Susan Bence

1 week ago | wuwm.com | Susan Bence

One man’s photographs inspire exhibit celebrating Milwaukee family business and its connection to Wisconsin’s rich Lake Michigan commercial fishing world. Tom Kutchera’s grandfather founded Empire Fish Company in Milwaukee in 1913. Kutchera not only carried on the family business, he enjoyed taking photos of colleagues and would post those he considered the best on a pinboard at the employee entrance. For 11 if those years, mostly summers and holidays, Tom’s son Joe Kutchera worked with him.

1 month ago | wuwm.com | Susan Bence

Kristen Mitchell has lived in Mineral Point the longest of the three entrepreneurs. She moved there with her husband in 1994. “I grew up outside Madison, and my husband—his family is third-generation Mineral Point. So when we decided to get married, we moved back here so he could work for his family’s third-generation hardware store business. So yeah, we’ve been here since 1994,” Mitchell says. Mitchell, a graphic designer, says her publishing company developed organically.

1 month ago | wuwm.com | Susan Bence

I’m walking in a still wintery landscape in Walworth County. Kiera Theys with Geneva Lake Conservancy is my guide. Her organization is on a mission to reestablish oak trees in this region. Before European settlers cleared and farmed the land here, oaks defined Walworth County’s landscape. “So, it’s approximated I believe only 17% of our pre-settlement oaks actually still remain within Walworth County,” Theys says.

1 month ago | wuwm.com | Susan Bence

Winter is prime pruning season, and although we’re about to bump into spring, you might still see crews on city streets and boulevards pruning trees. It’s one of the ways the city is working to keep Milwaukee's urban canopy healthy. WUWM environmental reporter Susan Bence visited a crew doing some pruning on the Milwaukee's Northwest Side to learn how they’re adapting to climate change. She spoke with the City of Milwaukee's Urban Forestry Manager, Randy Krause.

1 month ago | wuwm.com | Susan Bence

A play that delves into how people respond to personal and professional challenges—in this case, a looming environmental one—is being staged at Next Act Theatre in Milwaukee. It’s called The Children. “It’s set on the eastern shore of Britain in Suffolk. It’s mid August. Fruits and vegetables are around and being eaten,” says the play's director Marie Kohler. Hazel and Robin live in a little cottage by the sea.