Ann-Elise Henzl

Updated Monday 6:18 p.m. CST

The Wauwatosa Police Department is releasing additional details about the investigation into the shooting at Mayfair Mall on Friday. Eight people were injured, and a 15-year-old Hispanic teen was taken into custody Saturday night.

Updated at 4:47 p.m. CT

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden began a visit to Wisconsin on Thursday by meeting with the family of Jacob Blake, the Black man whose shooting by a white police officer sparked days of sometimes violent protests.

This was Biden’s first trip to Wisconsin this campaign cycle.

He spoke with Blake on the phone for 15 minutes during his visit. Biden says Blake “talked about how nothing was going to defeat him, about how whether he walked again or not, he was not going to give up.”

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says COVID-19 remains a threat, but there have been enough improvements in testing, tracing and other benchmarks to advance the city to Phase 3 of its Moving Milwaukee Forward Safely Plan. That means a number of Milwaukee businesses can expand their operations beginning Friday.

As of 2 p.m. Friday, bars and restaurants will be allowed to open their doors for indoor seating for the first time since mid-March. The number of customers must not exceed 25% of each restaurant’s capacity.

Protests are happening around the country following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man who died when a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck. In Milwaukee, protests have been occurring since last Friday over Floyd's death and other cases of police brutality. Here you'll find updates on protests happening in the Milwaukee area.

It was a very unusual spring election and presidential primary in Wisconsin on Tuesday. It happened in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and due to a court order, results won't be made public until April 13.

For more up-to-date information, read our March 18 post.

Updated Tuesday at 1:31 p.m. CT 

Updated Friday at 2:37 p.m. CT

Milwaukee learned more late Thursday afternoon about the fatal shootings Wednesday on the campus of Molson Coors — still thought of by many as Miller Valley. Milwaukee police released the names of victims and the suspect, who’s believed to have killed the five men before turning the gun on himself.

A hushed battalion of journalists waited inside the Milwaukee Police Department Administration Building on West State Street for the update.

Wisconsin has a nickname. You've seen it on license plates: America's Dairyland. And in Milwaukee, you may have heard this moniker: Cream City.

It intrigues Bubbler Talk listener Anne Bromfield, who asked: "Why was Milwaukee once referred to as Cream City?" The answer might surprise you. It has nothing to do with the dairy industry.

A couple of Wisconsin politicians weighed in on President Donald Trump’s administration last week, taking starkly different stances on the Republican president’s performance.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers blasted Trump over immigration policy, while GOP Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner defended Trump on the Mueller investigation.

After a months-long, bruising fight over the state budget, Gov. Tony Evers signed the document last week.

Republicans who control the Legislature are declaring victory because of the mark they put on the Democratic governor’s spending plan. They stripped his major policy proposals and made other big changes.

Like many cities, Milwaukee once was home to a number of "movie palaces" — places where the surroundings were nearly as much of a draw as what was playing on the screen.

These were single-screen, sometimes luxurious venues built in the early days of cinema well before the proliferation of TVs and suburban multiplexes. They had special features like air conditioning and newsreels.

Bubbler Talk received a question asking what happened to one of those theaters: the Grand, previously known as the Warner.

State Republicans held their annual convention this past weekend in Oshkosh, WI. Party members and leaders used the event to look at what went wrong for the GOP in the fall of 2018 — and to better position the party for the 2020 elections.

While Republicans maintained the majority in the state Legislature in the fall elections, the party's candidates lost in all statewide races.

JR Ross of Wispolitics.com says presenters at the convention talked about how GOP candidates suffered last fall by drifting from the grassroots.

Editor's note: This piece was originally published June 24, 2016. As thousands of delegates, reporters and other visitors prepare to descend on Milwaukee for the 2020 Democratic National Convention, many might be intrigued by the city's interesting political history. The piece includes portions of an interview with Anita Zeidler, who has since passed away.

New Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, is locking horns with Republicans in the state Legislature. In the last week, Evers rejected GOP plans for a middle class tax cut, and to guarantee health coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. Republicans said they'd stand in Evers' way if he tries to expand Medicaid coverage.

New Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers was sworn in Monday, before a packed crowd at the Capitol. He told the audience, "the people of Wisconsin demanded a change this November, and that change is coming."

Evers is the former head of the state Department of Public Instruction. He replaces Republican Scott Walker, who served two four-year terms.

Walker was among five of Evers' predecessors who attended the inauguration. Evers is the state's 46th governor.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has just a few days left in office. His successor, fellow Republican Bryan Steil, will be sworn in next week as the new congressman representing the southeastern corner of Wisconsin. Ryan chose not to run for re-election after 20 years in the House. He reflected on his time as House speaker last week in an address at the Library of Congress.

Work is well underway at the Foxconn construction site in Racine County. The Taiwanese electronics giant continues to promise it will create up to 13,000 jobs at the huge LCD screen factory. Foxconn says it will invest $10 billion by 2020 to build a “world class” manufacturing campus.

But the project continues to have critics. 

Often, political news slows as the holidays approach. But that hasn't been the case this year. Democratic Governor-Elect Tony Evers has been busy announcing his first cabinet picks. Republican legislative leaders have been busy responding to the announcements. In this week's Capitol Notes, JR Ross of Wispolitics.com talks about the latest developments.

Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature released plans late Friday for bills they’ll take up the first week of December. Lawmakers are going into session to consider limiting the power of Democratic Governor-elect Tony Evers and Democratic Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul.

JR Ross of Wispolitics.com weighs in on the measures for this week’s Capitol Notes. He says if the proposals are approved, the changes would be a very big deal.

Last week, Tony Evers cleared a huge hurdle, winning the race for governor. But the Democrat’s biggest challenges are to come. The first is within a few months when Evers will have to present his first biennial budget proposal. According to a Wisconsin Policy Forum report, he'll have to find $2 billion just to keep current programs in place.

Republicans were in the political spotlight in Wisconsin earlier this week when President Donald Trump held one of his Make America Great Again rallies in Mosinee. On Friday, it was the Democrats' turn, as former President Barack Obama headlined a spirited rally at North Division High School in Milwaukee.

Obama wove a number of topics into his speech, returning frequently to this message:

Tens of thousands of people in the United States enjoy tailgate parties before football and baseball games. In fact, the parties themselves have become an event, helping to draw people to stadiums, even when teams aren't having the greatest season.