I’ll be joining State Sen. Chris Larson for a town hall meeting this Monday, March 30, to discuss the state budget and its impact on state programs, as well as its impacts on the City of South Milwaukee.
We’ll be meeting from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the South Milwaukee Library.
Sen. Larson will devote the first 30-45 minutes to highlight what is in the budget and then will open the meeting to a Q&A session. While the focus will be on the budget, feel free to ask questions about other topics.
Filed under South Milwaukee
“I’m just a caretaker, a soldier doing his job.”
Those are the humble words of a real hero, South Milwaukee resident Gary Wetzel. Gary, a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions in the Vietnam War, was named Milwaukee County Veteran of the Year today and had a street sign and monument dedicated in his honor. I was honored to be a small part of the ceremony — and am incredibly thankful for his sacrifice and the sacrifice of all our veterans. We should all be thankful for their service, not just today but every day.
Thanks for calling South Milwaukee home, Gary
Filed under Community, Milwaukee County, South Milwaukee
More news and notes from around the South Shore …
Also, NOW has published a new police blotter.
Filed under South Milwaukee
It’s been a good couple of weeks for the outlook of downtown South Milwaukee — the entire city, for that matter.
A quick recap …
All of these efforts — the formation of the downtown committee, development of the plan, and hiring of dedicated economic development support — are key building blocks we need for South Milwaukee’s future.
I’m excited to see this foundational work come alive. It will make a real difference, for the long term, this as we continue to work hard to attract new businesses and other development to our city center every day.
Momentum continues to build. I hope you feel it.
Filed under Development, Downtown, Local Business, South Milwaukee
News and notes from around the South Shore, including this from the South Milwaukee Fire Department …
At approximately 6:20 this evening (Sunday, March 15), SMFD responded to a request from the Oak Creek Fire Department to assist a stranded boater on Lake Michigan approximately one mile off of Bender Park. Apparently, the US Coast Guard originally received the call reporting the disabled boat and notified OCFD. SMFD responded with it’s inflatable boat to Bender Park (the rescue boat is still in winter storage), located the disabled boat and its two male occupants and towed it safely back to shore.
Filed under Headlines, South Milwaukee
We continue to invest in our infrastructure in South Milwaukee. Some of the early projects for 2015 …
Learn more about our engineering projects here.
I’ll keep you posted on more projects as construction season begins in earnest soon.
Filed under City Council, City Services, Construction, South Milwaukee
The South Milwaukee Police Department reports that an arrest has been made in Saturday’s robbery of the downtown South Milwaukee branch of Tri-City National Bank.
Police are seeking formal state charges on the suspect. More information to come …
And check out these South Shore headlines, including more on the power outage the other day from the snowstorm …
And NOW has published a new police blotter.
We want to hear what’s on your mind — and we’re making it easier to do so.
The city has added new digital citizen comment and property maintenance complaint forms to our website. Citizens can use these forms to provide comments or to seek action for a concern that they may have.
When a form is filled out online and submitted, an email is sent to city staff, with details passed on to the appropriate department. Check them out, and use them.
And here is our forms page on the city website.
Filed under City Services, South Milwaukee
Check out these South Shore headlines …
Also, NOW has published a new police blotter.
Filed under Headlines, South Milwaukee
It’s been a good run recently for Grant Park Plaza. And that’s good for South Milwaukee.
With the recent opening of Planet Fitness and the soon-to-be open CSL Plasma location, the shopping center will be close to 90% occupied — pretty good when you look at the state of other suburban strip malls.
There was more good news Tuesday night, as the Community Development Authority and City Council approved an ownership change for most of the center, a restructuring that will see a new equity partner come on board and allow for a refinancing of existing debt.
The new equity partner is Great Lakes Capital, an investment firm based in South Bend, Ind., and the new owners of the shopping center — all buildings, including the outlots, minus the Pick ‘n Save — will officially be 2901 South Chicago LLC.
This move will further strengthen and stabilize the ownership of the center, freeing up cash that the owners have pledged to use to resurface/reseal the parking lot, fix winter damage to the lot and improve landscaping in 2015.
These enhancements are in addition to almost $900,000 in improvements the center has seen in the past year, including $750,000 for buildout of the Planet Fitness space. Another $120,000 is being invested in the CSL Plasma buildout. It will open in April.
There is still a 11,800 square-foot vacancy in the main portion of the center — formerly occupied by Wisconsin Health and Fitness — and a space next to Advance Auto Parts in that outlot. But that’s it. And that’s a good thing.
Filed under Local Business, South Milwaukee
I hope you can join me for my next Meet the Mayor session this Saturday at MKE City Sippers, 911 Milwaukee Ave. downtown.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Special guest State Sen. Chris Larson will be joining me, so feel free to talk local or state issues (including the state budget). Or just stop in to say hi.
See you there, and bring a friend or two!
And here are my next two sessions …
Filed under Local Business, South Milwaukee, State Lawmakers
I’ve been really happy with the boards and commissions volunteer process we instituted when I was elected last April.
The process — where we encourage interested individuals to “apply” for open or potentially open seats on our volunteer bodies — has netted us a number of great candidates that I would have probably never met but for their application.
That includes Jerome Bzdawka, a longtime (now retired) Milwaukee Area Technical College chemistry and instructor who I am nominating to be on the Board of Health of Tuesday night.
It’s really nice to see people like Jerry step up to fill these roles, and have their voices heard on key decisions in South Milwaukee. And we can always use more smart, passionate people to step up, putting their skills to work for their community.
Do you want to join a board or commission? Get an application here.
I’ll keep you posted on openings when they come up.
Filed under South Milwaukee
Fat Tuesday is tomorrow … why not celebrate with some local paczkis?
Wild Flour Bakery is baking these Polish treats at its South Milwaukee location, 1205 Milwaukee Ave. Paczkis are priced at 79 cents each, $4.50 half dozen, and $8.99 per dozen.
And they are available in raspberry, bavarian cream, lemon, and prune.
Stop by and buy one or a dozen!
Filed under Local Business, South Milwaukee
The South Shore Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation to bring small local business owners up to speed on social media.
Check out the flyer for more on the three-part educational series.
All sessions will be held at the Cudahy Family Library and will be held from 5 to 6 p.m.
I continue to be impressed with the Chamber and WWBIC for their commitment to investing in the success of local business. These classes are an example of that.
Filed under Local Business, South Milwaukee
Check out these South Shore headlines …
Also, here is a story about an acclaimed film — “The Russian Woodpecker” — by a South Milwaukee graduate with new meaning given ongoing tensions in Russia and the Ukraine.
NOW has published a new police blotter, and Sen. Chris Larson has a new Larson Report.
Filed under Headlines, South Milwaukee
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