Nick Demske, left, and Dave Demske celebrate after Nick received an award at a Wisconsin Writers Awards event in May in Madison.
Nick Demske
RACINE — Nick Demske has always loved words.
In middle school, language provided an outlet for him.
That was when Demske began writing poetry to help deal with the mental health challenges he was facing, including anxiety and depression.
“I realized at some point, ‘Oh, when I do this, it really helps balance me out,” said Demske, who is executive director of the Racine Public Library. “Poetry has been a really important health and wellness tactic in my survival strategy in life.”
He continued writing poetry while studying English and creative writing at Carthage College.
After that, Demske received some notice for his work, publishing one full-length book of poemsand a chapbook.
Demske put poetry on the backburner for several years as he became more involved in civic engagement, including being a Racine County Board supervisor from 2018-24.
In fall of 2024, he began writing poetry again.
That creative reignition was recently recognized when Demske won a state prize, the Lorine Niedecker Poetry Award.
Demske looks forward to having several days to write and “be in community with other writers and other creatives.”
Rita Mae Reese, from left, Nick Demske and Steven Espada Dawson at a Wisconsin Writers Awards event in May in Madison.
Dave Demske
The relational aspect of poetry has become more important to Demske over the years.
Writing poems remains a cathartic outlet similar to when he was younger, but Demske also greatly enjoys the people he has met through poetry.
“It’s still a very important therapeutic tactic in my life,” Demske said. “The community became really important and central to me, differently than my creative work.”
After several years off, Demske, who recently finished a poetry manuscript and is working on a new collection, plans to keep writing.
He writes poetry for his own health, but Demske also hopes his words connect with people.
“This stuff actually has an impact if you do it correctly,” Demske said. “I want to heal myself and heal others.”
One of the Racine Zoo's longest-term residents — Yule, a male white-handed gibbon — has died.
According to a news release from the zoo, Yule and his daughter, Robin, first arrived at the Racine Zoo in 1986. Yule was 58 years old when he died, much older than the species' typical life expectancy of approximately 30 years. He was the oldest living white-handed gibbon in a zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums by at least two years and holds the records for oldest gibbon in the association's records.
Due to his advanced age, Yule was monitored closely by the zoo's veterinary and animal care staff. A "slow, normal decline" had been evident, but this summer, Yule began to have difficulty using his right hand and leg, the release noted. As his condition was untreatable, staff decided to humanely euthanize Yule on Oct. 22.
Yule was well known in the neighborhoods around the zoo, according to the release, due to his loud vocalizations, which were studied by local Carthage College researchers. They "found that while playing with his daughter, Yule used a unique 'bleat' sort of play vocalization — one typically only heard from infant gibbons." His "sweet, nurturing" relationship with his daughter earned him the moniker "Papa Yule" among his keepers.
KENOSHA, Wis. - After Sunday's shooting at the Somers House tavern left three people dead, a group in Kenosha is calling for action on gun laws.
"There’s one thing we need to remember. This is not normal," said Tyler Kelly, a Carthage College student.
The 80% Coalition gathered in Kenosha on Wednesday, April 21 to call for legislation and funding to prevent gun violence.
Specifically, the group is asking for the closing of background check loopholes when purchasing a gun -- and legislation to allow family members and law enforcement to petition a court when they know imminent danger is posed by someone with a gun.
Carthage College went on lockdown after Sunday's shooting. Several students spoke about that night -- and the healing they are going through now.
Citing rising costs and changing student interests, Carthage College announced plans to eliminate up to 20% of faculty and restructure 10 academic departments last week, blindsiding some students who said the move “betrays” the institution’s identity as a liberal arts college.
Carthage Provost David Timmerman called the move “difficult but necessary.”
“Student interest is shifting, and they’ve been voting with their feet for the last 10 years,” Timmerman said. “In some cases, some departments have had higher numbers of faculty needed than students.”
Ten standalone departments — biology, classics, English, modern languages, music, philosophy, physics, political science, religion, and sociology/criminal justice — will be combined into a smaller number of departments under the proposal. Between 15 to 30 faculty, including tenured faculty, will face layoffs.
The proposal is part of a broader strategic move to prepare Carthage for what higher education institutions are calling the "demographic cliff" in 2026 when the number of 18-year-olds will reach an all-time low due to declining birth rates since the Great Recession. With a volatile economy and the cost of higher education greater than ever, colleges and universities have struggled to increase student enrollment revenues. Carthage College, like many other institutions, has increasingly invested in growing pre-professional programs such as nursing, data science and business.
With classes set to start in less than two months, Bradley Morelli, a senior, said students were blindsided by the announcement.
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