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A local man is headed to municipal court in Shorewood Dec. 2 to challenge a claim that he trespassed on a private beach.

The case could serve as a test of just how much access the public has to Lake Michigan’s shoreline. It’s a question that has yet to be definitively decided in Wisconsin.

Shorewood native Paul Florsheim is a professor at UWM’s Zilber School of Public Health.

He says for years, he’s walked the winding path down to Shorewood’s public Atwater Beach, and then headed north, walking the shoreline below homes along Lake Drive.

“I sort of beelined for the shoreline because my understanding has always been that along the shoreline, you can walk,” Florsheim says.

But late last summer, Florsheim’s routine was broken when a homeowner just north of Atwater Beach told Florsheim he was trespassing.

Former Lieutenant Governor and state legislator Mandela Barnes has announced he will run for governor in the 2026 election, which will immediately shake up the Democratic primary.

His campaign is touting polls showing he has more support than any other Democrat in the gubernatorial race and runs well ahead of U.S. Congressman Tom Tiffany, widely seen as the front runner in the Republican primary.

In a video launching his campaign, Barnes promised to stand up to the “chaos” caused by the policies of Republican President Donald Trump and make life more affordable for Wisconsin

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will close its downtown processing facility, a spokesperson confirmed.

The agency is moving from leased space at 310 E. Knapp St. to an 18,000-square-foot facility at 11925 W. Lake Park Dr. in the Park Place business park on the city’s far Northwest Side.

“ICE will soon be moving office space,” a spokesperson said in a statement to Urban Milwaukee. “The transition from Knapp Street to Lake Park will follow a phased approach to ensure a smooth and efficient process. ICE remains committed to maintaining continuity of operations as the office becomes fully operational.”

When the government shutdown ended on November 13, many businesses heaved a sigh of relief. Restaurants, however, did not. Any troubles triggered by the shutdown were largely intangible additions to hefty challenges restauranteurs have faced since 2019: Inflation, volatility in the cost of ingredients, reduced customer traffic and the rise of an eat-at-home culture.

CBS 58 and Milwaukee Rep are giving away ten (10) four-packs of tickets to see A Christmas Carol running November 25 – December 24, 2025 at the Milwaukee Rep. Starting Monday, December 1st, through Friday, December 5th, you can enter once per day for a chance to win tickets to the show.

New documents show Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson’s phone records were obtained by the FBI during a now-shuttered investigation into President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to former President Joe Biden.

Johnson, whose office was involved in attempting to get slates of false electors from Wisconsin and Michigan to former Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, said the Biden-era surveillance of him and eight other Republicans “should shock every American.”

• A freeze warning and frost advisory are issued through Wednesday morning for most of Wisconsin.
• Widespread frost and temperatures dipping into the upper 20s and low 30s.
• Southern Wisconsin will be the warmest but could still reach the 30s.

The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 have reached a new three-year labor agreement.

MCTS announced the agreement Friday night. Michael Brown, ATU 998 Vice President, confirmed the union had ratified the contract, with 72% of members voting in favor.

The new three-year contract comes after more than nine months of negotiating. In July, ATU membership rejected a one-year contract offer from MCTS. In August, both parties extended negotiations in hopes of reaching a deal.

The union gave ATU 998 President Bruce Freeman the authority to call a strike in July. The move came in the wake of the surprise announcement that MCTS was running a $10.9 million budget deficit.

Culver's is hosting the first-ever "Curdtoberfest," a celebration of cheese curds paired with the tradition of Oktoberfest, in Milwaukee County this weekend.

A little over 15 years ago, George Wagner was flipping through books in at an architectural bookstore in Toronto. He was reading about how Toronto’s mayor had brought an event similar to Doors Open to the city around 2000.

Soon, he was on a plane to Denver to check out their version of Doors Open. He then went on to found Doors Open Milwaukee.

“The thing that impressed me the most was the smiles on people’s faces as they were walking around,” Wagner recalls. “Denver has some really excellent buildings, however I knew that in Milwaukee, we actually had more.”

Wagner was working at Milwaukee Central Library at the time, and had done tours with Historic Milwaukee before. He pitched the idea to them, and then got to work getting some notable buildings downtown on board. He started with his workplace at Milwaukee Central Library. He then coaxed people at Milwaukee City Hall and the then-US Bank building, getting them on board.

That would be neat.

“What this would establish is a commission that could then apply for what’s then called Corridor ID from the federal government, which then puts us in line for federal funding that is available that would establish this rail line,” said Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee deputy director Dave Misky to the Public Works Committee Wednesday morning.

The Common Council in each of the three largest cities on the route is now formally approving a cooperation agreement to finalize an updated plan for the line.

“All of the mayors are very excited about the opportunity to apply for this grant,” said Misky of Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Racine Mayor Cory Mason and Kenosha Mayor David Bogdala. Each endorsed the idea in an August press release.

The 33-mile line would follow the lakefront from the Chicago-focused Metra station in Kenosha north to downtown Milwaukee, linking several south suburban communities with a 53-minute end-to-end trip.

Last month, Milwaukee County Zoo's North Shore Bank Safari Train got its first new engine in more than 30 years.

Engine No. 2025 – a 15-inch Tier 4 diesel hydraulic locomotive built by Swanee River Railroad Company in Lufkin, Texas – arrived at the Zoo on Aug. 8.

The engine, which is 20 feet long and 45 inches wide was delivered to the Zoo by the Texas company, which tested the engine to ensure smooth sailing on the zoo's tracks.

The locomotive is the first at the zoo to have been built outside of Wisconsin. It is modeled after an F40-PHL style engine.