WUWM News

Gov. Tony Evers announced Tuesday that his office will be hiring more than 60 new assistant district attorneys to address a statewide shortage of staff.

One of President Trump’s most controversial Cabinet members visited Milwaukee Monday to celebrate and call for the expansion of school choice. It was Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ first stop on her back-to-school tour promoting "education freedom."

DeVos spent a few hours at St. Marcus Lutheran School, a private voucher school in the Brewer's Hill neighborhood. She toured classrooms, talked to students, and held a roundtable discussion that included like-minded state lawmakers.

Computer power and artificial intelligence technology are officially ramping up in Milwaukee — that's with Friday’s opening of the Dwight and Dian Diercks Computational Science Hall at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. A specially-designed supercomputer in the building will be able to help local businesses and community groups with data projects.

Milwaukee officials announced Thursday that train manufacturer TALGO will be expanding at Century City. It was the second announcement in as many weeks for the north side business park.

Strauss Brands, a meat-packing company from Franklin, said earlier this month it would break ground on a plant which could bring 250 jobs to the area.

Benjamin Timm of Milwaukee's Department of City Development says Century City is a large piece of land in the middle of the city that offers a lot of possibility.

Racine is moving ahead with trying to live up to the Smart City designation it was awarded earlier this year. A conference this week is showing that several changes in education, transportation and technology may be in store for what used to just be called "the Belle City of the Great Lakes." 

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released standardized test results for public school students Thursday, and there’s not much to celebrate.

Students’ mastery of both English language arts and math declined compared to the previous year, with just about 40% of students proficient in each. Students were making progress in math previously, but that trend did not continue this year. English results have declined for a couple years.

This spring, Milwaukee Public School leaders agreed to reinstate employee salary schedules, which provide workers with predictable raises based on experience and education level.

It’s a compensation system that MPS eliminated after Act 10 deprived unions of most bargaining powers. Now, the district is reversing course with the goal of stabilizing its workforce.

Milwaukee County leaders want to put a binding referendum on the ballot that would raise the county sales tax by 1%. But before the county can take that step, it needs approval from the state legislature.

City and county officials say the goal is to not only reduce the property tax here, but to also create a new source of revenue.

Year after year, Milwaukee has its highest levels of violent crime in the summer. And by that measure, the city has been making some progress.

There were 10 homicides in the city of Milwaukee in August 2019 compared to 22 in August 2018. But the city has still experienced over 60 devastating homicides this year to date. 

More Milwaukee-area business leaders are being urged to help employees who experienced trauma earlier in their lives. Advocates for what's called "trauma-informed care" say it will help the bottom line. 

More research is showing that people who experience psychological trauma can carry negative effects with them for a long time. All the way to when they're working as adults. 

WUWM went on the air on this day in 1964. As we celebrate our 55th birthday, we're also celebrating and looking back on the staff members who were integral to the station's content and identity.

For anyone who listened to WUWM from the early '90s until just a few years ago, Bob Bach is a familiar voice. He worked in WUWM’s newsroom from 1991 to 2015. In those 24 years, he reported on the news, hosted the precursor to Lake Effect (called At10), and finished up his career as our local Morning Edition host and anchor.

An estimated 1.7 million Wisconsinites rely on private wells for water. That includes the residents of Richfield, which is located northwest of Milwaukee in rural Washington County.

Richfield is trying to balance development with ensuring there is enough well water for all.

There's been a lot of talk about Milwaukee efforts to shore up its childhood lead program and remove old lead pipes that feeds drinking water to tens of thousands of homes in the city.

Now, Milwaukee County hopes a proposed initiative will help risks found in foreclosed homes. 

The idea is to create a small, revolving loan fund to help county residents remove lead hazards — both paint and old lead service lines – when they buy a foreclosed home from the county.

On Wednesday, the perennial presenters Mike Gousha and Charles Franklin were back at it again with the first Marquette Law School Poll since April. As always there's a range of questions posed to Wisconsin residents, from gun control to water safety.

The field of candidates for Milwaukee Mayor got a little more crowded Tuesday, as Democratic state Sen. Lena Taylor threw her hat into the ring. That brings the number of declared candidates to three. Taylor’s bid sets up a potential challenge against long-time Mayor Tom Barrett.