Lake Effect

During his campaign for governor, Tony Evers promised to decrease Wisconsin’s prison population by as much as 50%. But while other governors in the U.S. have issued health-based clemency to prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic, Evers hasn’t.

Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, is facing charges for fatally shooting two people and injuring another during protests in Kenosha. Rittenhouse, who's from Illinois, was one of several people openly carrying a weapon as protests in Kenosha over the police shooting of Jacob Blake turned to unrest late Tuesday night.

For those of us who don’t relish the extreme heat or humidity of summer, fall weather is a welcome reprieve. And the cool air isn't just good for sweaters: it's also great for adding new trees and native grasses to a landscape.

Every month, Lake Effect contributor Melinda Myers gives her expert tips on gardening. This month, she gives her tips and tricks on adding trees and native plants. Myers says one of the most important things to remember is how tall a tree is expected to grow and where it sits in your yard.

When George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer, people in Wauwatosa focused their attention on a local police officer responsible for killing 3 people on the job. 

If you’re a writer, describing places and people in your life can be important to the context of your stories. But writers also come across the predicament of whether or not to use a person’s real name.

For Lake Effect contributor Joanne Nelson, she hadn’t really thought about asking her family’s permission to use their real names for her memoir. But, she came to realize it wasn’t something she should’ve assumed was alright. Nelson shares this in her essay titled, “Who’s in a Name?”

The primary pieces of the International Space Station (ISS) were delivered over 42 assembly flights more than 20 years ago. Independent elements were constructed around the globe and assembled for the first time in space, starting the groundwork of nearly continuous human presence in space. 

The ISS has grown into an impressive research complex that continues to model not just international cooperation, but research that can help solve problems in space and on Earth.

Among the group of artists we’ve had in the Lake Effect Performance Studio, singer-songwriter Hayward Williams has been a consistent local performer. However, this time around we feature Williams in our Pandemic Performers series, where we highlight some of the work coming from Milwaukee artists and performers at a time when many of us are still isolated.

After nearly a century in residence, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel will be moving. The building, built in 1924, was first created for the Milwaukee Journal which merged with the Milwaukee Sentinel newspaper in 1995. It was sold late last year, and while developers had planned to turn the space into affordable housing alongside student housing, their plans have recently changed.

In normal times, Lake Effect features a variety of in-studio performances from local musicians and artists. But of course, these are not normal times and many artists have been struggling during the coronavirus pandemic. Most live events have been canceled and recording music in isolation presents lots of challenges for Milwaukee musicians like Andii Heath, who performs under the mononym Andii. 

Adverse childhood experiences, also known as ACES, are difficult or potentially traumatic experiences that happen before a person turns 18. ACES are based on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study conducted in the mid-1990s. And while there’s no perfect definition for what qualifies them, they have been shown to have a negative impact on mental and physical health in adulthood.

This year’s Democratic National Convention promised to be an extravaganza here in Milwaukee. Instead, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the convention was almost entirely virtual with speakers joining in from places around the country.

As most things in our lives have turned virtual, it turns out tourism can as well. VISIT Milwaukee collaborated with two photographers and videographers to create a series of videos narrated by Milwaukee community members to help people explore the city virtually.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has faced backlash for cuts and changes he’s been implementing at the United States Postal Service (USPS). Many of those changes raised questions about the mail-in voting process for the presidential election in November.

The 2020 Democratic National Convention was historic in many ways. For the first time, the convention was held virtually due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19. On Wednesday night California Senator Kamala Harris was the first Black and Asian-American woman to accept the nomination for Vice President in a major party.

Lake Effect contributor Art Cyr takes a historical look at what the office of Vice President represents in his essay, “The Democrats and Party Conventions”.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed what we view as normal in a lot of ways. It’s closed bars, restaurants; made us wear cloth coverings on our faces. It’s also put a hush on music and arts venues across Milwaukee. Concerts and big events aren’t conducive to reducing the spread of the coronavirus, and digital programming presents revenue challenges for places like Cactus Club.