Jordan.” “It’s a talent, and when you see him skating it’s like, he likes to skate – and that’s the important thing,” said Italian 3,000m champion Francesca Lollobrigida. “You know when you see someone skate and no smile, no empathy (emotion)? He has that. I think he will have a long career.” Canadian Laurent Dubreuil, 32, reflected on his World Cup and coming back from injury to skate in Milwaukee. He doesn’t envy the next generation trying to beat Stolz.“I’ve had a good career; I was just lucky I was born 10 years before him,” he said. Kjeld Nuis, 35, the decorated Dutch speedskater, added: “I’m really happy I’m not in his generation.”



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Milwaukee, WI

Arizona Diamondbacks 0/2, Chicago White Sox/Milwaukee Brewers 6/6

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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.

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee oversight body asks for more police pursuit policy changes

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Milwaukee oversight body asks for more police pursuit policy changes


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  • The Fire and Police Commission is mulling a recommendation the Milwaukee Police Department amend its police chase policy and restrict chases for reckless driving.
  • The current recommendation draft calls for a ban on chases for reckless driving after an attempted traffic stop. That will now move to a committee for further changes.
  • The draft recommendation comes after department modified the policy to remove speeding as a sole justification for chases. Prior, speeding was allowed to be considered when evaluating reckless driving

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.

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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.

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“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.

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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.

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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.

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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.



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Milwaukee, WI

Illegal dumping plagues closed Milwaukee Pick ‘n Save

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Illegal dumping plagues closed Milwaukee Pick ‘n Save


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

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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

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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

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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. 

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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.”

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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

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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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