Feature Stories

Eugenio Calderon studied abroad in Italy and plays a special song when he wants to feel connected to the people he met and the memories he made during his exchange.

Maria Gonzalez-Edwards, 60, is a member of the St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood. She was raised in Milwaukee, but her family is from the central mountainous region of Puerto Rico.     Maria’s parents came from Utuado, almost directly in the center of the island. Maria said it is more “campo,” meaning countryside.  […]

Two sisters of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Francisca Colon and Ana Martinez, have many memories of the Puerto Rican community in Milwaukee. St. Francis, a Roman Catholic Church, is home to many Puerto Ricans in the Milwaukee area. The large, inclusive church welcomes all to Mass every Sunday, but for community members who only […]

Milwaukee – Alberto Maldonado is a man who is proud of his culture and connects Milwaukee with Puerto Rico.   His dad was a coffee grower in Puerto Rico and came to the States in 1966 when there were added job opportunities. He got married in Milwaukee and Maldonado was born there. Maldonado moved between Milwaukee […]

Dozens of pigeons roamed around the Plaza de Colón in Old San Juan. They were not afraid to go up to the tourists that were mingling together enjoying the warm weather. The plaza was mostly filled with locals, and a few sat on a bench smoking a cigarette, which was rare to see on the island.   One man […]

Edrick Pagan-Ruiz runs a mobile jewelry store based in Yauco, in which he and his wife custom make all their jewelry, selling it on the island and shipping it to the States. Luckily, Pagan-Ruiz’s family home suffered minimal damage in the hurricane and was able to get it repaired. He resides higher up in the […]

Traveling through the town of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, it was clear a disaster had torn the town apart. Old, abandoned, broken boats sat on the grassy fields, fences lining the rural town were left bent and twisted in unnatural ways, occasional blue tarps lined the sides of buildings as if they had been tossed aside […]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Alexa was homeless. After she was kicked out, she spent her time making her way around the island looking for a place to live. She became a familiar face to many throughout her travels and was known on a first-name basis. She never found a secure place to stay. On […]

Groups of girls in hot pink capes ran up to the finish line. The wind and cool weather did not  stop them from smiling and cheering the other runners on as they waited for them to make it to the end of the race. After weeks of training, the girls stood together in a huddle […]

In 1992, an 18-year-old girl was taken to her very first driving lesson and returned as a victim of a crime committed every few minutes. The instructor, 45, drove to an isolated road, forced her out of the car and raped her. After the victim reported the rape, the perpetrator was arrested and prosecuted. He […]

Anna Wood, a third-year elementary education major, worked on her computer in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee library, wearing a patterned sweater that she thrifted from Goodwill, a pair of jeans that she bought from Target and shoes from Nike. “I think it was last year, I was like, ‘I’m going to only shop from thrift […]