A wood crucifix with a painted figure of Jesus stands outdoors, with the top of a tree in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

Social Issues

‘A step back in time’: America’s Catholic Church sees moves toward the old ways

Across the United States, the Catholic church is undergoing an immense shift among religious conservatives who believe it has been twisted by change, molded by plummeting attendance at Mass, increasingly traditional priests and growing numbers of young parishioners seeking more orthodoxy.

May 3, 2024

Ben Newman on antisemitism and Gaza protests at UW-Madison
Ben Newman on antisemitism and Gaza protests at UW-Madison

Politics

Ben Newman on antisemitism and Gaza protests at UW-Madison

UW-Madison student Ben Newman discusses interactions between members of the Jewish campus organization Hillel and participants in campus demonstrations seeking the university to divest from Israel.

May 2, 2024 • South Central Region

Donald Trump stands at a podium and holds its edge with his left hand and gestures with the index finger of his right hand while speaking into a microphone and facing teleprompter mirrors, with people standing in the background.
Donald Trump stands at a podium and holds its edge with his left hand and gestures with the index finger of his right hand while speaking into a microphone and facing teleprompter mirrors, with people standing in the background.

Politics

Trump compares student protests to Jan. 6 in effort to downplay Capitol attack

During a rally in Waukesha, former President Donald Trump characterized New York as "under siege" as he continues to invoke ongoing campus protests to downplay actions of his supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

May 2, 2024

Dozens of people stand outside on a parking out and face in the same direction, with trees and buildings in the background under a partly cloudy sky.
Dozens of people stand outside on a parking out and face in the same direction, with trees and buildings in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

Education

Police killed armed student outside Mount Horeb Middle School as district went on lockdown for hours

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said police shot and killed a student outside Mount Horeb Middle School after a report of someone with a weapon sent children fleeing and prompted a lockdown, adding no one else was hurt and the student didn't get inside.

May 1, 2024 • South Central Region

Donald Trump speaks while gesturing with his right hand, which is out-of-focus in the foreground alongside a microphone and the top of a campaign poster.
Donald Trump speaks while gesturing with his right hand, which is out-of-focus in the foreground alongside a microphone and the top of a campaign poster.

Elections

Trump rails against hush money trial at rally in Waukesha

Returning to the campaign trail with a rally in Waukesha, former President Donald Trump called the judge presiding over his hush money trial "crooked" a day after being held in contempt of court and threatened with jail for violating a gag order.

May 1, 2024 • Southeast Region

Dahlia Saba on Gaza solidarity demonstrations at UW-Madison
Dahlia Saba on Gaza solidarity demonstrations at UW-Madison

Politics

Dahlia Saba on Gaza solidarity demonstrations at UW-Madison

UW-Madison graduate student and Students for Justice in Palestine spokesperson Dahlia Saba discusses why protestors continued to assemble on campus after police officers moved to end an encampment.

May 1, 2024 • South Central Region

Dozens of police officers, with some holding transparent shields with the words State Patrol and Sheriff on their fronts, stand in a group amid a larger group of protestors, some holding signs and wearing kaffiyehs, in a shadowed outdoor area, with a sunlit lawn and masonry building with balustrades in the background.
Dozens of police officers, with some holding transparent shields with the words State Patrol and Sheriff on their fronts, stand in a group amid a larger group of protestors, some holding signs and wearing kaffiyehs, in a shadowed outdoor area, with a sunlit lawn and masonry building with balustrades in the background.

Politics

Police remove Gaza encampment at UW-Madison, make multiple arrests

Nearly 60 law enforcement officers gathered at Library Mall on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus early in the morning of May 1 and proceeded to remove tents and other items from a Palestinian solidarity protest encampment, arresting multiple people in the process.

May 1, 2024 • South Central Region

A clock is mounted to iron filigree decoration on a railing for a gallery seating area in the upper portion of a room with marble masonry and illuminated electric brass wall sconce light fixtures.
A clock is mounted to iron filigree decoration on a railing for a gallery seating area in the upper portion of a room with marble masonry and illuminated electric brass wall sconce light fixtures.

Courts

Audit examines emergency response time for Wisconsin Capitol Police

A report released by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau found police who are responsible for security in the Wisconsin Capitol responded faster to emergency alarms in legislative offices than they did to other building alarms.

April 30, 2024 • South Central Region

Letters spelling Milwaukee Police and a sign in the shape of a police badge are affixed to the face of a concrete walls of a Brutalist-style building under a cloudy sky.
Letters spelling Milwaukee Police and a sign in the shape of a police badge are affixed to the face of a concrete walls of a Brutalist-style building under a cloudy sky.

Courts

Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds firing of Milwaukee police officer for racist social media posts

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that a former Milwaukee police officer was properly fired for posting racist memes related to the 2018 arrest of Sterling Brown, who played for the Milwaukee Bucks.

April 30, 2024 • Southeast Region

A person stands and writes with a pen on a ballot in the middle of a row a temporary voting booths consisting of metal legs, a plastic table surface and privacy screens with an illustration of the U.S. flag and the word VOTE, in a room with folded round tables leaning against a painted concrete block wall.
A person stands and writes with a pen on a ballot in the middle of a row a temporary voting booths consisting of metal legs, a plastic table surface and privacy screens with an illustration of the U.S. flag and the word VOTE, in a room with folded round tables leaning against a painted concrete block wall.

Elections

Voter enthusiasm, negative partisanship and Wisconsin’s swing status in 2024

Here & Now extra: A presidential rematch is leaving more voters dissatisfied in 2024, but even as polling finds lower levels of enthusiasm for candidates, the motivation to vote against one remains a powerful force for turnout.

April 30, 2024