In late 2022, the South Milwaukee Police Department announced our intent to fundraise for and implement a K9 unit. An internal committee has been created with representatives from the SMPD and the City’s Administration Department. In January, paperwork was filed with the IRS to establish a 501(c)(3) organization.
Through donations already received, sales for our K9 t-shirts and plush dogs, and a penny war being organized by the School District of South Milwaukee, our fundraising is off to a great start. With the public’s help, we expect to have a K9 join the force by the end of 2023.
Sales of our t-shirts and plush dogs will continue at the SMPD counter at South Milwaukee City Hall. Donations can also be dropped off or mailed to the SMPD at 2424 15th Avenue in South Milwaukee. Checks can be made out to the SMPD K9 Program.
A fundraising campaign with our business community will be starting soon as well. Commitments to support the K9 have already been made by Oak Creek Veterinary Care Clinic, Walmart, Farm & Fleet, and the South Milwaukee Lions Club.
Letters of interest and applications are now being accepted for grants of up to $25,000 for local nonprofits.
Learn more about the city’s various Bucyrus Foundation grant programs, and get an application, here. Letters of interest are due by March 1, with completed applications due April 31. From the Program Guide …
BACKGROUND
The Bucyrus Steam Shovel & Dredge Co called South Milwaukee home for 118 years until 2011 when the company was acquired by Caterpillar Global mining. In September 2021 the Bucyrus Foundation (established in the 1970s) announced a $10 million contribution to institutions and infrastructure for the City of South Milwaukee (City), stretched over a 10-year period. These funds are allocated between the City and South Milwaukee School District and a portion of these funds are designated for local nonprofits.
CIVIC GRANT PROGRAM PURPOSE
The purpose of the Bucyrus Civic Grant Program is to benefit the community, allocating funds to South Milwaukee’s nonprofit organizations. Projects must demonstrate how they benefit the community. Grants may address a community need, improving community support, solving a problem, or enriching the people of South Milwaukee educational, health, or cultural experience. Grants may be for programs that address the workforce skills gap, support economic empowerment initiatives, foster effective public private partnerships, or boost neighborhood revitalization programs.
Funding priorities
Civic development
Arts and Culture
Health and Human Services
Education
Public benefit/community improvement
Environment
GRANT FUNDING
The Bucyrus Foundation will fund eligible projects that are not less than $1,000 and up to $25,000. All grant awards are subject to annual funding. Each grant awarded will be evaluated and a post-grant report is required for each grant received.
South Milwaukee Alderman Tim Backes has graciously volunteered to write regular updates for the blog coming out of the South Milwaukee Common Council.
You can see his latest installment here. It has information and discussion on the recent council meeting and a Q&A — including a tribute to Tim’s dad, David, who passed away in December.
Thanks, Tim, for bringing this idea to the blog! I am always looking for content to further our mission of keeping South Milwaukeeans informed on key issues, while also providing important context and depth where possible. It is why I started this blog as an alderman in 2009, and why I continue it today.
Please note: All content is written by Alderman Backes, and shared verbatim through the blog. Any opinion offered is Tim’s and Tim’s alone.
Schools in the South Milwaukee School District are in a “secure” after a threat was made toward South Milwaukee High School.
In a letter to parents, the South Milwaukee School District said an unverified threat against South Milwaukee High School was called into a police department outside Milwaukee County. The letter did not specify what the threat said. The South Milwaukee Police Department informed the school district of the threat, which did not specify a time or day.
In an email to a reporter, South Milwaukee Police Chief William Jessup wrote that the threat was “essentially a bomb threat.”
And this from the school district …
There was an unverified threat called to a police department outside of Milwaukee County. The South Milwaukee Police Department informed the district that this threat was directed at the SM High School but it did not give any time or day of the threat. Out of an abundance of caution, we placed all buildings into a SECURE until more information was available.
All students are safe and proceeding with their school day. They are able to move between classes, go to lunch, and have all other inside activities. The only limitation is that they are not able to go outside and we are not accepting any visitors to the schools.
At this time we plan to keep all buildings in a SECURE until dismissal. SMPD will make increased patrols throughout the day.
Excited to see this on the calendar, and for this game-changing downtown project to be nearly complete …
With its opening, the vision laid out in 2020 will be complete, thanks to the Bucyrus Foundation, Tim Sullivan and the hard work of many, many people. Forward!
From a letter sent to South Milwaukee parents on January 25 …
On Monday, January 23, 2023, an incident occurred between a teacher and a student as students were leaving South Milwaukee High School for the day. The District immediately began an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the event. The employee was placed on administrative leave.
Investigations involving student and teacher interactions are extremely serious and administration officials are following all internal protocols and applicable state laws. The District is also cooperating with our partners in the South Milwaukee Police Department.
The safety of our students and staff is the top priority for the School District of South Milwaukee. Our counselors and other staff members are available to any students who want to talk to an adult or who are upset by the news of the incident.
We respect the privacy and confidentiality of our students. There is also a need to maintain the integrity of the investigation to obtain a final determination of the circumstances and any resulting decisions. Therefore no further information will be made available regarding this matter at this time.
There are also a variety of local media reports on the situation, including from TMJ4, WISN and the Journal Sentinel.
South Milwaukee resident Brandon Randall, 22, has reportedly been charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of felon in possession of a firearm after the December shooting.
Randall was arrested by South Milwaukee officers on Tuesday, Jan. 10 in the City of Milwaukee. Several firearms were recovered. The case was referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office. The charges were then issued Wednesday.
Police say Randall was an acquaintance of at least one of the victims. The motive remains unknown.
South Milwaukee police responded to 5th and Bay Heights on Dec. 29 after an 18-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl were found dead in a car. The victims were identified as Jaelen Yracheta and Ava Allen. They were first cousins. Allen was a senior at Franklin High School and Yracheta was a 2022 South Milwaukee High School graduate and a student at MATC. The family previously told TMJ4 News that Yracheta’s mother found them at the scene.
According to a criminal complaint released Wednesday, investigators recovered five 9mm casings from the scene. Police obtained doorbell video which allegedly showed the suspect, Randall, walking towards the car with a limp. Randall is shown reaching out to grab the passenger door handle before pausing and entering the back passenger door. The complaint says Randall was wearing a COVID-19-style mask and white/clear latex gloves. Ten seconds later, multiple gunshots are heard and flashes are seen in the car. After remaining in the car for a minute, the complaint says Randall reached over the motionless bodies of the victims before getting out of the car.
A day after the shooting, Yracheta’s iPhone was found in a sewer close to where the homicides occurred. The last messages showed Yracheta texting a number and arranging to meet the person. The complaint says the number Yracheta was texting connected to an IP address that Randall lived at.
After Randall’s arrest, the complaint says investigators conducted an interview with him over the course of eight hours. While discussing the incident, Randall allegedly said, “Well (explicit), can’t make it right, it already done.” He then told investigators he didn’t remember committing the crime, but when he closed his eyes he saw flashes and “regular Jaelen with a smile, that’s it.”
The complaint said when asked which gun was used, Randall answered “Glock 17, the police edition.” When shown the doorbell video, Randall allegedly stated, “I’m gone for the rest of my life bro.” He then called his girlfriend and said, “It’s over, they showed me everything – told me everything. And they showed me the video, I don’t remember doing it bro.” The complaint says he was having difficulty talking because he was crying.
I’m excited to see this effort be resurrected, especially as we near the opening of Bucyrus Commons.
From the city …
The City of South Milwaukee invites artists to submit for a mural project on the west wall of the South Milwaukee Human Concerns building at 1029 Milwaukee Avenue.
The project’s goal is to bring the community together and attract visitors to the downtown. The design should represent new beginnings for the City of South Milwaukee. Beautification and “surprise and delight” is encouraged.
Applicants may be an individual, artist, or group of artists, submitting a concept by March 13, 2023. Upon selection, an artist will develop a final design and begin work June 2023.
Downtown South Milwaukee is full of walls screaming for a mural. This is a great start — and I hope it’s just a start. Public art like this is an important component of any revitalization effort
Middle School Students Dedicate January to Public Service
The entire middle school student body is engaged in our January “Cold Weather, Warm Hearts” month of service. Given that January is the coldest and darkest time of the year, a dedicated group of educators at the middle school (the SM Way team) came up with this idea as a way to spread positivity, fun, and service to our community.
Some of the projects include reading to buddies at Rawson Elementary School, answering questions about the middle school via video message for 5th graders at E. W. Luther, putting together care bags for the homeless, picking up trash around the school and neighborhood, and more.
On February 2nd we’ll hold an all-school assembly to celebrate and highlight all of the great service work that’s happened (and will continue to happen) around the school and the community.
SMWay Podcast
Episode 4:
R-E-A-D-I-N-G, READING, Reading
Learning to read is one of the most important skills students learn at school. It’s the base upon which everything is built. How we learn to read and write is a subject of constant study and how we teach it changes, too. In this episode, we peek inside a classroom and see how collaboration amongst teachers from different disciplines, combined with data, is tailoring literacy education to third graders.
South Milwaukee sixth graders revived a long-standing tradition of holding an Ethnic Folk Fair in the Middle School Multipurpose Room.
Starting in November, students researched where their families or ancestors originated from.
Then they learned about Google Earth and how to create a Google Voyager report about those places.
UW A Cappella Group Visits SMHS
UW Eau Claire a cappella student group Impromptu performed for South Milwaukee High School students and staff and spent an afternoon with South Milwaukee choir students in workshops. Here’s the Livestream:
This year’s SDSM Family Night event is Picking up STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math). The event will be held at the HS campus on Feb. 10th from 5-7 pm. This special night will feature a Wacky Science Show and include the following: hands-on activities, science investigations, MS STEAM expo, the MATC Mobile STEM lab, a light meal, and a variety of student work samples from math, science, and STEM classrooms! This year, the District Art Show will also be part of this event, as well as food options from nutrition services. RSVP at DanielBader, Communication Coordinator, School District of South Milwaukee, dbader@sdsm.k12.wi.us. O: 414-766-5162
For those who don’t know, South Milwaukee is blessed to have some terrific local nature photographers, capturing images, almost daily, of the beauty in our city (and beyond).
Keith Orcholski leads the way, and he is finding some acclaim this week for his photos of a rare Mandarin duck, which has birders excited as it pays a visit to the area around the South Shore Yacht Club. Check out media coverage here.
And the photos are gorgeous … thanks, Keith, for giving me permission to share them.
It’s Da Crusher, of course! Shot the night of Crusherfest, as we unveiled this statue to the world. Do you have a photo you’d like to share on the blog? Send it along.
South Milwaukee Blog 