Clock ticking on unspent ARPA funds for businesses

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

If you weren't a fan of the cooler weather this weekend, I have good news for you. It's going to be in the mid-to-upper 80s this week, with no chances for rain until the weekend. And the National Weather Service predicts the rest of the September will be warmer than normal , though just how much warmer remains to be seen.

Clock ticking on unspent ARPA funds for businesses

The African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin has just three months to spend its approximately $2.7 million in federal COVID relief dollars before the money is returned to the state — unless it gets an extension. And it's not the only one.

Just three of the 38 Wisconsin organizations that were awarded funding to support small businesses through the federal American Rescue Plan Act have used their entire grant, Gina Lee Castro reports in our latest Public Investigator story .

Some business owners have been disappointed by the lengthy and sometimes confusing process. One expert said it's a tall order for organizations that are, in many cases, receiving millions of public dollars for the first time without the infrastructure or experience of working with large grants.

"When we talk about small businesses or community organizations, these are places that don't necessarily have dedicated financial people that know their way around submitting grant applications or navigating this process," she said.

Robot tries to solve 1968 missing plane mystery

A team of researchers will deploy a 10,000-pound robotic ship today , sending it on a week-long mission to try to find the remains of the research airplane that disappeared in 1968 along the southern shores of Lake Superior. The families of the three victims support the mission.

Because the wreckage has never been found, federal agencies can’t make a determination about how the plane crash happened. Now, with technology that is a half-century more advanced, there's an "infinitely better chance of finding debris from this aircraft than they did back in the day,” Michigan’s state maritime archaeologist Wayne Lusardi said.

The mission also may help open doors to finding out more about what’s hiding at the bottom of the Great Lakes. Only 15% of the lake beds have been mapped in high resolution, which has led scientists to say they know more about the surface of Mars than they do about the bottom of the largest fresh surface water system on earth.

Don't miss these

• The city's No. 2 election official has received higher pay by claiming residency in both Milwaukee and Madison, Alison Dirr and Daniel Bice report .
• Milwaukee County's court system lost its only certified Spanish-speaking interpreter. No one with the right qualifications has applied for the job , highlighting the shortage.
• MATC has a new president : Anthony Cruz. His goals include earning a federal designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution .
• Hunting season is coming up. Paul Smith looks back at the history of hunting safety in Wisconsin and recaps the current rules .
• Did you know Thomas Hammock — the head coach who gave an emotional postgame interview after Northern Illinois upset Notre Dame — used to work for Wisconsin as an assistant coach ?
• Here's a comprehensive calendar of things to do in the Milwaukee area this fall , including concerts, performing arts and autumn fests.

Hope Karnopp can be reached at HKarnopp@gannett.com or on Twitter at @hopekarnopp .

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Clock ticking on unspent ARPA funds for businesses