Monthly Archives: March 2010

Keep the family and friends of James W. Meden in your prayers tonight.

Meden is the 57-year-old man who South Milwaukee police say was murdered at the Badger Place Apartments Wednesday morning.

From the Journal Sentinel story …

Meden’s body was found by his daughter in the apartment in the 200 block of N. Chicago Ave. and his death is being investigated as a homicide, police said. A statewide alert was issued for the Meden’s car. The vehicle is described as a gold, 2003 four-door Honda Accord with dual silver exhaust pipes and with a license plate number of 805 FVS.

Police did not find evidence of forced entry into Meden’s apartment and that investigators do not believe anyone else is in danger.

WISN has a more comprehensive story here. And here is video from WTMJ.

Police are not saying how Meden was killed. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Meden’s car is asked to call South Milwaukee police at 414-768-8060.

A 58-year-old man was found dead in his South Milwaukee apartment this morning.

The incident, which is being investigated as a homicide, happened at the Badger Place Apartments in the 200 block of North Chicago Avenue.

No other details were immediately available.

Check out the full story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. And here’s the press release.

I’ve had my week away from the keyboard, and it’s time to get back to South Milwaukee blogging.

Let’s get started by getting readers caught up with items of note from the past week, including the following Milwaukee Journal Sentinel articles:

• South Milwaukee Mayoral Candidates Face Off Again: More on the upcoming mayoral race, one of two locally contested seats in South Milwaukee. The other is for City Clerk and pits Alderman Jim Shelensek against incumbent Kathy Lisowski. There’s also a South Milwaukee School Board race that will pit one incumbent against at least two declared write-in candidates.
• Racine Business Broup Airs Pro-Transit Ads
• Rail Opponents Rally Suburbs

So, what’s coming up this week? Not much on the City Council side, save for a meeting of the South Milwaukee Downtown Market set for Thursday. (Don’t forget about the Downtown Market Spring Market on April 10 at Bucyrus!)

Also coming up this week is the initial meeting Monday between South Milwaukee School Board and South Milwaukee Education Association negotiation teams. Proposals will be exchanged, according to this agenda.

These are critical talks, as they will determine just how deeply the South Milwaukee School District will have to cut teachers, staff, programs and services this summer and fall. Learn more in this post, and see the complete list of preliminary budget and staffing approvals and other information on the district’s budget here.

I must admit that when I launched my blog in October, I didn’t know what to expect.

Simply, I wondered if people would people be interested what I had to say. Thankfully, you have been, and you’re reading.

Traffic is up, and growing, and I can’t thank my readers enough for that. I hope that’s a reflection of the news and information I’m delivering in this space throughout the week. I hope you are finding it valuable.

Please keep reading, and forward the link to your friends, family and neighbors.

I’ll return to blogging on March 27.

A 40-year-old South Milwaukee man apparently shot himself following a police chase and car crash Wednesday night.

Other new details emerged Thursday about the scary incident that left Douglas J. Fairbanks dead after the crash near North Chicago and College Avenues.

Learn more in the South Milwaukee Police Department press release here.

• You can see the full story Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story here.
• A Cudahy woman driving a car struck by Fairbanks’ vehicle apparently suffered only minor injuries. Fox 6 spoke to her Thursday.
• And here is the story from Channel 4.

A 40-year-old man is dead following a police chase in South Milwaukee Wednesday night. He may have shot himself.

A 23-year-old woman was also injured in the resulting car crash around 9 p.m. near North Chicago and College Avenues. 

Here is a story and video from the scene on Fox6Now.com. According to Fox 6: South Milwaukee police were investigating a complaint and performing surveillance on the suspect’s home when the man tried to get away, leading them on a chase that ended with the collision near the intersection.

Police told Fox 6 that the man may have taken his own life with a shotgun during or shortly after the collision.

The woman was taken to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital.

Here is the story from Channel 4, and here is the Channel 12 version.

I will post more details when I get them.

And it was a fountain at the front entrance to St. Luke’s South Shore. 

Learn more in this WISN.com story.

Thankfully, the number of sick people has not changed since the outbreak was first announced on Saturday. Here’s an excerpt from the story:

So far, eight people have confirmed cases of the disease after either being treated at St. Lukes South Shore or visiting the hospital.

The hospital has contacted more than 4,000 people since the outbreak started on Saturday, to tell them to watch out for flu-like symptoms. So far, eight people have confirmed cases of the disease after either being treated at St. Lukes South Shore or visiting the hospital.

The hospital has contacted more than 4,000 people since the outbreak started on Saturday, to tell them to watch out for flu-like symptoms.

Spring is definitely here (at least for a few days).

Want proof? The Grant Park Golf Course is open for business.

Click here to see the full Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story and here for complete course conditions information.

Update: We passed the library transfer unanimously. We put off a vote on the cycling event guarantee until a future council meeting, as we continue to seek sponsorship dollars to help defray the annual site fee and other costs. We also approved the Sportz Medicine II agent change … after speaking to the owners about the February stabbing.

A rather light agenda for the next South Milwaukee Common Council meeting, but there are a couple items of note on the agenda:

• The council will consider approving the transfer of $16,000 from the library contingency fund to the library budget in order to avoid a potential state-imposed penalty. Apparently, the state requires that a single year’s local library budget can not be cut to a level below the average of that library’s previous three years’ budgets. Cuts to the South Milwaukee Library budget this year would have put spending below that average, and the transfer will avoid that. Not sure I like this law …
• The council will also consider entering into a contract with the International Cycling Classic for the bicycle race I’ve written about. The search for sponsorship to back that $15,000+ investment continues …

The meeting is at 7 p.m. at City Hall. You can see the full agenda here.

There’s another meeting of note on Tuesday at City Hall. The Legislation & Permits Committee meets at 6:30 p.m., and on the agenda is a discussion regarding the recent stabbing incident at Sportz Medicine II. We’re also considering a “change of agent” request for the Sportz Medicine II Class B liquor license at this meeting. I’ll keep you posted.

Scary news from the South Shore’s only hospital …

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that eight people who have been to Aurora St. Luke’s South Shore in Cudahy over the past three to four weeks have been diagnosed with Legionnaire’s disease, a form of pneumonia caused by waterborne bacteria.

Click here to see the full story, which says all of the cases have been reported by residents of the south suburbs.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a wonderful opportunity before city leaders — the chance to land an international bicycle race in South Milwaukee.

The International Cycling Classic would like to add a Superweek race to the city in July, bringing with it more than 500 cyclists and perhaps thousands of spectators. I remain just as excited about this, but here’s the reality: We need to find sponsorship dollars to make the race happen. And soon.

I want to give credit to Community Development Director Danielle Devlin for her work so far in seeking sponsors for the race. She’s done well, and there’s been strong interest. And why not? This is a first-class event that local businesses and organizations should be proud to sponsor.

We need more than $15,000 annually to bring this event to South Milwaukee, money that goes toward a “site fee” paid to the ICC and other expenses. In my mind, it’s a bargain, a good value when you consider the economic impact an event like this can have.

I hope the City Council agrees with me. The issue is expected to be on the council agenda at next Tuesday’s meeting, when we’ll discuss the city potentially backing the $15,000 annual investment (over three years) the ICC is seeking.

The hope is that sponsorship dollars will cover that entire amount, leaving taxpayers on the hook for nothing and with just one responsibility: Enjoy a first-class sporting event on the streets of South Milwaukee.

If you have any sponsorship ideas or, better yet, connections, please email or call me. And don’t be surprised if I’m back asking for help in bringing this event to life should we land it.

Should communities be able to determine where sex offenders are allowed to live? Or is a state standard needed to guarantee uniformity across rural and urban areas?

I choose the former. And I hope you do too.

This is a local control issue, and an effort by some in the legislature, including two Milwaukee-area legislators, to outlaw local sex offender ordinances is misguided.

I realize that the lack of uniformity brings with it some issues (sex offenders being concentrated in Milwaukee and in rural areas, for instance), and there is probably a larger debate needed here about just what to do with sex offenders in the penal system.

But stripping the power of local governments to make their ordinances is not the answer.

Click here to read the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story on this issue. And click here to see the South Milwaukee child sex offender residency ordinance.

I’d like to know what you think on this. Post your comments below.

Things are progressing on the Nicholson Avenue expansion project … and the city is committed to keeping you informed every step of the way.

This week, City Engineer Kyle Vandercar sent a letter updating the project to more than 300 households in the 4th District. You can view a copy of the letter here.

Here are the highlights:

• Oak Creek, South Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation have approved a design and engineering services contract with Foth Infrastructure and Environment LLC. The consultant is now evaluating alternatives for the new road.
• It is likely the alternatives will boil down to two options: a four-lane roadway with a median and a four-lane roadway without a median. DOT standards, funding limitations and projected traffic counts make a narrower option unlikely.
• Construction remains scheduled for 2012, following the design work, right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation.
• The Nichsolon project is proceeding amid the uncertainties surrounding the Oak Creek postal facility and Lake Parkway extension. There remains no real update on the postal facility, which was put on hold last year and may be scaled back. The Lake Parkway extension is also years away. It might happen in 2025, if it happens at all.   

Public information meetings on the project are expected in June. I will keep you informed about these and hope you’ll be able to attend one of them.

In the meantime, I’d like to hear what you think of this project. Post your comments below!

We’ve got some big things planned for the South Milwaukee Downtown Market when it returns this summer. The biggest may actually be an event planned for April.

I am helping lead the effort to bring an indoor spring market to Bucyrus’ Heritage Building from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 10. We hope you’re planning to attend … and tell your friends and neighbors.

So far, we have about a dozen vendors committed to the event, including many that you may be familiar with from our summer market. We’re hoping to get that number to 25 or 30, and I’m confident we’ll get there.

Do you know someone who might be interested in selling at the market? They can email me at erikbrooks32@yahoo.com.

Learn more about the spring and summer markets from my previous post, from this this press release and at the South Milwaukee Downtown Market at www.smdowntownmarket.org.

While I was in Madison watching the Badgers roll past Iowa at the Kohl Center, I apparently missed quite a meeting of the South Milwaukee School Board on Wednesday night.

Hundreds packed the Performing Arts Center for several hours to protest proposed cuts to South Milwaukee school music and other programs as part of what could be a $1 million to $3 million budget shortfall.

The video from this Today’s TMJ4 story says it all.

Now if only City Council meetings had live music …

Seriously, I’ll do my best to keep you posted on this as the budget process continues. This is an important community issue.

And something tells me this won’t be the last we hear from concerned parents and students. There is a lot of passion around this issue, and rightfully so. Our school music program is a strong source of pride for the entire community.

But my challenge is always the same when it comes to budget debates — school, city, state, federal and otherwise: If your feel your program should be spared, then what should be cut? The shortfall is real, and cuts have to be made … somewhere.  

Your next chance to weigh in on the proposed cuts appears to be the March 10 School Board meeting, with approval of the preliminary budget and staffing plan expected at the March 24 meeting. Here is the full school budget calendar.

Also check out the South Milwaukee Music Portal for more.