Bending the Arc

On August 11, wind gusts of up to 99 miles per hour ripped through Northwest Indiana. The National Weather Service confirmed eight tornadoes across northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana. Seven people died in storms across the state that week, including in Gary and Portage. NIPSCO is the city’s electrical power company. It was the largest outage NIPSCO’s history, with more than 300,000 customers in the dark. Gary and Portage were put last on the restoration list. Power was finally restored to the majority of Gary residents on Tuesday night, August 25. A full TWO weeks later. 
Two weeks with no refrigeration in August. Boil advisories, water main breaks, transformers exploding, sewage backing up and washing clothes in a sink and driving through a city where every traffic light is dark. Gary’s schools, about 4,300 kids, closed on the 13th and stayed closed. Nine days in, more than 22,000 customers in Gary were still out. Read this full story written by Patti Vasquez. 

Gary Mayor, Eddie Melton, pointed out that the power infrastructure has been a problem for years and the storm has shed a light on his generally underfunded, underprivileged city. Grammy award-winning rapper Freddie Gibbs, a native to Gary, IN, says his predominately Black hometown tends to be ignored. Watch their full interview here.

Anyone wishing to donate to The Greater Gary Storm Recovery and Relief Fund can visit https://www.gary.gov/stormrecovery

Late on August 25, President Trump approved a disaster declaration for Indiana.

Anyone anywhere seeking disaster assistance can visit: disasterassistance.gov
 

People for People FDL invites you to join them for a special presentation by member, Kat Griffith, called:

ICE Arrest and Detention Machine
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
5:30 - 7:00 pm

The presentation will include:

• The starting point of our story: border data from 1980 - 2024
• Resourcing the machine: the DHS budget and the OBBB
• Staffing the machine: recruiting, hiring and training agents; 287(g) agreements
• The detention center build-out: following the money
• Who's being detained and what happens in detention?
• What can we do - and why we shouldn't feel hopeless!

Location:
Founders Hall
CSA Motherhouse
320 County Rd K
Fond du Lac, WI 54937

If you cannot join in person, you can join by Zoom. Email tabler@csasisters.org  for the link.

The Fond du Lac Public Library is now plugged into the sun.

Following more than a year of permitting, construction, and more, solar panels at the library are producing electricity and lowering the library’s ongoing energy costs.

The project was announced in March 2025, when installation began on an array of 500-watt solar panels on the roof of the library. Now complete, 240 solar panels are harvesting energy from the sun, providing power to the Fond du Lac Public Library.

This marked the culmination of nearly three years of planning and fund-raising to make the solar project a possibility.

The new solar panels were expected to generate up to 400 kilowatt hours a day but have outperformed this level on several occasions since their installation. This is enough electricity to cover more than 25% of the library’s electrical needs, and library leadership anticipates the project to save the Fond du Lac Public Library about $22,000 a year.

“Library staff are pleased to complete the solar panel project, which benefits the community through efficient use of funds while also reducing the library’s environmental impact. We appreciate the community’s support in this endeavor,” Fond du Lac Public Library Director Rachel Fuller said.

The library’s collection serves every age group, from picture books for pre-readers to a robust equipment collection, and much more. Online services supported by the library include a streaming service for movies and series (Kanopy); an e-book, audiobook, and online magazine app (Libby); a language learning app (Mango), and much more.

Visitors to the library are able to see the savings in real time. A special display was installed near the library’s south entrance; it displays live updates about how much electricity the panels are generating for the library on a daily, monthly, and annual basis.

Financial support for the solar project was provided through a combination of Capital Improvement funds from the city of Fond du Lac and funding from the Friends of the Fond du Lac Public Library, as well as private donations from community members.

Join League of Women Voters Wisconsin (LWVWI) and a panel of guest speakers to learn more about the anti-equity constitutional amendment appearing on the November 3, 2026, ballot.

Wisconsin voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that could have significant impacts on public education, employment, contracting, and government programs across the state. While the ballot language references discrimination and preferential treatment, the proposed amendment would also limit the use of certain equity-focused policies and programs.

Webinar Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Current speakers include:

• Rachel Snyder - Law Forward, Policy Counsel
• Suzanne Eckes - UW Madison, Susan S. Engeleiter Professor of Education Law, Policy, and Practice
• Kadijha Marquardt-Davis - Strategic Health Policy Leader
• Additional speaker will be announced soon

Register here

Can’t make this webinar? You may be interested in the YouTube Education Series at https://www.youtube.com/@LWVWI. Recordings of episodes 1 and 2 are now available.
 

The group, Fox Valley for Palestine, is offering a Palestine Film Series this Fall 2026. All films will be screened at the Appleton Public Library on Saturdays at 1:00 pm. The public is welcome.

Series Schedule:

• September 19: “The Voice of Hind Rajab”
• October 10: “The Encampments”
• November 7: “American Doctor”
• December 5: ”Where Olive Trees Weep”

Click on any of the film titles above to view their official movie trailers. The above movies are also available for home viewing on multiple platforms.

Attendees of the Appleton screenings are asked to leave a cash donation after watching each film. Money raised in excess of $1200 (cost to show films) will be donated to organizations supporting Palestinians.

Donations for support can also be mailed to:
David Muelller
1805 Dublin Trail, Apt. 124
Neenah, WI 54956

Learn more at https://foxvalleyforpalestine.org/ 

SPECIAL NOTE: The film, “The Voice of Hind Rajab” is available on Hulu and Netflix. After watching the film, Madison native, LisaAnn Trembath, had this to share with me: “I watched this movie knowing it would be tough, knowing I would weep, knowing I would despair. I was moved by some true spiritual gems: for example, the Red Crescent worker who helped Hind recite prayers to God from the Koran. I was torn apart by the moment when Hind said her family was not sleeping anymore, they were all dead. (What had to happen in her forming brain for her to understand this over the period of an hour or two?)

Why would I suggest anyone watch this movie? Several reasons. One - it really happened, and we can’t turn away from the evil that is being enacted by the Israeli military on innocent people in Gaza. Several forensic reports have been released since the incident went public, and there is no doubt of the accuracy of the story. Two - we see the power of faith and prayer and goodness in the rescue workers, and in little Hind as she prays to God for rescue. Three - we can lament together the loss of the tens of thousands of children’s lives by examining one story of one little girl. Four - there is a painful beauty in true art, and this film is artfully made and should be widely seen.”
 

Earlier this month, Racine Dominican’s justice promoter, Tim Hall, offered a very interesting webinar called, “Pope Leo and the Technocratic Paradigm.” As modern war-making makes for an unholy alliance with the powers of digital technology, how does Pope Leo XIV think the global community can redirect the trajectory of our tech revolution away from dystopia and toward the common good?

If you have a particular keen interest in the topic and basic “Lord of the Rings” knowledge, you will especially enjoy this program.

Sister Julie Ann Krahl, CSA watched the August 6th program as shared, “the intersection of today’s politics and players, current and projected use of AI, and a humanity/creation evolution is absolutely scary.” She finds this a “truly critical and growing issue” that we all need to be paying attention to and asks the question, “How do we encourage the appropriate development of the AI we want and need.”

Watch Tim’s recording here and ponder these thoughts yourself! In his presentation, Tim also looked at how “Magnifica Humanitas” contrasts two very different forms of power: one drawing its potency from the Gospel, the Incarnation, relationship in community, and the Resurrection with the other form derived from profit, efficiency, violence, polarization and exclusion. You may be interested in watching his past webinar on that as well.

Sister Julie Ann Krahl also found the TedTalk, When AI Knows Everything, What Should Humans Learn?, encouraging, especially as she reflected on the expanding role of Catholic Social Teachings. Maybe you will too! 

 

What if the hardest chapter of your life became the only story people were willing to tell about you?

For many women impacted by the criminal justice system, one decision, one crisis, or one period of instability can follow them for years. It can affect where they live, how they support their families, and whether they are given a real opportunity to move forward.

The Benedict Center helps women impacted by the criminal justice system build safer, healthier lives for themselves, their families, and our communities.

On September 23, 2026, you are invited to experience what that transformation looks like at the Benedict Center’s Women & Justice event, An Evening of Hope, Transformation, and Second Chances.

You will hear powerful stories directly from women whose lives have changed, meet the people working alongside them, and see how second changes strengthen families and an entire community.

This event will be at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago Street in Milwaukee. Please register by September 11. 
 

Feeling overwhelmed? Powerless? Doubting you can really make a difference? You are not alone!

Thich Nhat Hahn witnessed his homeland torn apart through war and spent nearly 40 years in exile because he called for peace. He learned to transform his suffering into engaged action, finding a way to care that didn’t destroy him. His teachings are at the heart of a 7-week course Plum Village is offering, which is aimed at transforming our fear and despair into strength, joy, and collection action.

This course is online and called, Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet. Click here to learn more, watch a trailer for the course, and register!