I’m JR Radcliffe, and this is the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Daily Briefing newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox every morning.
This weekend is expected to bring snowfall and single-digit temperatures, while today will bring patchy snow and freezing rain in the morning, with a chance of snow later. The high is around 29 degrees, with a 50% chance of precipitation. We’ll get colder as the weekend progresses, with a low of 4 degrees overnight on Monday.
Kohl’s announces that it’s closing stores (though none in Wisconsin)
Kohl’s is facing tough times.
The popular Wisconsin brand announced on Thursday that it will close 27 underperforming stores in 15 states, with closures expected in April.
Despite the fact that none of the stores are in Wisconsin, it is a setback for the Menomonee Falls-based retail giant.
The announcement comes less than a week before Ashley Buchanan takes over as Kohl’s CEO. Kohl’s stock traded at around $13.49 per share on Thursday. Kohl’s stock price has fallen by approximately 51% over the last year.
The closest locations to Milwaukee are in Illinois (one in Plainfield, southwest of Chicago, and one in West Dundee, a northwest suburb of Chicago).
Former mayor Tom Barrett is coming home
With the change in administration, former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett plans to return to the city later this month after serving as the United States ambassador to Luxembourg for three years.
He leaves his position as America’s top diplomat in one of Europe’s smallest countries grateful and a “blessed person,” as he told Lawrence Andrea. And, while he is retiring from the State Department, he is keeping his options open, with ideas from Luxembourg that he believes could be applied in Milwaukee.
“This has been a tremendous professional and personal opportunity for me and for my wife,” Barrett told the media. “And so I am eternally grateful to President Biden for allowing me to represent him, to represent the State Department, but most importantly to represent the people of the United States here.”
It’s Packers playoff season!
The Green Bay Packers’ playoff opener is Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles, and we know you’re excited, even if you’re a little skeptical of Green Bay’s chances as the last NFC team to make the field this season.
PackersNews.com will have extensive game-day coverage, including Tom Silverstein’s live blog. Here is what we have going into the showdown.
- Jordan Love is a little banged up; what’s the latest on the Packers quarterback as he tries to improve accuracy through elbow soreness?
- Analytics like the Packers a lot, with one site ranking Green Bay as the No. 3 team in the playoffs. Does that mean they’re primed for an upset?
- A 1972 Packers-themed Cadillac was destroyed by a fire, but this fan has a new ride.
- An honor for Packers rookie Edgerrin Cooper.
- Do the Packers lack a playmaker on offense? Pete Dougherty answers that in his weekly chat.
Don’t miss these
- Gigi’s Cupcakes in Oak Creek and Wauwatosa are closed.
- Harley-Davidson announces its headliners for the 2025 Homecoming Festival.
- You weren’t imagining it. The year 2024 was Wisconsin’s warmest on record , breaking the mark set … in 2023.
- Wisconsin’s alcohol-related deaths have tripled in a quarter century.
- Respiratory illnesses are on the rise in Wisconsin.
- The cost of providing recycling services is increasingly straining the budgets of local governments in Wisconsin, and residents might start seeing fee hikes or less frequent pickups
