Special Projects

James W. Lenz is remembered by his sister Carol Rollins as a smart and helpful child, and later a popular and good looking young man, but he always had a hard time staying out of trouble. In the year 1969 a young Lenz, of Milwaukee, faced a judge for a stealing a car and going […]

The journalism students were given one task: To find each of the 1,244 missing photographs of Vietnam veterans from Wisconsin who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country 40 years ago. But in some cases, they found the photos but also families whose shattering losses remained so emotionally vivid they couldn’t put them into public […]

Many days, you can find Terry Kramer, a Vietnam-era veteran who lives in Baraboo, sitting in the Milwaukee Public Library and digging though records to find faces to put with names on a very important list. Kramer, who makes the 116-mile drive each way to Milwaukee for his research, has found many of the fallen […]

Andrew Johnson stood quietly in the front of a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee classroom with a poster that read, “Help Find the last 18,” as students filed in for their next class. Johnson, a small newspaper publisher, has taken on an incredible task—finding a photo for every person who was killed in the Vietnam War from […]

When Melissa Thornton, 34, made her friend Scott a sweatshirt as a Christmas gift, she hardly knew what would become of it. It was a basic hoodie with two words printed on it: Milwaukee Home. “He loved it, he wore it out, and people asked where he got it,” says Thornton. The requests prompted Thornton […]

Mounds of scar tissue and vast expanses of ink cover Carly Johnston’s body — a constant reminder of an inner hell. For her, it is the unseen wounds which are the deepest. A scar on her chest represents a moment in her life she will never forget. Infrared burns are all remaining of her rapist — his […]

If you own a cow in Wisconsin and you milk her, store and cool that milk in a tank, bottle it, and sell it, you’re a criminal in the eyes of the state, at least since 1949, when it was decreed in Wisconsin that milk must be pasteurized, or cooked, to kill off contaminating bacteria, […]

Even with the city’s architectural and economic growth since the recession — it hasn’t been happy days for every Milwaukee citizen. Full story: multimedia website

Complete coverage: multimedia website Oversized camouflaged backpacks cover the floor of the UWM Center for Military and Veteran students. It’s crowded, loud and filled to capacity. Dave Tucek sits in his office chair and looks over the state legislation he helped create with Sen. Robert Cowles to give veterans and military students priority registration and […]

Complete coverage: multimedia website A group of fifteen waiters and waitresses dressed in freshly pressed button ups and starched black slacks sit comfortably around a white marble bar. Fresh flowers in sparkling crystal vases don the counter and surrounding tables. A wood-fire stove crackles behind the bar and chefs in white aprons and toques shuffle […]

Complete coverage: multimedia website As winter weather fades and spring approaches, Lifestriders horse stable remains a warm environment year round. Young riders appear one by one. Each bundled in layers of clothing, thick heavy jackets and their helmets strapped tight. Tiny dust particles collect on clothing while the smells of hay and animals fill the […]

Complete coverage: multimedia project Clipboard in hand, pens at the ready, UW-Milwaukee student Angela Lang halted other students as they made the trek along the sidewalk from UWM’s architecture building to Lapham Hall. All around her, music blared and vendors handed out free food and energy drinks, but she wasn’t interested in any of that. […]