Milwaukee, WI

Sturgeon Fest: restoring an ancient fish to the Milwaukee River

Published

1 year ago

September 25, 2024

Sturgeon Fest: restoring an ancient fish to the Milwaukee River

MILWAUKEE — You can visit two festivals in one this weekend — Harbor Fest and Sturgeon Fest in Milwaukee’s Harbor District — where baby sturgeon will be released into the Milwaukee River.

Sturgeon are the largest fish species in the Great Lakes, reaching up to seven feet in length and 250 pounds. They’re also ancient; a fish that can live for over a century, dates back to the dinosaurs and even looks prehistoric.

“It looks more like a dinosaur or a reptile,” Citizen Science Manager at Riveredge Nature Center Mary Holleback told WTMJ. “They actually do not have scales like modern fish do. They have scutes, which means they have these armored plates.”

Sturgeon Fest joins Milwaukee’s Harbor Fest celebration thanks to the Saukville-based nature center. They’ve been helping restore lake sturgeon to their native home for over 20 years through the Milwaukee River Lake Sturgeon Rehabilitation Program.

For $15, you can sponsor a baby sturgeon to release into the Milwaukee River on Sunday. And that might not be the last you hear from your new bottom-dwelling dinosaur friend — each sturgeon comes with a certificate and registration number for tracking, so you’ll be notified if the DNR spots it in a survey or it happens to swim by one of the PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tag sensors in the Milwaukee River.

“Last spring when about 20 fish came up the river, one of them was a fish from 2007, there were a bunch of them from 2011,” said Holleback. “It’s been fun hearing about these fish that have survived and are coming back.”

The sturgeon is a keystone species of Lake Michigan, meaning it has an especially large impact on its natural environment and serves as an indicator of an ecosystem’s overall health. Sturgeon spend much of their adult life in lakes and use tributaries like the Milwaukee River to spawn. But once human disruptions like dams and overfishing invaded their breeding habitat, sturgeon practically disappeared from the Milwaukee River over 100 years ago.

Families are encouraged to join the sturgeon release and see other live animals at Sturgeon Fest: “These fish live so long that they’ll outlive us [adults] for sure,” said Holleback “The kids are going to be the caretakers of these fish in the future.”

Riveredge Nature Center has a limited number of sturgeon available to sponsor, but all are welcome to watch the release. Harbor Fest runs 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. with the sturgeon release 12 – 2 p.m. on Sunday 09/29/24.

Visit: https://riveredgenaturecenter.org/program/sturgeon-fest/#register-sturgeon to check fish availability and learn more about sturgeon conservation.

Source link

Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee Weather – Frosty and cold morning, sunny day ahead

Published

12 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

MILWAUKEE – Forecast from FOX6 Meteorologist Lisa Michaels

Frosty Monday morning with temps in the teens inland to low 20s near the lake.
Mostly sunny to sunny skies on Monday. Highs in the mid-40s inland, upper 30s near the lake.
A total lunar eclipse will happen Tuesday morning, total eclipse from 5-6am. It may be tough to see due to increasing clouds.
Increasing clouds on Tuesday with highs in the low 40s. Chance of rain and storms possible Wednesday through Friday with warming temperatures.

Today: 39 Lake. Mostly sunny.
High: 44°
Wind: SE 5-10

Tonight: Partly cloudy this evening, mostly clear overnight.
Low: 27°
Wind: SE 5

Tuesday: 39 Lake. Mostly cloudy.
High: 43°
Wind: E 5-10

Wednesday:41 Lake. Chance for scattered showers and t-storms.
AM Low: 32° High: 45°
Wind: E 5-10

Thursday: 39 Lake. Mostly cloudy. Chance storms.
AM Low: 37° High: 42°
Wind: NE 5-10

Friday: Chance for showers and t-storms Warmer. Warming at night.
AM Low: 37° High: 57°
Wind: SE 5-15

Saturday: Mostly cloudy with AM rain showers. Blustery with falling afternoon temperatures.
AM Low: 47° High: 53°
Wind: NE 5-10

6-day planner

FOX6 Weather Extras

Local perspective:

Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:

FOX6 Storm Center app

FOX LOCAL Mobile app

FOX Weather app

FOX Weather

Big picture view:

Maps and radar

We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.

School and business closings

When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.

FOX6 Weather Experts in social media

Daily ForecastWeatherMilwaukee

Source link

Milwaukee, WI

Four new community-powered fridges open on Milwaukee’s North Side

Published

24 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Four new community-powered fridges open on Milwaukee’s North Side

Community members and city leaders celebrated the opening of four new community-powered fridges on the North Side of Milwaukee. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Friday, Feb. 27, at Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, 3624 W. North Ave., to mark the occasion.

The effort to fight food scarcity by opening community-powered fridges comes after several grocery stores closed in the area, creating a food desert.

Ald. Russell W. Stamper, II, emceed the ribbon cutting ceremony for the grand opening of four new community-powered fridges.

District 15 Ald. Russell W. Stamper II, who saw several grocery stores in his district close over the past few years, served as the event’s emcee.

“We could either complain about the problem, or we could come together to find a solution,” Stamper said.

People fill up the community-powered fridge with fresh produce.

In July 2025, a Pick ‘n Save on the North Side closed, prompting the opening of a community-powered fridge at Tricklebee Café in the Sherman Park and Uptown area. Since then, several other grocery stores have closed in the area.

This led Stamper, FEED MKE, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and One MKE to open four more community-powered fridges.

Christie Melby-Gibbons, executive director of Tricklebee Café, talks about opening the first community-powered fridge at her cafe.

Christie Melby-Gibbons, executive director of Tricklebee Café, talked about the organization’s community-powered fridge. About a week ago, the fridge was empty for the first time since its launch, so staff turned to their online community for support.

“Within 20 minutes, a woman came in with bags of food and filled the fridge for less than $100,” Melby-Gibbons said.

Danell Cross (right), executive director at Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, Metcalfe Park resident Farina Brooks (left), and other attendees applaud during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The community-powered fridge network is run by residents on a take-what-you-need, leave-what-you-can model. Taking a grassroots approach to solving food insecurity in the area, community members provide fresh produce and other healthy food options to ensure that their neighbors have access to nutritious foods.

Residents line up to fill the community-powered fridge with fresh produce.

“Everybody deserves to eat. I can’t go to sleep at night knowing my neighbors are hungry,” said Melody McCurtis, deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges.

Here’s a list of all the community-powered fridges:

Metcalfe Park Community Bridges

3624 W. North Ave.

Rooted & Rising- Washington Park

3940 W. Lisbon Ave.

Sherman Park Community Association

3526 W. Fond du Lac Ave.

Dominican Center

2470 W. Locust St.

Tricklebee Café

4424 W. North Ave.

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Source link

Milwaukee, WI

At the Bar

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

The bar can be “the place” where memories are made, friendships blossom, and stories live forever. This episode of Real Stories MKE features stories from Dasha Kelly, Kristia Wildflower, Shep Crumrine, and Katelyn Nye. Real Stories MKE is hosted by Kim Shine and Joel Dresang with support from producer Jasmine Gonzalez and audio engineer Sam Woods.

Source link