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Today we highlight our latest story, which examines a nexus between the coronavirus pandemic and the nationwide protests against police brutality. Allison Dikanovic, an engagement fellow working on Wisconsin Watch’s News414 collaboration, breaks down what Milwaukee residents mean when some call for the defunding of a police force that makes up a growing share of city spending.
The pandemic has added momentum to defunding calls as the virus wreaks havoc on the economy, shrinking revenue for all types of government services, Dikanovic reports. And the virus is disproportionately infecting and killing Black and brown residents in Milwaukee, loudening calls for the city to invest less in policing and more in housing, public health and other programs that would address chronic racial inequities.
“I don’t think a lot of people knew how badly these systems were failing people, and it took a pandemic for people to realize how bad things are,” Monique Liston, chief strategist at Ubuntu Research and Evaluation, a Black women-led consulting firm, told Dikanovic.
Top Stories
Defund the police? Milwaukee eyes future amid Black Lives Matter protests, coronavirus budget crunch — Wisconsin Watch
COVID-19 pandemic changes child care landscape for providers, parents trying to return to work — Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin will be added to Chicago’s 14-day quarantine list later this week, Mayor Lori Lightfoot says — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin nursing homes receive faulty PPE from FEMA, face shortages — WPR
Coronavirus Divides 2020 Bellwether County in Wisconsin: ‘There Is No Grace Anymore’ — The Wall Street Journal
With most UW classes still online this fall, students hold out hope for reduced tuition — Wisconsin State Journal
These are the clerks who carried Wisconsin through its April pandemic election. Here are their fears about November. — Frontline/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/Columbia Journalism Investigations
Wisconsin’s smallest businesses faced biggest hurdles to get COVID-19 loans, experts say — Wisconsin State Journal
With a remote start to the school year, parents worry about child care, IEPs and socialization — The Journal Times
What are we missing? And how are you coping? Help us provide critical information and accountability by filling out this form or emailing us at tips@wisconsinwatch.org.
Government updates
Wisconsin Department of Health Services
U.S. Centers and Disease Control and Prevention
Housing trouble?
Are you worried about losing your home or apartment because of the pandemic? Share your experience with News414, Wisconsin Watch’s service journalism collaboration with Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and Outlier media. Click here for details.
Quotable
“Kids are naturally altruistic. I’ve had very little trouble, for example, getting my kids to wear a mask, because if you tell them that it protects other people, kids are much more likely to get into that than adults are. So I think talking to them about the reasons for online instruction and how everybody is making sacrifices right now, in order to keep the whole community safe, is a really important part of the solution.”
Malia Jones, an expert in epidemiology who works at the UW-Madison Applied Population Laboratory, speaking to the Cap Times about how to talk to children who won’t be going back to school during the pandemic
Data to note
Here are the latest visualizations of COVID-19 cases and deaths from our partners at WisContext.
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People helping others and showing resilience during this time of anxiety. Send suggestions by tagging us on social media — @wisconsinwatch — or emailing us: tips@wisconsinwatch.org.
Madison nonprofit provides over 1,000 free bikes to kids and frontline workers amid pandemic — Wisconsin State Journal
Whitewater teen supports dairy, feeds hungry — Daily Jefferson County Union
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The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (wisconsinwatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.
