Lake Effect

A new study from the Wisconsin Policy Forum looked at 18 colleges and universities in southeast Wisconsin between 2016 to 2019 to study trends in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) degrees.

The study found that the number of people who graduated from these institutions overall decreased but the percentage of college graduates getting STEM degrees went from 10.2% to 11.6%. 

While that number is increasing, it isn’t necessarily doing so equally.

Wisconsin has seen a fairly mild winter this year. Some may point to climate change as the cause of this issue, but UW-Milwaukee professor and leading forecast expert Paul Roebber says the answer is much more complicated than that.

He says that while the Earth is warming, that is not a major effect on day-to-day weather. Something, he says, that's had a larger short-term impact on this winter was an instance of sudden stratospheric warming.

At 37 years old, Aaron Rodgers has had one of the best seasons of his 16-year career with the Green Bay Packers. His incredible performance has even put him as the favorite to win Most Valuable Player in the NFL this year.

But the toll of playing professional sports, especially one as physical as football, can be grueling on the human body. So how has Rodgers managed to not only survive this long but continue to put up incredible numbers?

Wisconsin residents ages four and up can now get at-home COVID-19 test kits for free through a partnership between the state of Wisconsin and Vault Medical Services.

The kits come with all of the supplies to conduct the saliva test, but you must have internet and a device with a camera as every test has to be conducted with a licensed health care professional over Zoom.

In October of 2020, Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Bangstad put up a large Biden-Harris sign outside of his brewery. Doing this in conservative northern Wisconsin quickly led to some pushback.

Eddy Lemberger wrote the song “I Love My Green Bay Packers!” in 1993. The song celebrated the success of the Packers and the fact that the NFL team from the smallest city had fans from all across the country. It went on to become an unofficial anthem for Packer fans everywhere.

Jason Fabus first heard the song during the 1996–1997 season as an eight-year-old diehard Packer fan.

Editor’s Note: This story originally ran on June 16, 2009

Hank Aaron died last Friday at the age of 86. “Hammerin’ Hank” was known for breaking Babe Ruth’s long held homerun record and for his advocacy for civil rights. Aaron started his Major League career with the Milwaukee Braves and moved to Atlanta with the team in 1965.

But the baseball legend played for another Wisconsin team, the Eau Claire Bears.

In the NPR podcast Throughline, co-hosts Ramtin Arablouei and Rund Abdelfatah take listeners back in time to understand news stories of the present.

While neither of the hosts are historians, they say that's the point of the podcast.

“It’s much more relatable," says Arablouei. "It’s not that we’ve studied these issues for years, it’s that we’ve gone on this journey and we want you to come with us and along the way we hear from people who have studied these issues for many years.”

On Jan. 6, Americans watched as a mob of pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building and tore through the halls of Congress.

While this event was unprecedented in many ways, this is not the first time the U.S. Capitol has been the site of violent acts.

John Savagian is a professor of history and program director for the history department at Alverno College. He says the first attack on the U.S. Capitol was by the British in 1812 after the American army had burned down the British Capitol in Canada.

Wisconsin has begun distributing vaccinations for COVID-19 to health care workers, first responders and those in long-term care facilities. Soon that may include childcare and K-12 school employees, incarcerated people, public transit workers and everyone 65 and older.

But getting vaccinated doesn’t mean that taking measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 will end.

Updated 1:25 p.m.

As more vaccines arrive in Wisconsin each week, the time when the vaccine will be available to the general public gets closer and closer. But many people are wondering what its actually like to get the vaccinated.

So, Lake Effect asked health care workers who have gotten the vaccine to share their experience and describe the good and the bad that came along with getting their shots.

Updated Jan. 21 at 11:06 a.m.

Racial justice issues remain front and center in 2021.

A few days after the start of the new year, the Kenosha County district attorney announced that the officer who shot Jacob Blake in the back won’t face charges.

The first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Wisconsin on Dec. 14, 2020 with the first vaccinations that afternoon.

Wisconsin is currently in phase 1a of the vaccination effort, which includes health care workers, first responders and those in long-term care facilities.

Kate is a speech therapist in an acute care medical setting. She is one of the many Wisconsin health care workers who has gotten the first dose of the vaccine.

Micro weddings or weddings with under 75 guests were growing in popularity even before gathering limits were put in place due to the pandemic. While traditional, big weddings are on hold as COVID-19 continues to devastate Wisconsin, celebrations will happen again one day.

With high costs and extra planning associated with long guest lists, micro weddings can be a way to create a more intimate feeling during your wedding celebration.

Every year the Wisconsin Policy Forum releases a top five list of their most important findings from the year.

Rob Henken is the president of the Wisconsin Policy Forum and he discusses each finding.

1. Shift to online shopping helps taxpayers but not state budget.

Updated 12:11 p.m

From 1942 to 1945, Hollywood created over 200 movies centered around World War II. Thus creating the genre of World War II films, which continued in its popularity even into the 21st Century.

In a new book, “World War II On Film”, author Dave Luhrssen examines the genre through 12 movies and explains how they painted a picture of the war that often blurred the lines of reality.

Newly elected Rep. Samba Baldeh is the first Muslim member of the Wisconsin Legislature. Before becoming a representative, Baldeh, an immigrant from Gambia, served on the Madison Common Council. He now represents Wisconsin’s 48th Assembly District.

As for what Baldeh hopes to accomplish, he says he wants to expand health care programs, like Medicaid, so that struggling communities have proper access to medical care.

Criminal justice reform is also on the top of Baldeh's mind, he says, not only in terms of police reform but also in keeping people out of prison.

As a violent mob tore through the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, questions about what could be done to those who were seen as inciting the crowd arose. While the constitution prohibits the government from taking action against those exercising their freedom of speech or freedom to peaceably assemble, there are laws against inciting violence.

Paul Nolette is a professor and chair of the department of political science at Marquette University and he says the question of where free speech ends and inciting violence begins is a question courts have dealt with for years.

After the insurrection of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, some conservatives tried to make connections between the Act 10 protests in Wisconsin’s Capitol in 2011 and the insurrection. In the days after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, many continued to try and draw comparisons, including former Gov. Scott Walker.

Wisconsin voters made history in November by electing the first Asian American to the state Legislature. Francesca Hong is a chef and restaurant owner, and now a state representative. She was elected to represent the state’s 76th Assembly District, which covers a portion of Madison.

Rep. Hong, a Democrat, talks with WUWM's LaToya Dennis about the work that lies ahead. She begins by explaining her feelings about being elected: “I am both incredibly motivated, grateful and terrified at the same time."

WUWM has been partnering with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee PBS and the Milwaukee Public Library on an initiative called Listen MKE. Its goal: help north side residents get the information they want and need.

This Listen MKE conversation focuses on COVID-19 and the devastating effect it's had on Milwaukee’s Black community. Many of the survivors face unique physical and mental health challenges.

The coronavirus pandemic has absolutely decimated local restaurants in Milwaukee. Almost a year into the pandemic and with winter in full swing, carry-out ordering has become one of the only lifelines for restaurants.

The coronavirus pandemic has crippled many parts of Milwaukee’s economy. Businesses have had to rely on government funding and are adapting their services to safely to stay open.

But one industry that has been relatively unaffected from the pandemic has been commercial development.

Tom Daykin has been reporting on commercial development for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel since 1995 and he says many of the projects that opened in 2020 were able to survive because they were already so far along.

Cities like Milwaukee have been forced to change much of how space is used over the past year. Office cubicles sit empty, restaurants have had to close their doors and more people are working from home than ever.

These changes have forced people and companies to make the best of the situation, and some of these changes might be here to stay when the pandemic ends.

All eyes were on Washington, D.C. yesterday as a violent pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building. Lawmakers were forced into hiding and four people died, including a woman shot by Capitol police.

Earlier on Wednesday, the president urged supporters to march to Capitol Hill to protest his election defeat, which he continues to claim without evidence was fraudulent. And as the insurrection took hold, he did little to calm the riots.

Voting is the foundation of democracy, and we must make voting easier for communities that have been historically disenfranchised. That's a firmly held belief of former executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission Neil Albrecht.

Albrecht became deputy director of the commission in 2005, later becoming executive director in 2012. He says he was inspired to serve in the roles after working at the Social Development Foundation, the largest anti-poverty organization in the state.

The new year has arrived. Though the pandemic is still here, there are great Milwaukee events (in-person and virtual) to enjoy.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Adam Carr from the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service has joined Lake Effect to talk about community events in Milwaukee. The list includes a wide array of things to enjoy, both virtually and in-person, this January.

1. Yoga with Malkia at Milwaukee Turner Ballroom

In 2020, Wisconsin was thrust into the political spotlight. Serving as a key swing state for the presidential election, playing virtual host to the Democratic National Convention and taking on the national conversation around police reform all put eyes on Wisconsin.

But UW-Milwaukee political science professor Paru Shah says much of Wisconsin politics was characterized by inaction.

Rock Mackie is a medical physicist who invented a safer type of therapeutic radiation, called tomotherapy, that delivers less radiation with just as much effectiveness. It has saved many lives.  

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office estimates that there will have been 473 deaths due to drug overdoses in the county in 2020 once they have completed every investigation. That would be a 13% increase from 2019, which had already set a record for most deaths in a year at 418.