Lake Effect

As we inch closer to the election, the importance of Milwaukee voters is becoming more and more clear. It’s the largest city in Wisconsin and home to a large portion of the state’s minority populations. In 2016, when Hilary Clinton was running against then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, she was criticized for not stepping foot in Wisconsin. 

The Milwaukee area has been blessed with some amazing weather this week. Warm days that turn into cool nights with just a hint of what’s to come. As we celebrate the turning of the seasons, many of us are looking to prepare our lawns and gardens for the cold months ahead.

Every month, gardening expert Melinda Myers shares her tips and tricks on how to make the most of your garden. As the weather begins to chill, she says you can begin to lay the groundwork for winterizing your garden.

Historic Milwaukee’s Doors Open event is usually one of the most popular fall activities in the city. It allows people to explore sites and buildings normally off limits to the public. But with the coronavirus pandemic, the organization had to go virtual.

Calls to end systemic racial injustice are reverberating throughout the country. That includes around issues of environmental injustice.

One of the people in the Milwaukee area guiding organizations and corporations along the path is August Ball. She calls herself an inclusive culture coach. She works to help groups fold inclusivity in and push racism out of their operations.

An affordable housing project is breathing new life into a 130-year-old school building in Milwaukee. The city's Department of City Development plans to turn the dilapidated building that used to be the McKinley School into apartments for low-income individuals.

John Splude began his career in public accounting, auditing some of the biggest companies in the area. But he stayed involved with his firm’s smaller clients along with the Fortune 50 companies. And he became more and more interested in the operations side of the businesses. 

As the weather shifts to fall, there’s also a shift in the sky. While it’s now technically autumn, the fall sky offers us the best of both summer and winter stargazing.

Lake Effect astronomy contributor Jean Creighton shares how to find the best constellations and planets the fall sky has to offer:

1. Summer Triangle

Sizeism or size discrimination is the idea that people are prejudged or discriminated against because of their body type or size. Sizeism can cause problems in one’s workplace, social and love life, and can affect health outcomes.

Community activist and essayist Jessica Young touches on the negative consequences of sizeism, especially among women of color, in her essay “Black Women and Size Stigma."

Tuesday marks the end of Jeanette Kowalik’s tenure as Milwaukee’s Commissioner of Health. Kowalik has been on the job for two years. She was hired at a low point in the health department’s history — after news broke that the city’s childhood lead poisoning prevention program had been grossly mismanaged.

There has been an on-going conversation about mental health care in the U.S. After tragedies like the school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary and Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School, some political actors are quick to blame mental health issues.

Despite these political talking points, public funding for mental health care has plummeted over the past few decades. And the history of mental health care in this country is fraught with mismanagement and abuse, often exacerbated by a lack of funding.

Crossover vehicles have been steadily growing and taking over the auto market. Starting at just 4% of car sales in 2000, they reached about 40% of sales in 2018.

In the not-so-distant past, going to conferences was common. Whether for work or a hobby, conferences can give people meaningful experiences.

For Lake Effect contributor Joanne Nelson, writers conferences would energize her and help hone her craft. But she sometimes wonders if her desire to be out exploring instead of at home could lead to unforeseen consequences:

Four out of 5 Native women have experienced violence in their lives. Native women are 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault than all other American women. One out of 3 Native women report having been raped — over 80% of the time, it's by non-Native men.

The terrible fact that attributes to this: people exploit gaps in tribal authority. Native women have no legal protection for domestic violence committed on tribal lands, particularly if it’s done by a non-Native man.

As the pandemic drags on and unemployment remains high, people continue to struggle. That struggle can mean difficult choices on how to spend money — pay the electric bill or buy groceries? For people with young children, buying diapers and sanitary products only further complicates the equation.

The Milwaukee Diaper Mission hopes to become a resource for people so they don’t have to make that difficult decision. The organization provides free, reusable and disposable supplies to Milwaukeeans in need.

As we continue to look for things to do outdoors during the pandemic, one of Milwaukee’s first parks, Forest Home Cemetery, hopes to become a place for safe and socially distant leisure. The idea of going to a cemetery for recreation may seem odd, but in its peak popularity, Forest Home attracted thousands of visitors a day to picnic or walk around the gardens, fountains, and monuments.