Lake Effect

It seems like the world has been fascinated by Mars for decades. Since unmanned missions began in 1960, there have been 56 missions to Mars from countries around the world. While less than half of these missions have been successful, the problems haven’t stopped us.

June is Pride month in honor of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Greenwich Village, New York. The riots against police brutality and oppression were largely led by LGBTQ people of color. One of those leaders was Marsha P. Johnson, a gay liberation activist and self-identified drag queen.

>> Stonewall: The Hidden History Of Gay Rights

Despite the pandemic, construction has continued on new projects in the Milwaukee area. Although many of us are more focused on this health crisis, social unrest, and economic turmoil - we’re still experiencing a shortage of affordable housing. That shortage, mixed with the financial burden of housing, adds even more stress to these issues.

Campaign finance, dark money, Super PACs, political campaigning — sounds like a perfect comedy to be set in small town Wisconsin.

Right now, many of us are engaging in conversations about race and systemic racism in the United States. In some ways, it’s a conversation our country has been having for generations. But our nation’s legacy of racial injustice is often obscured by the books we read in school. That’s left some people to ask: how can I learn more?

The answer: more books.

Today marks day 26 that Milwaukeean’s are planning protests over police brutality against Black people. The protests kicked off after George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in Minnesota, was killed by a Minneapolis police officer who applied pressure to the back of Floyd’s neck with his knee. 

About a third of our lives is spent sleeping. Sleep is good for our health and builds our immune function, something especially important during a pandemic.

However, the CDC estimates that 30-40% of American adults sleep less than six hours a night. That's two hours less than the recommended eight hours. Sleep deprivation is often associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and our ability to cope with stress.

As businesses continue to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic, there are still concerns about how to do it safely. For most places, that means limiting the number of people allowed inside at one time, spacing out tables, and taping down socially distant spots to stand in line. But that can be a bit tricky when your business model depends on going in and out of other businesses, surrounded by a crowd of people. 

Two comedy legends passed away within the same week in May — Jerry Stiller and Fred Willard. Both of their contributions to comedy in all forms, from stage to television and film, are immeasurable and made them household names. 

Filmmaker and Wisconsin-native Steve Burrows had the pleasure of working with both Stiller and Willard on his film Chump Change — a Miramax showbusiness satire, most of which takes place in Wisconsin.

Thursday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration can not immediately end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, more commonly known as DACA. The program protects 700,000 young immigrants who were brought to the United States as children from deportation.

Social upheaval has grasped America from coast to coast in the last few weeks. It’s difficult to wrap up the pandemic, economic anxieties, racial justice, and elections all in one bundle — but they all played a hand in driving the protests over the last month. 

Jeffery Winters is Director of the Equality Development and Globalization Studies program at Northwestern University. He says much like the election of Donald Trump in 2016, many people were surprised by the magnitude of anger and frustration displayed during the protests for racial equality.

The protests that erupted after the death of George Floyd launched the issues of systemic racism to the front of the world’s consciousness. For many children, these recent events and continuing protests in their communities will result in some of their first questions about race and racism. 

Research has shown that children can pick up racial biases by the age of 4. While race is a simpler thing to address once a young child notices differences in skin color, racism is much more difficult of a topic to address with your children. 

One day a year for the last 24 years, several thousand volunteers have spread out throughout the Milwaukee River Basin to pick up trash. But this year is different, the coronavirus forced the Milwaukee Riverkeeper organization to cancel its 25th cleanup.

The science-based, water advocacy group says the annual cleaning up of tons of trash that accumulates over the winter helps the Menomonee, Kinnickinnic and Milwaukee River watersheds, but it also helps connect people to the natural resource.

Shortly before the nation learned the names of George Floyd, a black man in Minnesota killed by a white police officer, and Breonna Taylor, a black woman in Kentucky also killed by police, there was Ahmaud Arbery. 

Video of his killing surfaced months after it happened and was met with anger and hurt. The video shows Arbery being chased and gunned down by two white men who have both been charged. The man who shot the video has also been charged. 

Since March, the coronavirus pandemic has changed the lives of people of all ages. But the changes have been especially challenging for parents and their children.

Suddenly, kids are home all day while many parents work remotely. Some children are trying to learn virtually, and most are unable to participate in the typical activities they enjoy.

So, how can we help kids cope during the coronavirus? We spoke with Dr. Maggie Altschaefl, a psychologist at Children’s Wisconsin Community Services, to find out.

Identify emotions and teach coping skills