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A pair of Milwaukee breweries invited all seven mayoral candidates to show off their firkin-tapping technique on Saturday.

18 community organizations are working to promote safe driving. //end headline wrapper ?> Get a daily rundown of the top stories on Urban Milwaukee The “Slow Down, Life Matters” campaign will focus on Sherman Park and other Milwaukee neighborhoods this summer. Photo provided by Coalition for Safe Driving MKE/NNS. Fed up with the deaths and damage caused by reckless driving, 18 community groups in Milwaukee are launching a series of efforts to persuade drivers to slow down. The groups received a total of $102,000 in grants from the city’s Department of Public Works to fund the campaigns...

Illinois lawmakers spent much of their weekend session debating criminal justice reform bills. The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus is using the lame-duck session to address a range of social equity issues, from healthcare to education to criminal justice. On Saturday, for a combined seven hours, the House Judiciary Committee and Senate Executive Committee heard testimony on proposals to eliminate cash bail, decriminalize possession of small amounts of controlled substances, redefine the felony murder classification, change collective bargaining rules for law enforcement, and repeal qualifi...

Lawmakers held a hearing on the amendments for House Bill 163 Saturday. In the lame-duck session, state lawmakers discussed a new controversial criminal justice reform bill put forth by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. "This is a big problem and requires a bold response. House bill 163 as now amended is a bold response," said John Rakowski with the Illinois State Bar Association. The proposed legislation includes ending cash bail, expanding police training on use of force and prohibiting chokeholds. It also requires the maintenance of police misconduct records and the use of special pro...