Line 5 continues to pit Wisconsin tribal culture against Big Oil

I'm Steve Martinez and this is the Daily Briefing newsletter by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Sign up here to get it sent to your inbox each morning .

We'll be rid of the oppressive heat Wednesday with highs in the mid-70s and partly cloudy skies. Expect some humidity, but it should feel like a far cry from the 100-plus heat indices we've been dealing with. Thursday looks about the same with some thunderstorms possible in the afternoon.

As the clock ticks, Line 5 continues to pit tribal culture against Big Oil

The Kakagon Sloughs hold everything that the Bad River Band holds dear – food, medicines, teachings. And nearly half of all the wetlands on Lake Superior are in the Sloughs, making it an ecological powerhouse that helps keep Lake Superior clean.

However, all that is considered at risk from Enbridge’s Line 5 , the Canadian pipeline that carries oil through 645 miles of the Great Lakes region. The pipeline crosses 12 miles of the Bad River Band’s land in northern Wisconsin, even though the tribal council chose not to renew the right-of-way easement when it expired more than a decade ago.

As winter approaches, with another presidential election promising a new administration regardless of who wins, tribal leaders are uneasy. Climate change is having a profound and frightening impact, and while it's part of tribal culture to think long-term, American business practices and political decisions typically are geared more short-term, which makes the environment more vulnerable.

The Band sued Enbridge in 2019 to have the pipeline removed from its lands. A federal judge found the company has been illegally operating on the tribe’s land, and ordered the pipeline be removed or rerouted by June 2026. That decision is being appealed , but the deadline is looming.

You can read more about the dispute in Caitlin Looby's latest story .

What drives Brewers phenom Jackson Chourio, the youngest player in MLB?

Jackson Chourio's first, and only, job has been baseball. It seems like he was born to play it.

Over the last 30 games, Chourio is slashing .320/.362./.525. Those are well beyond impressive numbers, and even more so when you consider that this is Chourio's first season as a major league player.

Thrown onto a young team, Chourio and the Brewers sit atop the National League Central making this game look easy sometimes. And Chourio is paid like a veteran superstar thanks to that $82 million contract he signed in December.

However, we seem to hear more about Chourio than from Chourio, so before a recent game columnist Lori Nickel had a chance to speak with him about the motivating factors that drive him. Brewers coach Daniel de Mondesert , also the team translator, helped with the interview.

You can find the full story here .

Don't miss these

• If you're sick of the heat, you can read about when fall weather is supposed to settle in on Wisconsin . Hint: It's not September.
• For the first time, invasive quagga mussels have been found in a Wisconsin lake .
• I bet you didn't know corn could affect the weather. Well, turns out it can, and "corn sweat" likely made our little heat wave worse. Here's how .
• There will soon be a new bakery in Bay View .
• COVID-19 is surging again. Here's how you can get free tests in Wisconsin .
• There are new bike lanes on North Avenue in Milwaukee. Why do drivers keep parking in them ?

Steve Martinez can be reached at steve.martinez@jrn.com . Follow him on Twitter/X at @stjmartinez .

D id someone share this newsletter with you? Sign up here to get it in your inbox .

Not yet a Journal Sentinel subscriber? Please consider signing up at jsonline.com/deal .

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Line 5 continues to pit Wisconsin tribal culture against Big Oil