logo
Wisconsin Examiner wins 7 Milwaukee Press Club awards

Wisconsin Examiner wins 7 Milwaukee Press Club awards

Yahoo12-05-2025

Examiner staff members Baylor Spears, Henry Redman, Erik Gunn, Ruth Conniff and Criminal Justice Fellow Andrew Kennard with Milwaukee Press Club awards on May 9, 2025 | Wisconsin Examiner photo
Wisconsin Examiner staff members were recognized for investigative reporting, public service reporting, explanatory reporting, and in several feature-writing categories in the Milwaukee Press Club annual Excellence in Journalism contest for work published in 2024.
Henry Redman received the Bronze award for online investigative reporting for a series of stories that uncovered the influence of an out-of-state right-wing pro-development group on land use planning in Oneida County.
Editor Ruth Conniff was recognized in the public service reporting category for a special report on human trafficking in Wisconsin agriculture. For the third year in a row, Conniff also received an award for the best online column for a selection of her work.
Criminal Justice Project Fellow Andrew Kennard received a bronze award for explanatory reporting online for a story about problems with access to telephone communication for incarcerated people in Wisconsin prisons.
Baylor Spears was honored with a bronze award for hard news feature writing for her story on how Democratic Party candidates were campaigning in parts of the state that they have been shut out from in the past by gerrymandering.
Deputy Editor Erik Gunn was the recipient of a silver award for feature writing for his story on a project in La Crosse by college students and neighborhood activists to eliminate the use of mulched rubber as a playground surface.
Gunn also received a bronze award for personal profile writing for his story on a mother who has campaigned for years to have meningitis vaccines required in Wisconsin after her son died of the illness in college.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

About 100 staff at Milwaukee Job Corps Center will lose jobs due to federal cuts, state agency says
About 100 staff at Milwaukee Job Corps Center will lose jobs due to federal cuts, state agency says

Yahoo

time18 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

About 100 staff at Milwaukee Job Corps Center will lose jobs due to federal cuts, state agency says

About 100 staff at the Milwaukee Job Corps Center are expected to lose their jobs in June as the result of recent actions by the U.S. Department of Labor to pause its national workforce program. In a late May announcement, the federal labor department cited poor performance outcomes and high operation costs as reason for its plans to suspend operations at 99 contract-operated Job Corps centers across the U.S., including Milwaukee's, by the end of June. The Job Corps program dates to 1964. It provides room and board, high school diplomas, specific job skills training, and other employment services for people between the ages of 16 and 24. Participants must qualify as low income and face "barriers to education and employment." Examples of those who are enrolled in Job Corps include people with a history of homelessness, who dropped out of the K-12 education system or who have been victims of sex trafficking. About 25,000 people are enrolled nationally, federal data show. Milwaukee's location, 6665 N. 60th St., is operated by contractor Horizon Youth Services. Via email on June 2, President Nolyn Fueller said the program has awarded 1,354 high school diplomas and 2,515 career and technical training completions since opening in 2011. Layoffs will affect all staff at the Milwaukee location: residential counselors, academic instructors, mental health consultants, security officers, cooks and others, according to a June 2 notification from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. "The termination of this contract will result in layoffs that are expected to be permanent," the DWD notification says. A June 3 legal complaint brought by the National Job Corps Association, a trade organization for contractors operating the program, seeks to prevent the federal pause. Among other allegations, the lawsuit filed in New York calls the federal labor department's actions "illegal" and "fundamentally irrational." Jamie De Jesus has volunteered at the Milwaukee location for the last two years. He believes ending the program could increase the crime rate, put young people in vulnerable situations and make it more difficult for potential future students to get jobs. 'They're making life-changing decisions on people whose life they can never relate to,' De Jesus said of the Trump administration. De Jesus said he reached out to Milwaukee Area Technical College and Milwaukee County to find some possible solutions. 'Let's revamp what we got and keep these people from being homeless,' De Jesus said, adding of the roughly 120 students that are affected by the closure, 30 could be homeless or have inconsistent housing. De Jesus said he's reached out to different organizations to help with housing and mental health for the students. 'Money makes the world go round, right? But conversation rules the nation,' De Jesus said. 'If we keep communicating with each other to find out what our needs are, we all have a better chance of survival.' The federal funding for Job Corps was operational, De Jesus said, and the budget was tight. But the program was trending in the right direction. 'We were working on getting Job Corps more volunteering so they were more active in the community. They were building relationships,' De Jesus said. 'They had a workforce board to find out what companies wanted and companies were even hiring the students from there. It was working.' Aside from his volunteer work, De Jesus works for the Innovative Educational Solutions Institute, a nonprofit that offers job training to people with financial or physical limitations. De Jesus said there's two machinist interns and an administrative assistant intern with Innovative Educational Solutions Institute. Like many companies with interns coming to the end of their training, De Jesus said they asked them where they wanted to get lunch. 'Their response hit me ... 'We don't know any place to go eat?'' De Jesus recalled. 'It's about exposure for youths, at this point. Exposing them to as many things as we can whether it be different foods, different areas of employment, different career paths. And just trying to educate them and let them know that they're not forgotten about.' In explaining its decision to suspend the program, the U.S. Department of Labor pointed to a "first-ever Job Corps Transparency Report" released in April that includes data on graduation rates, operational costs and safety infractions at program sites. For the Milwaukee location, that data showed an enrollment of 245 students in the 2023 program year, at an average cost per participant of $37,457. Of those students, 73 were considered to have graduated, meaning they either obtained a high school diploma, GED or completed a career technical training program. In a statement on May 29, U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer cited that report in saying the Job Corps program was "no longer achieving the intended outcomes that students deserve." The lawsuit seeking to maintain Job Corps alleges the federal government's report on the program "applies a flawed methodology and reflects selective and inaccurate performance measures, costs, and statistics, intended to significantly understate Job Corps' performance and overstate its costs." In June 3 letter addressed to Chavez-DeRemer, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, called the program pause "misguided" and a "functional cancellation." She urged the federal government to reverse course. "Employers in the Milwaukee area value Job Corps graduates as strong, reliable contributors in the workplace, and losing that connection will add to the challenge of filling open jobs," Baldwin's letter said. The future of Wisconsin's second Job Corps center, in the northcentral town of Laona, is unclear. The Laona location, Blackwell Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center, is operated by the U.S. Forest Service Job Corps. In a statement on June 3, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the department is reviewing the job corps program and "will determine the status of our 24 centers soon." "The Trump Administration is looking critically at the way we do business, with the ultimate goal of ensuring the best possible service for our customers, and the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars," the statement added. "We continue to work closely with DOL and Congress to ensure USDA Job Corps facilities continue to prioritize the health and safety of program participants." Cleo Krejci covers K-12 education and workforce development as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@ or follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. For more information about Report for America, visit This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Federal actions to pause services at Milwaukee Job Corps center

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley says his retirement could come ‘out of nowhere'
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley says his retirement could come ‘out of nowhere'

New York Times

time20 minutes ago

  • New York Times

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley says his retirement could come ‘out of nowhere'

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley's retirement from the league could come 'out of nowhere,' he told Chris Long on the podcast 'Green Light with Chris Long' on Wednesday. Long, a former Eagles defensive end, asked Barkley whether he wants to retire 'at the highest level' or if he imagines himself playing 'until the wheels fall off.' 'I'll probably just wake up one day, whether it's next year or two years or four years, and just be like, 'yeah, it's over,'' Barkley said. 'I don't think I will ever lose that passion. The competitive nature is always going to be there.' Full clip on Saquon's retirement — Green Light with Chris Long (@greenlight) June 4, 2025 'One day I'll probably be balling and just be like yeah, call it quits,' said Barkley, who EA Sports announced Monday will be featured on the cover of Madden NFL 26. It's noteworthy that Barkley references one of his heroes, Barry Sanders, in this conversation. Sanders retired suddenly at age 30, just days before the start of training camp. Sanders later released a statement that, in part, said his 'desire to exit the game is greater than my desire to remain in it.' Advertisement Barkley said he doesn't think he'll 'ever lose that passion' for the game, but he's a uniquely reflective player who draws his satisfaction from the impact he can have on the game. Call it legacy. Call it what you will. But Barkley's recent comments underline that he knows there will be one day when he'll know he's done all he can. Barkley has already accomplished plenty. He was the NFL's rookie of the year. He's a three-time Pro Bowler and one-time All-Pro. In one year in Philadelphia, he won his first rushing title, broke Terrell Davis' full-season rushing record and won Super Bowl LIX. He'll be thinking about how much more he needs to accomplish before he's satisfied with his legacy. It's clear he doesn't have a firm timeline, but the mere beginning of this conversation will induce anxiety throughout the Eagles fan base. It certainly will be a topic reporters will focus on throughout this upcoming season. Barkley, comfortable in the spotlight, is inviting that discussion. The Sanders reference will serve as an unofficial expectation for a timeline. Barkley will turn 30 on Feb. 9, 2027. He just signed a contract extension through the 2028 season. Will he make it to age 31? Will this be his last contract? — Brooks Kubena, Eagles beat writer

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store