About Michael
An award-winning journalist, Michael Louis Vinson is a graduate of Harvard University (AB, Government), former Fellow and Wallace Engagement Associate at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and graduate of the master's degree program at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, where he concentrated in Interactive Publishing as a McCormick Foundation Scholar. He also received a certificate in Media Management at Medill, a joint program with Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.Michael was also a reporter and blogger at The Post-Crescent, in Appleton, Wis., where he covered state politics and Appleton City Hall. His work has appeared in USA Today.
He is the winner of three 2011 Wisconsin Newspaper Association Awards for feature writing, breaking news and continuing web coverage.
Michael can be reached at vinson@post.harvard.edu or on Twitter @michaelvinson.
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Latest
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Credit crunch / Data details critical shortfall in credit availability for small businesses during economic freefall that began in 2007
Jan. 22, 2012 Special Report: Measuring the impact of the Great Recession on bank lending After the nation’s financial sector nearly collapsed in 2008, bank lending to Fox Valley small businesses declined sharply as the local credit market essentially froze, according to data from the federal government. In the Appleton-Neenah-Oshkosh metro area, small business lending [...] -
Emergencies on the line / $1 million in federal monies helps local police, fire departments as they scramble to upgrade radio systems before FCC deadline
January 20, 2012 APPLETON — Local fire and emergency management officials have been racing to upgrade their radio systems by Jan. 1, 2013, to meet new federal guidelines. More than two dozen agencies in Outagamie County are expecting a $1 million boost from the federal government that will help them purchase some of the needed [...] -
Baldwin praises health reform / Senate hopeful pledges to be independent voice
Jan. 12, 2012 APPLETON — U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Herb Kohl, defended the controversial health care reform law President Barack Obama signed in 2010, calling it “a good first step.” “This is a very complicated matter, but I think we’ve got a good [...] -
School board OKs employee handbook / Appleton nixes teacher seniority preference in controversial policy
Jan. 10, 2012 APPLETON — Silently but swiftly, dozens of educators filed out of Wilson Middle School’s cafeteria Monday night mere moments after the Appleton Board of Education unanimously approved a controversial employee handbook that removes seniority as the sole basis for determining teacher assignments and filling vacancies. The revamped policy — spurred by changes [...] -
Ex-police chief gets bigger payout / Jan. 3 resignation means Appleton must pay 2012 vacation
Jan. 7, 2012 APPLETON — By waiting until the first week of January to step down as Appleton’s police chief, David Walsh earned a payout of nearly $10,400 for vacation time available to him in 2012. That’s in addition to nearly $6,500 Walsh received for vacation time he did not use in 2011, plus health [...] -
More women seeking, achieving greater political clout in Wisconsin
January 5, 2012 If she wins the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Herb Kohl this fall, U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin would break a glass ceiling in Wisconsin, becoming the first woman to represent the Badger State in the upper chamber. Wisconsin voters have never sent a woman to the Senate or elected a [...] -
As one child heals, family prepares to adopt another
December 31, 2011 DARBOY — A year after enduring a stem cell transplant that could ultimately save his life, Charlie Knuth, 5, is focused on one thing — being a little boy. “He plays like a regular kid,” said his mother, Trisha Knuth. “Charlie is happy, the family is happy and he’s not in pain. [...] -
Study: Taxes raised on poor
December 29, 2011 As Wisconsinites await W-2 forms and related tax documents, hundreds of thousands of low-income families are bracing for a state budget change that will mean less money in their wallets next year. Last summer, the state Legislature reduced the amount of money low- income families can receive in tax credits by $56.2 [...] -
Winnebago County to run cancer-screening services in March
Dec. 28, 2011 The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has asked Planned Parenthood to continue a cancer-screening program in the Fox Valley until the end of February, when the Winnebago County Health Department will take control of the program. “I’m confident that we can get (the transition) done in two months,” said Doug Gieryn, Winnebago [...] -
Appleton Common Council shifts greater portion of federal grant money to city-run programs
Dec. 22, 2011 APPLETON — After a heated debate, the Appleton Common Council voted 12-3 Wednesday to shift a greater portion of federal grant money to city-run programs, effectively reducing funds for local nonprofits. “Now is the time to make this very difficult decision to make sure at least the city of Appleton’s programs are [...] -
Appleton Taxpayers United refocuses its message
December 13, 2011 APPLETON — Appleton Taxpayers United, which failed in a fall campaign to roll back Appleton’s recent extension of health insurance benefits to registered same-sex domestic partners of city employees, has supplanted its largely fiscal message with an overtly religious one. “We are shifting our strategy and tone,” the group’s president, Perry Bovee, [...] -
Appleton Mayor Tim Hanna’s re-election bid triggers primary
December 9, 2011 APPLETON — Mayor Tim Hanna’s announcement Thursday that he will seek a fifth term sets the stage for a political challenge Hanna hasn’t faced since 2004 — opponents at the ballot box. Hanna, 54, who was first elected mayor in 1996 after serving two terms on the Common Council, ran unopposed four [...] -
Water plant changes possible / Upgrades to Appleton facility could be costly
December 7, 2011 APPLETON — To meet revised state guidelines on water safety, Appleton officials are exploring a menu of potential upgrades to the city’s water treatment facility, which could prove costly. “(The plant) is working, it’s producing safe, clean water in all the quantity we need, but we have to look at what the [...] -
Aid cuts catch sexual assault centers off guard
December 6, 2011 Surprised by larger-than- expected cuts in a state-funded grant to agencies that help sexual assault victims next year, nonprofit leaders across the Fox Valley are sprinting to fill the funding hole before Jan 1. “We really are scrambling right now,” Lyn Beyer, executive director of Reach Counseling Services in Neenah, said Monday. [...] -
Costly toll: On top of dementia’s mental, physical price comes staggering financial burden
December 4, 2011 APPLETON — When Appleton resident Andrew “Bud” Kangas, 77, was told in March he has Alzheimer’s disease, a family member took power of attorney over his finances and health care decisions. “It’s been a financial problem and we’re trying to get that under control,” Bud Kangas said. “I can’t handle the finances [...] -
CDC: 1 in 5 who have HIV don’t know it
December 1, 2011 APPLETON — As the nation marks World AIDS Day, public health officials and healthcare providers are dismayed by a recent government report that showed 240,000 Americans are living with HIV and don’t know it. “This week’s announcement by the (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that one in five people with [...] -
Golfers still upset about Appleton’s Reid Municipal Golf Course plans
November 29, 2011 APPLETON — Several dozen golfing enthusiasts packed the Reid Municipal Golf Course clubhouse Monday night and balked as Appleton officials tried to explain why the city wants to build two stormwater retention ponds on the course in 2013. “(At a previous meeting), there was a lot of schmooze to get us out [...] -
Appleton re-examines its role in the local social safety net
November 27, 2011 APPLETON — Congressional gridlock over deficit reduction and shrinking post-recession federal revenue is having an immediate impact on social safety net programs in the Fox Cities, where public and nonprofit agencies face steep cuts in federal aid as well as delayed payments. “In an organization like ours, any time there is a [...] -
New Yorker critic fell in love early with classical music
November 13, 2011 A 2007 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and 2008 recipient of the MacArthur Foundation’s half-million-dollar so-called “genius grant,” Alex Ross has become something of a popular evangelist for classical music. A music critic for the New Yorker magazine since 1996, Ross has written two books on the subject: “The Rest is Noise: [...] -
Appleton approves Houdini Plaza, convention center projects
November 11, 2011 APPLETON — During an eight-hour session Wednesday night that spilled into Thursday morning, the Appleton Common Council approved a pair of capital improvement projects that will transform the downtown district. The council supported a $1.5 million renovation of Houdini Plaza by rejecting a plan 11-5 that would have delayed the project until [...] -
Appleton Common Council extends domestic partner benefits to all city employees
November 10, 2011 APPLETON — To audible gasps and sighs from the 30-person audience, the Appleton Common Council voted 10-6 to extend health and dental coverage to registered same-sex domestic partners of city employees. The vote followed two attempts by council members to eliminate or delay the city’s health coverage policy. The council voted 11-5 [...] -
Appleton’s diversity coordinator defends her work
November 9, 2011 APPLETON — An outspoken gay rights advocate in her professional work and personal life, Appleton Diversity Coordinator Kathy Flores has become a focal point in city budget deliberations. For the second consecutive year, members of the Appleton Common Council are trying to eliminate or sideline her position amid concern her work spills [...] -
Follow Appleton’s budget debate tonight on Twitter
November 9, 2011 APPLETON — The Common Council takes up the 2012 budget at 7 p.m. today in the council chambers at City Hall, 100 N. Appleton St. If you can’t attend the meeting or need to slip out early, you can follow all the action on Twitter. I’ll be tweeting minute-by-minute updates from the [...] -
Occupy Appleton protesters aim to rehab image, elevate debate
Nov. 6, 2011 APPLETON — Stymied by a lack of permits two days into a weekend “occupation” of City Park, Occupy Appleton protesters shifted Saturday to a non-combative strategy — “radical obedience.” “Yes, we’re being disobedient in a sense because we are here,” said Kegan May, 22, of Manawa, a spokesman for the group. “But [...] -
As numbers fade, Occupy Appleton protesters pivot to policy
November 7, 2011 APPLETON — With the force of a whisper, a rundown radio hummed news of Aaron Rodgers’ fourth-quarter touchdown pass to James Jones late Sunday afternoon in San Diego. But the half-dozen Occupy Appleton protesters who gathered at a City Park bench barely noticed, their heads buried in copies of Jon Stewart’s book [...] -
Workers asked for benefit / That’s how policy for domestic partners originated
Nov. 6, 2011 It was a clarifying moment. When Ald. Jim Clemons voiced opposition on Oct. 29 to Appleton’s new policy to extend health and dental coverage to registered same-sex domestic partners of nonunion employees, he posed a simple question. “Where did this originate?” Clemons asked. “At some point somebody said, ‘Let’s add this.’ Do [...] -
Hanna: Appleton’s domestic partner benefits policy good for private sector too
October 20, 2011 Appleton Mayor Tim Hanna wants to clarify something. We’ve quoted him in The Post-Crescent touting the recruitment and retention upside to the city’s new policy to expand health and dental coverage to same-sex domestic partners of city employees. But Hanna wants to be clear that he’s talking about more than luring top [...] -
Zion Evangelical Church in Appleton to refurbish 1,200-pipe organ
October 19, 2011 APPLETON — It begins with a push. Apply the slightest pressure, and the organ’s 61 keys will ignite a full-force, symphonic explosion of air and sound. “It’s not like music out of a speaker,” said Greg Pettigrew, a member of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Appleton. “Music out of a speaker you [...] -
Occupy Appleton protest draws crowd of 200
Oct. 15, 2011 APPLETON — For several hours Saturday afternoon, about 200 “Occupy Appleton” protesters crowded the entrance to Chase Bank on College Avenue in downtown Appleton. They wailed on drums, waved American flags and heckled what they view as a trio of bogeymen — corporations, lobbyists and politicians. “What drew me into this movement [...] -
Green Bay business consultant Jamie Wall first Democrat to enter race against Congressman Reid Ribble
October 5, 2011 GREEN BAY — Frustrated with what he sees as a “mess” in Washington, Green Bay business consultant Jamie Wall is launching a bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble, R-Sherwood, who serves the 8th Congressional District. “Congress is broken,” Wall told The Post-Crescent. “It’s time for members of Congress to act like [...] -
Appleton Taxpayers United: City domestic partner benefits too costly
October 3, 2011 APPLETON — With Green Bay poised to reject a plan that extends health insurance benefits to same-sex domestic partners of city employees, Appleton residents and advocacy groups have praised and derided a similar policy adopted here last month. Fair Wisconsin, the state’s leading gay rights advocacy group, applauded the new policy. Appleton’s [...] -
Ribble lax at casting ballots / Lawmaker cites ‘hectic lifestyle’ in Washington, move out of district
September 27, 2011 As control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and state Senate hung in the balance, hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites cast ballots in hotly contested races this year. U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble, R-Sherwood, was not one of them. Ribble, who represents the 8th Congressional District, has not voted since the 2010 midterms, when [...] -
U.S. Rep. Ribble moves out of district
September 14, 2011 SHERWOOD — U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble confirmed reports Tuesday that he recently moved out of the 8th Congressional District and returned to his family’s three-bedroom home on Lake Winnebago in Sherwood, a house he left more than a year ago to challenge incumbent Democrat Steve Kagen in last fall’s midterm election. Consequently, [...] -
Appleton OKs benefit plan / Same-sex partners of non-union employees get health coverage
September 8, 2011 APPLETON — In a 10-6 vote, the Appleton Common Council approved a plan Wednesday that extends health benefits to same-sex domestic partners of non-union employees, a move Mayor Tim Hanna said would make Appleton’s recruitment efforts more competitive. “We do want to be able to attract good, talented employees and retain good, [...] -
PACs help U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble, R-De Pere, amass campaign war chest
August 26, 2011 APPLETON — In politics, it’s never too early to raise money. More than a year out from the November 2012 election, U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble, R-De Pere, has amassed a campaign war chest for his re-election bid that’s on pace to surpass his fundraising totals from the 2010 contest with Democrat Steve [...] -
Balance of power at stake in recalls / Voters to determine six state races today
August 12, 2011 Five months after state Senate Republicans passed a law that curbs collective bargaining powers for state workers with Senate Democrats in absentia, six of those Republican senators face voters today in recall elections. If challengers unseat at least three Republican incumbents, Democrats will take control of the Senate, where the GOP has [...] -
Evidence links Randal Rosenthal to mother’s death
Aug. 6, 2011 APPLETON — DNA on a pair of blood-spattered jeans ties a 34-year-old Brillion man to the shooting death of 52-year-old his mother last month, according to a report by the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department. Randal G. Rosenthal, who is accused of shooting his mother, Kathleen Remter, in the back of the head [...] -
Wisconsin recall elections hinge on Governor Scott Walker
August 6, 2011 The four recall candidates in Wisconsin’s 2nd and 14th state Senate districts have spent a combined 82 years in elected office, but the particulars of their careers and long-held policy positions seem almost irrelevant as Tuesday’s recall election approaches. That’s because the person most responsible for spurring the special elections and on [...] -
Fred Clark decries ‘radical’ Republican agenda / Candidate wants more moderation in state Senate
August 4, 2011 NEW LONDON — Though his fellow Democratic challengers in Tuesday’s recall elections present themselves as reliable progressives who will fight for the middle class, state Rep. Fred Clark, D-Baraboo, paints himself foremost as a moderate, independent legislator who is willing to work across the aisle. “I’ve been elected twice in a conservative [...] -
Luther Olsen touts his 17-year pro-education record
August 3, 2011 RIPON — A former school board president and chairman of the state Senate’s education committee, Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, has made education reform the centerpiece of his 17-year political career in Madison. “Education has always been important to me and my family,” Olsen, 60, told The Post-Crescent last week as he knocked [...] -
Nancy Nusbaum injects national issues into Wisconsin Senate recall race against Republican Rob Cowles
August 2, 2011 KAUKAUNA — In articulating her opposition to Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s agenda, Democrat Nancy Nusbaum struck the same populist tone that has shaped national progressive politics since the GOP won the 2010 midterm elections on an anti-tax and spend message. “I see what’s happening right now, and I see really, really great [...] -
Wisconsin State Senator Robert Cowles, a Republican, defends collective bargaining, budget votes
August 1, 2011 Insistent that lawmakers balance the state budget without raising taxes or relying on accounting gimmicks, state Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Allouez, voted against six consecutive budgets between 1999 and 2009. In doing so, he made the elimination of Wisconsin’s structural deficit the cause célèbre of his 29-year political career. “I’ve been harping and [...] -
Recall debate shifts from unions to budget cuts / State a testing ground for 2012 elections
July 28, 2011 As incumbent state Senate Republicans and their Democratic challengers flood TV airwaves and stuff mailboxes in the run up to the Aug. 9 recall elections, they are largely sidestepping the issue that spurred tens of thousands of Wisconsinites to sign recall petitions this spring — the elimination of many collective bargaining powers [...] -
Recall debate shifts from unions to budget cuts / State a testing ground for 2012 elections
July 28, 2011 As incumbent state Senate Republicans and their Democratic challengers flood TV airwaves and stuff mailboxes in the run up to the Aug. 9 recall elections, they are largely sidestepping the issue that spurred tens of thousands of Wisconsinites to sign recall petitions this spring — the elimination of many collective bargaining powers [...] -
Debt-ceiling debate: Voters take thoughts to lawmakers / Obama’s call for support has immediate effect
July 27, 2011 Wisconsin lawmakers were deluged Tuesday by voters urged by President Barack Obama to voice their support for a what he termed a balanced approach to lifting the debt ceiling. The response to Obama’s Monday night message was immediate, as congressional websites experienced an extraordinary volume of traffic. On Tuesday, the phones began [...] -
Gay Methodist minister hopeful as suspension ends
July 23, 2011 As she awaited the jury’s June 23 verdict on her penalty for performing a same-sex wedding in violation of United Methodist Church rules, the Rev. Amy DeLong braced for the worst. “I really didn’t expect to leave the trial with my credentials,” DeLong, 44, who lives in Polk County, told The Post-Crescent [...] -
Burning Questions: PFLAG a resource for gay community
July 15, 2011 Years after a local chapter faded away because of low participation, Kaukauna resident Jennifer Perrin launched an Appleton chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, commonly known as PFLAG. Spurred by a rash of youth suicides in Outagamie County since 2009 — including several by openly gay teens — [...] -
Gay support group welcomes new Appleton chapter / PFLAG pushes unity, respect in communities
July 13, 2011 APPLETON — As she watched a rash of suicides unfold among openly gay teens in Outagamie County over an 18-month period, Jennifer Perrin contacted gay rights advocates to find a way to stem the tide. “I think as a parent of two younger kids, I want to show them that there is [...] -
Kaukauna teachers object to policy changes / Board adopts mandates from new union law
July 12, 2011 KAUKAUNA — About five dozen teachers and community members packed a Kaukauna Board of Education meeting Monday night to express their frustration with a recently adopted employee handbook. The handbook incorporates mandates from a new law that eliminates most collective bargaining powers for public employees throughout the state. “You’ve alienated the very [...] -
Kaukauna schools project $1.5M surplus after bargaining changes
June 30, 2011 KAUKAUNA — As changes to collective bargaining powers for public workers took effect this week, the Kaukauna Area School District expected to swing from a projected $400,000 operating budget shortfall next year to a $1.5 million surplus due to health care and retirement savings. The Kaukauna School Board approved changes Monday night [...] -
Gay minister Amy DeLong gets 20-day suspension, writing assignment as United Methodist Church trial ends
June 24, 2011 KAUKAUNA — After nearly six hours of deliberation, a 13-member jury of Wisconsin Methodist clergy suspended the Rev. Amy DeLong from ministerial duties for 20 days, starting July 1, and noted the time is to be used for “spiritual discernment.” DeLong, 44, of Polk County, was convicted Wednesday of performing a 2009 [...] -
United Methodist trial of gay minister Amy DeLong enters penalty phase
June 23, 2011 KAUKAUNA — A jury of Wisconsin Methodist clergy will meet this morning to decide the punishment for an openly gay minister convicted Wednesday of performing a 2009 wedding for a lesbian couple in violation of United Methodist Church rules. The 13-member jury’s decision to convict the Rev. Amy DeLong, 44, of Polk [...] -
Minister pleads not guilty in trial / Church calls proof of charges ‘clear and convincing’
June 22, 2011 KAUKAUNA — Nearly two years after she officiated a wedding ceremony for a lesbian couple and filed for domestic partnership status in Polk County, the Rev. Amy DeLong pleaded not guilty during a United Methodist Church trial Tuesday to charges she is a “self-avowed practicing homosexual” who performed that same-sex union in [...] -
Kaukauna trial of the Rev. Amy DeLong mirrors national debate on gay clergy, marriage
June 21, 2011 KAUKAUNA — As she prepared to stand trial this week for officiating a 2009 same-sex wedding in violation of United Methodist Church rules, the Rev. Amy DeLong cast her defense as part of a larger movement to reform the church’s stance against openly gay clergy and same-sex unions. “This trial is not [...] -
Teen parent: When a child is raising a child
June 15, 2011 OSHKOSH — Two years ago, Faith Lohry, then a 16-year-old sophomore at Oshkosh North High School, told her mother she was pregnant. Lohry’s mom had an announcement of her own: I’m moving. “That was really hard to not have my mom and dad there to support me,” said Lohry, now 18 and [...]
Performing Arts
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VIDEO: Working With Tina Landau
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Box Office Hits Lift Steppenwolf Despite Recession
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Rough Magic – Designing The Tempest
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