For the last few weeks, teacher Susan Cramer has been singing "La Mariposa" with the babies and toddlers in her music class. It's Spanish for "The Butterfly," and was Dailin Pacheco-Acosta's favorite song. It's become a song of hope for Pacheco's safe return after ICE detained her and her husband.

BREAKING: Wisconsin secures one year of funding for its deafblind youth program after Trump administration abruptly cut the five-year grant and denied DPI's appeal challenging the decision. www.jsonline.com/story/news/2...

Hello! I'm writing about Wisconsin K-12 school policies and whether there are adequate protections for LGBTQ+ students when it comes to bullying, harassment, discrimination. I'm looking to talk with former students and families about their experiences in WI K-12 schools: [email protected]

A group of troubled Milwaukee-area nursing homes will soon have new operators after financial strains and hundreds of resident complaints sent the facilities into receivership. Read the latest from my colleague @natalieeilbert.bsky.social and I with the link below. www.jsonline.com/story/news/h...

A 1,000-year flood, historically bad air quality, extreme heat: Nothing about summer in Wisconsin has been normal.

Four Wisconsin nursing homes with a litany of health care quality concerns have been put in court-ordered receivership as of July 31, the result of dire financial strains. Here's what me and @tamiafowlkes.bsky.social learned in our investigation.

Here is the main story that I spent a couple months working on: How does a 15-year-old become a school shooter?

Amid all the horrors coming out of Madison after the Abundant Life shooting, I kept thinking about how someone as young as 14 plans a mass shooting and why. 1/3

Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul has joined a multistate state lawsuit suing the Trump administration over order that attack the health care rights of transgender people. My latest:

I haven't been here for a minute. To reintroduce myself, I'm Natalie, and I cover mental health for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. I'm also going to start covering third spaces in WI as we reckon with isolation & greater need for community. I hope you're give me a follow! #wisconsin #mentalhealth

Also this week, I wrote about Trump's latest order that would forcibly hospitalize people experiencing homelessness. The order also diverts funds away from the Housing First approach, a philosophy that says if you give someone housing first, they can then focus on treating behavioral health issues.

Throughout the week, I had wanted to go for a run. Work has been stressful and my anxiety is through the roof. Running is a balm for me. Wildfire smoke, however, has made that too big of a hazard. Yes, I went for walks, but they were eery, and that eeriness only added more worries to my day. 1/3

BREAKING: FORGE, a Milwaukee-based LGBTQ+ nonprofit, was among the plaintiffs in a second Lambda Legal lawsuit filed this week against the Trump administration. The lawsuit was announced over Zoom Thursday evening. www.jsonline.com/story/news/2...

I started a novel years ago and don't know how to stop rewriting the first two chapters over and over. What are your favorite craft books on writing novels?

#Breaking - Trump administration to fire thousands at health agencies. Employees across agencies who were hired in the past one to two years are being targeted

The news that has truly undone me is the anglerfish that finally sees daylight and then dies

"Eliminating critical data allows for agencies to absolve themselves of accountability, obscures population-policy impacts, and worsens inequities. Without trusted data to make decisions, mistrust and disinformation can proliferate." lgbtmap.medium.com/disappearing...

“This afternoon AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing.” www.ap.org/the-definiti...

Associated Press: “Today we were informed by the White House that if AP did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, AP would be barred from accessing an event in the Oval Office.“

I have been extremely bad at social media on purpose. However, here are the stories I published this week. On Wednesday, my story about Wisconsin families, scientists & advocates responding to Trump's EO that would halt funding for youth gender-affirming care: www.jsonline.com/story/news/h...

Want to note that while we broke this story, other local news outlets Fox6 and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel were close behind us. @natalieeilbert.bsky.social, the MJS reporter, has been doing really great work. Read her: www.jsonline.com/story/news/h...

The executive director of Fair Wisconsin, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, tells me she's heard from multiple families whose children's gender-affirming care was reinstated after my reporting.

Two weeks into President Trump’s sweeping freeze on foreign aid, HIV groups abroad have not received any funding, jeopardizing the health of more than 20 million people, including 500,000 children.

Trump's EO last week aimed to end funding for gender-affirming care for youth has parents worried for their children's futures. Already, Wisconsin's transgender community lacks comprehensive protections against discrimination. My latest: www.jsonline.com/story/news/h...

On guns, much that Gov. Evers and GOP lawmakers don't agree on. But they do agree on making gun safes tax-exempt. www.jsonline.com/story/news/p... @natalieeilbert.bsky.social Similar laws passed in other states -- blue, red and like Wisconsin, purple. www.jsonline.com/story/news/l...

The bishop at President Trump’s inaugural prayer service implored him to “have mercy” on gay, lesbian and transgender children, as well as undocumented immigrants. “I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” asked Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde.

Wish more filmmakers understood that we want to be confused

Becoming demystified by social media companies is a good thing, actually

As social media companies relinquish fact-checking and unleash a new era of bots and reply guys, I find I’m using social media far less, meeting people in person, and committing to more in-person activities. It’s had a tremendous impact on my mental health honestly.

Charles Simic:

My New Year’s resolution is to stop drinking alcohol. Not for Dry January. Not for a “sober journey.” Dry 2025 and beyond. I’ve never been more confident in a decision before.

My final disability story for the year focuses on how other states carved out solutions to the lack of mental health parity in the insurance industry: “Vermont found fears about parity in disability coverage were wrong. Why won't others follow?” www.jsonline.com/story/news/2...

After nearly three decades, a Minnesota summer camp for kids with HIV/AIDS is closing and up for sale... because retroviral drugs are so effective that there aren't enough campers. Science works, y'all. www.startribune.com/closure-of-n...

A federal judge struck down parts of an Arkansas law that included prison sentences for librarians and booksellers for providing books that might be considered “harmful” to minors. nyti.ms/3DIpLBi

A poem of mine from Overland (Copper Canyon Press, 2023) published with Arkansas International. www.arkint.org/magazine/nat...

Here is the culmination of 6 months of investigating mental health disability claims. Court records show a pattern of so-called “frequent fliers,” medical reviewed hired through insurers to review patient charts to determine disability. www.jsonline.com/story/news/h...

Late to sharing this from a few hours ago — here’s some reporting my colleagues and I did on the shooter. Few details have emerged to indicate motives. www.jsonline.com/story/news/l...

At vigils across Madison, a grieving city struggles to make sense of shooting tragedy. My latest with my amazing colleagues. www.jsonline.com/story/news/2...

Madison community reels following Abundant Life Christian School shooting that left 3 dead. My latest. It’s so gutting to have to write these stories. www.jsonline.com/story/news/2...

Get your copy of Overland at the Copper Canyon Press store! This book is perfect for anyone who is in a constant state of fear and shame over the future and their place in it!

Found a set of quotes on my notes app, all bundled together by some version of myself who really wanted Dana Scully, James Salter and Javier Marias to be in conversation.

First true and pure post. Meet Beavis.

Finally moved over to Bluesky. Hello hello.