George Sanders

Former Milwaukee journalist George Sanders dies at 90

George Franklin “Buddy” Sanders, who worked as a graphic journalist for The Milwaukee Star, died Friday, July 16. He was 90.

Sanders joined the newspaper, which touted itself as “The Voice of the Negro in Wisconsin,” in 1962. He worked several years for the newspaper as a graphic designer, occasionally contributing as a writer. Among his more notable work for newspaper was his design for front-page coverage of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963. Sanders also taught at the Freedom Schools and worked for school desegregation.

jessica vanegeren

Veteran journalist Jessica VanEgeren joins USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Jessica VanEgeren has joined USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin as an Appleton-based local government and social justice/equity editor.

VanEgeren, whose first day was Monday, will be based out of The Post-Crescent newsroom. In her new role, she will serve as the primary editor of local government, justice and equity reporting for The Post-Crescent and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. She also is expected to partner with an editor at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to lead a statewide team focused on justice and equity.

capitol report, wispolitics

Marquette Law School poll considers changes for 2022 election cycle

Marquette University Law School pollster Charles Franklin has a challenge as Wisconsin prepares for another election cycle. While the failures of 2016 forced the polling industry to make changes to better account for voters who turned out for Donald Trump, those tweaks still didn’t catch the surge in turnout among Trump supporters in 2020, leading to another round of questions about why polling failed once again to accurately gauge the electorate.

Franklin says he's looking into making additional tweaks to the Marquette University Law School poll’s methodology. The first MU Law School Poll of Wisconsin voters in 2021 will be released Aug. 11.

Robert Wills

Bob Wills, longtime Milwaukee editor and open government champion, dies at 95

Bob Wills, longtime editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel and champion of open government, died on Thursday, July 22, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. He was 95.

In 1951, Wills joined the The Milwaukee Journal as a reporter. He went on to serve as city editor for more than a decade and editor from 1975 to 1991, when he was promoted to executive vice president of Journal Sentinel Inc. He retired in 1993.

A strong proponent of government transparency, Wills was a founder of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and served as its first president from 1979 to 1986.

colby, wisconsin state cheese

Results available for poll on Wisconsin state cheese

Polco users and readers visiting WNA member websites from July 7 to 20 were asked whether colby should be named the official state cheese of Wisconsin. Out of 485 respondents, 43% said they believed it should, while 38% said there should be no official state cheese in Wisconsin.

Poll questions are available through a WNA partnership with Polco aimed at helping newspapers better engage readers and access enhanced data and insights.

analog summer

Recalling ‘analog summer’ memories from years gone by

The idea behind analog summer is we’re turning back the clock to simpler times — when our lives were not dominated as much by digital devices but by human interaction and natural experiences that don’t come from liquid-crystal displays.

Wisconsin Newspaper Association