Education reporter @wpr. Past @journalsentinel. Searching for good stories and great nachos. Tips? corri.hess@wpr.org

Corrinne Hess’s Journalist Portfolio

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A City's Tragedy

A City's Tragedy

milwaukeemag.com — Dontre liked to fall asleep watching old movies, gangster movies especially. He had been living for the past four days in a transitional housing unit, unable to live alone since being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia the year before. But he couldn't get his TV to work. So he checked in to the hotel for the free movies. On that Wednesday morning, the sky was overcast and the temperature in the low 50s. Dontre dressed in a gray short-sleeved Nike shirt, a pair of blue jeans and a navy blue jacket.

Responding to Tragedy in Madison and Milwaukee

Responding to Tragedy in Madison and Milwaukee

milwaukeemag.com — Nate Hamilton (right) leads protests in Madison. Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Jobs Now. While protests have rocked the state capitol in recent years, until now, it has been songs of labor solidarity ringing in the air. The March 6 shooting death of Tony Robinson, an unarmed biracial teen shot by a white Madison police officer, has changed the playlist to one that has been heard in Milwaukee since the Dontre Hamilton shooting last year: "Black lives matter"; "Hands up don't shoot"; "No justice no compromise."

Dry Spell - Milwaukee Magazine

Dry Spell - Milwaukee Magazine

milwaukeemag.com — Farmers are living through the fallout of a historic drought. Wisely, Bob Barthel's farm is irrigated. But this summer, as Wisconsin's southern half baked in a drought that drew references to the 1936 Dust Bowl, here is what irrigation involved. Moving lines several times daily to keep thirsty crows from stealing water by pecking holes in the tubes. Feeding gallon after gallon of diesel fuel (700 by summer's end) into the irrigation pump. Reducing a pond on the Mequon-area farm - home to apples, strawberries and pumpkins - to an oversized puddle. "I basically ran out of water," Barthel says.

Point of View- Sid McCain - Milwaukee Magazine

Point of View- Sid McCain - Milwaukee Magazine

milwaukeemag.com — You worked as a VP at major record labels like EMI, promoting and signing bands. Now you're the promotions director of WMSE-FM radio. It has been a big change. I'm learning a whole new skill set. I love it. Station manager Tom Crawford is an amazing man. His knowledge of music surpasses anything I have ever been around. My previous job was almost like selling widgets. Music wasn't creative; it wasn't fun. It was about how many records the band sold. Being at WMSE is an open field. We can basically do anything we want.

Mary Isbister - Milwaukee Magazine

Mary Isbister - Milwaukee Magazine

milwaukeemag.com — Isbister and husband Eric run GenMet Corp., a mequon fabricating firm. But just who wears the pants? Photo by Adam Ryan Morris. A female president of a manufacturing company is uncommon. Do you think the glass ceiling has been broken, or at least cracked? Personally, I have never had that problem. What surprises me is when I hand someone a business card - we don't have titles on our business cards - they look at it and say, "What is your role in the business? Are you in HR or do you help out in the office?"

Tippling Point - Milwaukee Magazine

Tippling Point - Milwaukee Magazine

milwaukeemag.com — Illustration by Lily Padula My sister got her first ticket for drunk driving while a student at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She was in La Crosse again when she got her second OWI - operating while intoxicated - this time as a 26-year-old college dropout who was partying during Oktoberfest. She blew a 0.18 when police pulled her over going the wrong way down a one-way street. She was not a very sympathetic character to the judge, who gave her the maximum fine of $1,200 and the minimum jail sentence - five long days in La Crosse County Jail.

Bumper Crop - Milwaukee Magazine

Bumper Crop - Milwaukee Magazine

milwaukeemag.com — When South Milwaukee decided to resurrect its farmers market in 2009, organizers struggled to find a suitable day to hold the market. They knew they couldn't compete with nearby Bay View's booming South Shore Farmers Market on Saturday, so organizers took a chance on Thursday night. Five years ago, a Thursday farmers market was rare, but the gamble paid off. The South Milwaukee Downtown Market has flourished, and its founder Mayor Erik Brooks credits that to its 3-7 p.m. Thursday time slot. "Thankfully, we got in at the start of this proliferation of farmers markets," Brooks says. "Competition is always a challenge.

Faces of Death - Milwaukee Magazine

Faces of Death - Milwaukee Magazine

milwaukeemag.com — The photos may be graphic, but Brian Peterson thinks the ends justify the means. Photo by Sara Stathas Lowanda Smith spent three years wondering what had become of her brother. He was last seen driving his girlfriend's car Feb. 8, 2008. He'd just been accused of molesting her daughter, according to police reports. He'd told family members he wouldn't go back to prison, and they thought he might flee the state. They couldn't know, with his history of drug use, what he'd do, but suicide was a possibility.

Sole Survivor - Milwaukee Magazine

Sole Survivor - Milwaukee Magazine

milwaukeemag.com — Eight years later, rabies remains at the center of one Fond du Lac woman's life. Jeanna Giese's long hair is pulled back in a loose ponytail. Her navy blue sweatshirt hangs loosely over blue jeans and a plaid button-down shirt. Sitting at a Starbucks in Fond du Lac, she looks like a typical 23-year-old, except for what's hanging from her neck. "Yeah, I'm wearing a bat necklace," she says, fingering a winged figurine she bought while volunteering for the Organization for Bat Conservation last year. She wears it so often that she's already had to replace the chain that holds the tiny replica.

Hospital systems weigh for-profit status - Milwaukee - Milwaukee Business Journal

Hospital systems weigh for-profit status - Milwaukee - Milwaukee Business Journal

Milwaukee Business Journal — As hospital systems try to figure out how to turn a profit in a changing market, many are giving up the tax breaks of nonprofit status and consolidating with for-profit entities to gain access to capital. The mergers, which are accelerating in the Northeast and South, are beginning to reach the Midwest and health care experts believe it is only a matter of time before Wisconsin hospitals are forced to reinvent their business models to support new hospitals and growing operational pressures. "It's surprising to me that we haven't seen this already," said C.

Bill Clinton stumps for Barrett, calls for cooperation - Milwaukee - Milwaukee Business Journal

Bill Clinton stumps for Barrett, calls for cooperation - Milwaukee - Milwaukee Business Journal

Birmingham Business Journal — Before a crowd of wind-blown Tom Barrett supporters Friday, a noticeably thinner former President Bill Clinton used his trademark charisma to persuade people to end the "divide-and-conquer" agenda Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has put into place and elect the Milwaukee mayor as the state's next governor. Much of Clinton's 18-minute speech in Pere Marquette Park in downtown Milwaukee focused on cooperation. "Cooperation works, constant conflict is a dead-bang loser," Clinton said, adding that he is typically against recall elections like the historic one Wisconsin will hold June 5, but he is out supporting Barrett because he believes too much is at stake.

Ryan: Repeal and replace health care reform - Milwaukee - Milwaukee Business Journal

Ryan: Repeal and replace health care reform - Milwaukee - Milwaukee Business Journal

Birmingham Business Journal — U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan believes the future of U.S. health care, and by extension, the economy, is doomed unless national health care reform is repealed and replaced. Ryan (R-Janesville) spoke out against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and floated his idea for Medicare reform, being called premium support, during a Milwaukee Press Club luncheon. "I would simply say if we replace it the right way, using the right principals, we can solve this problem," Ryan said. "The health care issue is our debt issue and the debt issue is our economic issue.