Category Archives: South Milwaukee

by | October 17, 2013 · 9:03 pm

A Word On Regional Cooperation

We’re not in this alone — and if we approach economic development that way, we’ll be worse off for it.

That’s why I am happy to support regional efforts like Aerotropolis Milwaukee, the initiative to bring local communities together to seize on the advantages provided by proximity to Mitchell International Airport, the Port of Milwaukee, our rail network and other transportation hubs.

The South Milwaukee City Council put our stamp of approval on this effort in 2010. We took that a step further Tuesday by adopting an agreement aimed at promoting a more collaborative approach to issues like economic development and land use.

Check out the BizTimes story here. From it:

According to the Interlocal Cooperation Agreement, “The purpose of this Agreement is to provide a cooperative intergovernmental process for land use planning and economic development activities within the Interlocal Aerotropolis Area, in connection with attracting commercial, industrial, and other businesses and activities having a direct or indirect relationship to intermodal transportation, logistics, air commerce and the use of (the airport).” 

The agreement enables the local governments to discuss and approve other matters to which they may agree in good faith, including design and development principles; streamlined or expedited permitting processes; economic incentives; joint marketing and promotion and infrastructure development. 

Of course, this is all on paper. I look forward to seeing this spirit of cooperation come to life — and in a way that will lift the entire South Shore.

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by | October 15, 2013 · 11:08 pm

Farewell, Patch: Local News Coverage Takes Another Hit

I’ve said all along I hope this blog gets put out of business one day — that an actual media outlet comes along and devotes the time and energy necessary to cover South Milwaukee and the South Shore the way it deserves to be.

Well, it seems like the trend is moving the other way.

The latest example of the decline of local news coverage: The laying off of a number of local Patch editors later this week … Oak Creek included. I expect that will also mean the end of the actual Oak Creek Patch website, but who knows?

In the end, it doesn’t much matter. Without an actual journalist covering Oak Creek, it joins the long list of local communities lacking regular, independent news coverage — and that’s a loss for all of us.

We need more Patches, not less.

We are all better served when we have a media outlet or outlets truly interested in what’s happening locally. Important news and information gets disseminated. Events and activities get promoted. And government officials get a watchdog.

We don’t have this currently. NOW may be printed on newsprint, but with only user-generated content, a police blotter and legal notices, it’s not a newspaper. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel rarely shows an interest in South Milwaukee. And the television and radio news stations only show up when something is bleeding.

The loss of Patch is yet another blow — another reason that I’ll keep on keeping on with South Milwaukee Blog. I am happy to do what I can to keep residents informed on key news and information. Someone has to.

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by | October 14, 2013 · 8:52 pm

What To Do With Those Falling Leaves …

Trees are shedding their leaves quickly these days, so here is a quick reminder on protocols from the city website …

Residents are permitted to place leaves in the gutter for collection from October 1 to November 15. NO YARD WASTE OR PLANTS WILL BE COLLECTED. Yard waste and plants must be taken to the Self-Deposit Station at 1106 Blake Avenue for disposal.  There is no charge for disposal of yard waste, although there is a $2.00 per day user fee to use the facility. Do not  place leaves in the gutter after November 15. They may not be picked up.

Check out the Street Department web page for more information.

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by | October 13, 2013 · 9:41 pm

Keeping In Touch: City Publishes Online Newsletter

While it’s no longer printed and mailed to residents, the city still publishes its “Keeping in Touch” newsletter online.

The latest edition was just published. Find it here.

It’s a terrific resource for news and information across every city department, as well as upcoming events.

Check it out!

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by | October 12, 2013 · 8:56 am

Homecoming Defeat: South Milwaukee Falls To Pewaukee

South Milwaukee’s bid at perfection is over — but its season far from done.

Pewaukee rolled past the Rockets, 42-17, Friday night, dropping South Milwaukee to 7-1 as they prepare for the Woodland Conference championship game next week and then the WIAA playoffs.

Here is the game story. From it:

South Milwaukee coach John Galewski said his team ran into tough defense in the second half that the Rockets just couldn’t crack.

“We couldn’t run the ball,” he said. “Their defensive line is really good, and we knew that. We had some big plays in the first half, but their defensive line really stepped it up in the second half. I think that made a lot of difference.”

The Pirates next play Brown Deer before beginning the playoffs, while South Milwaukee travels to Greendale on Thursday to play for the conference championship against the undefeated Panthers.

“We go to Greendale to play for the championship,” said Galewski. “The kids played hard tonight. This really doesn’t change any of our goals. We are in the championship game next week Thursday against Greendale, and we’ll take our chances there, and we’ll have our hands full again.”

Here is coverage from WISN.

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by | October 8, 2013 · 9:57 pm

South Milwaukee Sports Update: Beyond Football

Some South Milwaukee sports news beyond the football field … thanks for the update from Ante Udovicic.

ROCKET MARCHING BAND

The Rocket Marching Band has had a successful competition season this Fall. Their season started with a 3rd place finish in AAA band competition at Waukesha South on September 28th. Back-to-back competitions were held October 5 at Greendale and October 6 at Wisconsin Lutheran High School, where the Rocket Marching Band earned their highest score in competition ever at Greendale, and finished in 2nd place at both competitions.  This year’s show, How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse, is a favorite among audiences.  Their full competition show will be performed at the last home football game for Homecoming on October 11th, followed by a final competitive performance at the WSMA State Marching Band competition at UW-Whitewater on Saturday, October 19th.  The performance time at Whitewater is 6:00pm.  Details on admission fees and band schedules are available at the WSMA website.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

The Rockets had their final home match of the season last week and it produced their most exciting win when they came back from a 2-1 deficit to win in 5 games! Great job Rockets. Good luck today in Pewaukee and on Saturday at the Brookfield East tournament!

GIRLS TENNIS

Congratulations to Ines Hoxha (12) & Kristen Bizub (12) on taking 3rd at #1 doubles in the Woodland Conference! Congratulations toAmber Bizub (11) & Chidimma Ozodi (11) as well for taking 3rd at #3 doubles! Great job girls, and great job by the team finishing in 7th place in the Woodland just 4 points out of 4th place!

CROSS COUNTRY

Here are the runners who broke 17 minutes for the girls this past Saturday at the Purgold Invitational (Sheridan Park). The 2 times are their overall time and then their pace per mile. The Girls took 3rd overall!

  • 12 12 Rebecca Heller SO South Milwaukee 15:53.17   6:24 
  • 16 16 Maddie Wood FR South Milwaukee    16:13.60   6:32 
  • 17 17 Capri Fowler JR South Milwaukee       16:31.52   6:39 
  • 25 24 Bristine Fowler JR South Milwaukee    16:46.17   6:45 
  • 30 28 Samantha Meszaros JR South Milw.    16:51.16   6:47

Here are the runners for the boys who broke 19 minutes. The boys took 8th overall. Josh Janusiak (11) took 2nd place!

  • 2 2 Joshua Janusiak JR South Milwaukee 16:24.30    5:17 
  • 50 48 Chris Sobczak FR South Milwaukee 18:06.85    5:50 
  • 57 55 Damon Dettmann JR South Milw.    18:34.25    5:59 
  • 58 56 Steve Merkel SR South Milwaukee 18:35.86     6:00 
  • 63 61 Justin Weber SO South Milwaukee 18:53.94     6:05 

And here is an alumni update …

TAYLOR ZAESKE (2013)

See below for a cool update about 2013 SM Alum Taylor Zaeske and former GVB standout and who is the ECAC Girls’ Volleyball Player-of-the-Week for the 2nd week in-a-row! Pretty great start to her college volleyball career I would say. Way to go Taylor!

ALY PINKOS (2010)

Aly was named to the Midwest Women’s LaCrosse Conference All-Academic Team in July, 2013. While we don’t have LaCrosse here, Aly was a great athlete at SM as a #1 tennis player, basketball player and starting pitcher in softball. Nice job Aly!

http://www.cuwfalcons.com/sports/wlax/2012-13/releases/20130711268xgy

TREY McKINNEY-JONES (2008)

Trey took part in the Milwaukee Bucks Fan Fest last Saturday and played in the 24 minute scrimmage. Trey was 0-2 from the field, but pulled down 5 rebounds and had an assist and showed that he can certainly play in the league. Anyone want to guess who the last player (long after any other player was out there) was out on the court after the scrimmage ended signing autographs? Yep, that would be Trey. A Bucks person had to walk up to get him to stop signing and head back to the locker room, otherwise Trey might have been there for 20 more minutes. 

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by | October 4, 2013 · 11:10 pm

On To 7-0: Rockets Dominate St. Francis

Update: The win also clinched the Woodland East title for South Milwaukee … and set up a showdown with undefeated Greendale for the inaugural conference title game on Oct. 18. 

From the start, this one wasn’t much of a contest.

Ian Pribyl had five — five! — first-half touchdowns and finished with 164 yards on 13 carries to lead South Milwaukee past St. Francis, 42-13, Friday night and stay unbeaten at 7-0.

More details here.

I was there for the first couple quarters — did some campaigning beforehand — and it was an impressive performance on both sides of the ball. If the Rockets can play like that, they will make some serious noise in the WIAA playoffs, which begin October 25-26.

Next up, however: Pewaukee for Homecoming week. Gametime is 7 p.m. on Friday. Vote here to make it WISN’s Operation Football Game of the Week — and help it close the huge gap with the clubhouse leader (Franklin and Kenosha Indian Trail). 

One other note: Please keep St. Francis receiver Brady Wieland in your prayers. Friday, he took a big hit on a pass over the middle in the second quarter and laid motionless on the field for more than 10 minutes before being taken to the hospital. It was a stark reminder about how dangerous this game can be.

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by | October 2, 2013 · 9:09 pm

Council Meeting Recap: Rain Barrels, Recycling And More

A quick summary from Tuesday’s South Milwaukee City Council meeting …

  • The council voted 7-1 to give “first reading” to an ordinance regulating the use of rain barrels, including regulating their capacity (55 gallons or less), function (for use only for watering flowers, gardens or grass), number (no more than two for single-family and duplex homeowners, for instance), location (to be located only in side or backyards and at least 12 feet from any neighbor’s structure) and appearance (requiring various aesthetic treatments), among other technical wording. I voted no. Why? For years, we have had no rain barrel ordinance on the books — and, using a literal reading of our code, one could argue rain barrels were illegal because our ordinance banned all “cisterns,” with little elaboration. I pushed for a way to make them legal — and for common-sense restrictions on their use. Well, with the proposed ordinance, I think we’ve gone from under-regulating rain barrels to over-regulating them. We should encourage rain barrel use, or at least not discourage it. Placing too many restrictions on their use — especially those around location — will accomplish the latter.
  • We voted unanimously to raise recycling fees for 2014, including from $45.92 to $50.51 for single-family homeowners. This decision can be directly tied to reduced state funding to local governments for recycling programs — money removed as part of the Republican state budget several years ago and never fully restored. South Milwaukee has covered much of that shortfall by applying “rainy day” fund balance to the program. And we’ll continue to do so in 2014, just in a more sustainable way.
  • The council also voted to cancel our Nov. 19 and Dec. 3 meetings, leaving our Nov. 26 budget approval meeting in place to consider any necessary items. Here is a list of the upcoming key budget dates. 

The council also briefly discussed the recently released fire consolidation report. The upshot: It’s still early in the process, but at least we have a potential roadmap to seriously consider this issue. I will keep you posted … and encourage you to get involved in the debate. Your voices must be heard.

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by | September 30, 2013 · 9:35 pm

South Milwaukee Sports Update: More Details On Friday’s Football Thriller

Here is an update from Ante with the South Milwaukee School District …

Well, if you were at the game last Friday at Greenfield, I am quite certain that you will never forget that game. It was an away game in name only…the crowd was 60-40 Rocket fans. The Rockets were down 13-10 at the half (on a 39 yd FG by JP Saskowski (12) and 41 yd TD reception for AJ Plewa (12)), but scored in the 3rd quarter shortly after an approx. 70 yd pass to Zach Osell (12) led to a 4 yd TD run by Zach Simuncak (12). to take a 17-13 lead. Late in the game, a questionable reversal of a call led to a fumble being recovered by Greenfield near midfield, which they capitalized on and took the lead 20-17 with 27 seconds remaining in the game. 

After a squib kick the Rockets started their fateful drive at their own 47 yard line. Justin Oliden (11) was precise in running the 2-minute offense leading the Rockets to a couple of first downs. With 4 seconds remaining, the Rockets lined up for one last shot from the 32 yard line. Oliden rolled a little to his left and just as he released the ball he got crushed by a defender, but his aim was right on target as Saskowski jumped up at the 4 to catch the ball as 3 defenders collapsed on him as he fell into the end zone at the horn for a spectacular 23-20 win for the Rockets, propelling them to 6-0, vaulting them into the WIAA Playoffs for the 5th year in-a-row, and putting them in a position to clinch back-to-back Woodland East Division Championships with a win this Friday at home against St. Francis. Simply a fantastic job by the coaches and players in keeping their cool as the Rockets did the improbable.

ROCKET FANS

As a side-note, in case anyone was curious who has the best student section and crowd overall in the Woodland Conference…look no farther than the South Milwaukee bleachers. Not only are Rocket fans going out to games in droves, but the decibel level at the game was special…keep that up fans!! And don’t miss another game…you just might see something you will never forget!

CROSS COUNTRY

The Rocket Boys took 10th out of 16 teams overall  at the Len Nikolai Invitational on Saturday in Manitowoc. Josh Janusiak (11) took 7th with a time of 16:29. Justin Weber (9) took 66th with a time of 18:40 and Damon Dettman (11) took 76th with a time of 18:52.

The Rocket Girls’ runners took 6th out of 17 teams. Becca Heller (10) took 15th overall with a time of 15:53. Maddie Wood (9) took 24th with a time of 16:04, Capri Fowler (11) took 38th with a time of 16:29, and Bristine Fowler (11) took 42nd with a time of 16:40 followed closely by Samantha Meszaros in 43rd place and a time of 16:29 as well.

Great job Rockets! 

GIRLS’ TENNIS

Congratulations to the Rocket Girls’ Tennis team on going 5-1 and taking 2nd place for the 2nd year in-a-row behind perennial tennis power Shorewood in the Woodland East Division! Mackenzie Meyers (10) went 6-1 in conference matches at #2 singles, Rachel Zdero (12) went 5-2 at #3 singles, Kristen Bizub (12) & Ines Hoxha (12) went 5-2 at #1 doubles, and Chidimma Ozodi (11) and Amber Bizub (11) also went 5-2 at #3 doubles.

Woodland Conference Tournament action begins on Tuesday and concludes on Wednesday at various sites in the Greendale and Greenfield area. Good luck Rockets!!!

And a couple other notes involving South Milwaukee athletes …

  • South Milwaukee’s John Gottwald has been named one of two men’s soccer Players of the Week for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
  • And, as reported last week, South Milwaukee’s Trey McKinney Jones is in training camp for the Milwaukee Bucks. Check out this video of Trey throwing down a terrfic dunk during a game this summer.

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by | September 30, 2013 · 2:18 pm

Report: Caterpillar Confirms More South Milwaukee Job Cuts

Update: The number is 115 in South Milwaukee alone, Fox 6 is reporting.

Not good news … here is the Milwaukee Business Journal story. From it …

Caterpillar spokeswoman Rachel Potts confirmed to The Business Journal that layoff notices went out to employees in South Milwaukee and Oak Creek as recently as last week, but she declined to indicate the types of positions and number of jobs cut.

Potts said the latest local layoffs are in addition to 260 production jobs cut in South Milwaukee during the summer.

“We stated in our second quarter financial results released in July that the company would be taking actions to reduce costs in the second half of the year,” Potts told The Business Journal. “The employee notifications in both Oak Creek/South Milwaukee and Decatur are included in those actions. We are not breaking out specific location totals or details.”

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by | September 28, 2013 · 8:09 am

Miracle: Last-Second Score Sends South Milwaukee To 6-0

This game sounds like it was a real classic.

South Milwaukee remained perfect on the season, as quarterback Justin Oliden hit Joe Saskowski with a 38-yard touchdown pass as time expired to lead the Rockets to an improbable 23-20 win over Greenfield Friday night.

New Kid’s View and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have details, and you can find stats on this page. TMJ4 also has  a couple of highlights from the game, which South Milwaukee played without star running back Ian Pribyl.

The win pushed the Rockets’ record to 6-0, with South Milwaukee hosting St. Francis on Friday night.

Go Rockets!

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by | September 24, 2013 · 9:45 pm

South Milwaukee Democrat Coppola Emerges In Assembly Race

So the field is set …

Democrat Elizabeth Coppola of South Milwaukee will challenge five Republicans in the race to replace outgoing state Rep. Mark Honadel.

Check out Elizabeth’s Facebook page and her bio from the Social Development Commission (of which she is a commissioner). And here is more information from Oak Creek Patch.

Elizabeth is the only Democrat in a race that features five Republicans, so there will be a primary on Oct. 22. The candidates are …

  • Elizabeth Coppola (D)
  • Jason “Red” Arnold (R)
  • Larry Gamble (R)
  • Kenneth Gehl (R)
  • Chris Kujawa (R)
  • Jessie Rodriguez (R)

Here is the Patch story about Kujawa, a local business executive, entering the race on the Republican side.

Also, races like this are often about who chooses not to run. Oak Creek Mayor Steve Scaffidi was in, before he was out. And County Supervisor Steve Taylor was never in.

Who do you support? Vote in my new poll!

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by | September 21, 2013 · 10:16 pm

Reminder: Local Historian John Gurda Speaks (For Free) In South Milwaukee After Sunday’s Packer Game

Just a reminder … preeminent local historian John Gurda is giving his “Making of Milwaukee” presentation Sunday afternoon at Trinity Lutheran Church (my church).

Admission is free, and so is a spaghetti dinner afterwards.

The presentation starts at 4, after the Packer game.

If you haven’t seen him present, Gurda is terrific. And if you have, he’s worth seeing again. We hope to see you there!

Learn more in my previous post.

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by | September 21, 2013 · 9:05 am

5-0! South Milwaukee Tops Whitnall

And the perfect season continues …

Ian Pribyl ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns to lead South Milwaukee past Whitnall, 16-6, Friday night. The Rockets are now 5-0, their best start to a season in recent memory (ever?).

Check out highlights on WISN. And the South Milwaukee team page on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel website has even more details.

Next up: South Milwaukee travels to Greenfield — also undefeated in the Woodland Conference — Friday night. Game time is 7 p.m.

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by | September 20, 2013 · 2:56 pm

South Milwaukee Quintuplets Turn 16

WISN has the story. Very cool.

From it …

At South Milwaukee High School, you don’t have to go too far to run into an Arnold quint.

“They’re all different and unique. They each have different personalities. I think they add a lot to our building,” Kaminiski said.

The quints that captured Milwaukee’s heart 16 years ago are growing up.

Alyssa, Daniel, Natalie, Emily and Devin are high school sophomores who still like to hang out together and who can now appreciate their parents.

“I give them props for handling things the way they did,” Emily said.

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