This report, our first ever, is intended to show the results of our work as journalists in 2021, providing independent, evidence-based reporting to inform our democracy. We held the powerful to account, exposed injustices, shared lifesaving information, celebrated the best of our communities and partnered with you — our valued readers — to make a difference.
Our team of reporters, photojournalists, videographers and editors set out to provide news and information that mattered to you. We produced in-depth investigations that influenced state policies, kept you up to date on COVID-19 news and vaccination clinics to help you and your family stay safe, and led a reader-donation campaign that will help feed thousands of our neighbors struggling through uncertain times.
Our journalism lifted the voices of those who’ve felt powerless and added fresh perspectives to the news.
We dug through public records, pressed decision-makers for answers and interviewed and photographed people who shared stories of loss, faced homelessness, survived trauma and inspired change.
Often, too, we asked you to join us in the work, whether in voting for the best-performing student-athletes, sending us recipes, grading the Green Bay Packers, remembering 9/11, or sharing Thanksgiving gratitude.
Thanks to all those who participated in those efforts, and to our subscribers. Without you, this work wouldn’t have been possible. You have a stake in our future and the future of this community, and we want you to know we take your trust in us seriously. Please drop me a line at 920-431-8392 or mtreinen@gannett.com if you have questions, concerns or suggestions.
We’d like to also thank Report for America for partnering with us to fund two full-time reporters covering rural Wisconsin and Indigenous communities.
Thanks also to our partners in the NEW News Lab, a local news collaboration in Northeast Wisconsin advancing in-depth local reporting made up of six news organizations: FoxValley365, The Post-Crescent, Green Bay Press-Gazette, The Press Times, Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Watch. Microsoft is providing financial support to the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation and Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region to fund the initiative. The Post-Crescent and The Green Bay Press-Gazette used the support to dig deep into critical issues such as the housing and labor shortages affecting so many of us.
In the coming year, we’re planning coverage that:
Read the full report here.
Over the month of October, journalists across the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin wrote 44 stories about hunger, food insecurity, pandemic assistance and the people working in local communities to help their neighbors in need. Giving readers this information is central to our mission as an independent news organization providing fact-based reporting from our communities — and readers responded.
This year's donations to Stock the Shelves totaled more than $163,000. That money will provide 652,332 meals. Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin distributes food based on where the donations come from, meaning local dollars help your neighbors. We’re fortunate to have such great partners in Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin and local credit unions, who work tirelessly to help support this effort. Since 2010, more than $5 million has been raised to combat hunger through this program.
We’re also grateful that our readers saw our coverage of the hunger issue and gave to Stock the Shelves. We know there are many options for charitable giving, and we’re thrilled so many included this campaign among them. And remember: The need doesn’t end in October. Please consider supporting Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin with your time, talent and dollars all year long.
READ THE SERIES HERE:Want to help send food to those in need? Stock the Shelves donation window open during October
In dozens of reports throughout the year, we provided information for readers they couldn’t find anywhere else. This included in-depth reports as well as quick-hit information on where to find local resources and assistance on an issue where things often changed at a moment’s notice.
We explained how the state Supreme Court’s decision to end Wisconsin’s face-covering mandate would affect mask requirements in your communities; provided an exclusive look inside an overwhelmed intensive care unit amid another surge of COVID-19 patients; investigated the cause of vaccine hesitancy in the two Wisconsin counties with the lowest rates of COVID-19 shots, as well as among Black and Latino communities; and addressed the body-mass shame that was keeping some of the earliest eligible Wisconsin residents from getting vaccinated.
We provided practical information and kept updated lists: who’s newly eligible for vaccines, where to get yourself or your kids vaccinated locally, and how and where to get your booster.
We shared the experiences of local people who suffered serious bouts with COVID, and of those who lost loved ones to the disease. Moreover, we provided facts to cut through misinformation and disinformation that downplayed the consequences of its spread and treatment. As this report was being prepared, local communities were seeing another sharp increase in cases along with the emergence of the omicron variant. This is a story that we will continue to monitor closely in 2022.
READ ABOUT IT HERE:4,700 people who mistakenly got vaccine appointments are 'priority' for next few weeks at the exhibition center, health officer says
READ ABOUT IT HERE:Here's what it's like inside ThedaCare's COVID unit, where another virus wave feels like 'Groundhog Day'
READ ABOUT IT HERE:Arrival of omicron variant could be a disaster for already overwhelmed Fox Valley hospitals, health care leaders say
Before reporter Doug Schneider investigated the abuse and death of 7-year-old Ethan Hauschultz, Wisconsin law contained a loophole that allowed people convicted of child abuse to serve as foster parents.
If they managed to get the court to change their record to reflect a lesser charge — as foster parent Timothy Hauschultz had — prospective caregivers could evade the red flag of child abuse.
After his initial reporting in late 2020 on Ethan’s foster placement, Schneider kept a focus on the related criminal cases in 2021 as legislators, including Sen. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, and Rep. Paul Tittl, R-Manitowoc, took notice of the hole in the law. Schneider also tracked the lawmakers’ progress as their concerns turned into a bill, and as the bill turned into “Ethan’s Law,” signed by Gov. Tony Evers, which closes a gap that allowed kids to be placed with a convicted child abuser.
READ ABOUT IT HERE:Gov. Tony Evers signs 'Ethan's Law,' honoring Manitowoc boy slain after being placed with man who'd admitted child abuse
READ ABOUT IT HERE:The lonesome death of Ethan Hauschultz
READ ABOUT IT HERE: Manitowoc County foster brother sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing boy, 7, in Ethan's Law case
An investigative report from late 2020, about the death by suicide of a man who said multiple priests sexually assaulted him as a student, led to further coverage in 2021 and helped to inspire a campaign for statewide action on clergy abuse.
The activist group known as Nate’s Mission, named for Green Bay native Nathan Lindstrom, pressured state Attorney General Josh Kaul to launch an investigation of sexual assault allegations and potential cover-ups within Wisconsin churches.
That investigation started after a series of reports from USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin about the secrecy and trauma that survivors of sexual abuse said they experienced after reporting allegations to Catholic diocese leaders. For some, it took decades to see their abusers brought to justice. For Lindstrom, the rejection he felt after he persisted with his accusations became overwhelming. He died by suicide in March 2020, after St. Norbert Abbey told him his allegations were “not credible” and withdrew monthly payments it had been making for his mental health needs.
As of November, there had been about 180 reports to the AG's office as part of its investigation. At least two cases have been referred to local prosecutors for potential criminal charges, both in Brown County. About 40% of the people who reported to the state’s new clergy abuse hotline had not reported to a law enforcement agency or a religious entity before.
READ ABOUT IT HERE:First came sex abuse allegations at the abbey. Then secret payments. Then a suicide.
READ ABOUT IT HERE:Flanked by victims of priests, Attorney General Josh Kaul announces probe of clergy sex abuse
READ ABOUT IT HERE:Wisconsin clergy abuse review shows power of independent inquiry
A team of three reporters, three photojournalists and an editor shared stories from the LGBTQ community that had rarely been told publicly before — as a way to mark National Coming Out Day in October.
Our journalists spoke with seven people from a variety of backgrounds about when, why and how they first acknowledged they were lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.
For some, the journey was a smooth transition, filled with love and support. For others, the journey continues, having lost friends and family members along the way.
They all agreed that coming out was the best way — the only way — they could live their true lives.
One reader wrote afterward that “realizing that coming out does not require booking a U-haul to move to a city typically thought of as a LGBTQ safe haven makes the coming out process much less isolated. … Thank you for using your time and talents to bring a little visibility to these stories and helping make things just a little bit easier for people struggling with their identities to find their own flavor of happiness.”
READ ABOUT IT HERE:Coming Out Day 2021: Wisconsin LGBTQ residents share their stories
Twenty years later, the memories of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the aftermath remain fresh for many of our readers.
To mark the solemn anniversary of the attack, readers from all over the state sent stories and memories from that unforgettable day. They included the memories of a Sheboygan teacher trying to calm schoolchildren and a Wisconsin Rapids teacher trying to find a way to talk to kindergartners about shocking images on TV. There were a pair of campers who emerged from the woods days afterward to experience delayed shock, and a woman who as a young, pregnant mother waited three days for her husband to make it home from his New York office.
As one reader told us, “The world changed that week forever.”
The world changed in some unique ways for Wisconsin residents who are Muslim American, and we spoke with many on the 20th anniversary. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, they experienced personal assaults, harmful stereotyping and alienating rhetoric as they lived and served in their communities. Some hid their backgrounds, cut their beards, removed their head-coverings, altered their names or retreated from society.
Yet they turned those moments into education, not just for others who benefited from a better understanding of the Muslim faith and its followers, but for themselves.
"I think that as a Muslim community we definitely have become much more aware and much more politically active and politically involved," Janan Najeeb, president of Milwaukee Muslim Women's Coalition and founder of the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance, told us. "Because we realize if we don't present our narratives, there are enough people out there that don't like us that would prefer to create the narrative that they want."
READ ABOUT IT HERE:Wisconsin's Muslim Americans address post-9/11 Islamophobia through community, civic engagement
READ ABOUT IT HERE:Wisconsin remembers: From classrooms to hospitals to farm fields, here's how 9/11 news unfolded in our state
The tragic trend of active service members and veterans dying by suicide hit home when in November we published the results of an investigation into the deaths of four Wisconsin Army National Guard members from the same unit. These citizen-soldiers hailed from Appleton, Oshkosh, Nichols and Waunakee.
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin investigation chronicled how four Wisconsin Guardsmen died by suicide in a five-month span in 2020 and early 2021 after serving in Afghanistan. The investigation also detailed how Guard leaders and lawmakers have failed to keep pace with the distinct mental health burden facing the force.
The suicide rate in the National Guard is higher on average over the past five years than the rate among full-time and reserve military personnel. In 2020, 120 Guard members nationwide died from suicide, up from 90 the year before. Guard leaders will not release the numbers of suicides by state, citing privacy concerns.
In response to our reporting, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has asked the head of the force to release specific numbers of deaths and provide details about how the Guard can provide better care for its members.
In a December letter to Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Baldwin cited several findings and possible reforms highlighted in our investigation last month, including the need for a one-stop shop of mental health resources tailored to the force.
READ ABOUT IT HERE:Four Wisconsin National Guardsmen went to Afghanistan together. All returned home safely. Within months, all took their own lives.
READ ABOUT IT HERE:Sen. Tammy Baldwin presses National Guard leader for answers, data about the high suicide rate in the force
READ ABOUT IT HERE:Evers pledges COVID money to stem suicide in Wisconsin National Guard, but other state and national leaders offer no solutions
The Post-Crescent updated readers on the latest news from health experts about COVID-19 all year. We’ve tracked how it has spread throughout our community, as well as how local hospitals have dealt with overflowing ICUs.
As part of this coverage, we have reported on vaccine rollout in Wisconsin since it began, and kept an updated list of hospitals and pharmacies that offer the vaccine, as well as vaccine clinics. We have reported on how those who have difficulty leaving their home can find transportation.
Our diligent reporting has always had the goal of keeping residents of the Fox Cities and beyond knowledgeable of how best to protect themselves from COVID-19. As a result, some of our most at-risk readers have reached out to us to find out how they could get vaccinated.
After receiving over 100 phone calls over the course of two days from local seniors, the Post-Crescent published a story from Health & Science Reporter Madeline Heim that explained how the process of receiving those first vaccines was confusing to patients and their doctors, but also displayed how this was a nationwide issue.
Many people were worried that, because of vaccine scarcity, others would skip the line and they would not receive their vaccine before catching COVID-19. And, because of the lack of communication coming from vaccine distributors and doctors, reliable information was especially hard to come by for seniors who aren’t tech savvy.
They turned to us to find out the truth. And, seeing the need for this information, we hoped to edify anyone who was eligible for the vaccine at the time.
READ ABOUT IT HERE:Many seniors are calling me, a reporter, for help getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Here's what I'm hearing — and the advice I give them
Every parent worries about the safety of their child, and sexual assault is one of their greatest fears. With dating apps and websites designed to attract children, it becomes harder to keep track of who your child might be talking to at any given moment. So, when a child falls prey to a predator, it sends ripples across the entire community.
And it might be more common than we know. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, more than two out of three sexual assaults go unreported.
Post-Crescent reporter Chris Mueller reported on the tragic story of Celeste Cone who, already struggling with mental health issues at age 13, was sexually assaulted by a then 18-year-old man.
A week after the assault, she wrote a letter to a day treatment facility staff member. Although too much time had elapsed for Cone to have any physical evidence, the perpetrator was convicted of a felony and misdemeanor, though he never received a child enticement charge or jail time, nor was he registered as a sex offender.
Luckily, she was able to speak with her therapist and parents to receive support from others at the time. But six years after the attack, she told the Post-Crescent that she’s only recently begun speaking openly about it.
We were happy to share her story with our readers, and applaud Cone's courage for sharing with us.
This is an issue that is hard for victims to talk about, which also means other victims can feel alone in their struggle. However, after the Post-Crescent published the story, we received an email from a high school teacher, who relayed that upon reading about Cone one student wrote their own letter about a sexual assault experience and the resulting trauma they were experiencing.
READ ABOUT IT HERE:'I'm not going to stay silent anymore': A survivor of child sexual assault shares her story of trauma and resilience