News

There’s promising new research that could help farmers weather climate change. A team of scientists is experimenting with a hormone that naturally occurs in plants. The hormone slows the plant’s growth – meaning it would need less water during a drought.

There’s more research to be done, but it could eventually lead to a drought-survival spray farmers could use on crops.

The transportation sector — that's people driving gasoline-fueled cars and using other vehicles — has become the single largest source of carbon dioxide pollution in the United States. So, despite some setbacks and concerns in Wisconsin, the push for more electric vehicles is expected to continue in 2020.

There are now more than 1 million electric vehicles (EV) on U.S. roads. California is leading the way. In Wisconsin, the percentage of drivers using EV is still less than 1%. But it's a dedicated group. 

On Monday, people around the United States are honoring the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Many remember King at the head of the civil rights movement — a man who fought for the rights of all people and preached non-violence.

But according to Cedric Burrows, an assistant professor of English at Marquette University, we don’t always get the full picture of who King was.

The voter purge case took some more turns last week. An Ozaukee County judge again ordered the Wisconsin Elections Commission to immediately drop more than 200,000 names from the voter rolls. It's suspected that those voters may have moved and haven't re-registered. Then, an appeals court sided with the commission and again put the purge on hold while lawsuits continue. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided not to take the case for the time being.

Grafton, Wis., is an unlikely place to be the center of African American music. But for about a decade in the 1920s and early '30s, it was the home of Paramount Records — a label devoted to jazz and blues. Artists like Louis Armstrong, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Alberta Hunter and Ma Rainey all recorded there.

Experiencing wars through film is often one of the few ways that audiences of all ages can connect with the tragedy of conflict. World War II and Vietnam War have had their share of films, but World War I has yet to get quite the same treatment. However, the film 1917 could change that.

Milwaukee’s Mount Mary University is planning a unique housing project that will serve students who are single mothers, alongside aging nuns and other senior citizens.

The Legend of Georgia McBride opens Friday night at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. It's the story of an Elvis impersonator who has to change his act when his club hires drag performers to bring in more customers. The show is funny, heartfelt, and full of feathers and sequins.

Wisconsin's leading energy regulator says she hopes to create a roadmap this year for how Wisconsin can get all of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2050. Public Service Commission (PSC) Chairperson Rebecca Valcq announced the goal Thursday at a renewable energy conference in Madison, held by the group RENEW.

Have you ever noticed a place name on your Google Maps or GPS, and thought, "I wonder what that is?"

That's what happened to South Milwaukee resident Mary Holtz, when she was driving near Bay View.  

"My husband and I were interested in something we spotted on our navigation screen called the Town of Lake," Holtz told WUWM’s Bubbler Talk. "We were curious about its history. Does it actually exist anywhere other than this digital navigation? What happened to it? Where'd it come from? Where'd it go?"

Lori Hoch graduated first in her class from University of Southern California law school, worked at two of Milwaukee’s biggest law firms, then became in-house counsel for the trust department of Wisconsin’s largest bank. She was on track for a comfortable corporate legal career.

Then four money managers who were starting their own firm asked if she'd be willing to give them some advice. At the first meeting they asked a whole lot of questions about setting up the new company. At the second meeting they had a few more. Then came the big one: Would she run the firm?