by | October 2, 2013 · 6:54 am

Sentencing In South Milwaukee Shooting, Illegal Duck Races (?) And Other Headlines

A woman was sentenced to 12 years in prison following a shooting in South Milwaukee last year, Fox 6 is reporting.

See the story here. And check out these South Shore headlines …

Also, NOW has published a new police blotter, including this …

A house was broken into and burglarized in the 1600 block of Blake Avenue between 1:45 and 2:30 p.m. Sept. 21, after an unknown number of subjects forced open the front door. The stolen items include two $400 rings, two $500 rings, $50 in silver dollars and $580 in cash.

And this …

A $22,639 car was reported stolen from outside of a residence in the 600 block of Columbia Avenue at 5:45 a.m. Sept. 23. Using OnStar, the car was located and recovered by Milwaukee Police and returned to owner.

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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 29, 2013 · 10:37 pm

More White Collar Job Cuts At Caterpillar? And Other Headlines

Check out these South Shore headlines …

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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 27, 2013 · 3:07 pm

Bucks Bring South Milwaukee’s McKinney Jones To Camp

From South Milwaukee to the Milwaukee Bucks …

Trey McKinney Jones, a South Milwaukee High School graduate who played collegiate basketball at Missouri-Kansas City and Miami, has been invited the Bucks’ training camp.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the story.

Go Trey!

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by | September 26, 2013 · 3:26 pm

Grobschmidt Pool On Budget Chopping Block — Park Patrols, Too

Update: Or is Grobschmidt Pool not on the chopping block? The updated Journal Sentinel story says it might not be. I’ll try and get to the bottom of this. From that story … “Abele said the indoor pools were aging, expensive to maintain and not heavily patronized. Interim Parks Director John Dargle said earlier the budget would include closing outdoor pools at Grobschmidt and Jackson parks. But those closings were not listed in Abele’s budget.”

It’s official — South Milwaukee’s Grobschmidt Pool is on the budget chopping block. Can it be saved?

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has more details on County Executive Chris Abele’s proposed budget. From the story …

County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic said the tax levy freeze needed to be evaluated in light of the county’s huge service needs, as well as substantial deferred maintenance on county buildings.

“There needs to be a balance” between the goals of providing necessary services and freezing taxes, she said. The board added $4 million to the tax levy over what Abele proposed for this year’s budget.

She called Abele’s plan to close both of the county’s indoor pools and replace them with a skate board park and splash pad “basically offensive.” Abele wants to shut down pools at Noyes and Pulaski parks, as well as outdoor pools at Grobschmidt and Jackson parks.

Abele said the indoor pools were aging, expensive to maintain and not heavily patronized. Dimitrijevic said the more than 50,000 residents using the indoor pools indicated they are well used and said she’d gotten numerous phone calls and emails of concern since Abele’s pool plan was first discussed last week.

Just as concerning for South Milwaukee and our police department — the proposal to put park patrols in the hands of local departments. In a city where more than 20 percent of our land is parks, that’s a big deal, especially when I have my doubts there will be proper funding for this mandate.

Abele also released more details of his public safety budget, including a $1.2 million program to have local police departments patrol county parks. The City of Milwaukee would get the lion’s share — about $1 million for patrolling the lakefront and other parks in the city. Off-duty cops would handle the patrols and get paid overtime, if the city agrees to the plan.

The same idea was rejected last year by the County Board and opposed by Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr., who requested 100 new deputies for 2014.

I’ll keep you posted.

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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 23, 2013 · 9:45 pm

Headlines!

Check out these South Shore headlines …

Also, NOW has published a new police blotter.

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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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by | September 20, 2013 · 11:36 am

More Pub For The South Milwaukee Football Team, Cat News, Scam Update & Other Headlines

At 4-0, the South Milwaukee football team deserves some recognition. And they’re getting it.

Check out stories this week from TMJ4, NOW and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which named South Milwaukee one of its Teams of the Week. (And don’t forget Friday’s game at Whitnall. Kickoff is 7 p.m.)

And check out these South Shore headlines …

And the South Milwaukee Police Department has this update on a scam going around …

A follow-up to a previous e-mail about a church fund raising scam.  The SMPD has taken two complaints about this person soliciting funds since I sent the original alert.  The suspect uses the name Eugene Hankins and claims to be soliciting for the United Restoration Church.  Hankins is described as a black male, about 50’s, about 5’7″ with salt and pepper hair.  Hankins is not affiliated with the United Restoration Church and does not have permission to be soliciting on their behalf.  Please contact the SMPD if you have contact with Hankins.  Please pass this along to anyone you think may benefit from it.  

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by | September 19, 2013 · 10:30 pm

School Report Cards Issued: How Did South Milwaukee Do?

The answer? Pretty well.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction came out with its school report cards on Tuesday, and every South Milwaukee school fell in the “meets or exceeds expectations” category.

Here is where each one ranked …

And the overall district received a “meets expectations” grade of 68.4.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has some context in this story.

And these report cards demand context. While I respect the effort in grading schools — and support having objective standards in doing so — there are so many factors driving educational excellence that a true apples to apples comparison is nearly impossible.

I prefer the eye test when it comes to rating schools, and South Milwaukee’s schools pass that with high marks. I am the proud parent of two Rawson Elementary students, and I continue to be impressed with that school and the district as a whole. I see every day the strides my children are making as young learners, the excitement they bring home every day about what they’ve learned. It’s infectious.

And that’s something you can’t measure on DPI report cards.

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by | September 19, 2013 · 10:13 pm

Honadel Speaks On His Time In Office

“No regrets.”

That’s the message from state outgoing Rep. Mark Honadel in an extensive interview with Oak Creek Patch.

See it here. From it:

In a wide-ranging interview with Oak Creek Patch last week, Honadel said “he was going out on top,” proud of his career, accomplishments and approach to politics. 

He’s long prided himself on working with people of all political beliefs, while at the same time staying true to his. That philosophy guided his years as a legislator, he said. 

“If the cause was worthy, I’m not going to get all shook up about what’s what. Either you’re with me or you’re not. No sweat off my rear end,” he said. 

His accomplishments include changing the payout formula for communities hosting power plants. The formula used to be based on the value of the facility, which depreciates over time, and now is based on how much power the plant generates. …

Honadel also successfully pushed for a deregulation of the telecommunications industry and the Drexel Interchange, which opened late last year. In fact, the apples shown on the Drexel Avenue overpass are a tribute to the apple orchards, including the Honadel’s, that once graced the area. 

One of his most controversial causes was the mining legislation that passed last year. Honadel was a chief sponsor and advocate of the bill. 

Several groups and lobbyists approached Honadel, with his industrial background, about sponsoring a bill that would loosen regulations and overhaul the state’s mining laws. 

Supporters said the bill would help create a mine in northern Wisconsin, and Honadel also believed it would help southeastern Wisconsin companies like Caterpillar. 

“I said, ‘Yes, I want to be your guy. I’ll take this on,'” Honadel said. 

Then there were the Capitol protests of 2011, when thousands descended on Madison rallying against widespread changes to collective bargaining for public employees. 

Honadel views that as an ugly period for the Legislature, with protestors taking over the Capitol and Democratic state senators making a high-profile trip to Illinois. 

“I think the Legislature lost some dignity,” Honadel said. “I hope respect and dignity comes back, and I think it has.” 

What do you think of Honadel’s record? Post your comments below!

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