Special Projects

With the annual May Day march rapidly approaching, Voces de la Frontera prepares for a historic mass march along with the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s southside community. In this short documentary, Matiana Hernández explores the community’s interactions in a strictly observational manner that also documents iconic landmarks, famous architecture, businesses, and locations known by members […]

Just weeks after ICE officers dispatched by the Trump administration clashed with protesters in Minneapolis, killing two Americans, student journalists asked fellow college students for their views.

Port Washington Common Council meetings have lit up with heated debates over the OpenAI data center that is reported to break ground with construction in the next year.  “It seems like public service isn’t on the menu for you guys,” said an anonymous resident. “So, I’ll simply ask: do you guys have a conscience? Do […]

As artificial intelligence begins to move into the dairyland, Wisconsinites have questions. Ordinary common council meetings that once seldomly welcomed an audience have started to overflow with residents desperate for answers on data centers coming to their often small or rural communities. The only Wisconsin legislation that even mentions data centers relates to tax incentives. […]

Kenosha’s City Hall was standing room only as residents packed the Common Council chambers to voice concerns on Microsoft’s proposed data center on the west side of the county on Nov. 17. Among many concerns, multiple citizen comments raised issues with transparency, environmental impacts and increased cost of living. Several people advocated for a vote […]

The AI data center is a specialized facility designed to handle massive AI workloads, featuring high-density machine learning that is extremely proficient at identifying patterns in the data. They solve problems at an unfathomable speed and arguably reduce the potential for human error. The future of AI will continue to evolve. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee […]

Vast fields of grass with generational history lay desolate. Lonely, abandoned houses sit in wait to be demolished. The land is fated to become an Artificial Intelligence Data Center. Where houses once stood, large warehouse-sized buildings will be constructed. Instead of the distant sound of tractors and combines running, it will be replaced with the […]

From the mysterious “Project Nova” to Microsoft backing down to community criticism, residents opposed to a data center in the small village of Caledonia were victorious. On Oct. 8, Microsoft announced it would no longer pursue 244 acres of land for a data center. The project was originally going to accompany the tech giant’s much […]

From Menomonie to Port Washington to Caledonia, tech companies have been eyeing Wisconsin towns and cities as sites for the next generation of artificial intelligence data centers – megastructures poised to drive the future of computing. While some mayors and community leaders welcomed the ventures, others have remained skeptical. Media Milwaukee interviewed two such leaders, […]

The AI data center surge has stoked fears in communities across the United States, not just for their insatiable energy requirements, but also for the dramatic economic impact they have on the communities they occupy. Port Washington, Wisconsin, a town of roughly 13,000, stands at a crossroads as the issue swiftly hits the mainstream. The […]

The Milwaukee School of Engineering is building a $76.5 million engineering building—the Robert D. Kern Engineering Innovation Center—at the southeast corner of State and Milwaukee streets. The builder will include flexible labs, AI, and robotics. This will be a space that encourages collaboration and firsthand learning in the Innovation Center. The roadmap for the AI […]

On the night of the Oct. 7 Port Washington Common Council meeting, hundreds of residents crowded the entrance, attempting to enter the chambers to express their concerns about the proposed Artificial Intelligence (AI) Data Center in Port Washington. Many were unable to get inside, and the media were barred from entering for more than 30 minutes after the meeting began.  […]