Special Projects

Read the Media Milwaukee investigative report into Milwaukee’s gun court here. Meet our investigative team (click on their names to obtain more information, including how to contact our journalists): Pakou Lee: I am a multimedia journalist at UW-Milwaukee. My interest in journalism derived from watching television. Television was my window view to the world when I […]

A police car raced through the outskirts of 60’s Germantown, in hot pursuit of a ‘64 Chevy Impala. But it wasn’t anything sinister, only the fast-paced hobby shared between an officer with a secret, and a high school car buff. John North had a passion for hot rods, commanding the Impala and a ‘48 Mercury […]

On an unseasonably mild, rainy, Sunday December afternoon, Nancy Wichert revisits her hometown and stops by the former corner drug store she would frequent as a kid, which is now the Coffee Corner Bistro. She reminisces about her brother Jim’s upbeat personality and his passions in life, like the outdoors, athletics and flying. Wichert was […]

As much as big business and technology can replace jobs and establishments, the barbershop is irreplaceable. With this stationary trait, the Barbershop culture dates back decades and continues to add layers as years pass. Gee’s Clippers is located on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Milwaukee. The vibe of the shop blends classic barbershop culture […]

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NEaQzfKCCg&w=700&rel=0]   It’s 20 ’til midnight, and Media Milwaukee is out shopping for food. The stores are closed, but there’s still plenty of produce to sort through. Whole sacks of clementines tossed out because one of them is a little banged up. A bag of cereal disposed of because the box has a dent in […]

They are the survivors of the survivors of one of the greatest horrors in the world’s history: The Holocaust. And they live among us. These are stories the Nazis never wanted told. These are people the Nazis wanted to forever silence. But the stories of these men and women, who age from 87 into their […]

The streets of Milwaukee are the skateboarder’s urban playground. Stairs and handrails are normally seen as a necessary piece of architecture but to skateboarders doing a trick down it can be the final banger for a video part. The rough ground can gash the palms of any innocent skateboarder mistakenly hitting a single pebble. It […]

Customers all over the Milwaukee area and the country, including teenagers, are turning to spray tans thinking they are a safe alternative to UV tanning beds, but a Media Milwaukee investigation unearthed a pattern of consumers and employees who had no idea that some research has found potential health risks, including possible genetic alterations. The […]

He is ageless. It’s not because he chose his own birthday. Or because at over 80 years old he’s still exercising daily. And it’s not because he can still recall events that happened nearly 75 years ago with remarkable detail. Lee Marnett is ageless because he is eternally optimistic. It’s because he employed more resolve […]

A soft-spoken man nearing 90, Nathan Taffel, sits in his small Mequon ranch home remembering a cheerful childhood as a young boy with curly hair and bright blue eyes. It was a cheerful childhood for a time, anyway. He thrusts forward an arm to reveal a weathered tattoo that he can never quite erase. He […]

The frigid November wind whipped the door of the split-level house in Shorewood, WI. At 87-years-old, Raye David hobbled down the cascading stairs with a hand fashioned cane. As she sauntered back up, her teal pajamas accented the crimson walls. Paintings caressed every inch of her living room. Sculptures that spanned from crystal to porcelain […]

Inside a mid-sized, ornate home in Glendale, Wisconsin lives Howard Melton and his wife Evelyn. They have a quiet life. Howard is semi-retired from his family-run business while Evelyn works at home to care for Howard after his recent heart and back surgeries. Howard remains in relative good health, cracking jokes with Evelyn and spending […]