Nate Gilliam says that Wisconsin can’t address the growing and disproportionate harm being caused by climate change to marginalized communities if it continues to invest in a carceral state.
Edgar Mendez
Raised in a South Side neighborhood where he still lives, Edgar Mendez is the managing editor of the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Mendez is a proud graduate of UW-Milwaukee, where he double majored in journalism and sociology, and of Marquette University, where he earned a master’s degree in communication. He won a 2018 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and 2014, 2017, and 2018 Milwaukee Press Club Awards for his reporting on taverns, marijuana law enforcement, and lead in water service lines. In 2008, he won a Society of Professional Journalists’ regional award for columns dealing with issues such as poverty, homelessness and racism. His writing has been published by the Associated Press, Reuters, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other media. He has also co-authored three articles published in scholarly journals.
Posted inOpinion: Community Voices
Opinion: Reasons for Hope supports 10 years of neighborhood healing, belonging
After 10 years, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Reasons for Hope Fund continues to award microgrants to support neighborhood programming with community input, Darlene C. Russell writes.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Housing
NNS Managing Editor Edgar Mendez reflects on his family’s experience during the August 2025 flood
A year after the historic August flood, Edgar Mendez relives a day that changed his life, and his perspective on future weather events.
Posted inArts and Recreation
5 things to know and do the week of Aug. 24
Learn computer basics; connect with Harambee neighbors; play pickleball; and more.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
How Wisconsin’s ‘sore loser’ law protects the two-party system
In Wisconsin and across most of the country, laws prevent candidates who lose in a primary from running in the general election. That gives the major parties a lot of control over who appears on the ballot.
Posted inPublic Safety & Criminal Justice
Flashback: Unrest in Sherman Park: Three years later: Have police-community relations improved?
Some said in 2019 that trust issues remain between police and Sherman Park residents, and nearly everyone agreed more can be done in the community.
Posted inEconomic Development
Section of 16th Street Bridge reopened Thursday
The southern section of the 16th Street Bridge reopened to traffic after being closed for more than eight months.
Posted inEducation, Public Safety & Criminal Justice
MFD releases results of investigation into Lincoln Avenue School fire
Milwaukee Fire Department has released the results of the investigation into the fire that destroyed Lincoln Avenue School, 1817 W. Lincoln Ave., on the morning of June 30.
Posted inCommunity
5 things to know and do the week of Aug. 3
Attend a game night in Sherman Park; visit a health fair; head to a back to school bash; and more.
Posted inArts and Recreation
5 things to know and do the weekend of July 31
Join a 5K run/walk; enjoy water-themed art; visit Black Arts Fest; and more.