by | November 9, 2013 · 11:35 pm

More Headlines

Check out these South Shore headlines …

Also, as Caterpillar sheds jobs locally, the company continues to close mining facilities and cut jobs elsewhere. Among the news in the past week is the closure of a facility in West Virginia, as well as job cuts in Tanzania.

And NOW has published a new police blotter, including this disturbing item …

Police were called Oct. 24 to an apartment in the 800 block of Marquette Avenue, where a snake was found dead by a South Milwaukee Health Department employee, and pet rats had no food or water. Pet lizards, snakes and rats were taken by Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control, after a MADAC employee at the scene said he believed the animals would be neglected, since there was no heat or electricity in the apartment.

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by | November 7, 2013 · 9:49 pm

Proposed 2014 Budget Includes Levy Decrease

The proposed South Milwaukee budget has been published, and it once again keeps property tax increases responsibly low while maintaining the city services we expect. In fact, it calls for a property tax levy decrease.

The details:

  • The proposed budget calls for a 1.16% increase in expenditures from the 2013 budget, to more than $18.6 million. With this small increase, we will again receive an “expenditure restraint” payment from the state in 2014, budgeted at more than $371,000.
  • Revenues are anticipated to increase 1.85% to more than $8.7 million.
  • The property tax levy is expected to decrease 0.14%, to $10.5 million. This is, of course, below the state-imposed levy limit increase, which is set at 0.642% for 2014 due to the limited amount of new local construction growth from 2012 to 2013. This limit excludes debt service payments – and because the city’s debt payment decreased for debt issued after 2005, the city’s 2014 levy will be less than the 2013 levy. There is also no “buy down” of the levy planned for next year, which we have used in the past.
  • We expect state aids to remain constant in 2014 from 2013 – good news, but you’ll recall that many state aids were cut in previous state budgets … and never restored. One example: funding for recycling programs.
  • The executive budget keeps staffing the same and includes a 1.66% salary increase for civil service (AFSCME) and a 3.0% salary increase for non-represented employees. The AFSCME increase is the maximum increase allowed by law for unionized general employees with labor contracts that expire December 31, per guidance from the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission. You will note the police union contract includes a 3% increase effective January 1, and the fire union contract includes a 2% increase effective January 1 and 1% increase effective July 1.
  • Health insurance premiums are expected to decrease slightly. Wisconsin Retirement System rates will increase.
  • And the proposed has some good news for local grade school students. Eight thousand dollars were added to the police department overtime budget to allow for the bicycle safety program to be offered to the fifth-grade classes that missed the program two years ago, when the program was suspended for a year due to manpower shortages. This program is generally done in the spring for third graders. 

So, what will this all mean for your tax bill? We won’t know that until tax rates are determined in coming weeks. I’ll keep you posted. And don’t forget that the city makes up just one portion of your tax bill. The biggest portion funds schools.

You also have a chance to weigh in on the city budget. A public hearing is set for Nov. 25, with the city council meeting the next night consider passage. I hope you can join us for those meetings … and post your comments below.

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by | November 7, 2013 · 8:59 am

Taste Of South Milwaukee Set For Monday

South Milwaukee has a terrific collection of local restaurants. Taste for yourself at the second-annual Taste of South Milwaukee on Monday evening, Nov. 11.

The event, hosted by the South Milwaukee Lions Club, will be held from 4:30 to 8 p.m. at Salvatore’s, 1912 12th Ave. in downtown South Milwaukee. The bar opens at 3 p.m.

Among the participating restaurants:

  • Aggie’s Cakes and Pastries
  • Barbiere’s
  • Cousin’s Subs of South Milwaukee
  • Dairy Queen
  • Derango’s Pizzeria
  • Emerald City Catering
  • Greg’s Soup-er Desserts
  • Muskie’s Gourmet House
  • Nona’s Café
  • Paisano’s
  • Pat’s Oak Manor
  • Salvatore’s
  • Slick Willie’s
  • Trattoria di Carlo

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Children 10 and under are $5. All tickets include unlimited samplings. Advanced tickets can be purchased at participating restaurants and from local South Milwaukee Lions members.

Proceeds go to fund the long list of Lions charitable activities. The South Milwaukee Lions lived their “we serve” motto by donating more than $15,000 and thousands of volunteer hours to area organizations and activities in 2013.

Taste also features live music from Abby J & DOTS and Just Rich.

See you there!

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by | November 6, 2013 · 9:21 pm

City Council Roundup: Rain Barrels, Recognizing A Retirement And More

A few items from Tuesday’s South Milwaukee City Council meeting …

  • The council gave final passage, by a 4-3 vote, to an ordinance allowing rain barrels in South Milwaukee — with restrictions, too many restrictions, actually. I voted no on this previously, and my vote didn’t change Tuesday. Nor did my rationale. In our effort to rewrite an outdated part of our city code and make rain barrels legal, we are essentially outlawing rain barrels for many people. If that sounds odd, it should. But that’s what we’re getting with the rules we have now enacted. For example, according to the new ordinance, homeowners can have no more than two on their property. And no rain barrel can be within 12 feet of a neighbor’s structure. And they can’t be located in front yards. And they need double screens. And they can only be elevated using concrete, brick or paver platforms. Those are just a few of the 13 detailed requirements we have now placed on rain barrels. I am for more sensible restrictions, something that encourages their use while still giving the city power to crack down on problem property owners. Restrictions like this and this. Instead, we’re going the other way — giving South Milwaukee what has to be one of the most restrictive rain barrel ordinances in the state. 
  • The council accepted the retirement letter of police officer Charles “Mick” Olson, who is leaving the department after more than 31 years. I wish Officer Olson, well known in the community, well.
  • We also voted to fill his position, which will come open in March, as well as two vacant firefighter positions.
  • The council also approved more than $297,0o0 in revolving fund requests for 2013, including funds for two new police cars.
  • As a reminder, the next council meeting is Nov. 26, when final budget passage is expected. The budget public hearing is Nov. 25. I’ll have more details on the budget in a post later this week. There is no meeting on Nov. 19 or Dec. 3.

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by | November 5, 2013 · 10:45 pm

Sex Sting Brings Deputies To Grant Park

Update: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has more on the arrest of Lee Erickson, as does TMJ4 and WISN.

Fox 6 has the disturbing details, which reportedly include the arrest of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra chorus director, a South Milwaukee resident.

From the story:

In a statement, Sheriff’s officials say the Sheriff’s Office has received numerous complaints of sexual activity and solicitation taking place in County parks.

In response to these complaints, Sheriff Clarke initiated an undercover operation with a goal of curbing and deterring illegal sexual activity in the parks, and seven arrests have been made in the past two weeks.

Four more arrests were made Tuesday, November 5th.

Those arrested range in age from 43 to 75.

58-year-old Erickson of South Milwaukee was arrested on Monday by an undercover Sheriff’s deputy.

According to Sheriff’s officials, Erickson followed the deputy into a bathroom at Grant Park along Milwaukee’s Lakefront, exposed himself, and began masturbating in front of the officer.

Sheriff’s officials say Erickson stated numerous times that he just wanted to be able to pay the fine and not have this go public or this would ruin his career.

I’ll keep you posted.

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by | November 3, 2013 · 9:50 pm

Headlines!

Check out these South Shore headlines, including a disturbing case out of Racine involving a South Milwaukee woman …

And there is this follow-up story from the Business Journal on the news last week that Cat is moving a small amount of work from Texas to South Milwaukee. It includes this line …

“We’re going to evaluate the manpower needs of that production shift,” Potts told The Business Journal. “The company has taken many actions to align our costs with the environment we’re in currently…While we’ve done much already, we’re not finished and expect to take deeper actions to improve our cost structure and balance sheet.”

In other words, more to come. And that’s scary news for South Milwaukee.

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by | November 3, 2013 · 9:42 pm

Jursik Publishes News Update … Including An Oak Creek Watershed Update

Milwaukee County Supervisor Pat Jursik has published her latest E-Update, including this update on the Oak Creek watershed …

On October 17, the City of South Milwaukee hosted the group from Watershed Initiative Network (WIN); I thank Mayor Zepecki for hosting this meeting at city hall. While WIN largely discussed the Root River Watershed which does partially include areas within South Milwaukee, this discussion revealed what can take place regarding study and clean-up of a watershed area. Many active citizens also attended including the great volunteers from Friends of Grant Park and Friends of Mill Pond including former Alderman Mary Nelson, a tireless advocate for dredging the pond. This discussion highlighted the need for all neighbors living in a watershed to take responsibility for keeping our streams and lakes clean. Simple activities such as keeping yard waste from draining into storm waters or ensuring that oil or gasoline leaks from older cars do not foul our roadways which then get washed into the storm sewers and empty into the creek are examples. Before dredging of the Mill Pond can be done, we first need to address silt and toxicant washouts upstream. The county capital budget for 2015 does plan for a stream bank initiative for the Oak Creek. To realize the dream of the many citizens that signed the Petition for the Mill Pond restoration, all of the issues surrounding this watershed must be addressed.

I also attended this meeting and was happy to hear of plans for the WIN group to do a more detailed study on the Oak Creek watershed in coming years. I strongly support this effort — and look forward to better days for this watershed, including and especially the Mill Pond.  I hope the city will help lead the way.

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by | November 2, 2013 · 10:05 pm

Public Welcome: Local Children’s Book Author Halfmann Speaking At My Church

It’s another Sunday afternoon without a Packers game … why not fill the time with some family fun?

Award-winning children’s book author Janet Halfmann is coming to South Milwaukee’s Trinity Lutheran Church as part of my church’s Community Lecture Series.

The free, family-friendly event, which is open to the public, is set for Sunday, Nov. 3, starting at 4 p.m. It includes a children’s story time, where Halfmann will read from several of her books, and a deeper discussion on her background and tips for aspiring authors.

Child care and activities will be available.

A free spaghetti dinner follows the presentation, and Halfmann will sell and sign her books.

Halfmann, who lives in South Milwaukee, has authored more than a dozen children’s books, including critically acclaimed titles like “Little Skink’s Tale,” “Fur and Feathers,” “Star of the Sea: A Day in the Life of a Starfish” and “Eggs 1, 2, 3: Who Will the Babies Be?”

Trinity Lutheran Church is located at 2507 5th Ave. in South Milwaukee. Learn more at www.tlcsm.org.

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by | November 1, 2013 · 9:45 pm

South Milwaukee Football: Season Ends With Playoff Loss At Waterford

Update: Here is a game story on the heartbreaking loss, which saw Waterford score two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

It was another strong season for the South Milwaukee football team … but it had to come to an end sometime.

It did Friday night, with a 14-7 loss to Waterford in the second round of the WIAA playoffs.

Here is the WIAA bracket, and I’ll update with more information as I get it.

Congratulations to the Rockets, who finished the year 8-3 and with a Woodland Conference East championship.

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by | November 1, 2013 · 2:56 pm

Listen To Tonight’s South Milwaukee Playoff Football Game

Not planning to attend the matchup between South Milwaukee and Waterford, at Waterford? Tune in.

Here are details from the school district …

While we certainly hope that many of you can make it to the football game tonight at 7:00pm at Waterford HS, obviously not everyone can. If you can’t make it, you can listen to the game live on the radio, catch it streaming on the internet, or listen on your smartphone using a free app called TuneIn Radio.

AM1400 WRJN out of Racine will broadcast the game live on the radio and hopefully you will hear some cool information about current and former Rockets players and coaches if you listen to the game.

Here is the link to where I found a live feed of their broadcast. Once you are on the site, click on the button in the top middle where it says LISTEN LIVE. 

http://www.wrjn.com/Local-Sports/6786479

If you can’t get to a computer but you have a smartphone, you can download a FREE app called TuneIn Radio. Once you have that app you can get AM 1400 WRJN on the app and listen to the game by signing up quickly using an email address.

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by | October 31, 2013 · 9:29 pm

More Headlines

Check out these South Shore headlines …

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by | October 31, 2013 · 7:27 am

Happy Halloween! South Milwaukee’s Trick-Or-Treating Is Tonight

It’s the second straight year the city has its official trick-or-treating set for Halloween night.

Hours are 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. If you plan on handing out candy, please leave your porch light on.

Now, let’s hope the weather holds … and please stay safe.

Let me know what you’re seeing out there, too. Post your comments below.

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by | October 31, 2013 · 7:27 am

South Milwaukee Sports Update

A few items from the South Milwaukee School District …

FOOTBALL

Congratulations to the Rocket Football team on their Level One Playoff victory over Messmer/Shorewood on Friday night 21-13. Ian Pribyl (11) had 26 carries for 124 yds & 2 TD’s and Justin Oliden (11) was 13-19 for 135 yds and 1 TD pass to Zach Osell (12). AJ Plewa (12) had 7 catches for 74 yds as well. 

Joey Nelson (10) led the team with 12 tackles, Bryan Honerlaw (12) had 7 tackles including 4 for a loss and Ben Zbikowski (12) had his 6th interception of the season and 9 tackles as well.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

The Rockets will travel to Franklin HS on Friday night with an early start time of 5:00pm to take on the Sabers in WIAA Regional action. Tickets will be $4. Good luck Rockets!!!

ROCKET MARCHING BAND

The Rocket Marching Band competed at the WSMA State Marching Band Championships at UW Whitewater last Saturday and took 7th in State with a record high score in competition! Congratulations Rockets!

CROSS COUNTRY

At the WIAA Sectionals held last Saturday at Mitchell Park in Brookfield, the Rockets qualified 3 runners for the State Meet in Wisconsin Rapids. This is the 16th year in a row that the Rockets have sent at least 1 runner to state!

GOOD LUCK AT STATE ON SATURDAY!!!

  • Josh Janusiak (11) took 2nd overall with a 16:26 and qualified for State for the 3rd time!
  • Justin Weber (10) finished with a personal best of 17:50
  • Chris Sobczak (9) finished in 18:18
  • Damon Dettmann (11) finished in 18:23
  • Steven Merkel (12) finished in 18:24
  • Sam Zakovich (11) finished in 18:55 
  • Joey Bennett (12) finished in 19:03

In the girls’ race, Becca Heller took 5th overall with a time of 15:35 to qualify for State!

  • Capri Fowler (12) ran a great race as well and took 13th overall with a time of 16:09. 
  • Maddie Wood finished of her stellar freshman season with a time of 16:21
  • Bristine Fowler (12) finished in 17:09
  • Samantha Meszaros (11) finished in 17:23
  • Rebecca Schoenike (11) finished in 17:34
  • Alexandra Tereshchencko finished in 17:55

Two Saturdays ago, the Rockets competed in the Woodland Conference Championships. Congratulations to the Rocket CC team as they closed out the regular season at Sheridan Park.

  • Josh Janusiak (11) took 4th (missing 3rd by 1/100th of a second) at 16:20
  • Justin Weber (10) took 38th with a time of 18:06
  • Chris Sobczak (9) finished in 18:11
  • Steven Merkel (12) finished in 18:16
  • Damon Dettmann (11) finished in 18:40
  • Joey Bennett (12) finished in 18:55
  • Sam Zakovich (11) finished in 18:59
  • Gage Keene (12) finished in 19:02
  • Becca Heller (10) took 5th overall with a time of 15:37
  • Capri Fowler (12) finished in 16:25
  • Maddie Wood (9) finished in 16:44
  • Bristine Fowler (12) finished in 16:49
  • Sam Meszaros (11) finished in 17:14
  • Rebecca Schoenike (11) finished in 17:52
  • Alexandra Tereshchencko finished in 17:56

And here are some more details on Friday’s football game …

The 8-2 Rockets travel to take on the 8-2 Waterford Wolverines on Friday night for Level Two of the Playoffs. Kickoff is at 7:00pm. All tickets are $4. Kids under 6 are free. 

Location: Waterford Union High School, 100 Field Dr. – Football field is west of the school

Directions

Take highway 36 south to Main Street (& turn right onto Main). Take Main Street through town to the stop lights at Jefferson Street. Turn left (south) on Jefferson, go one block to Washington St. Turn right (west) on Washington St. and then take the 3rd right onto Field Dr. (north) and follow it around to Barnes Drive, which runs along the field. 

 Fan Parking

Fans can park along the streets in the area of the field, in the main parking lot on the west of the school (enter from Barnes), in the soccer parking lot west of the football field or in the baseball field parking lot on Main Street (If you want to go to this lot, don’t turn on Jefferson, just keep going west on Main Street).

Fan Seating

South Milwaukee fans will occupy the west bleachers. Entrances are on South end of the bleachers. There is an overflow area in the north end zone that can be used by fans from either school.

 

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by | October 29, 2013 · 10:30 pm

Catching Up: Cat Bringing Work To South Milwaukee And Other News

Back to blogging, and here’s what I apparently missed …

  • Various news outlets are reporting that Caterpillar is closing a plant in Texas — and moving some of that work to South Milwaukee. So a win, but still a loss.
  • Of course, the third-seeded South Milwaukee football team topped Messmer-Shorewood in its opening-round WIAA playoff game. Here is coverage from NOW. Next up: second-seeded Waterford at 7 p.m. Friday in Waterford. It’s the first trip to the second round of playoffs for the Rockets since 2010.
  • Unfortunately, the Milwaukee Bucks released South Milwaukee’s Trey McKinney Jones over the weekend. I’ll keep you posted when I hear where, and if, he’ll be playing professionally (I assume he will).
  • And South Milwaukee firefighters responded to Tuesday’s fire at We Energies. Thankfully, it wasn’t a major blaze.

Also, NOW has published a new police blotter.

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by | October 25, 2013 · 11:12 am

Open Thread … So, What Do You Think About Chickens?

Update: By the way, South Milwaukee beat Shorewood-Messmer in WIAA playoff action Friday night, 21-13. More on that when I return. Go Rockets!

Barring a significant breaking news story, I’ll be taking a few days off from blogging.

But I leave you with a question: Should the city, with restrictions, allow residents to keep chickens? If not, why not? If so, what restrictions should we consider, if any?

Discuss. And vote in my new poll.

Thanks again for your continued support of this blog.

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