The South Milwaukee Health Department is holding another focus group aimed at “looking at ways we can support the parents and future parents in our South Milwaukee community.”
It’s from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 5, at the South Milwaukee Library. Learn more in this flyer.
A South Milwaukee man was injured in a crash in the College Avenue tunnel near the airport, according to Oak Creek Patch.
Check out the story here, and check out these other South Shore headlines:
Filed under Headlines
The blog was born three years ago today.
I published my first post on 4th District Blog (the site was renamed later) on improvements to 15th Avenue. More than 1,200 have been published since then, attracting more than 1,700 comments. And I’m just getting started.
Of course, none of this would be possible — or worth it — without readers, and I sincerely thank you for logging on. I hope you find what you read here valuable, and always welcome feedback on how to make the blog better.
In the end, this is your blog — a community resource that would not be what it is today without community support.
So far, the blog has logged more than 142,000 page views, and readership continues to grow. The blog’s biggest month was last month, with more than 12,500 page views alone, including 1,276 on Sept. 19 (the blog’s busiest day).
I hope that figure only increases … and I’m already looking forward to celebrating the blog’s fourth birthday. I’ll bring the cake.
Filed under Uncategorized
An earlier version of this post (and a WTMJ story) misidentified the victim. My apologies. Here is Mr. Budge’s obituary.
The 54-year-old South Milwaukee man who died Monday after being struck by a car on Loomis Road in Greenfield has been identified as David Budge.
Here is the WTMJ story. From it:
Former Greenfield Alderman Richard Eaton was saddened when he heard a man died while walking along that busy stretch of Loomis Road Monday afternoon.
“Safety is supposed to be the number one issue,” says former Alderman Eaton. “Sidewalks are a safety issue.”
David Bulge (sic) was walking on the road, facing traffic, when a Cadillac Escalade drifted close to the curb and hit Bulge.
“When I saw someone was killed on a main road like this, you just get sick to your stomach,” says Eaton. “You wonder what is holding people up.”
Eaton argued ten years ago that sidewalks should be put in along all busy roads in Greenfield. He was recalled and lost his seat, and claims neighbors didn’t want to pay for, or shovel the sidewalks.
“I wish that ten years ago when I said someone is going to get run over and killed, that I was wrong,” says Eaton.
Filed under Police
Pink delivered some green at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, as students from South Milwaukee schools presented checks totaling more than $11,000 to representatives from the Susan G. Komen Foundation during a brief ceremony.
Here is the tally:
Congratulations to everyone on their fundraising efforts, from the DECA students at the high school to Police Chief Ann Wellens’ work in uniting the community — including city officials — around this wonderfully worthwhile cause.
A 54-year-old South Milwaukee man was struck by an SUV and killed in Greenfield on Monday, multiple media outlets are reporting. Check out coverage from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WISN, WTMJ and Fox 6.
From the Journal Sentinel story:
The man was walking south on the east side of the roadway in the 4500 block about 3 p.m., police said. He was struck by a 2004 Cadillac Escalade driven by a 31-year-old Greendale woman who northbound on Loomis, but veered into the southbound lane, police said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
I’ll keep you posted.
Filed under Police
Check out these South Shore headlines …
And NOW has published a new police blotter, including this odd item …
A female employee at Griddler’s Café, 211 N. Chicago Ave., called police to report that a new employee of the restaurant had given her a bear hug Oct. 2, and that the force of the hug caused one of her ribs to break. The rib appears to have been broken accidentally.
Filed under Headlines
A widened Nicholson/Pennsylvania Avenue is expected to reopen by the end of October.
That’s according to an update from South Milwaukee City Engineer Kyle Vandercar.
Curb and sidewalk work and topsoil installation is happening now, and surface paving and installation of signs, sod/seeding and street lights are planned for the next week or so.
Thanks for your continued patience during this project. I’ll keep you posted.
Filed under Construction
Note: A previous version of this post had South Milwaukee playing Brookfield East. That’s my error. There’s too many directional schools in Waukesha County. 🙂
South Milwaukee, seeded sixth, travels to third-seeded Brookfield Central for its first-round WIAA playoff game at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Check out the full list of pairings, released Saturday, here.
Brookfield Central (5-3, including a fourth-place 4-3 in the Greater Metro Conference) is coming off a 14-0 loss Menomonee Falls on Friday. Here are some stats on the team.
Go Rockets!
Congratulations to the South Milwaukee football team!
The Rockets are headed to the WIAA playoffs after earning their first conference title in 32 years with a 21-16 win at New Berlin Eisenhower on Friday.
The victory gave South Milwaukee (5-3) a share of the Woodland Conference East crown with Brown Deer and Whitnall. Not bad for a team that started the season with two losses.
Check out the standings and stats. Here is the game story. From it:
Before the team boarded the bus, the school’s athletic director let everyone know that the division’s other co-leader lost as well.
As a result, South Milwaukee claimed a share of the division title with Whitnall and Brown Deer. The crown is the Rockets’ first since 1980, according to coach John Galewski.
“It’s big to me,” he said of the title. “We knew we had a young team coming into the season and they came on during the last five or six weeks.”
We should know South Milwaukee’s playoff matchup this weekend. I’ll keep you posted.
I just got this email from Nancy Wucherer from the Friends of the Mill Pond and Oak Creek Watercourse …
It’s that time to round up the volunteers for the Fall 2012 Cleanup of the Oak Creek this Saturday October 13th, 2012 from 8am to 12 noon. We’ll meet at the South Milwaukee High School parking lot – North End.
A Tan Hyundai Sonata will have vests, gloves, bags and water. If you have boots that would be great, bring extra socks or shoes in case you get wet. If your students come we ask that some adults participate in the cleanup.
Our targeted area is N Chicago Ave going west to Rawson Ave. We may go beyond that depending on how many people come. Lunch will be provided by FOMP down at the Mill Pond Warming House. We would appreciate knowing approximately how many will be volunteering so we’ll have enough food.
The debris will be pick up by Milwaukee County Parks Dept. Hope for good weather!! Any questions please drop me a line at NancyWucherer@gmail.com or give me a call at 414-571-1191 and leave message.
Thanks again to Nancy and all the great work her group does.
Check out these South Shore headlines …
Filed under Headlines
That’s the question a Milwaukee County jury will decide in a trial that is now underway, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
See the story here. From it:
The estate of the victim sued Franciscan Villa and its parent, Catholic Health Initiatives, for wrongful death in 2010.
After the January 2009 attack, Mary Spiegl simply lost the will to live, Jeffrey Pittman, the plaintiffs’ attorney, told jurors in an opening statement. She stopped eating or drinking and died 18 days later.
He said evidence will show that administrators at the South Milwaukee home failed to adopt specific policies and procedures regarding resident-on-resident sexual assault, despite the fact the problem had become a well known issue within the industry as early 1999.
Had they done so, the perpetrator may not have been left alone minutes after attacking a different woman at the home, and loudly declaring his interests and intent to have sex with someone, Pittman suggested.
See my previous post here.
Filed under Local Business
It’s hard to imagine, but the fourth season of the South Milwaukee Downtown Market ends this Thursday … and it does with a truly special event.
The Fall Family Festival is back, and kids of all ages are invited to stop by for free pumpkin decorating, apple bobbing, face painting, trick-or-treating and more. We’ll be giving away up to 200 pumpkins as part of the event, so bring your family and friends!
Like always, hours are 3 to 7 p.m., and we’re located on 11th and Milwaukee Avenues. Students from St. Thomas More High School will be helping out.
Check out the press release.
And mark your calendars: We’ll be holding our annual Christmas Market on Saturday, Dec. 8, at South Milwaukee High School. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Vendors can find an application here. Stay tuned for more details.
Filed under Community
Catching up on some news from last week’s South Milwaukee City Council meeting …
The council voted 8-0 to approve a new certified survey map and amendments to the development agreement for Grant Park Plaza, allowing the owners of the strip mall to separate the property into two parcels. Doing so will help the owners sell pieces of the development – including the building housing Pick ‘n Save – to individual buyers. I supported this because a sale will relieve pressure on the owners’ finances, and hopefully it will spur improvements to the center’s too-vacant center section.
Grant Park Plaza needs investment, and it’s pretty clear that the current owners are struggling to make that investment. Maybe new owners can. That can only be good for South Milwaukee.
The council also voted 8-0 to form a “Chapter 68 Appeals Committee” to hear an appeal by Ed Abrams, owner of Spirits Bar & Grill, seeking a variance from the city’s sprinkling ordinance. As you know, Spirits suffered a major fire in May, and Abrams is looking to rebuild. However, city ordinances are clear: The rebuilt establishment must have an automatic sprinkling system. Abrams puts that bill at close to $50,000 … and he wants an exception so he can proceed without it.
The council decided to form a three-person committee to hear the appeal and other non-zoning ordinance appeals that may arise going forward, removing politics from the equation. The committee consists of the council president, city administrator and city engineer, with the city clerk as an alternate. They meet Oct. 15 to hear the Spirits case. I’ll keep you posted.
The council also voted 5-3 to approve a resolution stating that the South Milwaukee City Council is opposed to the Milwaukee Streetcar project, if it requires funding from We Energies ratepayers to pay for utility relocation. We joined West Allis in passing this resolution first suggested, in writing, by Milwaukee Ald. Bob Donovan, a vocal critical of the Streetcar.
I was one of three “no” votes. Why? I think this vote was way too premature, and unnecessary.
There are too many outstanding questions around this project, especially around the utility relocation funding issue, and we have no business weighing in on this until we know more facts.
Will ratepayers be on the hook for the relocation? Will Milwaukee taxpayers pay the bill? Will both? And if it’s both, how much will people have to pay? Pennies? Dollars? More? And will the project even require relocation of utilities in the end? Those are just a few of the questions I have before I’m ready to weigh in on a resolution like the one we passed last week.
We acted too quickly, and, in doing so, the council made a bigger statement against investing in rail as part of the region’s transportation system. It was the wrong statement.
I support rail as part of our transportation infrastructure — in that way, making the Milwaukee area like every other major metropolitan area in the country.
We need to step up our investment in a wide array of transportation options. Of course, that includes roads. But it also includes our struggling bus system and rail.
It’s an economic development issue for me. I support a way to more easily get people workers to jobs. I support a way to help the Milwaukee area better compete with other communities for employees and employers who are looking for a well-balanced approach to transportation. I support that balance.
Unfortunately, the debate on projects like the Streetcar too often becomes, “I’ll never ride it, so I don’t want to pay for it.” I understand the concerns, but the argument can’t end there.
You may never ride the Streetcar. I may never ride the streetcar. But thousands (tens of thousands?) of people likely will, including young professionals and families who already live here or are looking to move to the region – those who are much less tied to their cars than “older” folks like me. Moreover, the companies that hire these workers want to see communities commit to projects like this.
We should do the same … and not stand in the way with resolutions like we passed last week.
Filed under City Council, Transportation
