Editor’s Note
Digging into the decline of marriage, fire department staffing, overused TIFs and driverless transit.
By Mike Nichols
Tax incremental financing: Valuable tool or crony capitalism?
Funding mechanism — originally created to alleviate urban blight — has become a gravy train for developers and distorts the free market, critics say.
By Ken Wysocky
Time to burn: So few fires to fight
Firefighters almost never fight fires nowadays, turning fire departments into emergency medical services agencies. Is there a better way?
By Dave Daley
Tax incremental financing is a recipe for abuse
The state Legislature should fix the complex process that benefits developers and politicians at the expense of taxpayers.
By Rick Esenberg
Government grows at expense of private sector
The Sheboygan Fire Department recently marked its 10th year of providing emergency medical services to city residents. But not all of the parties associated with the decision are celebrating the milestone.
By Dave Lubach
Eschewing marriage
Add Catholics and older folks to those who are choosing to be single — with Catholic weddings dropping by 40 percent in recent years and many baby boomers opting against marriage for financial reasons.
By Marie Rohde
Clinging to an old picture
Suggesting that changes are necessary to centuries-old fire department practices — given the drastic decrease in the number of fires today — isn’t an affront to firefighting heroes.
By Mike Nichols
Celebrating marriage
On a March day, several couples tied the knot at the Milwaukee County Courthouse — illustrating that the institution still holds value for many Americans.
Regional approach offers solution
Nationally, about 70 percent of firefighters are volunteer, according to the National Volunteer Fire Council; 80 percent of fire departments in Wisconsin are all-volunteer.
By Janet Weyandt
Marriage is a foreign concept to some
Marriage has become so rare in some quarters that folks no longer know how to talk about it — literally. A pastor at a Milwaukee-area church discovered this firsthand while providing premarital counseling to a couple in 2016.
By Michael Jahr
Conservative young Wisconsin women defy stereotypes
They’re spurned for not fitting the liberal mold, but they stand strong. “Conservative women have many targets on their back,” one millennial says.
By Emily Jashinsky
The road to driverless transit
As the world moves forward with automated vehicles, including autonomous transit, Milwaukee clings to 19th century technology.
By Baruch Feigenbaum
From the ground up: A profile of Badger Mining Corp.
Family-owned for five generations, the industrial sand mining company headquartered in Berlin, Wis., thrives with its inclusive team approach and commitment to environment.
By Betsy Thatcher
