Courts

Behind the gray walls of the Marathon County Jail, inmates are finding a ray of hope in a unique program that offers practical skills and an opportunity for a new career. Jail inmates use this virtual welder—the same used in classrooms—to learn beginning welding skills that could be used to help secure a new career.

B.C. Kowalski/City Pages Law enforcement officers perform a role playing exercise with Katie Vanderheiden, an Appleton officer who helps train other departments in crisis intervention. She’s playing the role of someone having a mental health crisis and officers are learning how de-escalate, and help people through, such moments. Two young police officers walk into an