Mike De Sisti

Fairgoers put their stomachs to the test during the cream puff eating contest at the Wisconsin State Fair.

We take a photo of our daughter, Isabella in the same spot each month to track her growth. All’s we hear is how fast it goes. So, I’m doing my best to slow the process through photography.

On Dec. 1, 87-year-old Rose Schulz will celebrate her 51st anniversary as the receptionist at Weyco Group, the Glendale manufacturer of men’s shoes such as Florsheim and Stacy Adams.

Army Spec. James Weigl committed suicide after years of not receiving proper health care from the Army. His family talks about his life and situation. Produced by Gary Porter and Mike De Sisti

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) dives over Detroit Lions linebacker Julian Peterson for a first quarter touchdown in Chicago, Sunday. The Bears went on to beat Detroit 48-24. (AP Photo /Nam Y. Huh)

See more killer photos from the past week here.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Jim Stingl evidentially didn’t get the memo. Somewhere along the line, his jean shorts, occasionally referred to as “jorts” (short for jean-shorts),  fell drastically out of style.  He’s been wearing them forever, but it wasn’t until his daughters started giving his grief this summer, that he began to question his sense of style. To confirm his findings, Stingl went down to the ever eclectic Brady Street to ask folks there if they thought his “jorts” were in fact ever in style.

Here’s the scene. My mom, in town from Indianapolis, is changing Isabella. Isabella is our new baby girl. A ripe 3-week-old. My mom’s changing her in our nice clean baby room. She calls me to the room. I see a mouse. It moved across the floor with the speed of Mickey’s stoner brother. I just needed something to kill it with. The biggest object close by was a 480 page soft-cover book titled “The Womanly Art of Breast Feeding.

It took two whacks with the book.

Remembering the most amazing assignment I’ve ever been on.

-See the photos

-Read the story

I get asked many times what the coolest or best assignment I’ve ever been on was. Well, “cool” isn’t a respectful word I would use. More like powerful.

As a photojournalist at the Post-Crescent in Appleton, WI, I was assigned to cover a New York City fire department that was located directly across the street from the World Trade Center tower on September 11, 2001. In addition to losing several firefighters and a damaged fire house, they lost their firetrucks.

A local Clintonville, WI company came forward a year later to help. Fire apparatus maker,  Seagrave sent a ladder truck to Ladder 10 company.

I went to New York with reporter Ed Culhane to find the truck and document the crew who are using it. We had no idea what to expect.

Firefighters of the ladder 10 company and all NYC firefighters for that matter, were rightly elevated to hero and celebrity like status. Our first challenge was to find these guys. The second was getting them agree to give us some time for an interview and photographs. We know it would be difficult since they we going to be preoccupied with several NY local and national interviews.

Long story short – these firefighters were amazing. We introduced ourselves. 20 mintes later, we were riding around NYC on a firetruck with these guys. One hour later, and we were having dinner with them in the firehouse. We were welcomed with open arms.

The rest is history and can be better told in photos and Ed’s amazing story.