With highs in the 90s expected, Milwaukee County is extending the hours of a number of pools this week.
That includes Grobschmidt Pool in South Milwaukee, which will now be open from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday this week. The pool is already open on Tuesdays and Thursdays during that time, as well as 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. daily.
Learn more in this Journal Sentinel story on the Milwaukee County Parks website.
Filed under Milwaukee County
Check out these headlines from around the South Shore:
And NOW has published a new police blotter. Among the crimes: an alleged assault at Boosters and a report of a woman singing in front of her home.
Filed under Headlines
Be sure to post in the poll on the right side of this page!
The long-discussed Pennsylvania/Nicholson Avenue widening is now underway … and it won’t be done until early October.
In the meantime, your patience is appreciated.
Learn more in this letter shared by the city and in these notes shared by the project’s engineer.
Some key points:
The contact for construction-related information is Bret Swenson, project leader for Community Engineering & Building Services. He can be reached at 414-313-5940. South Milwaukee City Engineer Kyle Vandercar can answer questions about project design, and you can reach him at 762-2222.
Of course, you can also let me know of an issues as well.
Safe travels!
Filed under Construction, Transportation
Check out these headlines from around the South Shore …
Filed under Headlines
Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare is planning a $49 million expansion of its facility on south 27th Street in Franklin, including erecting a 65,000 square-foot medical office building and other additions that will push the size of the hospital from 32 to 52 beds.
Check out stories in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Oak Creek Patch.
And check out these headlines from around the South Shore:
And the Journal Sentinel, in an editorial, praises County Supervisor Pat Jursik for her work in moving along a proposal for a development in the Park East district that appeared stalled in committee.
Also, state Sen. Chris Larson has published a new Larson Report, with the headline “Tides of Change Reach Wisconsin.”
Filed under Headlines
The South Milwaukee Fire Department has filed its 2011 Annual Report, and it provides a great snapshot into all the work the department does throughout the course of a year.
Check out the report, dedicated to the victims of 9-11 and the firefighters who fought to save them, here. The South Milwaukee City Council accepted the report at its meeting Tuesday.
One key statistic: The total number of incidents the department responded to (2,968) stayed basically static from 2010 (and the year earlier).
The report, however, is much more than numbers. More than anything, it celebrates the people that make the department what it is – and why we should be so thankful for their tireless work.
I encourage you to read it, and post your comments below.
In other news, the department recently went through the Insurance Services Office certification process and saw its rating improve from a five to a four.
ISO collects and evaluates information from communities across the country on their “fire suppression capabilities.” Insurance companies in part base their rental, commercial and industrial rates on these ISO findings. So a lower number can mean lower rates … and that’s a practical reason to celebrate this improvement. Even more importantly, however, this report validates the work our department is doing.
See the full ISO report here.
Filed under City Council, Fire
Check out these headlines from around the South Shore …
Also, WISN spoke to the South Milwaukee Fire Department for a story on firefighters beating the heat this week. See it here.
Filed under Headlines
You have probably heard about the two major fires in the area today — one near downtown Milwaukee and the other in Oak Creek.
South Milwaukee played a role in fighting both.
Here is the update from Acting South Milwaukee Fire Chief Joe Knitter …
Earlier today (around 10:30), SMFD responded on a MABAS (Mutual Aid Box Alarm System) Box Alarm – 2nd level called by Milwaukee Fire to standby at Milwaukee FD’s Engine 7 firehouse on Chase and Euclid Avenues. This is the 2nd time in history that we have assisted the MFD to protect their city. This time, MFD was fighting the 5-alarm fire on 12th & Vleit Streets. While there, our engine took an EMS call for MFD.
At about noon, the Oak Creek Fire had a working fire in an garage attached to a house that went to a MABAS Box Alarm level due to the heat and limited resources resulting from the Milwaukee fire. Our ladder truck responded to that scene since we had sufficient response from our off duty personnel and could provide the apparatus and stil maintain coverage inour city. You may have seen on the news that there may be some relationship between the owner of the store that burned in Milwaukee and the owner of the house in Oak Creek. At this time, this is what Channel 58 is reporting. The State Fire Marshall’s Office and the Milwaukee office of the ATF are investigating both fires with assistance from local investigators. I have made myself available to the investigation team and have been in contact with the Investigators and may very well be assisting tomorrow when the team assembles again.
I’ll keep you posted on this strange potential connection.
Here is the Oak Creek Patch story. Here is the Channel 58 story, and here is coverage from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Filed under Fire
Here is the latest update from the city engineer on the Parkway Drive/17th Avenue work.
The big news: The final surface asphalt will be laid late Wednesday and Thursday nights, so the project will be done in time to accomodate spillover traffic from Pennsylvania/Nicholson, which closes Tuesday for upwards of three months to accomodate the widening project.
Of course, please be patient during this work and consider alternate routes. I’ll keep you posted.
Filed under Construction, Transportation
The South Milwaukee City Council has approved a new four-year contract with firefighters represented by the South Milwaukee Firefighters Protective Association Local 1633.
I think it’s a fair deal that is reflective of the city’s financial picture – and a strong example of the type of collaboration that can happen among public employee unions and their employers.
The deal is effective Jan. 1 and expires Dec. 31, 2015. Among the highlights:
The deal also makes some changes to retiree health insurance; sick leave allocation, usage and payouts upon retirement; bereavement leave; and limited duty assignments, among other areas.
Firefighters ratified the contract on Friday.
Of course, I’d like to know what you think of the contract. Post your comments below.
Filed under 2012 Budget, City Council, Fire
Mama DeMarinis in Bay View has closed.
Check out The Business Journal story here, and check out these other headlines of interest from around the area:
Also, NOW has published its police blotter for Cudahy and St. Francis (South Milwaukee not included this week).
Filed under Headlines, Local Business
South Milwaukee NOW has a touching story about real-life heroism in South Milwaukee, following a car crash earlier this month.
See it here, and say thank you for people like Cynthia Schulz.
There was an armed robbery on Friday at B.J.’s Liquor,2411 5th Ave., according to the South Milwaukee Police Department.
Police said a single masked suspect robbed the store at gunpoint at 4:17 p.m. and got away with approximately $500 before fleeing on foot to a white Cadillac. The suspect remains at large.
That’s all the information I have at this point. I’ll keep you posted.
Filed under Crime
No comment.
And while you’re at it, check out the versions from the baseball teams at Florida and Harvard (who started this parody craze, as best I can tell). There appear to be dozens of others.
YouTube is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?
(Here is the real thing by Carly Rae Jepson.)
Filed under Sports
It’s been a busy month for the South Milwaukee Fire Department.
Several business and house fires and now this on Saturday: a call for assistance in rescuing stranded boasters off the Oak Creek Water Treatment Plant. As usual, the SMFD was up to the task.
Here are details from Acting Chief Joe Knitter:
At approx. 1:30 this afternoon, the SMFD received a phone call from the US Coast Guard in Milwaukee requesting assistance in locating and assisting a stranded boater that had lost power and was adrift somewhere off of the OC Water Treatment Plant. In addition, one of the five passengers was suffering from chest pain and was in need of medical assistance. SMFD responded to the SM Yacht Club and deployed the rescue boat, locating the distressed boat approximately 200 yds. from the mouth of the harbor. The ailing boater was removed from the boat, transported to the dock and transferred over to the care of waiting paramedics who treated and transported him to St. Luke’s South Shore. The Coast Guard arrived on scene with their 45 foot rescue boat but, due to its size, they were unable to get close enough to shore to provide any assistance to the stranded boat with the exception of towing it out further into the lake so it would not run aground. SMFD’s boat responded back to the location, secured the stranded boat and successfully towed it into the safety of the SMYC.
South Milwaukee Blog 