Larry Sandler

I've been writing about government, politics, transportation, business and other topics in Wisconsin and Illinois for more than 30 years.

After growing up in Chicago, I earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield. I started my professional career as a reporter at The Pantagraph in Bloomington-Normal, Ill., covering McLean County government, politics and business from November 1981 to November 1982.

From there, I moved on to the Milwaukee Sentinel, as a general assignment reporter. Over the next 12 years, I reported on higher education, the Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee County government and the manufacturing and transportation industries.

After the April 1995 merger of the Sentinel and the Milwaukee Journal, I became the transportation reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and from May 2001 to May 2007, I also wrote the weekly Road Warrior column. In June 2007, I was named City Hall reporter, but I continued to cover public transit issues as well, until I left the paper in a September 2012 buyout.

Since then, I've been freelancing, with a focus on local government, politics, transportation and technology businesses. Most of my work has appeared in Milwaukee Magazine and the Milwaukee Business Journal, but I also have contributed to WisPolitics.com, WisBusiness.com and other outlets. In addition to journalism, I have written research papers on local government for the Wisconsin Policy Forum, a nonpartisan local think tank, and on education for its predecessor, the Public Policy Forum.