South Milwaukee Blog

The South Milwaukee Community & Business Association has done a terrific job in organizing ribbon cuttings for all of the cool local businesses opening in town.

Saturday, it was Mara’s Sewing House and The Shop.

And more are on the calendar …

• Wednesday, Sept. 21: Taco Stop MKE, 513 N. Chicago. 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, Sept. 28: DB Tax & Financial Services, 1125 Milwaukee Ave. 4 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 8: Avenue Coffeehouse, 911 Milwaukee Ave., noon.

Please join me at these special events!

Be sure to like the SMCBA’s Facebook Events page for the latest on the grand openings and other important local business information. I’ll also include links to these on the Shop Local South Milwaukee Facebook page I run.

From the South Milwaukee city clerk’s office …

We are anticipating a large voter turnout for the November 8th Fall General Election. We are encouraging residents who are not currently registered to register early. A qualified elector must be at least 18 years of age, a U.S. citizen, and a resident of South Milwaukee for at least 10 days prior to registering to vote. You will be asked to present a Wisconsin Driver’s License or Wisconsin ID card. If the address on your ID is not correct, an additional document must be presented. (i.e. WE Energies, Bank Statement, Residential Lease). You may register to vote:

Please join me for this important event, as I join Oak Creek Mayor Steve Scaffidi and Pardeep Kaleka, whose father was killed in the 2012 Sikh Temple shootings in Oak Creek, on a panel discussion following the showing of the movie.

The response to the shootings was heroic, and the dialog they sparked continues. I’m proud to join it.

Updated with correct dates.

Welcome back to Rocketober, the best month (month and a half, really) to be a South Milwaukeean!

Year three is the biggest yet. There is literally something for everyone, starting this weekend and continuing through trick-or-treating on Halloween.

Events like these — and the countless people and organizations behind them — are more reasons to love South Milwaukee. See you around town!

Be sure to like the Rocketober Facebook page for more information on upcoming events, photos and more. And encourage your friends to like it, too. Thanks to Donna at MJ Media for the flyer design.

From the South Milwaukee Police Department …

The South Milwaukee PD would like to inform the citizens of South Milwaukee that we have taken 3 burglary reports in the past couple weeks. In all 3 burglaries the perpetrator(s) cut a window screen out on a window that was left open. Entry was made into two houses and one garage through the windows where the screen was cut out. In one of the burglaries the perpetrators were scared off by the residents that were home (in bed) at the time. With the cooler weather coming we realize that many of you like to leave windows open, with screens on, to cool your houses. The SMPD wants you to be aware of what is going on and what you can do to prevent things like this from happening to you. If you are going to leave windows open on your residence, utilize the safety locks which only allow the window to open about 4 inches. They are rectangular pieces that are located on each side of the window frame, they pop out to prevent the window from going up all the way. If you do not have windows with these safety features, I would heavily consider not leaving windows open to the screen at night or when you are not home. It appears that the perpetrator(s) are looking specifically at residences that leave windows open on the main level of the residences. It is good practice to lock your windows, door, and vehicles at night time or when you are not around. There are no leads on the perpetrators at this time.

Police tell me the three incidents in question happened in the 500 block of Willow, 2900 block of 15th Avenue, and 2700 block of Fifth Avenue.

Thanks to Guardian Credit Union for sponsoring this third outdoor movie … showtime is around 7 p.m. (dusk) at the South Milwaukee Downtown Market site.  Free popcorn.

See you there … and bring your lawn chairs and blankets.

From the South Milwaukee School District …

CROSS COUNTRY

The Boys Cross Country team is on a roll as the Rockets took 1st with 81 pts (14 ahead of 2nd place Kenosha Bradford) last Saturday at the 36th Annual Rocket Invite. They took a dominating first on 9/3 at Minooka Park as well with 33 pts (2nd place team had 107 pts)! The first week of the season was a race by grade level. At each of the 3 meets, Jordan Janusiak has taken 1st place. Chris Sobczak (12) took 3rd place in the Rocket Invite (only 4 seconds behind Jordan) and Chris also took 5th at Minooka Park.  Aidan Sodemann (10) took 21st at the Rocket Invite and 7th at Minooka Park. At Minooka Park, Andrew Strasser (11) and Max Moran (11) took 9th and 11th respectively which meant the Rocket Boys placed 5 runners in the top 11 in the race!

Maddie Wood (12) paced the girls with a 12th place finish at Minooka Park and 9th place at the Rocket Invite. Maddie Smith (12) took 28th at Minooka Park and 34th at the Rocket Invite while Miranda Ekleberry (10) took 26th at Minooka Park and 40th at the Rocket Invite.

Here is a link to the Journal Sentinel Boys CC Preview highlighting the Rockets and Jordan.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/high-schools/2016/08/24/boys-cross-country-preview/89228946/

ROCKET FUEL: We won’t make any grand predictions here, but South Milwaukee could be a team to watch the next couple of seasons. The Rockets finished 13th at state in Division 1 last season with a team that had just one senior, four sophomores and one junior. How good might this group become?

RUNNERS TO WATCH: Jordan Janusiak, jr., South Milwaukee: Janusiak took third at the Woodland meet, making him the league’s top returner. He ran a season-best 16:01.02 at Cudahy’s Purgold Invite and took 16th at the Division 1 state meet in 16:30.57.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Last night, the Rockets won the championship of the Riverside Varsity Girls Volleyball Invitational for the 3rd year in a row! Congratulations!!!

The Rockets are at home tonight in the Sullivan Gymnasium against Brown Deer with the JV & Freshmen starting at 5:00pmand the Varsity starting at 6:30pm. The Rockets have lost each of the last 2 matches in tough fashion where they fell behind 2 games to 0 but showed grit and determination fighting back each time to force a 5th game. 

MARCHING BAND

The South Milwaukee High School Rocket Marching Band took 2nd Place on Sunday, September 11, 2016, at the Grayslake Marching Tournament in Grayslake, Illinois. This was their first competition of the season premiering their full field show titled, “From the Earth to the Moon”, a journey through the history of flight from Kitty Hawk to the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon. In addition, Drum Major Annie Bustos (11), won the best overall Drum Major Award for all band categories. Outstanding!

GIRLS SWIM & DIVE

The Rockets had an impressive showing last Saturday at the 10th Annual Rocket Relays as the girls tied for 4th out of 12 teams. 

• The 4×100 Individual medley team of Alexis Holliday (12), Eryka Uehling (12), Julia Mahsem (9) & Zoe Bellis (12) won the event with a time of 4:37.66
• The 850 yard free relay team of Conner Morgan (11), Eryka Uehling (12), Mackenzie Thayer (11) & Alexis Holliday (12) took 2nd with a 9:23.34.
• The 200 yard Medley Relay team of Mackenzie Thayer (11), Zoe Bellis (12), Julia Mahsem (9) & Alexis Holliday (12) took 2nd by less than half a second with a time of 2:04.56.

Last week the Rockets won both the JV & Varsity in a dual meet with Cudahy as well.

ROCKET FOOTBALL

While the Rockets have struggled to pick up their first win of the season, they’ve made it exciting with do-everything QB Jake Simuncak (12) leading the way. The Rockets had a great comeback from being down in the 4th quarter 34-20 last Friday at Shorewood/Messmer when Jake scored on a 1 yard TD and a 4 yard TD and then threw a pass to Tristan Schaefer (11) for a 2 pt conversion to effectively send the game to OT where the Rockets fell 41-34. Jake had 134 yards rushing and 227 yards passing on the game and Mua Vang (11) also had 108 yards rushing and 89 yards receiving while Lawerance Turner (12) had 8 catches for 122 yards as well for the Rockets.

The Rockets travel to Brown Deer on Friday at 7:00pm for their next game and host Cudahy on 9/23 for Homecoming.

GENEROUS CROWD

During the last Rocket Football home game against Greenfield, the crowd in attendance raised $802.67 during a Miracle Minute for the non-profit organization Seniors Rock (www.seniorsrockss.com) which was SMHS student and cheerleader Daisy Sweda’s favorite charity (a sophomore to-be who tragically passed away this summer). Special thanks to SM Cheer and SM Poms for helping do the Miracle Minute.

GIRLS TENNIS

The Rockets defeated Greenfield 5-2 and lost to Whitnall 3-4 to start the Woodland Conference season and have had bad luck in getting tournament action in due to the rain. The Rockets are back in action tonight at home as they host Shorewood at4:00pm.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

The Rockets have played some very tight matches thus far and their next home match is on Wednesday against Shorewood. JV plays at 5:00pm and Varsity at 6:30pm.

BOYS SOCCER

The Rockets tied a very solid Whitnall team last night 0-0 and have their next home match on Monday, 9/19 against Wauwatosa West (JV at 4:30pm and Varsity at 6:30pm).

Thanks to Jodi O’Neill for the photos!

From the Milwaukee County Parks …

The Milwaukee County Parks Department is launching Parks with Purpose, a campaign that recognizes a period of intense planning to position the Milwaukee County park system for continued, expanded success in 2017 and beyond. Your input will be vital as we develop these two interrelated major plans in partnership with the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission and Pros Consulting:

• 10-year Parks System Master Plan
  This plan will provide recommendations for facilities, programs and services, maintenance and operation, and administration and management of the Milwaukee County park system.
  Learn more
• 2050 Park & Open Space Plan
  This plan will address long-range considerations including the preservation of environmental corridors, conservation lands, and the recreational use of water bodies, and will make recommendations on the distribution of parks and recreational facilities throughout the County.
  Learn more

Public Workshops – Join us!

All workshops begin at 6:30 p.m. with a presentation, followed by interactive workshops from 7-8 p.m.

• Sept. 13, Kosciuszko Park Community Center, 2201 S. 7th St.
• Sept. 14, Lake Park Marcia Coles Community Room, 3133 E. Newberry Blvd. (lower level)
• Sept. 15, Wilson Park Pavilion, 1601 W. Howard Ave.
• Sept. 20, Brown Deer Park Golf Clubhouse, 7625 N. Range Line Road
• Sept. 21, Gordon Park Pavilion, 2828 N. Humboldt Blvd.
• Sept. 22, Dineen Park Pavilion, 6601 W. Vienna St.
• Sept. 27, Sheridan Park Pavilion, 4800 S. Lake Drive
• Oct. 4, McCarty Park Pavilion,2567 S. 79 St.
• Oct. 5, Center Street Park Community Room, 6420 W. Clarke St. 

We’ll publish the full Rocketober schedule of events later this week.

In the meantime, I wanted to call your attention to a couple events fast approaching, as we look to start our annual (and growing) celebration of fall in South Milwaukee a bit earlier this year …

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

• 5-9 p.m. Grant Park Sunset Beach Walk. The Friends of the Mill Pond and Ferch’s Beachside Grille present live entertainment, beer, wine, food, frozen custard, bonfire, s’mores, stargazing, and Chinese lanterns, all at beautiful Grant Park Beach. http://www.ferchs.com and smfomp.org
• 7 p.m. Outdoor movie: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Guardian Credit Union hosts its final Movie on the Grass for 2016 at the site of the South Milwaukee Downtown Market. Free admission and popcorn. Bring your lawn chairs! http://www.guardiancu.org

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22

• 6 p.m. South Milwaukee Homecoming Parade. Route: Maple Avenue, east to 15th Avenue, north to the school. www.southmilwaukeefootball.org
• 6:45 p.m. Community pep rally and Homecoming bonfire. Cheer on the team at the high school baseball stadium.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

• 7 p.m. Cudahy vs. South Milwaukee Homecoming football game.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

• 7:30 p.m. SMPAC presents SIMPLY SWING! This event features Milwaukee’s Sinatra-style crooner Chris Mariani and his new spin on classics like Fly Me to the Moon combined with The Radio Rosies, a USO-style vocal trio, and the bold sound of Swing Explosion, an 18-piece big band. Lobby social at 6:30. southmilwaukeepac.org

This weekend, I had the honor of being a small part of two events that celebrated our first responders 15 years after too many of them were taken from us far too soon.

On Saturday, I joined elected officials from around the region at Fire Ops 101 training, presented by  the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin. Firefighters from South Milwaukee’s IAFF Local 1633 and from around the state took us through what a day in their life looks like, and I left with an even bigger appreciation for what these everyday heroes do, literally putting their lives on the line for ours.

It was a point further driven home by the moving 9-11 ceremony Saturday morning, as the name of each fallen New York firefighter and police officer was read aloud in tribute.

On Sunday, I attended a ceremony honoring first responders at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Cudahy, joining representatives from other South Shore communities in thanking these men and women for their work and paying tribute to those who died 15 years ago.

It’s an honor to lead a city with these first-class first responders standing at the ready — ready to rush into danger as everyone else rushes out. That’s what happened on September 11, 2001. And we honor their sacrifice today, and every day.

Check out these South Shore headlines …

• ME Identifies 13 Who Died as a Result of Probable Overdoses Labor Day Weekend (Fox 6)
• Cudahy High School Students Sent Home After Air Conditioning Breaks (WISN)
• Cudahy Officials Extinguish Suspicious Garbage Can Fire off Nicholson Avenue (Fox 6)
• Eder Flag Becomes Employee Owned (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• The Chocolate Factory Opens Eighth Location (Urban Milwaukee)

And check out coverage of the Madison Avenue mixed-use development project from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Business Journal, OnMilwaukee.com, and Fox 6 — among the outlets that covered this.

I hope you can attend and learn some facts/myths about sex assault, the sex offender registry and details about the city sex offender ordinance.  (This is not a sex offender notification meeting.)

When it comes to downtown revitalization, we’ve laid a strong foundation.

From passing the downtown plan to unveiling a new downtown revitalization grant program to starting work on our downtown “ownership” agenda to planning for streetscaping upgrades 2017, we’re putting the right pieces in place to ensure long-term, sustainable growth in our city center.

Momentum is growing.

Today, we accelerate that momentum.

This morning, we are partnering with award-winning local architectural and development firm Vetter Denk to announce plans for one of the biggest new construction projects in downtown South Milwaukee in decades.

The estimated $6.6 million development, as proposed, calls for the following on 0.74 acres at 11th and Madison Avenues:

• An approximately 5,000-square foot microbrewery with adjacent beer garden;
• 24 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments;
• A 8,000-square-foot green space that will serve as a public square and gathering place for the apartment dwellers, nearby business patrons and community members; and
• Approximately 5,000 square feet of retail or restaurant space.

You can see the press release here. As I say in it …

This project would be a game-changer for downtown South Milwaukee. It will serve as a catalyst in our ongoing downtown redevelopment efforts. It’s especially exciting to have a first-class firm like Vetter Denk behind this. From the Beerline riverfront condominiums in Milwaukee to their work in redeveloping Green Bay’s waterfront, Vetter Denk’s track record is second to none. They will raise the bar for development, redevelopment, and design across our city.

The best part? As terrific as this development may be, this is just the beginning.

We are just getting started on our journey to revitalize South Milwaukee’s city center, and this news is a big step.