The average price of a home in Milwaukee County rose about 8-percent since last year. Even with a stable job, buying a home feels out of reach for many. 

But why is housing so expensive and what can be done about it? WUWM’s series Seeking Solutions: Keys to Homeownership digs into systemic housing problems in Milwaukee and sheds light on solutions. 

One emerging solution is the Milwaukee Community Land Trust, which offers homes under 100 thousand dollars and a fixed appreciation rate to keep that home affordable long term. The organization is new, and has just nine homes in its portfolio as of this summer. 

As Lake Effect’s Sam Woods explains, the model isn’t a perfect solution to solve housing affordability. But it is built on decades of nationwide experience, proven to keep individual homes affordable forever, and reveals truths about why homes are so expensive in the first place.  

Alice’s Garden Urban Farm has been growing on Milwaukee's northside for over 50 years. It’s built on land that marks the beginning of Wisconsin's underground railroad and named after Milwaukee’s first Black executive director of Milwaukee county extension. The farm is rooted in local Black culture and history.  

WUWM’s Eric Von Fellow Maria Peralta-Arellano visited Alice’s Garden to speak with its executive director, Venice Williams for our series on urban agriculture. 

The scientific journal, Nature Climate Change found 89 percent of the world’s population wants to see their government act on climate change. As the annual global climate change conference is about to kick off in Brazil, we're looking at attitudes on climate change here in Wisconsin 

WUWM Environmental Reporter Susan Bence checked in with Cody Kamrowski, the executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.  

The nuclear family is often thought of as a pillar of American achievement. Two-parent families have been championed in both rhetoric - and policy - as having a key role in climbing the social ladder in the U.S. But a new book by Milwaukee-native Christina Cross is challenging this idea. Cross is a sociologist and the author of Inherited Inequality: Why Opportunity Gaps Persist between Black and White Youth Raised in Two-Parent Families.  

In her book, Cross breaks down the data along racial lines - finding that the nuclear family isn’t nearly as beneficial to Black Americans as it has been for white Americans. Cross joins Lake Effect’s Joy Powers to talk about her findings - and how prioritizing two-parent families has shaped U.S. policy for decades. 

Will Allen is a former professional basketball player, but he decided to trade the court for crops. Allen is credited as a pioneer in urban agriculture in Milwaukee.  

He started Growing Power in 1995. The non-profit initiative revolutionized how the city thought about local food production and education. Growing Power ceased operations in 2017, in the face of legal and financial problems. But the organization left its mark, paving the way for future flourishing urban agriculture initiatives in the city.  

WUWM’s Eric Von Fellow Maria Peralta-Arellano spoke with Allen as part of her series called Feeding the City: The People Powering Local Food. 

How does Wisconsin keep track of teachers accused of misconduct? 

That’s the subject of a recent yearlong investigation by Cap Times reporter Danielle DuClos. She found that between 2018 and 2023 nearly 200 school employees were investigated for sexual misconduct or grooming.  

Internal records obtained by the Cap Times show the department investigated allegations of sexual assault, educators soliciting nude photos from children or initiating sexual relationships immediately after students graduated.  

WUWM education reporter Katherine Kokal is joined by DuClos of the Cap Times to learn about the reporting.  

The Milwaukee Art Museum has a new leader at the helm. Kim Sajet was previously the director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, where she worked to increase the representation of women and people of color in the collection. In May, President Trump claimed to have fired Sajet from the Smithsonian in part because of her work to diversify the collection. Although the Smithsonian made it clear the president has no authority to fire employees of the institution, Sajet decided to resign from her position a couple weeks after the incident.  

But DC’s loss is Milwaukee’s gain. Sajet brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience, and a desire to invigorate the Milwaukee Art Museum’s space with new community engagement efforts.

It’s local budget season again, and Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee are finalizing budgets. While the Mayor’s proposed budget for the city escapes major cuts to services, Milwaukee County’s budget includes cuts to MCTS, rising public safety and building maintenance costs, and increased property tax rates. 

Rob Henken, immediate past president of the Wisconsin Policy Forum joins Lake Effect’s Sam Woods to discuss both budgets, with a focus on Milwaukee County. 

Jazz legend Herbie Hancock plays in Milwaukee tonight. He’s produced dozens of albums, spanning jazz, jazz-rock fusion, funk, and electronic music. He’s also collaborated with other music greats, from Miles Davis to Joni Mitchell.  

On that journey, Hancock has picked up 14 Grammys and an Oscar for best soundtrack. He's playing at Milwaukee's Pabst Theatre tonight. Ahead of that he joins WUWM’s Maayan Silver who first noted that he has a voice for radio. 

The library is more than just books, and our series with the Milwaukee Public Library called Books and Beyond showcases just that. 

This month we are exploring some stories in honor of the spooky season with MPL’s special collections and archives department. They’re hosting an event called ‘Milwaukee Mysteries: True Crime and Paranormal’ to take a historical spin on the theme with real people, places, haunts, and events in the Milwaukee area.  

To learn more, Lake Effect's Audrey Nowakowski is joined by librarian archivist Casey Lapworth, who begins by explaining how their librarian take on spooky season came about.