Milwaukee, WI
‘Not what Milwaukee is about’: People seek out events unaffiliated with RNC

Two miles south of the Republican National Convention, Milwaukee residents trickled into The Cooperage for an event offering a break from the nonstop politics taking over downtown.
More than a dozen local artists and business owners set up booths with their merchandise, while a DJ spun music for the attendees.
The free event was hosted by the Great MKE Block Party, which has been producing events to “connect the Milwaukee community in acts of joyful rebellion during the week of the RNC,” according to the group’s social media.
Vendor Liz Koetting, who co-edits a quarterly zine titled “This Is A Zine for Queer Professionals,” said she’s been seeking out events and spaces unaffiliated with the RNC throughout the week.
Apprehensions about the event have brought her circle of LGBTQ+ Milwaukeeans closer together, she said.
“People in my community are stressed about people who vote against our rights coming into our city,” Koetting said. “It makes the city feel like not a safe space.”
Devin Billingslea, a volunteer with the Great MKE Block Party, said the group curated over 50 events during the past week, including drag shows, karaoke, markets and fashion shows, with the ultimate goal of providing Milwaukeeans a safe, joyful place to escape the intensity of the convention.
Two attendees, cousins Kylie and Maureen McFadden, said they’ve been avoiding downtown and the RNC. They showed up to bring business to a part of town they love, knowing that most around the city aren’t getting the increased business promised by local officials.
They weaved between a number of vendor booths set up, including Alicia Clark’s booth, selling laser cut jewelry and sun catchers under the brand Lux Candela Studio.
Clark said she plans to donate a portion of her proceeds to Street Angels, a local group that supports Milwaukee County’s unhoused population. She’s received enough donations to contribute $22 to the organization for every purchase at her station.
The events of Tuesday — when five police officers from Ohio shot and killed a man living in a tent encampment near downtown — are fresh in her mind.
“Because the unhoused population has been so affected by the RNC in so many ways, between displacements and disconnection from resources, I thought they could use some extra help this week,” she said.
Abstract art vendors Sue McVey and her wife Tracy Apps participated in the Coalition to March on the RNC’s protest earlier in the week, particularly in support of the Palestinian people, LGBTQ+ communities and abortion rights.
“I really love the joyful rebellion because everything is really heavy right now,” Apps said.
At The Cooperage, McVey was clad in a dress showcasing the Palestinian flag.
Chloe Longmire, owner and founder of Chase My Creations, also said she sought out RNC counter-programming in the spirit of protest, since she was out of town during larger protests earlier this week. Longmire’s business creates social justice apparel with slogans like “Pro Roe AF” and “Take a Hike Racists.”
“I know how unsafe and unsettled a lot of people, especially Black people, feel with the RNC being in town,” Longmire said. “But the RNC is not what Milwaukee is about. Being anti-racist, speaking up for marginalized groups — this is what Milwaukee is all about.”

Milwaukee, WI
Brewers No. 1 Phenom Continued Explosive Start To 2025

The Milwaukee Brewers have one of the most exciting prospects in the game right now low in the minors.
18-year-old infielder Jesús Made has had a meteoric rise in the prospect standings this season. Made currently is ranked as the Brewers’ No. 1 overall prospect and the No. 23 overall prospect in the game right now.
Made had another massive day on Friday as he went 3-for-4 for the Class-A Carolina Mudcats with an inside-the-park home run, a double, three RBIs, and three stolen bases.
Made has been phenomenal so far this season. He has appeared in 40 games so far this season and is slashing .288/.402/.438 with four homers, 26 RBIs, 21 stolen bases, nine doubles, one triple, 32 runs scored, and 28 walks.
This is a guy who is going to play a massive role with the Brewers in the near future if he can keep things up. He’s drawn comparisons to Brewers phenom Jackson Chourio and has lived up to the hype in the minors so far. If he can keep up this level of play over the next year or so, there’s a real possibility that he and Chourio are both in the lineup for Milwaukee maybe by the time the 2027 season gets here. That’s just speculation, but would follow the timeline that Chourio was on.
Milwaukee has plenty of young talent at the big league level right now and another top prospect working his way up.
More MLB: Brewers Aren’t Losing 7-Year MLB Veteran After All
Milwaukee, WI
WisDOT's I-794 Interchange Study draws differing opinions from Milwaukee locals

MILWAUKEE — The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is debating the future of the I-794 interchange in downtown Milwaukee, presenting four options to the public during Thursday’s meeting that drew hundreds of attendees.
WisDOT has spent the last few years examining alternatives for I-794’s future, narrowing down to four distinct options.
The first option involves the total removal of I-794, which would open space for retail, recreation, and housing development in downtown Milwaukee.
The second option would replace the current structure in kind, reconstructing I-794 while maintaining its existing footprint.
Watch: WisDOT’s I-794 Interchange Study draws differing opinions from Milwaukee locals
Community provides input at I-794 Lake Interchange Study open house
The remaining two options are freeway improvement plans that would keep the structure but consolidate it to reduce its overall footprint.
“Highways running throughout neighborhoods no longer work,” said Montavius Jones, a member of the volunteer group Rethink 794, which advocates for the total removal option.
Brendyn Jones/TMJ4
“The removal of 794 will unlock so much potential, so much opportunity as far as jobs, housing opportunities, new retail opportunities, new amenities, new green space,” Jones said.
Many opponents of the removal option worry about increased travel time and traffic coming into downtown from I-94 and the Hoan Bridge.
However, Ryan Breaker, who lives in South Milwaukee and frequently uses I-794, doesn’t share those concerns.
“The improvements to the city are massive, I think the potential is massive, I believe the concerns are going to largely end up being unfounded,” Breaker said.

Brendyn Jones/TMJ4
For some stakeholders, the potential changes raise concerns about preserving local history.
Chuck Lazzaro is advocating for Pompeii Square, a memorial located under I-794 that commemorates the Pompeii Church, which was demolished to accommodate the highway’s construction in the 1960s.
“It was put there by our club to remember the church and our roots of the Italian community that was in the third ward,” Lazzaro said.

Brendyn Jones/TMJ4
Lazzaro worries that a large construction project on I-794 could leave the memorial with the same fate as the church it represents.
“We want to make sure whatever option they pick here does not affect our monument,” Lazzaro said.
Any plan chosen will need to go through environmental review and approval before WisDOT can identify funding availability. Construction is not anticipated to begin until the 2030s.
This story was reported 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.
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Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Music Premiere: Standstill, ‘Soft Side’

Every week, the Milwaukee Music Premiere sponsored by Density Studios connects the city’s artists with our listening audience. If you’re an artist with a track you’d like us to debut exclusively on Radio Milwaukee, head over to our Music Submission page to learn how.
As a non-musician, I can only imagine how difficult it is to take the two disparate elements of songwriting — music and lyrics — and make them seamless, as though they burst into existence simultaneously and instantly merged harmoniously.
That’s always been my way of identifying a “good” song. Not even a song I like, necessarily, but one where you give a nod to the artist because the craftsmanship is on point.
To clarify, I do like the track we’re premiering here: “Soft Side” from Milwaukee shoegaze-ish five-piece Standstill. I think you’ll like it, too, because the quintet really nailed the fit between their economical lyrics (48 words in the entire song) and instrumentation that doesn’t rely solely on vibes — a trap easily sprung in the shoegaze/dream pop genre.
As the band put it in their bio, “Standstill believes that a song is an experience and their sound can create an escape — their dream world.” The opening moments of “Soft Side” make that happen by easing you into another realm via gentle synth and Aliya Moore’s beckoning vocals that introduce a relationship living in the middle ground between what is needed and what actually exists:
Open wide, collect the rain
Stay inside, it’s all the same
I will lay this bed I’ve made
Twin-sized frame, I fan your flames
“There is a tension that happens when we expect more from someone who can’t meet our needs or give us more,” the band explained. “In this song, there is a self-awareness that the protagonist is engaging in something that isn’t good for them, but they do it anyway. This one-sided relationship can make us stretch too far, become jaded, lose our softness and turn us cold.
“This song ends with the protagonist choosing themself and doing what they know they needed to do a long time ago.”
Standstill don’t need a wheelbarrow of lyrics to get the point across because of how the music carries the narrative just as effectively. Moore sings about saying goodbye as the song builds, recedes slightly and then busts loose, led by a tension-relieving guitar part. It’s an emotional pressure valve and satisfying conclusion to a listening experience you can get lost in for a little under four minutes.
Take that time to enjoy “Soft Side” using the player at the top of the page, or catch it on 88Nine throughout today (6:30 and 10:30 a.m.; 2:30 and 6:30 p.m). The track will also be part of Standstill’s self-titled debut EP set for release this Friday, May 30, and they’ll celebrate that same day with a show at The Pocket in Riverwest.
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