Wisconsin
Quiotepec en Wisconsin brings Oaxacan basketball fever to the Midwest
Scores of camping chairs and event tents surrounded the basketball courts at Elver Park on Madison’s west side on a day in late June. The smell of carne asada rode a light breeze as basketballs arced through the air against the backdrop of thick summer clouds.
The crowd was gathered for Quiotepec en Wisconsin, a basketball tournament hosted annually for more than 10 years.
Event organizer Guillermo Martinez Melgar said while participating teams tend to be from the Midwest, some come from as far as California. The thing that connects them all, he said, is their shared roots in Oaxaca, Mexico.
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A total of 14 men’s and 6 women’s teams appeared in the tournament. Over 100 players from Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Arcadia, Sparta, Minneapolis and Chicago traveled to Madison to compete for cash prizes.
Representing Oaxaca in Madison
Angelica Navarro Gomez is the captain of Madison-based team Las Alebrijes, which has played together for three years.
“It started off with one of our friends, Itzel and her sister,” she said. “There were no girls playing [in the tournament], and she decided ‘Hey, how about we make a team?’”
Las Alebrijes had never played basketball before, but saw it as an opportunity to grow.
“We just never looked back,” Navarro Gomez said.
Her sister, Marisela Gomez Castellano, said Oaxaqueños are known within Mexico for their special interest in basketball.
The region hosts a decades-old tournament called La Copa Benito Juárez, named after Mexico’s first indigenous president. That tournament attracts teams from across Oaxaca and the Mexican diaspora in the United States.
“I think there is a lot of pride in representing where you are from,” she said in Spanish.
Gomez Castellano said playing basketball in Oaxaca is tied to the community’s indigenous identity.
Soccer is widely accepted as the favorite sport in Mexico. The country has hosted the World Cup more than any other nation in the tournament’s 100-year history. But in the Sierra Norte region of Mexico, basketball is the unchallenged favorite.
In the 1930s, Mexican president Lázaro Cárdenas introduced basketball as a method of folding the indigenous communities that resided in the mountainous region into Mexico’s wider national identity. Basketball has smaller courts than soccer, which are easier to build in the region’s terrain. While Cárdenas’ vision did not come to fruition — most indigenous communities remain isolated — basketball became a tradition and a part of indigenous identity itself.
Indigenous identity is still represented through the sport today. Las Alebrijes named themselves after the sculptures of mythical creatures that artisans carve in Oaxaca.
Tournament continues despite fear of immigration enforcement
While the community feels pride in bringing their customs to Madison, she said this year felt different.
“Right now, it looks a little empty with everything going on with immigration,” she said in Spanish. “People didn’t want to come because they were afraid of not knowing what could happen.”
Increased enforcement by ICE across the country and in Wisconsin is driving Latinos to be more cautious about how they show up in the community. Gomez Castellano said it has driven the community to have more “underground” and “low key” gatherings.
“So [at the tournament] you see the absence of the crowd, the absence of the community,” she said in Spanish. “And though we have some people here, you don’t feel the same energy and vibe as when everyone is present.”
Despite being “a little scared,” Gomez Castellano and organizers decided to publicize the Quiotepec tournament.
“I think we’re trying to resist and we’re trying our best,” she said.
For Gomez Castellano, resisting looked like showing up and participating, in spite of what could happen.
“I think that’s also beautiful and inspiring to see that regardless of all the fear and the violence that our community is facing, they’re still showing up and being positive about it,” she said.
Guillermo Martinez Melgar, the event organizer, said he hopes that the culture he and his community built will continue to grow.
“I would like it if there were more of these events throughout the year,” he said in Spanish. “I invite anyone to step up and host more events like this.”
After being sent to the losers’ bracket, Madison’s Las Alebrijes climbed back into the regular bracket to defeat Quitotepec Minnesota and become women’s champions. Milwaukee’s Sierra Mixe took first place in the men’s bracket.
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Speaker 1
It’s time for Wisconsin life. As people across the globe tune in to cheer on their country’s soccer team in the World Cup this summer, one Wisconsin community is competing in a different kind of tournament. Members of Madison’s Mexican-American community recently came together for an annual basketball tournament that celebrates their indigenous roots. Reporter Jonas Tijerino has more.
Speaker 2
Scores of camping chairs and event tents surround the basketball courts at Elver Park on Madison’s west side. The smell of carne asado rides a light breeze as basketballs arc through the air against the backdrop of thick summer clouds. This is Kyotepec in Wisconsin. A basketball tournament hosted annually for more than 10 years. That’s Guillermo Martinez Melgar, one of the event’s organizers. He says while participating teams tend to be from the Midwest and sometimes as far as California, the thing that connects them all is their shared roots in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Speaker 3
Somos paisanos que radicamos in este bonito de Madison.
Speaker 2
Angélica Navarro Gomez is the captain of Madison-based team Las Alebrijges. They’ve been playing together for three years.
Speaker 4
Yeah, um it started off with the fr um one of our friends, Ixel, and her sister. There was no girls playing and she decided like hey how about we make a team And she made the offer and we decided, you know what, like let’s give it a shot. We never play basketball so we decided, hey, there’s Let’s just give it a give it an opportunity and see we can grow from there and we just never look back.
Speaker 2
Her sister Marisela Gomez Castellano says oaxaqueños are known within Mexico for their special interest in basketball The region hosts a decades-old tournament called La Copa Benito Juárez, named after Mexico’s first indigenous president. That tournament attracts teams from across Oaxaca and the Mexican diaspora in the United States. Gomez Castellano says playing basketball in Oaxaca is tied to the community’s indigenous identity. And while the community feels pride in bringing their customs to Madison, she says this year feels different. is driving Latinos to be more cautious about how they show up in the community.
Speaker 5
Gatherings and communities are just like going back to what it was before, like more underground, more like local, more low-key. And so yeah, it was like we did publicize the whole tournament but we also were, you know, a little scared like would this br you know attract other non people that we don’t want, you know, and so then um but yeah. But so far I think we’re trying our business and we’re doing our best.
Speaker 2
For Gomez Castellano, resisting looks like showing up and participating in communities in spite of what could happen.
Speaker 5
And I think that’s also beautiful and inspiring to see that regardless of all the fear, the Como the agr the violence that our community is facing, they’re still showing up and being positive about it and and I think that’s really inspiring.
Speaker 2
After six games, Madison’s Las Alebrijges defeated Kiotepec, Minnesota to become women’s champions. Milwaukee’s Sierra Mije took first place in the men’s bracket.
Speaker 1
Jonas Tijerino brought us that story about the Quiotepec in Wisconsin basketball tournament. Wisconsin Life is a co-production of Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin in partnership with Wisconsin Humanities. Additional support comes from Lowell and Mary Peterson of Appleton
“Wisconsin Life” is a co-production of Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin. The project celebrates what makes the state unique through the diverse stories of its people, places, history and culture.
WEST ALLIS (WLUK) — The Wisconsin State Fair unveiled dozens of new menu items coming to the fairgrounds for the 175th fair.
80 new food and drink options were unveiled Friday afternoon. Many of the items will feature Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery cheese curds, as they were declared the official cheese curds of the state fair. However, Door County cheese curds will be featured on the cheddar garlic longanisa lumpia, according to the list. It isn’t clear which Door County cheesemaker is supplying the cheese curds.
Here are all the new items coming to the fair:
- Al Pastor Pizza
- Bayou Crunch Cup
- Big Pat’s Pit Stop Punch
- Birria Flamin’ Bombs
- Biscoff Hot Fudge Cup
- Bloody Mary Mac Daddy
- Blue Ribbon Watermelon Mint Julep
- Bourbon Deep-Fried Pecan Pie
- Bugged Out Frozen Cheesecake On-a-Stick
- Bunzel’s Hungarian Sausage Sandwich
- Candied Bacon Cheese Curds
- Caramel Apple Cheese Curd Tacos
- Cevapcici – Croatian Sausage Sandwich
- Cheddar Garlic Longanisa Lumpia with Banana Ketchup
- Chicken Cordon Bleu Sausage
- Chimi-Brat-Changa
- Chocolate Covered Strawberry Sipper
- Churro Dog
- Circus Peanut Spritz
- Cold Foam Berry Blast
- Color-Changing Swamp Juice
- Cookie Butter Coffee Float
- Cosmic Funnel Cake
- Cranberry Dream Bar
- Cream City Cone
- Cuban Fries
- Deep Fried Horchata Balls
- Deep-Fried Ranch
- Deep-Fried Top The Tater
- Bloody Mary Pickles & Dill-icious Pickles
- Dill-uxe Pickle Fries
- Egg Roll A-la-Mode
- Ellsworth Fresh Cheese Curds
- Freedom Brat
- Freeze Dried Cheese Curds
- French Onion Cheese Pull
- Fruit Roll-Up Remix
- Gluten-Free Chimichurri Cheese Curds
- Guac This Way Tots
- Hawaiian Pizza Slush
- Hot Honey Bacon Corn Dog
- Hot Honey Chicken Lemonade
- Hot Honey Heatwave Fries
- Ice Cream Nachos
- Lemon-Lime Spritz
- Little Smokies Campfire Meal
- Monkey Bread
- Monster Blue Hawaiian Dirty Soda
- Nitro Cheesy Puffs
- Orange Creamsicle Lemonade
- Patriotic Punch
- Peach Beary Boba
- Peaches n’ Cream Whipped Frozen Lemonade
- Peachy Keen Cooler
- Pineapple Pop Paradise
- Pop’s Kettle Me Squeeze
- Porky Puff
- Potato Chip Sundae
- Ranch BLT Dog
- Red, White, & Berry
- Redneck Brat
- Smoked Pork Pierogi Sliders
- Soft Serve Beer
- Spam Jerky Sampler
- Star-Spangled Bomb Pop
- Sweet Lemon Berry Cheese Curds
- Tanghulu
- The Blue Moo Lagoon
- The Dirty Dog
- The Wisconsinite Slush
- Tilt-a-Spritz
- Tinga Tango Chicharrones
- Toffee Tumble
- Triple Chocolate Mini Donuts
- Tropical Tide
- Vegan Cheesesteak Eggrolls
- Waffle Cone S’mores
- Why Not Tots
- Wild Grape Dirty Soda
- Wisco Short Rid Corn Dog
- Wisconsin Chocolate Barnyard Float
- Southwestern Chorizo Pasty
In addition, a few new vendors are joining the Wisconsin State Fair. All Family Concessions will be found on the Back Forty. Dale Z’s On Tour will be on Grandstand Avenue and Second Street. Lulu Tanghulu will be in the expo center. And the Yuengling Beer House will be on Central Avenue and Benno’s Micro Alley.
The original cream puff and the chocolate cream puff will be offered at the 2026 Wisconsin State Fair. The new ‘Fair-aschino Cherry Cream Puff’ will be available while supplies last each day. Unlike the original and chocolate puffs, they won’t be available for pre-order.
Some of the new food offerings at the fair are also up for the Sporkies and Drinkies awards. The options up for the awarded are bolded in the list above.
The Wisconsin State Fair runs August 6 through August 16.
Residents can attend the July 16 meeting in Sheboygan or submit written comments by email to NOAA.
Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary has 36 shipwrecks
Discover the history, shipwrecks and impact of the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, established to protect maritime heritage in Lake Michigan. This video was created by the Wochit AI tool.
Wochit
SHEBOYGAN – Residents can attend or comment on an upcoming meeting of the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council scheduled for July 16 in Sheboygan.
The gathering will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sheboygan County Museum, 3110 Erie Ave., according to a community announcement. Members of the public are invited to attend and observe discussions.
The agenda includes routine council business, updates from working groups, community reports and briefings from NOAA staff on sanctuary programs, research and upcoming events.
Public can provide comments during meeting
A public comment period is planned for about 7:50 p.m., giving attendees a chance to share feedback directly with council members.
Those unable to attend may submit written comments by email to jean.prevo@noaa.gov, according to the announcement.
Council shares updates on sanctuary programs
NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries will provide updates tied to the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, including research initiatives and community engagement efforts.
More information about the council and its activities is available online at sanctuaries.noaa.gov.
This story was created by reporter Nida Tazeen, NTazeen@usatodayco.com , with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
Wisconsin
A Wisconsin family is suing Target after their 10-month-old died from swallowing a water bead
A Wisconsin family lost their ten-month-old daughter after she swallowed a water bead. They blame Target and the water bead manufacturer for her death.
This week, Taylor and Tyler Bethard filed a lawsuit against Target in Hennepin County, claiming that the company failed to warn them and other customers about the dangers of a water beads product that used to be sold exclusively at Target.
Water beads are marketed as toys that come with sensory kits or craft sets, but data shows the products are prone to injuring young children. The polymer material is extremely absorbent, allowing water beads – which are often colorful – to expand around 100 times their original size when they interact with water or liquid. This presents a hazard for kids; the United States Product Safety Commission states that between 2017 and 2022, there were 6,300 water bead-related ingestion injuries that required treatment from emergency departments across the country.
In 2023, a 10-month-old girl died. Her name is Esther “Jo” Bethard. According to court filings, Taylor Bethard found her daughter unresponsive in her crib on the morning of July 7, 2023, after she had suffered symptoms of a stomach illness overnight. Medical examiners told the family that her death was caused by swallowing a single water bead.
The Bethards had purchased a Chuckle and Roar water bead set in the spring of 2022 for Esther Jo’s older siblings, never intending for the infant to interact with the water beads.
Target and the Chuckle and Roar manufacturer, Buffalo Games LLC, mutually agreed to pull the product from the shelves in November of 2022. Court records show an email exchange between Buffalo Games and a product safety employee at Target where the manufacturer noted that while their water beads had met safety standards at the time, they wanted to “avoid any future unintended misuse of the product.”
That conversation was prompted after Buffalo Games was informed that an infant required surgery after ingesting a water bead from the Ultimate Water Beads kit. Target agreed to end sales, indicating that this would be classified as a “safety removal.”
The Bethard’s lawsuit alleges that Target clearly knew how dangerous these water beads could be, but failed to warn them or other customers. Target stopped selling the product about eight months before Esther Jo died. Daniel Mann, a personal injury attorney representing the Bethards in this case, said that Esther Jo would still be alive if Target had acted.
“With all this information Target didn’t do anything to reach out to the family or other consumers to let them know about this problem,” Mann said, “I think 10/10 people would say Target had a responsibility to do more than what they did, which was nothing.”
A spokesperson for Target said that they would not comment on ongoing litigation, but the company had already responded to an identical complaint filed by the Bethards in the State of New York. In 2025, the Bethards sued both Target and Buffalo Games in Erie County, N.Y., because that was where the manufacturer was based. In response to the lawsuit there, court filings show that Target denied the allegations that they knew of an extraordinary danger posed by the water beads and failed to notify customers.
The complaint was dismissed against Target in New York, Mann explained, due to jurisdiction. This lead to them refiling in Hennepin County this week.
In a statement to WCCO on the new legal action, a Target spokesperson said “We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by this tragedy, and we worked closely with the manufacturer of the product at the time the incident occurred.”
Taylor Bethard, Esther Jo’s mother, has lead the charge to ban water beads entirely. Her efforts lead to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commision recalling the more than 52,000 Chuckle and Roar Ultimate Water Beads Activity Kits that were in circulation. The recall took effect in September of 2023. Target, Walmart and Amazon announced that they would stop marketing water beads to children.
Bethard is also working with Wisconsin U.S. State Senator Tammy Baldwin to establish federal legislation to permanently outlaw all water beads. This past spring, the CPSC established new legal guidelines that restrict the size of water beads to try to ensure high safety standards.
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