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A restaurant billed as "the best wing bar in Zion, Illinois," is looking to open a location in Greenfield.
Sauce & Toss is being proposed for 3322 W. Loomis Road, the current site of O Yeah Chicken and More.
The applicant, Faisal Farooqui, is proposing to purchase the property and change the format from its current tenant to Sauce & Toss, according to city documents.
It would be the second location for Sauce & Toss.
The Sauce & Toss menu at its current location includes classic wings, boneless wings, tenders, legs and thighs in a bucket, burgers, sides and drinks.
Sides include fries, full sweet corn, mac & cheese, fried calamari, chili, baked rolls, dip sauces and veggie sticks.
It's not known how closely the Greenfield location's menu would mirror the one in Zion.
Farooqui was not immediately available for an interview.
Proposed hours are from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Dining options would include sit-down, carryout and delivery.
The business would employ about 12 people.
O Yeah Chicken opened on the site in June 2018, according to its website, and is described as a local halal restaurant with an international touch, serving Mexican, Chinese and Southern-style cuisine.
It's open from Thursday through Sunday in the afternoon and evening hours, according to its website.
Common council will review plan
The Greenfield Common Council is expected to review a site plan and special use application on Tuesday.
Full-service restaurants are permitted under the current zoning, but the change in occupancy requires a special use review by both the city's plan commission and common council.
The Plan Commission on March 8 unanimously approved the site plan and special use.
Site improvements are required by the city
A site plan was not submitted with the proposal, but the site is subject to city review due to the special use classification, according to the city.
In April 2018, the Plan Commission approved a phased landscape plan for O Yeah Chicken, including landscaping the front, side (south) and rear (west) sides of the parcel and installing poured concrete curbing, all to be completed by 2020.
In November 2020, the tenant requested an extension to complete the improvements due to revenue struggles from COVID-19.
The city approved an extension until Dec. 31, 2025, a timeframe that would be applicable to the site, no matter who the owner or tenant is.
To date, none of the south nor west site improvements have been made.
Before occupancy, the city is requiring three site conditions to be satisfied, including angling down light heads on the light poles to be parallel with the ground, keeping refuse containers inside the enclosure and performing basic site cleanup. | 2022-04-18T15:44:16Z | www.jsonline.com | Sauce & Toss, a wing-themed restaurant, is proposed for Greenfield | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/southwest/news/greenfield/2022/04/18/sauce-toss-wing-themed-restaurant-proposed-greenfield/7332294001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/southwest/news/greenfield/2022/04/18/sauce-toss-wing-themed-restaurant-proposed-greenfield/7332294001/ |
Older adults interested in moving into a new senior living community in Sussex can check out the new development at its April 28 open house.
Courtyard at Sussex, W235 N6350 Hickory Drive, is planning its grand opening from 1 to 5p.m. April 28. The new development includes 110 homes with amenities and optional access to assisted living support and memory care if needed.
Costs range from $2,100 to $6,750 per month, depending on the size of the residence and the level of care and services. The community is currently 50% occupied, with residents already moving into the complex. There's some limited availability, depending on the floor plan preference, said spokesperson Liana Allison.
"If you need additional support services down the line, they are available on the same campus. It's really appealing to older adults and their families," said Allison. "There's peace of mind, knowing those services are available."
Additional amenities include restaurants, a fitness center, library, movie theater, coffee bar, game room and a patio with a gazebo. The complex offers a concierge service, dining, maintenance, housekeeping and activity calendar.
"We lived in Sussex for 21 years, and we started going past this location. It's very near to the downtown. At first I didn't know what was going on, but that led us to get a flyer to get acquainted," said Paul Petry, who recently moved into the complex with his wife.
"What I like about it is it's so near the downtown area. It's within walking distance of most of the businesses in Sussex," said Petry. "We haven't been disappointed at all."
Courtyard at Sussex is operated by Encore Senior Living, which operates 36 senior living communities in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
For more information, visit thecourtyardatsussex.com orcall 262-914-9892 to arrange for a private tour.
RELATED:'I've always danced': Fox Point woman with dementia dances with Bucks Grand Dancers | 2022-04-18T19:04:25Z | www.jsonline.com | Courtyard of Sussex senior assisted living facility opens April 28 | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northwest/news/sussex/2022/04/18/courtyard-sussex-senior-assisted-living-facility-opens-april-28/7313647001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northwest/news/sussex/2022/04/18/courtyard-sussex-senior-assisted-living-facility-opens-april-28/7313647001/ |
For the mid-1970s (and beyond), the sitcom "Laverne & Shirley" was one of Milwaukee's most prominent pop-culture claims to fame.
Now Cindy Williams, the actress who played the upbeat Shirley Feeney for eight seasons from 1976 to 1983, is coming back to her most beloved character's hometown.
The "Shirley" of the classic Milwaukee-set sitcom is bringing her one-woman show, "Me, Myself and Shirley" to the Pabst Theater Oct. 8 for two shows.
RELATED:Every episode of 'Laverne & Shirley' streaming for first time; Pluto TV adds 'Happy Days' channel
RELATED:As Laverne, Penny Marshall spoke Milwaukee, even with a New York accent
The 74-year-old Williams will share behind-the-scenes stories about the show and working with the late Penny Marshall (who played Laverne). But the show also promises videos and audience questions. Williams also will discuss "the high and lows" of her career beyond the sitcom, which included roles in George Lucas' "American Graffiti" and Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation," and friendships and credits with Harrison Ford, Maggie Smith, Gene Kelly, Andy Kaufman and more.
Tickets for the 3 and 7 p.m. shows, priced between $19.76 and $55, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at the box office (144 E. Wells St.) and pabsttheater.org. | 2022-04-18T19:04:43Z | www.jsonline.com | Laverne & Shirley's Cindy Williams brings one-woman show to Milwaukee | https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/television-radio/2022/04/18/laverne-shirleys-cindy-williams-brings-one-woman-show-milwaukee/7357197001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/television-radio/2022/04/18/laverne-shirleys-cindy-williams-brings-one-woman-show-milwaukee/7357197001/ |
A $20.4 million mixed-use development featuring production space for filmmakers, musicians and other creatives, as well as affordable apartments, is being proposed for a key site in Milwaukee's Bronzeville neighborhood.
The Bronzeville Creative Arts and Technology Hub, to be built on 1.1 acres north of West North Avenue and west of North Sixth Street, is being recommended to city officials by the Bronzeville Advisory Committee.
The three-story development would have space facing North Avenue to house the musicians, artists, graphic designers and other creatives, including start-ups, said developer Michael Adetoro, who operates Fit Investment Group LLC.
Along with production space, that incubator would provide business and technology support for those commercial tenants, said Adetoro, who has backgrounds in both engineering and music.
That 22,000-square-foot building is to include a street-level cafe and coffee shop.
The plan is to begin construction of that commercial space by spring 2023, with completion by spring 2024.
That $6.6 million phase would be financed mainly by obtaining federal New Markets Tax Credits, said Elizabeth Rask, development manager at Cinnaire Solutions Corp., which is working with Fit Investment Group on the project.
A second $13.8 million phase would develop 54 apartments, 44 of them with affordable rents, in the back of the project site. They would range from one to three bedrooms.
Construction would begin in spring 2024 and be completed about a year later, Rask said. The financing for that phase would include federal and state affordable housing tax credits, she said.
Both phases combine to create a development where creatives can live, work and play, Adetoro said. The development team includes 2112 Chicago, a Chicago business incubator for music, film and creative technology entrepreneurs.
Possible partners on the creative hub include Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and visual artist Reginald Baylor, Adetoro said. He said details are still being worked out on how the community partners might be involved in the project.
The development idea comes from Adetoro's vision of Milwaukee's Bronzeville neighborhood as a center of excellence for technology.
He acknowledge being "a bit emotional" after the proposal was selected over two competing plans that also included affordable housing and other components.
"I hope to make the community proud," said Adetoro, who spoke at a Monday meeting of the advisory committee.
The committee's recommendation will be reviewed by such city bodies as the Plan Commission and Common Council.
The planned development site is vacant, except for a one-story building, at 628-630 W. North Ave., that would be demolished to may way for the new development.
It's near the newly reopened America's Black Holocaust Museum, 401 W. North Ave.
The Bronzeville Creative Arts and Technology Hub proposal comes as several other developments are proceeding in the Bronzeville area, which runs along North Avenue, from I-43 to North King Drive, and along King Drive centered on North Avenue.
Those other projects include:
• Bronzeville Center for the Arts, a 50,000-square-foot arts and cultural center focusing on Black art. It will replace the former state Department of Natural Resources regional office, 2300 N. King Drive, which is to be razed.
• Bronzeville Center for the Arts offices and gallery, a 6,650-square-foot building planned for a renovated duplex and vacant lot at 507 W. North Ave.
• ThriveOn King, the conversion of the historic six-story former Schuster's department store, 2153 N. King Drive, into 100,000 square feet of office space, anchored by the ThriveOn Collaboration, led by Medical College of Wisconsin and Greater Milwaukee Foundation; 89 apartments, and 50,000 square feet of early child education and community space, including a food hall.
• Dohmen Co. Foundation Inc.'s new headquarters within a two-story, 34,000-square-foot building that housed Fein Brothers before the restaurant supply business moved. | 2022-04-18T19:04:49Z | www.jsonline.com | Bronzeville development features creative work space, apartments | https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/real-estate/commercial/2022/04/18/milwaukee-bronzeville-development-features-creative-work-space-apartments/7355082001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/real-estate/commercial/2022/04/18/milwaukee-bronzeville-development-features-creative-work-space-apartments/7355082001/ |
More:Wisconsin Republicans who posed as electors met in a 'secret location,' brought armed security with them, one member says
In an interview, Barnes said it was important for the court to find that commissioners could not rule on cases involving themselves. Such a ruling would prevent "a bad pattern in the future," she said.
"We think the recusal issue itself is very important in the long term and that this is very clearly a violation of due process," Barnes said. "However the commission decides, we think it’s inappropriate that he participated and that that itself is an issue that deserves to be addressed."
More:'Stolen election' believers mostly lost in Brown County races, including De Pere council member who served as Trump elector | 2022-04-18T19:04:55Z | www.jsonline.com | Union asks court to revisit decision on fake electors from Wisconsin | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2022/04/18/union-asks-court-revisit-decision-fake-republican-electors-wisconsin/7355366001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2022/04/18/union-asks-court-revisit-decision-fake-republican-electors-wisconsin/7355366001/ |
MADISON - Tommy Thompson has decided not to launch a fifth campaign for governor.
Thompson — who was elected governor of Wisconsin four times, served as President George W. Bush's health secretary, and led the state's system of universities through a pandemic — said Monday he decided against a new run for his old job but believes he would have been a formidable candidate.
"Wisconsin needs strong leadership to bridge political divides, care for our most vulnerable, set our economy on a path to succeed in the 21st-century, and again make us the shining star of the nation. I would have brought those qualities and commitment as governor," he said.
Thompson said he remains "determined to participate in efforts to address the problems that face us all."
"I am open and will continue to investigate how I may otherwise serve," he said.
A late entry by the 80-year-old Thompson, a political icon in Wisconsin, would have scrambled the Republican primary race to unseat Democratic incumbent Gov. Tony Evers.
Already running are former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, who announced her campaign for governor eight months ago, Kevin Nicholson, a U.S. Marine veteran and management consultant who launched his bid in January, and state Rep. Tim Ramthun, who announced his candidacy in February.
Thompson began considering the idea of running again in February as he approached the end of his interim presidency of the University of Wisconsin System.
Since then, a conservative group created by a former Thompson administration official conducted a poll about Thompson's chances. And earlier this month, Thompson met with former President Donald Trump at Trump's Florida resort Mar-a-Lago. Thompson described the meeting as "just a discussion."
His decision to stay out of the governor's race comes after a meeting with potential candidate Tim Michels, a former U.S. Army Ranger and a co-owner of his family's international infrastructure and energy construction corporation.
Michels met with Thompson in recent weeks as he considers whether to join the race. Sources told the Journal Sentinel last week the pair agreed only one of them would likely enter the race.
Thompson was elected governor in 1986 and served a record four terms until 2001 when former President George W. Bush appointed him to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. In 2007, Thompson briefly ran for president and in 2012, he was defeated by Tammy Baldwin for a seat in the U.S. Senate.
His time in public office began in 1967 as a member of the state Assembly. | 2022-04-18T19:05:01Z | www.jsonline.com | Tommy Thompson won't launch a fifth campaign for Wisconsin governor | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/18/tommy-thompson-wont-launch-fifth-campaign-wisconsin-governor/7356502001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/18/tommy-thompson-wont-launch-fifth-campaign-wisconsin-governor/7356502001/ |
The departure of the former Racine St. Catherine's star is a major blow for a Cyclones program that hoped to build next season’s roster around him. After averaging 11 points and 4.9 assists during an average of 31.9 minutes a game, Hunter was expected to be the face of the program next season and beyond.
"After praying, speaking with my family and giving myself time to carefully consider my next steps on this journey, I've decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal," Hunter wrote on Twitter Monday. | 2022-04-18T19:05:07Z | www.jsonline.com | Ex-Racine prep star Tyrese Hunter enters NCAA transfer portal | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/2022/04/18/ex-racine-prep-star-tyrese-hunter-enters-ncaa-transfer-portal/7358638001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/2022/04/18/ex-racine-prep-star-tyrese-hunter-enters-ncaa-transfer-portal/7358638001/ |
The Major League Baseball season is underway, but perhaps you're still unpacking the many unusual things under the new collective bargaining agreement.
You've already come to terms with the designated hitter in the National League, and even though the Brewers haven't played an extra-innings game yet, surely you'll re-acquaint with the runner-starting-on-second concept, a holdover from the past two seasons, once the 10th inning begins (though that won't be the case in the playoffs).
But there's more forthcoming, in case you haven't heard:
There will be a 'true' doubleheader at American Family Field in September
The roof was supposed to keep these from happening, wasn't it?
This won't be the first time a doubleheader will be played in the Brewers home stadium; there were three of them (seven innings per game) in the bizarre 2020 season thanks to a series of cancellations related to COVID-19.
But this will be the first time the games will run a full nine innings apiece. To make up for the San Francisco Giants series that was wiped out by the delayed start to the 2022 season (on account of the lockout), Milwaukee will play two games against the Giants on Thursday, Sept. 8, starting at 3:10 p.m.
Brewers fans will first confront the oddity of the rescheduled Giants series next week, on Monday, April 25, when the Brewers will fly home from one Pennsylvania location (Pittsburgh) to play a single game against the Giants with a 5 p.m. first pitch, then fly back to Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) for the next series. Yikes.
Milwaukee's other first-week series wiped out by the delayed start, against Arizona, will get tacked on to the end of the season and run Oct. 3-5 at American Family Field. The Brewers will close the season with eight straight home games as a result.
Twelve teams make the postseason this year, but Game 163 won't happen anymore
Say "Game 163," and Brewers fans immediately think of the 2018 battle at Wrigley Field against the Cubs to win the National League Central. That stands to be the only connotation of the phrase going forward, because Game 163 isn't going to happen under the new format.
Brewers fans are probably aware that 12 teams make the playoffs now (six in each league) and the Wild Card game as we know it is dead (good riddance to memories from 2019). But if they wind up tied for the division or a final playoff spot, it's going to come down to a tiebreaking formula much like it does in the NFL, with no game to decide the winner.
After head-to-head record, tiebreaking criteria include intradivision record (that's record against your own division foes, apparently even if two teams from different divisions are vying for a spot), interdivision record, record in the last half-season of interleague games and then the last half of interleague games plus one, continuing until the tie is broken.
How does the new playoff format work, anyway?
The top-two seeds in each league essentially get first-round byes, and both must be division winners. So even in a situation last year where the Giants and Dodgers have the best two records in the National League, the Brewers still would have been the No. 2 seed by virtue of winning the Central, behind the West-champion Giants. The Dodgers would have been the No. 4 seed (first of three wild cards) and faced off with the No. 5 (second wild card) in a best-of-three series. It's the same matchup we got in the previous wild-card game format (the Dodgers beat the Cardinals), except now it's three games, all in Los Angeles.
The Braves, the division winner with the lowest record, would have also hosted a best-of-three against the lowest wild card team, which would have actually been the Cincinnati Reds. And that might have been nice for Milwaukee instead of having to face Atlanta right away.
There's no re-seeding after that. The Brewers would have faced the Braves/Reds winner (No. 2 vs. No. 3/6), and the Giants would have faced the Dodgers/Cardinals winner (No. 1 vs. No. 4/5).
Moral of the story: A top-two seed is super ideal in the new format.
Next year, the Brewers will play every American League team once
Interleague play is getting a facelift in 2023.
This year is more of a traditional schedule, with some matchups against one division of AL teams (the East) and a large chunk of the schedule populated by NL Central teams. But since everyone is rocking the DH now, there's really no reason to keep the leagues entirely separate. And starting next year, they really won't be.
Teams will play five fewer games against each division opponent next year and play one series against every team in the other league. Teams will continue to play their “rival” Interleague team four times (that's still the Twins for Milwaukee), twice at each ballpark, but their total number of games against interleague foes will rise to 46 (up from 16 this year). That's three games against every AL team — the Yankees! The Red Sox! The White Sox! — and alternating home and away each year.
Meanwhile, the Brewers will face the other four NL Central teams 14 times apiece (seven home, seven away) to account for 56 games. The other 10 teams in the National League will meet Milwaukee for six games, three in each ballpark, for the final 60 games.
There's going to be a draft lottery starting next year
The Brewers fortunately haven't had to worry a lot about possessing one of the top spots in the Major League Baseball draft in recent years, but their chances of getting the No. 1 spot for just the second time in franchise history have gone up.
Starting next year, there will be a lottery for the top six spots, similar to the NBA Draft, and every nonplayoff qualifier can take part. Teams with records that rank them 13-18 have less than a 1% chance of getting the No. 1 pick, while the three worst records have an equal shot at 16.5%.
The draft will be 20 rounds.
There are a few other more subtle changes to the format (such as no team that accepts revenue sharing being eligible for a draft pick more than two years in a row), but the most interesting wrinkle is the reintroduction of "draft and follow" players. Anyone taken after the 10th round who does not sign by the signing deadline can go to junior college to play another year and remain connected to the team that drafted them, eligible to sign before the following draft. Former Brewers pitcher Manny Parra is among the players who signed with the club under the previous iteration of this format. So the 11th round stands to be an intriguing pivot in the type of talent getting selected — a lot of high-end players who may agree to try out an extra level of seasoning at a JUCO program before signing.
Other smaller things to know
The trade deadline is moved back this year to Aug. 2, at 5 p.m. CST. With the season extended a little deeper into October, it kind of made sense.
Players can only be optioned to the minors five times during a season (remember: when someone says a player has an option left, that means an "option year" and a player can be sent back and forth throughout the entirety of the season). Previously, it had been unlimited, and five times is still enough where it likely won't make much of a ripple. But if a player toggles back and forth to Class AAA a couple times early in the season, it could lead to some careful roster management down the stretch.
Likely in 2023: a pitch clock, bigger bases, a ban on "the shift." Three bigger rules are still under review, but we could see them all in 2023. The big one, of course, is restrictions on the defensive "shift," handicapping defenses from oversaturating one side of the field, thus freeing up hitters for more base hits. The bases themselves could be physically bigger next year, from 15-inch squares to 18. That's bigger than you might think, with the idea to encourage more base stealing. A clock between pitches would theoretically speed up the time of game. | 2022-04-18T19:05:13Z | www.jsonline.com | More MLB changes in rules, interleague play to come with new CBA | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2022/04/18/more-mlb-changes-rules-interleague-play-come-new-cba/7355564001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2022/04/18/more-mlb-changes-rules-interleague-play-come-new-cba/7355564001/ |
As the Milwaukee Bucks marched their way to an NBA championship in a condensed season last year, one that began without fans in arenas and ended with a player and coaches in the health and safety protocol during the NBA Finals, head coach Mike Budenholzer would often say nothing was “usual” about any circumstance the team found itself in.
Coming off a split season that ended in a “bubble” environment in 2020, becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable wasn’t just a catch phrase, it was reality.
This season, the NBA scheduled an 82-game season. The march to normalcy was on.
Player-vaccination status was a central storyline across the league for much of the season. The omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus swept through the league in the winter, ravaging team rosters to the point the NBA had at least 600 players see the court. Its previous record was 540.
In the playoffs, Toronto holds perhaps the greatest home-court advantage of them all as the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference: Any unvaccinated opponent would not be allowed to enter Canada. Philadelphia’s defensive ace Matisse Thybulle cannot play in Games 3 and 4 in round one.
No. 1 seed Miami had star center Bam Adebayo in quarantine during the “bye week” and would have missed games if the Heat had play-in games. The Los Angeles Clippers, who were in the play-in, were without star Paul George for its elimination contest against New Orleans and subsequently lost that game to miss the playoffs.
The Bucks’ first-round series was affected to a degree as the Chicago Bulls came to Milwaukee without two assistant coaches and a staffer for the start of the series on Sunday. The Bulls had regular-season games postponed due to the virus, as they were not able to field eight players.
“I think there’s a lot of things in the playoffs that require a little more attention,” Budenholzer said, "that require a lilt bit more maybe conversation or mention, and at the end of the day what our country’s gone through, what he league’s gone through, our players, families, it’s part of that conversation — we can’t forget.
“There’s been a lot of positive movement. You just don’t want to forget, you just gotta know it’s still out there. When we had the conversation what happened with the Clippers and Paul George had happened and the coaching staff with Chicago. I’m guessing those things pop up in conversations in the locker room or at baskets and things like that. It’s not good, but in the sense of it just being a reminder in conversation, I think it’s helpful. Certainly our guys are aware.”
More:Brook Lopez wasn't lying when he told us his back was fine; he proved it in Bucks' Game 1 win
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The league’s health and safety protocol has gradually been amended throughout the season, but the key point to remember for the Bucks is that the only players who will be tested for the virus would be anyone who displays symptoms.
ESPN reported the entire roster is vaccinated. Should the Bucks play the Raptors in the Eastern Conference finals, all players and staff must test negative to re-enter the United States.
If a player were to test positive for COVID-19, the 10-day waiting period can be waived if:
They return two consecutive negative PCR tests sampled at least 24 hours apart.
They return two consecutive PCR tests sampled at least 24 hours apart with cycle threshold (CT) values* greater than 30 beginning no sooner than Day 4 and Day 5 (where Day 0 is the date of an initial positive test)
* Generally speaking, a lower CT value indicates a higher viral load in that specimen, and a higher CT value indicates a lower viral load.
The league, in partnership with the NBA Players Association, maintains the ability to modify its protocols based on current viral conditions.
The Bucks are carrying a maximum 17 players into the postseason (15 guaranteed contracts and 2 two-way contracts) and of that group only Brook Lopez, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Luca Vildoza and Rayjon Tucker have not been in the NBA health and safety protocol. | 2022-04-18T19:05:20Z | www.jsonline.com | COVID-19 pandemic still concern as Milwaukee Bucks enter NBA playoffs | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2022/04/18/covid-19-pandemic-still-concern-milwaukee-bucks-enter-nba-playoffs/7354154001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2022/04/18/covid-19-pandemic-still-concern-milwaukee-bucks-enter-nba-playoffs/7354154001/ |
It's a clash of quarterback generations for the newest iteration of TNT's "The Match," the celebrity golf showcase that featured Aaron Rodgers competing against Tom Brady last year mere months after Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers toppled Rodgers' Packers in the NFC title game.
This time around, Rodgers and Brady are teaming up to challenge Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in an all-NFL battle, airing June 1 in Las Vegas.
Last summer, Bryson DeChambeau and Rodgers got the best of Phil Mickelson and Brady in Montana, 3 and 2. DeChambeau fell to Brooks Koepka in November at Wynn Golf Club on the Las Vegas Strip, 5 and 3, and the sixth installment of "The Match" will now return to Wynn, though this will be the first version of exhibition that doesn't feature any PGA professionals.
TNT will exclusively televise the 12-hole event, with coverage beginning at 5:30 p.m. locally. Over the years, the event has raised money for various charitable organizations and donated 17 million meals to Feeding America.
The event promises unprecedented access, with open mics on all the players and communication between broadcast commentators and the players on the course. In the past, the broadcast crew has included Brewers broadcaster Brian Anderson.
Rodgers, an avid golfer, most recently took some swings at the Annexus Pro Am at TPC Scottsdale in advance of the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February. | 2022-04-18T19:05:26Z | www.jsonline.com | Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady team up for latest TNT 'The Match' golf event | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2022/04/18/aaron-rodgers-tom-brady-team-up-latest-tnt-the-match-golf-event/7357271001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2022/04/18/aaron-rodgers-tom-brady-team-up-latest-tnt-the-match-golf-event/7357271001/ |
Holiday Folk Fair International sets dates for an in-person festival in 2022
Holiday Folk Fair International has set the dates for the 2022 festival, the first one to be held in person since the pandemic began.
Folk Fair will be Nov. 18 through Nov. 20 at State Fair Park's Wisconsin Exposition Center. In 2020 and 2021, the event was virtual because of COVID-19.
“The International Institute of Wisconsin and its board of directors are extremely excited that the 79th annual Holiday Folk Fair International will once again allow those from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds to experience, in person, the traditions of dozens of ethnic groups that call Milwaukee and the surrounding communities home,” Alexander Durtka Jr., president and chief executive officer of the institute, said in the festival's announcement.
Folk Fair is planning to have international performers, artisans and photographic exhibits this year, and some activities will be streamed live on the event’s Facebook page.
Aside from traditional music and dance performances, the event will have its World Café with traditional dishes, youth dance performances, the Tanzhauz where attendees can dance and sing along, the Coffee House for a beverage and baked goods, interactive exhibits that explain customs at Heritage Lane, goods for sale at the International Bazaar, and local cooks preparing traditional cuisine at the Chef’s Stage.
Hours will be 2 to 9 p.m. Nov. 18, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Nov. 19 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 20.
Advance tickets will go on sale in October at the Folk Fair website, folkfair.org, for $10 each, and family four-packs for $36. Admission at the door will be $14 for adults, $10 for those 62 and older, and $8 for children ages 6 to 12. Admission will be free for military personnel with military ID cards and for children 5 and younger. | 2022-04-18T22:02:51Z | www.jsonline.com | Holiday Folk Fair sets the dates for an in-person 2022 festival | https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/2022/04/18/holiday-folk-fair-sets-dates-person-2022-festival/7359693001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/2022/04/18/holiday-folk-fair-sets-dates-person-2022-festival/7359693001/ |
Protesters outside the Foxconn offices in Milwaukee Monday criticized former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch - and one of the GOP contenders for governor - for her support of the Racine County project.
Kleefisch deserves some blame for the under-performing project which was launched under then-Republican Gov. Scott Walker, a time when Kleefisch was also in office, those participating in the event said..
Foxconn: Foxconn's plan to make robotic coffee kiosks quietly died. It joins the list of products promised but never made
Rep. Christine Sinicki, D-Milwaukee, criticized the original Foxconn plan that would have provided $2.85 billion in state tax credits if the company met certain hiring and capital investment thresholds. Foxconn promised to hire up to 13,000 people in the state to receive the tax credits, but now says only a fraction of that many jobs will be coming.
“What's happened in this state with corporate giveaways is the worst I’ve ever seen,” Sinicki said. “What I’ve seen through the Walker, Kleefisch years of administration is nothing but corporate giveaways and corporate greed. And if we don’t get out and vote in November, we’re going to see more of it.”
The Journal Sentinel reached out to the Kleefisch campaign for comment but has not received a response.
In April 2021, Gov. Tony Evers announced that the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. agreed to a new deal with Foxconn that would provide up to $80 million in tax credits if the company hired 1,454 people by 2025.
“Under Evers’ plan there’s much more accountability, I believe,” Sinicki said. “That’s what I was told by people involved in (the negotiation).”
In December, WEDC announced Foxconn qualified $28.8 million in tax credits under the new deal.
Speakers tied the Foxconn project to Walker's failed job creation campaign promise.
When Walker campaigned for office in 2010, he promised that the state economy would add 250,000 jobs during the first four years of his administration. The number of jobs created, however, fell far short of that goal.
Sinicki said Kleefisch and members of the Walker administration were so eager to reach that 250,000 job number that they agreed to a deal with a company they knew wouldn’t deliver.
“I think it was intentional,” Sinicki said. “I think between her and Walker, they were so anxious to hit that 250,000 (job) mark, they were willing to do anything."
One of the speakers at the event was former Democratic congressional candidate Randy Bryce, who ran for Congress in 2018 to represent Wisconsin’s 1st District.
“We know that this was a political stunt from the very beginning,” Bryce said adding Walker and then-House Speaker Paul Ryan went to the White House to announce with then-President Donald Trump that Foxconn would be coming to Wisconsin.
“They were talking about creating the ‘eighth wonder of the world.’ This huge fantastic factory that was going to bring jobs and prosperity for everybody for decades to come at this place called Foxconn. Instead, we got Foxconned.”
Bryce lost to Republican Congressman Bryan Steil.
The other candidates for the GOP nomination for governor are management consultant Kevin Nicholson and state Rep. Tim Ramthun. | 2022-04-18T22:03:03Z | www.jsonline.com | Protesters criticize Kleefisch for supporting Foxconn project | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2022/04/18/protesters-criticize-kleefisch-supporting-foxconn-project/7331734001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2022/04/18/protesters-criticize-kleefisch-supporting-foxconn-project/7331734001/ |
MADISON – Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard played four safeties in many games last season and sometimes relied on five.
With Scott Nelson and Collin Wilder trying to land a spot in the NFL and Travian Blaylock out indefinitely after suffering a knee injury, Leonhard is working this spring with two safeties who have game experience – John Torchio and Hunter Wohler.
Beyond that duo, Leonhard is using a pair of walk-ons and a few cornerbacks who are being cross-trained to play either position.
Leonhard, not surprisingly, hopes to bolster the unit. Speaking with reporters for about 19 minutes Monday, Leonhard acknowledged he isn’t sure whether Blaylock will be healthy enough to play in the fall and that UW might have to bring in a transfer.
“Tray was having a huge, huge spring,” Leonhard said of Blaylock, who suffered an apparent right knee injury on April 5. “I was so excited for him.”
More:Meet Riley Nowakowski, the Badgers' versatile pinch-hitter who has worked at linebacker, fullback and now at tight end
Blaylock played in 13 games last season, getting work on defense and special teams, and finished with 21 tackles and a fumble recovery.
Asked if Blaylock will be healthy enough to play next season, Leonhard said: “We don’t quite know at this point. It’s significant enough. … We’re trying to take care of him but it’s too early to tell what’s going on.”
Torchio started three games last season and has four starts and 26 games played in three seasons. He finished with 35 tackles, three for loss, and three interceptions last season.
The bulk of Wohler’s playing time last season came on special teams, though he got more snaps on defense as the season progressed. The standout from Muskego High School recorded 17 tackles, three for loss. He had one sack and one pass broken up.
“Outside of that,” Leonhard said, “you get really young. You get down into really young walk-ons.”
Walk-ons Owen Arnett and Bryce Carey have been getting plenty of work behind Torchio and Wohler. Arnett played outside linebacker as a senior at Arrowhead High School. Carey a graduate of Middleton High School, was a quarterback at Northern Illinois in 2019 before leaving the program and enrolling at UW.
Preston Zachman likely would be getting work as well but he has been out all spring with an apparent leg injury.
Leonhard has given cornerbacks Alexander Smith, Al Ashford, Cedrick Dort and freshman Avyonne Jones some work at safety.
“Using a number of corners just to build some flexibility in their skill set,” Leonhard said. “We need it.”
Cornerbacks coach Hank Poteat noted recently that Smith, who will be a fifth-year senior, has been the most dependable player on his unit this spring. According to Leonhard, Smith is also the cornerback best equipped to fill in at safety if needed.
“He is the one who is most ready because he has done it in the past,” Leonhard said. “He understands our scheme. He made a huge point of learning all that early in his career. Impressive the knowledge he has of our defense.”
Leonhard said the staff will discuss after spring ball ends on Friday whether to add a safety from the transfer portal.
“It’s hard to take a young guy that doesn’t necessarily have the experience at the collegiate level,” he said. “You look at some young guys that maybe you recruited out of high school…It is hard to say they’re going to come in and have an impact. You don’t know.
“They better be ready physically. They better be able to handle the adjustment to playing in this defense. There’s always going to be some question marks but you have to trust who the kid is, the way they’re wired and what they’ve done on the field to this point.”
UW coaches can’t comment on specific transfer targets but one possibility is Bryson Shaw, who announced earlier this month he is transferring from Ohio State.
Shaw, 6-foot and 195 pounds, initially committed to UW before de-committing and signing with the Buckeyes. He started 12 games last season and played in a total of 21 in three seasons at Ohio State. Shaw finished third on the team in tackles last season with 59.
“I like to play a lot of guys and let them play fast,” Leonhard said of his safeties. “Expect them to have huge roles on special teams and impact this game in a lot of different ways.
“It is a big concern of mine to not have that depth. You’re an injury away from being light. I know we have some flexibility within the corner group to help out and if we need to use that we will.” | 2022-04-18T22:03:09Z | www.jsonline.com | Wisconsin Badgers defense lacks experience at safety position | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/uw/2022/04/18/wisconsin-badgers-defense-lacks-experience-safety-position/7354254001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/uw/2022/04/18/wisconsin-badgers-defense-lacks-experience-safety-position/7354254001/ |
Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson was elected Monday to another two-year term at the helm of the 18-member board.
In her opening comments, she noted the challenges of the last two years with the coronavirus pandemic that upended life in Milwaukee and across the globe. Still, she said the board had accomplished much in the last term and she welcomed new members who were sworn in Monday alongside incumbent supervisors.
"We have six new members, and I truly believe we will accomplish much more together," she said as the board held its first in-person meeting in more than two years.
New District 11 Supervisor Kathleen Vincent was the only member who attended remotely. District 16 Supervisor Anthony Staskunas was excused from the meeting but was sworn in earlier in the day, County Clerk and interim Clerk of Circuit Court George Christenson said.
The swearing in was a distinctly celebratory event, with food and beverages set out on a table featuring a massive "congratulations" sign outside the room where supervisors took their oaths and first votes. Teal tablecloths, a vase of flowers and a macaron sat on each supervisor's desk.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson attended.
Nicholson was the only supervisor to run for chairperson. She was elected to her second term in the board's top leadership position with all of the 17 votes of the supervisors present.
And while the last term brought unprecedented challenges, it was also when she, County Executive David Crowley and Johnson rose to top leadership positions in the city and county, ushering in a moment of generational change. (Johnson was elected mayor this month after serving as Common Council president since 2020.)
Nicholson told the Journal Sentinel Monday that while the pandemic had dominated the last two years, the board in this term would return its focus to long-term challenges such as addressing the county's budget problems and protecting its cultural institutions.
The board also plans to continue holding its meetings in a hybrid format, which she said would make participation easier for people who could not or are not comfortable coming to the courthouse to speak at meetings. That change that took place in response to the pandemic is expected to last long into the future.
Nicholson also said she wanted to continue with a "collaborative spirit" that had been built between the board and Crowley and departments.
Still, the first two items taken up by the new board were potential overrides of vetoes from Crowley. In both cases, the board held off on making a decision.
In her statement of candidacy, Nicholson noted the turnover of one-third of the board in this month's election. Vincent along with Juan Miguel Martinez (District 12), Dyango Zerpa (District 14), Peter Burgelis (District 15), Steve F. Taylor (District 17) and Deanna Alexander (District 18) were newly elected to the board.
Incumbents had not sought re-election — or lost to a challenger in the case of longtime Supervisor John F. Weishan Jr.
In District 18, Alexander beat incumbent Supervisor Russell Antonio Goodwin Sr. in a write-in only election after Goodwin failed to gather enough signatures to get his name on the ballot. Her election marked her return to the seat after she did not run for re-election in 2020.
Alexander had filed a statement of candidacy for the position of first vice-chair but on Monday rescinded that notice and backed incumbent Supervisor Sequanna Taylor's bid for re-election to the position.
Alexander said after the meeting that when she submitted her statement of candidacy she believed there would be multiple candidates running for the positions of chair, first vice-chair and second vice-chair.
"In realizing that I was the only new candidate to step forward and offer myself for leadership, I also recognized that the three incumbents to the positions previously ran as a group and as a consolidated ticket," she said. "My goal was not to disrupt something that might be working but to offer new ideas and a new strategy."
Alexander also nominated Nicholson for the position of chairwoman.
Supervisor Steven Shea was re-elected to serve as second vice-chair. | 2022-04-19T00:43:50Z | www.jsonline.com | Marcelia Nicholson re-elected Milwaukee County Board chairwoman | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2022/04/18/marcelia-nicholson-re-elected-milwaukee-county-board-chairwoman/7355719001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2022/04/18/marcelia-nicholson-re-elected-milwaukee-county-board-chairwoman/7355719001/ |
A sore knee and the emergence of Tyrone Taylor have both reduced Lorenzo Cain's playing time for the Brewers
If the plan holds, Lorenzo Cain will be starting in center field for the Milwaukee Brewers in consecutive games Monday and Tuesday night – the first time that's happened this season.
The need to get Tyrone Taylor playing time has been part of the reason for Cain's slow ramp-up in playing time.
So, too, has been a balky left knee that's been bothering the 36-year-old since he reported to spring training last month.
"Slipped, had an awkward fall on the first day of the spring," Cain said in advance of Milwaukee's three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at American Family Field after revealing he'd been dealing with a "certain situation" with his knee.
Cain added the knee has troubled him to a degree since he tore the posterior cruciate ligament in it all the way back in 2008, during his first tenure with the Brewers in the minor leagues. He's been trying to reduce the swelling and tenderness in it since his early spring slip.
More:Brewers offense sets its season high for runs scored in an Easter Sunday win over St. Louis
"But, I've been healing up, getting ready to go," Cain continued. "Feeling better every day. Should be going back to back here today and tomorrow so that'll be nice, first back-to-back days. Hopefully I'll get out there more consistently play more games throughout the year.
"But if Tyrone's out there splitting time with me, it's because he deserves it. He's playing his (butt) off. I respect that kid a lot. He's a hard worker, goes about his business the right way and always has a smile on his face."
Entering Monday, Cain had started five times in center and was hitting .158 with two runs batted in. Taylor had logged five starts in center and another in left and was hitting .182 with two RBI – both of which came on a two-out, bases-loaded double in the seventh inning to spark a 6-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Taylor also flashed his defensive ability in a 2-0 loss at Baltimore last week with a pair of tremendous catches in center.
In the final season of a five-year, $80 million contract, Cain is coming off an injury marred 2021 in which he played in just 78 games while hitting .257/8/36 with a team-leading 13 stolen bases.
If there's one thing Cain has been known for during his time with the Brewers – other than his home-run-robbing catches, that is – it's been for his stubbornness regarding injuries and his insistence to play through them if at all possible.
The 2019 season was a prime example, when he gutted through 148 games and was a relatively productive player (.260/11/48/18) despite a painful thumb injury that affected his ability to grip the bat as well as oblique, wrist, ankle and leg issues.
Now in the twilight of his career Cain is on board with playing less if it keeps him healthier over the course of the season. He also understands the need to get Taylor more playing time.
"It's kind of helped me to slowly get healthy as the season goes on," Cain said of sharing time to this point. He logged only 16 at-bats in seven Cactus League games before the season opener April 7.
"I mean, Tyrone deserves to play. The kid is talented. So, I don't mind splitting it with him. Like I said, I'm not going to be here forever, and he's a guy that's very talented. We haven't talked about (a plan for splitting time), but if that's the case I'm completely fine with it.
"No arguments, no issues from me. The kid needs to get reps so he can stay as consistent as possible."
Asked about the plan for playing time for both Cain and Taylor in center, manager Craig Counsell didn't offer much.
"Lo's playing tonight," he said.
Asked about Cain's health, Counsell said, "He's doing good."
A tremendously prideful player, Cain leaves no doubt he wants to put together a strong performance in what could be his swan song. And the Brewers certainly will take all he can give as they seek to build on their franchise record of consecutive postseason appearances.
"Me and Craig talked and whether I'm back in there every other day, five days out of seven, whatever. You know me. I'll be ready to go and give the boys my best effort and hopefully it's a good one," Cain said. "And if it's not, I'll try again the next day. But either way, if Tyrone splits with me or gets more playing time, it's because the kid's earned it." | 2022-04-19T00:44:02Z | www.jsonline.com | Brewers' Lorenzo Cain has sore knees, splits time with Tyrone Taylor | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2022/04/18/brewers-lorenzo-cain-has-sore-knees-splits-time-tyrone-taylor/7354190001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2022/04/18/brewers-lorenzo-cain-has-sore-knees-splits-time-tyrone-taylor/7354190001/ |
This article originally appeared in The Progressive magazine's April/May 2022 issue and is reprinted with permission.
There, on an overcast morning in July 2021, Arijit Sen stopped his class of nine urban planning, architecture, and history students from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to admire the makeshift fence covering.
“Architects always think of art as specialized, the definition of beauty,” said Sen, an architect and vernacular architecture historian. “That very definition of beauty is about inequality. But there’s another definition of art — which is, basically, you’re putting in effort and skills in order to change your environment. Somebody took skills, materials, bricolage, to actually tie those things to the chain-link fence.”
Since 2012, Sen and his students in UW-Milwaukee’s Buildings-Landscapes-Cultures Field School have collaborated with local residents and leaders to offer a five-week summer course that documents the importance of people, places, and histories in some of Milwaukee’s most underserved neighborhoods. This kind of “immersive learning,” as Sen calls it, offers a model for reinventing higher education as a collaborative, community-based effort to imagine a more equitable and sustainable future.
This summer, Wisconsin Humanities will be adapting this model to launch Community Powered, a multi-year project “that builds resilience among Wisconsin communities by helping them recognize, communicate, and act upon their strengths, their challenges, and their histories to envision a vibrant future.”
To pilot the project, Sen and Co-Director Chrissy Widmayer will help train staff in humanities and digital media skills in four communities around the state: Appleton, Racine, Spooner, and the Forest County Potawatomi nation. In each place, the local staff will partner with a library or cultural organization and collaborate with non-profit organizations, businesses, and citizens to document community stories and address a local challenge raised by these stories.
In the process, Sen says, Community Powered will “sustain conversations” through local dialogues, events, and media, “empowering people to act through the humanities.”
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin is sharing this story as part of its Wisconsin Weavers Project, which is highlighting the efforts of people across the state who are helping to bring their communities together.
We borrowed this idea from The Aspen Institute, a global nonprofit headquartered in Washington, D.C., In 2018, it started Weave: The Social Fabric Project to solve the problem of broken social trust that has left many Americans divided. Aspen works to find weavers, tells their stories and offers them support and connection.
More:Bev Kelley-Miller's daughter died of a drug overdose. She became a dedicated advocate for people with addictions.
More:In La Crosse, a community group counters racism and white privilege with an ecosystem of care
Seeing a neighborhood's achievement and potential
In the 2021 Field School, the conversation began with walking the neighborhood of Washington Park with local residents, community leaders, and scholars. After observing the Hmong garden, the class gathered in the community room of the United Methodist Children’s Services of Wisconsin building that served as the Field School’s base. Sen talked about how “we were like children” strolling the neighborhood. Indeed, child-like wonder often widened the students’ eyes, whether discovering a garter snake curled through the garden fence or the exposed underbelly of a street where workers were replacing lead water pipes.
Washington Park is a neighborhood built for mostly German middle- and working-class families in the 1890s and early 1900s. In the second half of the 20th century, it became a thriving Black community. But in the 1980s and 1990s, the neighborhood bore the full brunt of Milwaukee’s industrial decline and associated disinvestment. The community now suffers from high unemployment and poverty.
The power of 'deep listening'
"Where I can make a difference, I feel, is just being able to talk," Sen says in an interview. "That’s why I keep saying that if you are to heal the world, you can’t be scared to say anything. You have to have the courage to make mistakes.”
Doctoral student Bernard Apeku embodies this courage. He describes the oral history interviews he conducted as “his proudest moments.” As a naturally shy person, he didn’t know if he could sustain a conversation for more than an hour with a stranger. But when he met two interviewees in their homes, he was surprised by his capacity to engage them.
“I’ve listened back to a lot of the oral histories that I conducted and I’m asking people, so naively, ‘What is it like to be in a segregated city on the wrong side of segregation?’ ” she said. “I realized that I’m asking people these painful questions when what they clearly want to talk about is how they are caring for their neighborhood, how they exercise their power and strength, even in spite of the city and the nation, and the history of racism.”
Wait cites people who have inspired her, such as David Boucher — the co-owner of Amaranth Bakery — and Sharaka Berry.
“When we had the storyboards up from the first couple years of Arijit’s work,” Boucher recalls, “people were regularly coming in, reading the boards. (They) started to meet people who were on the boards, and they’d actually not have to figure out how to break the ice. There were a couple of police officers who were neighbors that became police academy trainers, so they’d bring their cadets down. All of a sudden, they see the neighborhood as it presently is.”
In these ways and others, the Field School cultivates “civic consciousness” — one of Sen’s course goals — for more than just the students enrolled.
Sharing their work with the community
At the end of the Field School, the class always plans a public event to share its work. In 2021, this was a presentation at Amaranth Bakery on a rainy Saturday afternoon. About 20 masked community members, collaborators, and students gathered in chairs lined across the bakery’s hardwood floor. White storyboards featuring the faces of people the students interviewed filled the walls and banks of the room’s high front windows.
Sen’s opening remarks set the tone. “Equity, diversity, respect, and inclusion demand from us to expand beyond ourselves,” he told the gathering. “To learn to move beyond feel-good altruism toward a gritty, slow progress toward a cause. That cause is one of fellowship and belonging.”
Sen explained that the Field School “encourages us to discover that education, research, and scholarship are social contracts. Knowledge is a form of obligation toward the world around us, an external world that offers us erudition.”
In other words, the ultimate sources of knowledge are not professors or textbooks or Google. They are the places we inhabit and the human communities we co-create within these places. Higher education’s function is to provide engaging contexts for students to discover their connections with the world and empower them to build these connections.
Three teams of students shared the multimedia projects they created, including audio excerpts from oral histories and online story map tours of local community gardens and public art. They also reflected movingly on their research process and learning.
Sen saw this in the ways Kehinde and his team members helped each other work and stay well during the all-day course. “This level of caring for each other, it’s so beautiful,” he said later.
Sen isn’t alone in using words like “beautiful” and “caring” to describe the relationships his students developed with each other and the community. These words peppered the students’ presentations.
But this kind of education doesn’t have to be so extraordinary. Every neighborhood has stories that warrant the kind of inquiry the Field School teaches. When students can be engaged to gather and creatively share them, colleges and their communities can be knitted together.
After the presentations, I spoke with one of the students’ interviewees, Darrell Terrell, who lives in nearby Walnut Hill. A portrait of him shone on a storyboard behind us. He described the Field School’s work as a “reciprocal” exchange between insiders and outsiders. The student and faculty outsiders, he said, bring a “new pair of eyes, giving me some hope.” The sharing of stories that the Field School facilitates is a form of uplift.
Boucher, who’s more than six feet tall, leaned on the cooler next to his pastry case while he talked. A few students lingered, saying goodbye to him. After rounds of thank you's and praise for the bakery’s pastries, they turned toward the door.
Douglas Haynes of Madison, is the author of "Every Day We Live Is the Future: Surviving in a City of Disasters," a chronicle of two families confronting poverty and climate change in Managua. | 2022-04-19T13:29:48Z | www.jsonline.com | UWM documents Milwaukee stories, connects to a ‘network of hope’ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/solutions/2022/04/19/uwm-documents-milwaukee-stories-connects-network-hope/7362757001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/solutions/2022/04/19/uwm-documents-milwaukee-stories-connects-network-hope/7362757001/ |
An architectural award-winning home listed for $2.3 million is available for the first time in Fox Point.
Designed by the architecture firm La Dallman, the home, 1450 E. Goodrich Lane, has scenic views on a little over an acre. The home has 3,878 square feet with three bedrooms and two full bathrooms and two partial bathrooms, according to Mahler Sotheby's International Realty.
The home features large glass-enclosed rooms with scenic views from the ravine below out to Lake Michigan. The home includes a living room with three-sided fireplace, an open-concept kitchen and dining room lit by the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The primary suite has a walk-in closet and adjacent office. There are two additional bedrooms and a full bath on the second floor.
The lower level has a half-bathroom and could be used for a home theater or fitness room.
The property was built in 2006 by owners Gerald and Ellin Levy and was designed by architects Grace La and James Dallman; it has never been sold before.
"Architecture of this type and caliber is rare in Wisconsin. It's not only a house, but a work of art," said Sotheby's managing director, Paul Handle.
Over the years, the home has won a handful of architectural and design awards. They include: Gold Medal and Best of Competition from Milwaukee Home Magazine, Faculty Design Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute 2020 Design Award from Residential Buildings and a Merit Award for Design Excellence from AIA, Wisconsin.
For more information, call Handle at 414-964-2000.
RELATED:Summerfest president Don Smiley has bought a $1.6 million home on Pewaukee Lake
RELATED:The number of homes listed in Milwaukee in January and February was the second lowest this century | 2022-04-19T16:01:54Z | www.jsonline.com | $2.3 million Fox Point home by Sotheby's has winning architecture | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northshore/2022/04/19/2-3-million-fox-point-home-sothebys-has-award-winning-architecture/7354448001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northshore/2022/04/19/2-3-million-fox-point-home-sothebys-has-award-winning-architecture/7354448001/ |
The third annual Spring Bayshore Art Fair will feature more than 70 artists and artisans, live music, food trucks and more when it kicks off May 14.
The two-day, admission-free festival — sponsored by Welcome to Glendale — will operate from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 14 and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 15.
Amy Amdur, president and CEO at Amdur Productions, said the arts have faced hardships since 2020.
“Artists are micro-businesses and it was very difficult for people to get through the pandemic when they didn’t all necessarily qualify for PPP assistance," said Amdur.
She said the Bayshore Art Fair is special because “it’s focused not just on art, but on fine high crafts.”
Guests can expect to learn about the creative process from artists and purchase their artwork, which includes paintings, photographs, jewelry, furniture and more.
At the fair, artist and Paris native Jacqueline Cabassa Redlich will showcase her colorful paintings, sculptures and prints inspired by her time in France.
Cabessa left Paris for Milwaukee in 1984. Cabessa and her sister owned two Betty Bejaro boutique store locations at Mayfair Mall and Bayshore in the 1980s and '90s. Today, Cabessa teaches art at Bader Hillel Academy in Milwaukee.
Her vibrant artwork represents “joie de vivre,” a French term meaning “joy of living.” She said her artwork is created to “bring joy and happiness to the viewer.”
Cabessa will display paintings from her various series, including the Monaco Series, which features French cafes, dancing women and scenes from Europe. Her Women of the World collection depicts women from different cultures and backgrounds.
“I celebrate women quite a lot in my art,” she said. “I celebrate their sensibilities, but their strength at the same time.”
'Make a masterpiece'
The fair will be open an extra hour this year as Amdur expects thousands of guests to attend. She said children participating in the fair’s youth arts projects are “guaranteed to make a masterpiece.”
“We’re inviting people to come back and enjoy something that feels normal,” Amdur said.
Amdur said the fair will bring back interactive activities that were canceled at previous fairs due to the pandemic.
“We do this one thing that was a favorite of mine when I was a kid,” she said. “It's called spin art. It's like a turntable, and the paper goes on it, and then from the top you squish paint in and then it kind of splatters out.”
Amdur said other hands-on projects at the youth art tent include sand art, drawing and coloring.
The art fair will return to Bayshore this fall Sept. 17-18. | 2022-04-19T16:02:00Z | www.jsonline.com | Bayshore Art Fair in Glendale returns May 14, 15 | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northshore/news/glendale/2022/04/19/bayshore-art-fair-glendale-returns-may-14-15/7294312001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northshore/news/glendale/2022/04/19/bayshore-art-fair-glendale-returns-may-14-15/7294312001/ |
Milwaukee Ald. José G. Pérez becomes the city's first Latino elected Common Council president
The Milwaukee Common Council on Tuesday elected District 12 Ald. José G. Pérez to serve as council president, making him the first Latino to hold the position.
He takes command of the 15-member council after his predecessor, Cavalier Johnson, was elected mayor April 5.
Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa, who nominated Pérez, noted the historic nature of his election that comes just weeks after the city elected Johnson, its first Black mayor.
With his election, the top positions in Milwaukee and Milwaukee County government are all held by people of color.
Pérez was the only nominee and all 13 council members present voted for him Tuesday. Ald. Khalif Rainey was excused and the District 2 seat is open after Johnson's election.
The united council stood in contrast to the unusual publicly divided vote on which Johnson was elected just two years ago.
On Tuesday, Pérez said he wanted his term to be about a shared purpose.
"I want my time as your president to be about hope, about the future," Pérez told council members in a virtual meeting Tuesday.
He was first elected to the Common Council in 2012. | 2022-04-19T16:02:19Z | www.jsonline.com | Milwaukee Ald. José Pérez first Latino to be elected council president | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2022/04/19/milwaukee-ald-jose-perez-first-latino-elected-council-president/7362452001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2022/04/19/milwaukee-ald-jose-perez-first-latino-elected-council-president/7362452001/ |
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson taps Ald. Nik Kovac for budget director position in administration
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson is looking to bring one of his former Common Council colleagues into his administration.
District 3 Ald. Nik Kovac will be appointed to the position of budget and management director, replacing Dennis Yaccarino. The appointment requires Common Council approval and is expected to be heard by the council in the cycle that begins after Tuesday's meeting..
Kovac has represented the district that encompasses the east side and Riverwest since April 2008.
According to his city biography, Kovac grew up on the east side and attended Milwaukee Public Schools. He graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1999 with a degree in mathematics.
His appointment leaves two of the 15 seats open on the Common Council.
Johnson left his District 2 seat on the city's northwest side after being elected mayor in recent weeks.
The next council president will be elected at Tuesday's council meeting, after which a special election is expected to be ordered.
A special election has to be ordered by May 9 for it to coincide with the fall election cycle, according to the city.
More:Cavalier Johnson opens 'new chapter' in city's history and is sworn in as Milwaukee's mayor | 2022-04-19T16:02:25Z | www.jsonline.com | Milwaukee Mayor Johnson taps Ald. Nik Kovac for budget director | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2022/04/19/milwaukee-mayor-johnson-taps-ald-nik-kovac-budget-director/7365413001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2022/04/19/milwaukee-mayor-johnson-taps-ald-nik-kovac-budget-director/7365413001/ |
Milwaukee native Jordan Poole, a standout at Rufus King High School before his time at Michigan and with the Golden State Warriors, shares a floor with the star-studded "big three" of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. And yet, Poole has been carving out a place among basketball royalty.
With 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting, Poole played a major role in his team's 126-106 win over Denver on Monday, helping the Warriors take a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference opening-round matchup. The 6-4 shooting guard added five rebounds and eight assists while hitting half of his 3-point attempts (5 of 10).
More:Jordan Poole was once a scrawny guard at Milwaukee King High School. Now he plays for one of the best teams in the NBA.
That follows up a 30-point performance in Game 1, a 123-107 win over the Nuggets two nights earlier, the first playoff game of Poole's career. With Curry coming off the bench on his way back from a foot injury, Poole has remained in the starting lineup, and he shot 9 of 13 from the field with five three-pointers in that game. Only Wilt Chamberlain and Mitch Richmond had also scored 30 points in a playoff debut in franchise history.
"What a star in the making," Thompson said of Poole after Game 1, and Thompson referred to Poole as "Baby Steph" after Game 2.
Brad Botkin of CBS Sports called Poole "Steph-Klay Insurance" in his recap of Game 2.
"On nights like Monday, when the Big 3 are rolling, Poole going for 29 of his own points, throwing 3-point darts from all over the court and smoking defenders off the dribble, becomes an embarrassment of riches, and the Warriors might be unbeatable," Botkin wrote. "But it's the nights when Curry and Klay don't have it going, when the defense is up against, say, the Phoenix Suns offense and not the very limited Nuggets, when Poole will go from luxury to necessity.
"Right now, Poole is bordering on indefensible. He can create whatever shot he wants for himself, and he's also totally in tune with Golden State's read-and-react movement."
Poole finished his third season in the league with 76 games played and 18.5 points per game, with 4.0 assists and 3.4 rebounds. He shot 45% from the field and 93% from the free-throw line, plus 36% on three-pointers.
Depending on how you view the newly fashioned play-in games, Poole did get some postseason experience last year, including 19 points in his team's season-ending loss to Memphis. As a rookie, he got a bit of a trial-by-fire with injury-depleted Golden State in a season truncated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Poole came off the bench in 2014 for state-qualifying Rufus King, a squad that lost to eventual state champion Germantown in the semifinals. As a sophomore, he led King with 14.4 points per game to help his team go undefeated in the City Conference. He was first-team all state as a junior after averaging 18.2 points per game, but he transferred as a senior to La Lumiere Prep School in Indiana, though he had already committed as a junior to Michigan over offers from Illinois, Marquette, Virginia Tech, Memphis and more.
His departure coincided with that of longtime King coach Jim Gosz, who become the head coach at his alma mater, Dominican in Whitefish Bay.
At Michigan, Poole hit a deep three-pointer at the buzzer to help the Wolverines shock Houston in the second round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. The Wolverines then made it all the way to the championship game, where they lost to future Bucks draft pick Donte DiVincenzo and Villanova.
Poole joined a number of Wisconsinites to hit buzzer-beaters (or near buzzer-beaters) in the NCAA Tournament, including Arike Ogunbowale, Paul Jesperson, Korie Lucious, Freddie Owens and Bronson Koenig. After the 2019 season, he was taken with the 28th overall pick by the Warriors, and even as recently as last year, he was playing enough G-League basketball to be named third-team all-league with the Santa Cruz Warriors.
This year's Warriors also feature Milwaukee Hamilton graduate Kevon Looney and former Marquette University player Juan Toscano-Anderson. Looney started each of the first two playoff games, while Toscano-Anderson has played eight total minutes and scored six points. | 2022-04-19T16:02:31Z | www.jsonline.com | Milwaukee's Jordan Poole helps Golden State Warriors in NBA playoffs | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/2022/04/19/milwaukee-native-jordan-poole-stars-for-golden-state-warriors-against-denver-nuggets-in-nba-playoffs/7366258001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/2022/04/19/milwaukee-native-jordan-poole-stars-for-golden-state-warriors-against-denver-nuggets-in-nba-playoffs/7366258001/ |
The last local malting plant, originally operated by now-defunct Froedtert Malt Corp., closed earlier this year.
Malteurop North America Inc., formerly known as International Malting Co., recently sold the West Milwaukee facility, known for its towering grain elevators, to an investment group led by Waukesha business operator Tom Beaudry.
The malting plant, 3830 W. Grant St., sold for $900,000, according to newly posted online state real estate records.
Beaudry couldn't be immediately reached for more information about his plans for property.
He operates Beaudry Services Inc., which provides concrete and poured foundation services for residential and commercial construction projects.
Malteurop North America in June issued a plant closing notice for the West Milwaukee operation.
The company said the closing was due to the economic impact of COVID-19, and was expected to eliminate 28 jobs.
The plant closed in phases from August through January.
It was built in the 1920s by Froedtert Malt.
Froedtert Malt and other malting companies were a big part of Milwaukee's industrial landscape, supplying malt for Miller Brewing Co., Pabst Brewing Co., Schlitz Brewing Co. and other brewers.
They included the Fleischmann-Kurth Malting facility, 2100 S. Miller Park Way, West Milwaukee.
International Malting closed that plant in 2003. It was later demolished, and the site now has a Dental Associates dental clinic.
Those large brewers, except for Miller's successor, Molson Coors Beverage Co., no longer operate in Milwaukee.
While Froedtert Malt was sold in 1986, the Froedtert name is still well-known through its association with Froedtert Hospital.
Kurtis Froedtert, who operated the family-owned business for decades, helped fund the hospital.
His name surfaced in headlines in recent years over a court battle centering on how Froedtert Hospital Trust managed money Kurtis Froedtert provided the trust through his 1951 estate.
That dispute was settled in June through the creation of an $11.5 million scholarship fund for University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Milwaukee Area Technical College students.
More:Milwaukee Brewing Company put up for sale, according to statement from acquisition firm
More:Lakefront Brewery is looking to upgrade its Riverwalk beer garden for 2023 | 2022-04-19T18:21:16Z | www.jsonline.com | Milwaukee's last local malting plant Malteurop North America has sold | https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/real-estate/commercial/2022/04/19/milwaukees-last-local-malting-plant-malteurop-north-america-has-sold/7366806001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/real-estate/commercial/2022/04/19/milwaukees-last-local-malting-plant-malteurop-north-america-has-sold/7366806001/ |
Breaking the news on Good Morning America Tuesday, the Robinsons said their two sons were kicked out of the school after the parents raised concerns about bias in the curriculum and mistreatment of students of color.
A spokesperson for USM did not immediately reply to questions from the Journal Sentinel.
The Robinsons said they are seeking financial compensation from the school, which is located in River Hills and charges about $24,000 a year for tuition. The Robinsons pledged to give any monetary award to initiatives for diversity, equity and inclusion in schools.
According to the complaint filed in court Monday, the Robinsons' sons started junior kindergarten and first grade at USM in 2016 and stayed until the school forced them to leave in spring 2021, when they were 9 and 11.
The Robinsons said they started noticing problems in the curriculum during the pandemic. In November 2020, they said they brought their concerns to USM staff, noting worksheets and projects that were offensive to people of color, people with disabilities, Indigenous people and other underrepresented students.
In January and March of 2021, Kelly Robinson said, she submitted two bias reports through the school's reporting system, regarding classwork that had "socioeconomic insensitivities." She said the school acknowledged receiving her reports but didn't take action.
The Robinsons also began learning more about other families' experiences at USM, including a lack of repercussions for racial epithets and other discrimination against students of color. Some of those stories have been shared on the Instagram account, "Black at USM."
The Robinsons said they also heard about an "Underground Railroad" simulation that went on for years before the school ended it in the 2010s. They said fourth-grade students were told to dress and act like "runaway slaves," navigating dark classrooms and hallways while staff acting as "slave catchers" tried to catch them.
While school administrators were initially open to discussing curriculum issues with the Robinsons, the posture changed when they raised concerns about mistreatment of students of color, the parents said in the lawsuit. The Robinsons said the school "acted abruptly to silence" them and force their children out.
In an April email to Kelly Robinson, included in the lawsuit, school administrator Steve Hancock told Kelly she had failed to follow the school's expectations for parents, engaging in "disrespectful and deflating" communications. In the same email, Hancock requested she find another school for one of her sons.
In June, Hancock said the school would not allow either of the Robinson children to return for the 2021-22 school year, according to another email filed with the suit. He again blamed Kelly's communications for the school's decision, calling the children "students who embody USM’s portrait of a graduate."
In the complaint, the Robinsons said their children have been traumatized by having to leave their school at "impressionable ages."
While their children no longer attend USM, the Robinsons said they decided to file the suit to prevent other families from going through similar experiences at the school.
"Kelly and Craig feel a responsibility to other families to do what they can to force USM to confront and address its troubling history, toxic culture, and current practices," reads a website set up by the family, donttrustusm.com.
This story is developing. Come back to jsonline for more later. | 2022-04-19T18:21:22Z | www.jsonline.com | Michelle Obama's brother, his wife sue University School of Milwaukee | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/education/2022/04/19/michelle-obamas-brother-his-wife-sue-university-school-milwaukee/7367191001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/education/2022/04/19/michelle-obamas-brother-his-wife-sue-university-school-milwaukee/7367191001/ |
When first responders were dispatched to a medical call in Germantown on Sunday, April 10, third-shift Police Officer Justin Pesch was just a few blocks away and beat emergency medical services crews to the scene.
Ideally, EMTs arrive first on a call of this nature. But in this case, things moved too quickly and Pesch, who works as a canine officer, had to step in.
Moments later, Mason Rukis, the son of Christine and Alex Rukis, made his appearance into the world, arriving just before midnight.
Pesch thought, "Wow. I delivered a baby. I never thought I would deliver a baby."
More:Washington County Sheriff’s Office will get body and squad cameras after receiving a federal grant
More:A Germantown boy and his Big Brother have been named Wisconsin’s Big and Little Brother of the Year. Here’s how you can volunteer.
Alex Rukis said his wife woke up about 11:10 p.m. and started having contractions five minutes apart. Their baby's due date was April 20, and Christine was scheduled to have labor induced on April 15.
When she started having contractions that night, though, the couple decided they should head to the hospital.
"My wife was having strong contractions, and she was heading to the shower," said Alex Rukis. When she returned to the bedroom minutes later, her water broke. "She said to call 911. At that point, I was just trying to wrap my head on what my next steps (were) to deliver the baby out safely."
Christine Rukis, a neonatal intensive care unit nurse, instructed her husband to get towels ready as she prepared for labor on the bathroom floor.
'A very humbling experience'
Pesch said he never had any in-depth training on how to deliver a baby, but did receive basic training at the police academy before he became a sworn officer 6½ years ago.
"I was trying to remember what I could," he said. "I let instincts take over."
He tried to talk Christine through her pain. "I tried to get her to calm down and have her breathing and to relax. I said if you need to push, go ahead. If not, wait for the fire department."
"She was a trooper," he said.
It wasn't long before Mason arrived. "I saw the head, and then the eyes and the nose. I was able to catch him and put him on his mother's chest (wrapped with a towel)," Pesch said. "Luckily, he cried right away. It was a very humbling experience."
Christine noted how quick Mason's delivery was. Her water broke at 11:47 p.m., and Mason was born at 11:54 p.m.
The couple has two other sons; Connor will be 4 on July 22, and Dylon will be 2 on July 24. Christine said their deliveries took hours.
Pesch said he cut the umbilical cord at their home.
Christine and Mason were then taken to the hospital; they were discharged Tuesday afternoon. She said both she and Mason are healthy and doing well.
Police Chief Mike Snow listened to the delivery on the body camera footage. He said he was impressed with how calm and smooth the delivery was.
"It was a rare call," he said. "It was something in all my time, I never had to go to a delivery in progress. I watched the camera, and he (Pesch) stayed calm."
Christine Rukis said she was surprised to learn this was Pesch's first delivery.
"He was very calm," she said. "We found out after that he never delivered a baby before. I was surprised." | 2022-04-19T20:31:51Z | www.jsonline.com | Germantown police officer delivers a baby in a rare house call | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northwest/news/germantown/2022/04/19/germantown-police-officer-delivers-baby-rare-house-call/7294791001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northwest/news/germantown/2022/04/19/germantown-police-officer-delivers-baby-rare-house-call/7294791001/ |
After weeks of meetings and hours of debate, Wauwatosa officials have decided how to spend the $24.7 million the city received from federal pandemic relief funds.
The money from the American Rescue Plan Act will go to a variety of purposes. Larger projects include $5.25 million for a water pumping station for the west side of the city, $4 million for parks and open spaces, $2.5 million for a water main relay for 68th Street and $1.75 million for a housing rehabilitation program.
City staff gathered public input through focus groups, community meetings and online feedback before officials decided how to allocate the funds.
The funds break down into seven categories:
COVID-19 response ($1,093,317)
General government and administration ($2,907,615)
Equity ($2,092,000)
Infrastructure ($11,802,000)
Mental health ($1,482,543)
Parks ($4,000,000)
Small business support and development ($1,286,400)
In total, local governments in Wisconsin are set to receive about $2.3 billion from the act. Wauwatosa received the sixth highest amount of any municipality in the state.
And $24 million represents about a third of the city's annual budget, according to John Ruggini, the city's finance director.
Forty-five proposals, totaling $55.5 million, were originally submitted for the funds.
The funding package the Wauwatosa Committee of the Whole saw in early March included 19 of those proposals, totaling $23.7 million. But at that time, some alderpeople expressed a desire to see other proposals that weren't included.
Some eligible uses for the federal funds include supporting the public health response to the pandemic, replacing public sector revenues lost from the pandemic, investing in water and sewer infrastructure, addressing negative economic effects from the pandemic, financial support for essential workers and investing in broadband infrastructure.
$4 million for parks
The federal government opened up the funding for a municipality to use lost revenue from the coronavirus pandemic for a broader range of uses, according to Ruggini.
That allowed city officials to allocate $4 million for parks and open spaces in the city under the 2017 Active Tosa plan.
That was one proposal that was not included in the original staff report.
Ald. Jason Wilke proposed the allocation.
"I think with the American Recovery Plan, there's a need for something tangible that a generation can point to, and the parks and open spaces ranked highly in public input as something that people really came out and found that was useful during this pandemic," Wilke said during a March 9 Committee of the Whole meeting.
Ald. Jason Kofroth also voted in favor of the proposal.
"When you talk about something that is accessible to everybody ... this is what it is," Koffroth said.
The Active Tosa plan, passed in 2017, is a comprehensive master plan for parks, trails, open spaces and recreational facilities in the city. It was a joint process between the city and the Wauwatosa School District to plan for the community's future park and recreation needs.
It's not entirely clear yet how the money will be used, but it's likely a city committee or commission will soon decide how to earmark the $4 million.
Larger proposals
Early on in the process, some alderpeople expressed several needs the resources could be used for, including help for small businesses, mental health resources, funding for affordable housing and funding and help for underserved populations in the city, including seniors or those with disabilities.
The council also decided to revise the amount some proposals received.
The council allocated $824,317 for the Wauwatosa Health Department's response to COVID-19, specifically "prevention and mitigation of COVID-19; addressing disparities in public health outcomes; and pandemic planning," according to the funding proposal.
Another $1.75 million was allocated for a housing rehabilitation program to help rehabilitate older units in the city. The funds would be loaned to low- to moderate-income households.
"Eligible activities may include electrical, roofing, siding, flooring, windows, stairs, foundation, structural repairs, furnaces, hot water heaters, and accessibility improvements. It is anticipated that the maximum loan amount would be $50,000 per household," the funding proposal said.
Included in the infrastructure proposals is a $5.25 million water pumping station needed for the west side of the city. That station, which will be adjacent to the Burleigh water tower, is needed as the west side of the city only has one pumping station and one water tower, compared to two water towers and three pumping stations on the city's east side, according to public works director David Simpson.
Other infrastructure projects include a $2.5 million water main relay for 68th Street, a $1.05 million water main lining project for Mayfair Road, a $1.8 million water main relay project for Potter Road and $700,000 to remodel two fire station sleeping areas.
$350,000 was allocated for five community health workers who would provide mental health resources to the city's youth. A similar proposal for $400,000 was allocated to put more social workers in the Wauwatosa School District.
Meanwhile, $500,000 was allocated for a Small Business Building Improvement Program.
"Funds will provide one-time direct financial assistance to eligible small businesses disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and have a need for financial assistance to undertake building improvements," the funding proposal said.
As of March 31, the city has spent 5.2% of the funds, Ruggini said.
You can view exactly how the city is allocating the funds at bit.ly/tosaarpa. | 2022-04-19T20:31:57Z | www.jsonline.com | Wauwatosa ARPA funds: officials allocate funds | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/west/news/wauwatosa/2022/04/19/wauwatosa-arpa-funds-officials-allocate-funds/7316263001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/west/news/wauwatosa/2022/04/19/wauwatosa-arpa-funds-officials-allocate-funds/7316263001/ |
Immy's African Cuisine opens soon on Milwaukee's east side
Immy's African Cuisine makes its official debut as a brick-and-mortar restaurant Friday, at 2845 N. Oakland Ave.
Immy's, owned and operated by Immy Kaggwa, has operated as a popular food truck at the Shorewood Farmers Market and at festivals, and it started selling takeout in the pandemic from a rented kitchen on the northwest side.
The counter-service restaurant now will have a dining room for its customers, and Kaggwa plans to add wine and beer later.
Immy's still will offer takeout and catering, and the restaurant has room for private parties of 20 to 40 people. The restaurant — formerly the site of Shahrazad, which moved a few blocks north — can seat up to 80.
Kaggwa came to the United States from Uganda more than 30 years ago. She worked for Time Insurance, later Assurant Health, for 15 years before leaving to raise her children. She began cooking professionally then, making dishes from east Africa for festivals and catered events and adding dishes from the Caribbean after clients asked for them.
On the restaurant menu, customers will find some appetizers: samosas, fried pastries holding vegetables or ground turkey, and bajia, potato covered in chickpea flour and spices and fried.
The main dishes are stews ranging from $10 to $19, such as chicken curry with spinach, jerk chicken and vegetable stew; spicy egusi, a melon-seed stew served with beef or chicken; lentil stew; and peanut stew with chicken or eggplant and mushrooms.
The stews are served with rice except for egusi, which is served with fufu, or pounded yam.
Also on the menu: chapati, the flatbread, and African doughnuts for dessert, as well as smoothies, juice, teas and sodas.
The restaurant's regular hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
Related:'Everything is done with passion': Immy's African Cuisine creator serves foods from her homeland | 2022-04-19T20:32:03Z | www.jsonline.com | Immy's African Cuisine opens Friday on Milwaukee's east side | https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/04/19/immys-african-cuisine-opens-friday-milwaukees-east-side-new-restaurant/7356448001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/04/19/immys-african-cuisine-opens-friday-milwaukees-east-side-new-restaurant/7356448001/ |
Dinosaur-loving families will be excited to learn that a "Jurassic World"-themed live show is coming to Fiserv Forum in November.
The Jurassic World Live performances will feature a story inspired by the "Jurassic World" movies, complete with the classic musical score and more than 24 life-size dinosaurs — including Blue the velociraptor and the famous T-Rex — operated by performers with animatronics.
Tickets go on sale to the public April 26 at 10 a.m. and can be bought online at jurassicworldlivetour.com. Information on ticket prices wasn't immediately available.
Performances are 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11; 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12; and 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13.
"Jurassic World Dominion," billed as the final chapter in the "Jurassic World" movie series, opens in theaters June 10.
More:The park on the Summerfest grounds opens to families again April 23. There will also be free entertainment there.
More:Go to the park, enjoy spring and welcome baseball season with your family | 2022-04-19T20:32:09Z | www.jsonline.com | Jurassic World Live tour coming to Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum November | https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/wisconsin-family/2022/04/19/jurassic-world-live-tour-coming-milwaukees-fiserv-forum-november-2022/7369711001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/wisconsin-family/2022/04/19/jurassic-world-live-tour-coming-milwaukees-fiserv-forum-november-2022/7369711001/ |
Wisconsin now has its first clean-energy plan aimed at promoting energy independence, lowering fuel prices, and reducing the harmful effects of global warming, Gov. Tony Evers office said Tuesday.
The plan, written in conjunction with the governor’s Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy, identifies dozens of strategies meant to reduce Wisconsin’s reliance on out-of-state energy sources, and at the same time, create thousands of jobs in new industries and technologies.
One of the goals is 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050, while some of the other goals are more immediate.
“There are historic opportunities presented by an influx of federal dollars to invest in once-in-a-generation efforts,” Evers office said in a news release.
For the most part, Wisconsin doesn’t have its own oil and gas. Instead, the state spends more than $14 billion a year on out-of-state energy, according to Evers.
“That’s money we could be using to invest in clean, made-in-Wisconsin energy to help lower energy bills while also creating good-paying job opportunities and apprenticeship training in innovative technologies and industries,” the governor said in a news release.
A study released in March by the Midwest Economic Policy Institute found if Wisconsin meets its goal of transitioning to 100% clean energy over the next 30 years, it could grow the state’s economy by $21 billion and create more than 34,000 jobs.
Jadine Sonoda, campaign coordinator with the Wisconsin Chapter of the Sierra Club, said it is becoming clear that clean energy is not just for people who care about the environment, which will benefit everyone in the future.
More:This lifelong conservative Beaver Dam farmer is sold on the economic potential of solar power
"It's for people who care about the economy and who care about their health, which is encouraging," Sonoda said. "Economically it is a really good decision. As that becomes even more clear, it just expands the base even broader as far as people who are interested in investing in clean energy or hosting it, like farmers."
As the cost of clean-energy comes down, solar and wind power are becoming more affordable. At the same time, the new plan cautions that without urgent, meaningful action to address climate change, Wisconsinites will see higher utility bills as they use more energy to heat and cool their homes in response to extreme weather.
By investing in clean, renewable energy now, while costs are low, Wisconsin can reduce the burden of future energy costs, according to Evers.
Updating commercial building codes, using local building products, protecting forests, developing low-carbon building materials, and scaling up renewable heating and cooling in industrial buildings, are among the objectives.
The plan also calls for a transition to electric vehicles and leveraging federal funding to add charging stations.
Wisconsin now has roughly the same number of electric vehicles as Indiana and more than three times as many as Iowa, according to U.S. Department of Transportation figures.
There were 7,521 electric vehicles registered in Wisconsin as of mid-2021, according to the most recent figures from the state Department of Transportation. That was up 156% from 2018 and more than eight times higher than in 2016.
The White House has an EV strategy that includes a nationwide network of charging stations and $5 billion for states to build them. Last summer, President Joe Biden set a goal of making half of all new cars, trucks and SUVs sold in the U.S. zero-emission vehicles by 2030, including EVs and hydrogen fuel-cell cars.
The majority of electric vehicle owners do most of their charging at home where it’s cheaper and convenient. But it’s getting easier to find public charging stations, said Eric Powers with EV Powers Hybrid Battery Service and Repair in Madison.
Grocery stores and gas stations have added chargers.
“There are still some challenges in rural areas,” Powers said, but charging is readily available in cities and suburbs.
Some of the largest dairy farms have installed anaerobic methane digesters that convert manure gas into fuel used to run vehicles like buses and trucks. The digesters have become a profitable sideline for farms seeking additional ways to use millions of gallons of livestock waste.
Wisconsin has more methane digesters than nearly any other state, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data.
The digesters work by sealing manure into a giant pit or tanks to keep oxygen out while microbes feed on the contents and produce methane that's captured and refined into renewable natural gas or is burned to generate electricity.
The liquid and solid materials that come out of the process can be applied to fields as fertilizer in a more precise, focused way than raw manure, reducing but not eliminating the risk of pollution from phosphorous and nitrates that trigger algae blooms in waterways and contaminate drinking water in private wells.
Some farms may create a future out of thin air with industrial-scale photosynthesis that captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and with sunlight, converts it into the fuel additive ethanol.
“Wisconsinites should have the opportunity to make their own decisions about their energy use,” Evers said in announcing the clean energy plan.
“By expanding and speeding up production of cheaper, cleaner energy...we can keep our money here at home rather than relying on unpredictable markets often disrupted by foreign leaders and conflicts,” he said. | 2022-04-19T20:32:15Z | www.jsonline.com | Wisconsin clean energy plan seeks carbon-free power, lower fuel costs | https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/2022/04/19/wisconsin-clean-energy-plan-seeks-carbon-free-power-lower-fuel-costs/7370161001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/2022/04/19/wisconsin-clean-energy-plan-seeks-carbon-free-power-lower-fuel-costs/7370161001/ |
Tanzanian president visits SC Johnson in Racine to discuss mosquito repellents that could curb malaria
RACINE - Researchers at SC Johnson's Center for Insect Science and Family Health hosted Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan Tuesday, walking her through the company's efforts to develop new mosquito repellent products that may help curb the spread of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases.
The two products, which are still under development, can be hung in homes, spreading mosquito-repelling chemicals for up to 10 months without the need for electricity or a flame. They are being developed by a team within the company that focuses specifically on supporting global public health efforts.
SC Johnson entomologists said the new products, called Mosquito Shield and Guardian, would provide people with mosquito protection that complements other commonly-used tools in countries where malaria is an issue, like mosquito nets that hang over beds and more widespread pesticide spraying efforts by public health officials.
The company's scientists conducted research on the products in Tanzania, in partnership with a local research group called the Ifakara Health Institute.
Now, the researchers are conducting clinical trials on the products in Kenya and Mali, with the aim of demonstrating their success to the World Health Organization.
If successful, the products could be added to a WHO list of recommended mosquito abatement products that would be eligible for governments to purchase using public health dollars. The company seeks to keep the cost of the hanging mosquito repellents at or below one cent per person per night. One version of the product lasts one month and costs $0.30. Another, which lasts 10 months, costs $3.00.
Hassan questioned researchers on the technology researchers and watched intently as they released mosquitoes into a clear chamber to demonstrate how the product incapacitated and repelled the insects.
"We actually got a great deal of knowledge that we didn't have before," she said to the research team, thanking them.
Before her arrival at the Center for Insect Science, Hassan met with the company's chairman and CEO, H. Fisk Johnson, on the company's main campus to discuss a potential agreement to collaborate on public health measures and research aimed at addressing the scourge of malaria, SC Johnson's senior vice president Alan VanderMolen said.
The World Health Organization estimates there were 241 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2020. Of those, 95% of the cases and 96% of the deaths were in Africa. East Africa, which includes Tanzania, is particularly embattled when it comes to the spread of the disease, and scientists fear the situation is getting worse as the climate changes.
The disease is spread by anopheles mosquitoes.
“Every minute, a child under five dies from malaria, most of whom are from Africa, and at SC Johnson, we are committed to sharing our expertise in insect science to help eradicate this tragic, yet preventable, disease,” Johnson said in a statement before the visit. “We are honored to welcome President Hassan and are grateful to work alongside the Tanzanian government and the greater East African community toward our common goal of eliminating malaria.”
Series on disease outbreaks:Pathway to peril
Hassan is in the U.S. for a diplomatic tour that also included meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday at the White House. White House officials said the two talked about several major issues, including health, agriculture and infrastructure developments. They also reported that Hassan's trip had generated nearly $1 billion in new investments by American companies in Tanzania's tourism, conservation and clean energy sectors.
Hassan is Tanzania's first female president, and the only current female head of government of an African nation, according to The New York Times. She was elevated to the role from the vice presidency in March 2021, after the sudden death of Tanzania's former president John Magufuli, who the BBC called one of Africa's "most prominent coronavirus skeptics" and was nicknamed the "Bulldozer."
Hassan has been lauded for setting a new path for the polarized country, encouraging COVID-19 vaccines, lifting educational restrictions for pregnant girls, and bringing back investors to the country, the Times reported. She's fondly known by her people as "Mama Samia."
H. Fisk Johnson and Hassan also met in Tanzania last week prior to the president's visit to the Wisconsin labs, which have operated for six decades on the Wind Point campus that used to house the Johnson family's dairy farm.
SC Johnson is one of the world's largest manufacturers of insect repellents, including OFF! and Raid. | 2022-04-19T20:32:26Z | www.jsonline.com | Tanzanian president visits SC Johnson labs in hopes of curbing maleria | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/health/2022/04/19/tanzanian-president-visits-sc-johnson-labs-hopes-curbing-maleria/7365451001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/health/2022/04/19/tanzanian-president-visits-sc-johnson-labs-hopes-curbing-maleria/7365451001/ |
Jevon Carter doesn't know how many minutes he is going to play for the Milwaukee Bucks from game to game, especially in the NBA playoffs when coaches tighten rotations. Such is life for a backup guard.
But Carter knows he better be ready for whenever he is summoned by Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer.
"I prepare like I'm going to play 48 (minutes) every night," Carter said on Monday.
With George Hill missing Game 1 of the first-round series against the Chicago Bulls due to an abdominal strain, Carter jumped right in and played 10 minutes. The 26-year-old guard will be prepared if the Bucks need him in Game 2 on Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum.
"I'm a basketball player, it's what I want to do," Carter said. "It's what I dreamed of as a kid, playing in the playoffs meaningful minutes. I love this game. I'm always having fun when I'm out there. I treat every game like it's a playoff game."
Carter knocked down a three-pointer and pulled down two rebounds in Game 1. But the 6-foot-1 guard has found a place with three NBA teams over four seasons by doing things that don't show up in the box score. In the fourth quarter, he stuck with the Bulls' Zach LaVine around a screen and helped force a loose ball that was scooped up for a steal by the Bucks' Bobby Portis. A few minutes later, after Chicago grabbed an offensive rebound, Carter contested a three-point attempt by Nikola Vucevic and forced the 6-foot-11 Bulls center into a traveling violation.
Those sort of plays are why the Bucks signed Carter in February after he was waived by the Brooklyn Nets. He played 20 games for the Bucks in the regular season, averaging 5.6 points, 2.5 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game.
"Our confidence in Jevon is very high," Budenholzer said before Game 1. "He's been very, very good for us. So I think he's looking forward to the opportunity. Fortunate to have somebody as good. He's earned everybody's trust and respect in the time he's been here."
Carter is well-acquainted with the dirty work of basketball. He earned several NCAA defensive player of the year awards as a senior at West Virginia in the 2017-18 season. Carter spearheaded the Mountaineers' vaunted "Press Virginia" defensive attack and is the school's career and single-season leader in steals. He learned quickly that mistakes weren't tolerated by notoriously hard-charging coach Bob Huggins, with offenders being punished by running 45 seconds on a treadmill going 15 miles per hour.
"Coming into West Virginia, I thought I played hard," Carter said. "I was wrong. He showed me how to unlock another level of playing hard. There's always another effort you can give and it starts with the mental. You tell yourself you can do anything and if you believe it, you can go out there and do that."
Landing with the Bucks also allows Carter to study with defensive master Jrue Holiday.
"Jrue probably don't know this, but I've been watching Jrue for a long time," Carter said. "I always felt like Jrue was one of the best two-way guards in this league. With his size, what he's able to do at his size is amazing to watch.
"As far as what I've learned from him, really it's just being able to see him every day up close and personal. Just watching how he does it every day. That's just the biggest key is to learn little things. Because it's going to be different for me because he's the got the size I don't have. So I got to pick up on little things from other guys on how to be better every day."
That's why Carter is ready for his opportunities. | 2022-04-19T20:32:50Z | www.jsonline.com | Bucks' Jevon Carter came off bench with George Hill injured in Game 1 | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2022/04/19/bucks-jevon-carter-came-off-bench-george-hill-injured-game-1/7365748001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2022/04/19/bucks-jevon-carter-came-off-bench-george-hill-injured-game-1/7365748001/ |
Last week, the Marquette men's basketball team signed a third player to its 2022 recruiting class.
This week, Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart got his first recruit for 2023.
Zaide Lowery, a 6-foot-4 guard from Kickapoo High School in Missouri, announced his commitment to MU on Tuesday.
More: Shaka Smart's first season had exhilarating highs and a crushing finish
More: Smart hopes incoming freshmen will help build culture
Lowery also had scholarship offers from Missouri State and Kansas State, although he seems to be a rapidly improving player. He is the No. 99 prospect in the 247Sports composite rankings for the 2023 class.
He began his sophomore season in 2020-21 on junior varsity but became a varsity role player on a team that won a state championship.
Lowery gained more notice last summer playing with his AAU team Missouri Flight. MU offered him a scholarship in July and he made an official visit to campus in November. Smart also watched Lowery practice in February.
Lowery took on a bigger role as a junior and averaged 15.5 points per game on 55% shooting, including 38% on three-pointers. He became widely known in the area for his high-flying dunks.
That explosive athleticism also helped Lowery become a standout wide receiver in football and he had offers to play that sport in college.
Lowery seems to be the kind of high-upside player that Smart and his staff target. Last week, Smart talked about his recruiting philosophy with so many college teams targeting players in the transfer portal.
"Maybe I'm old school," Smart said. "I love the opportunity to develop relationships with guys while they're still in high school. With their families. To really get to know them and even be a part of their growth process before they get to college.
"And then continue to help them over the months and over the years to become full-fledged grown men. Now the challenge with that obviously is retention. There's a lot of guys in college basketball moving around. That's their prerogative and there's a whole lot of different reasons why guys do that.
"But we're still going to build our program primarily through high school kids. That doesn't mean we would never take a transfer. I think it would be irresponsible to not at least look. But those guys have to fit, too. The thing I've learned over the years is that the older a guy is that you bring into your program, the more he probably is who he is. Whereas (a player like MU's) Emarion Ellis, he came in here at 17 years old. That's a moldable guy. There's some things you can change and improve and help him learn."
The early signing period for 2023 basketball recruits begins Nov. 9. | 2022-04-20T00:31:05Z | www.jsonline.com | 2023 guard Zaide Lowery from Kickapoo Missouri commits to Marquette | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/marquette/2022/04/19/2023-guard-zaide-lowery-kickapoo-missouri-commits-marquette/7370272001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/marquette/2022/04/19/2023-guard-zaide-lowery-kickapoo-missouri-commits-marquette/7370272001/ |
Wisconsin zoos are helping visitors empathize with animals. They hope that will encourage conservation.
During a visit to the Milwaukee County Zoo, visitors can read signs that highlight similarities between animal and human senses, brains and family structures. Zookeepers speak to guests in front of the habitats, calling the animals by their names and describing their personalities as they tell anecdotes about their care. And zoo class leaders invite children to create their own artwork inspired by different cultures' reverence for animal traits and characteristics.
Those are all examples of building empathy for animals, and it's becoming increasingly popular at zoos as they utilize people's ability to relate to animals to advance their missions of animal conservation.
The Milwaukee County Zoo, Racine Zoo and Madison's Henry Vilas Zoo are all part of the Advancing Conservation through Empathy for Wildlife Network (ACE for Wildlife). As part of the network, the zoos' staff members attend symposiums, share their experiences, and learn best practices for solidifying their empathy-building philosophy throughout their programs.
Their membership in the network also allows them to apply for grants through the network's grant-awarding program in partnership with Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo.
The Milwaukee Zoological Society recently announced it has received one of those grants — for $250,000 — that will go toward building the capacity to further develop the zoo's programming to focus on encouraging visitors and community members to feel empathy for animals and thus want to help conserve them and their habitats.
During the grant's 18-month time period, the society will create an advisory board and bring on a new staff member to evaluate programming to determine existing best practices regarding empathy and to develop a framework that allows future programming to be developed with empathy in mind from the start.
Related:A new baby porcupine lives with its parents and two armadillos at the Milwaukee County Zoo
Related:In early March the Milwaukee County Zoo announced its first surviving litter of river otter pups. There's already a second.
Teaching kids to relate to all animals, even the 'least personable' ones
Empathy practices and programming are nothing new to the zoo, but the zoological society's vice president of programs, Beth Heller, says the grant is an opportunity to be proactive about incorporating empathy into every program at the zoo so empathy is intentional rather than just an intuitive afterthought.
Heller said the society plans to build off a pilot program they ran with local schools where they brought animals into classrooms and hosted field trips to the zoo.
"In 2017, as part of joining the ACE for Wildlife network, we launched a curriculum that intentionally incorporates empathy for wildlife," said Heller. "For decades, we've been doing school programs that focus on the sciences, but this program started with a foundation of social emotional learning. After piloting that with these schools, we're using this grant to infuse that social emotional learning into all our programming."
Isabelle Herd, the zoological society's manager of innovation and community engagement, said they're also using the grant to build on the training of an existing valuable resource, Zoo Pride volunteers who talk to visitors throughout the zoo's exhibits.
"The volunteers have so many wonderful stories and experiences with the animals," said Herd. "We're hoping to allow them to elevate those experiences as they talk with the public more about their 'non-human coworkers.'"
The Racine Zoo, also members of the network, received their own capacity building grant in 2020, which allowed them to build off a small pilot program they had started in 2019 to do empathy exercises in a local elementary school.
"We did an empathy explorers program with kindergartners where on the first visit, we showed them cockroaches. We got all the 'Gross! Creepy!' comments at first, but then we talked about the cockroaches' personalities and named them," said Aszya Summers, the Racine Zoo's curator of animal care and conservation education. "On the second visit, all the kids wanted to know how their little cockroach friend was doing. That showed us that empathy does help build connections, even with the least personable animals."
RELATED:Failure to understand and share feelings with each other runs counter to our nature. So why are we in a severe empathy crisis?
Showing the public what zookeepers already understand
Summers agrees with her counterparts in Milwaukee that empathy training is something that has been embraced with how zookeepers interact with animals for quite a while — such as in a program where keepers can volunteer to learn how to interact with animals so they don't have to be restrained or anesthetized when being given vaccinations and other standard veterinary care. But she says the grants represent a shift in how animal care practices are communicated to the public.
"When I was trained 10 years ago, we were taught that we don't talk to people about the animals' personalities, we focus on the science and the 'wild facts,'" said Summers. "But, what we learned through these ACE for Wildlife symposiums is that flooding people with facts is not the way to convince them of the importance of conservation."
For that, people have to get to know the animals they're seeing and learning about. And that's why Summers said many zoos, including Racine's and Milwaukee's, now show the public "the back of the house."
"We're using our grants to showcase these programs to the public," said Summers. "We're showing people the bond keepers have with animals, and we're helping them understand that every animal has a personality."
One way people build empathy is by learning to see the world from the perspective of others. That's the rationale behind a program the Racine Zoo is developing with its most recent empathy-building grant.
Summers points out that many people who come to zoos don't talk to staff, preferring to navigate their visit on their own. In an effort to reach them, the Racine Zoo is building a new space that will incorporate empathy into the experience for self-guided visits.
There will be an indoor space overlooking the Andean bear habitat with a variety of interactive elements for kids to interact with as they "become bears." One example is a chalkboard where kids will be invited to make their marks in a similar way to how bears make their own marks by leaving scent on trees.
"Kids will be able to have fun on their own and see the world through a bear's eyes as they pretend to be bears," said Summers. "That's the type of perspective-taking that helps build connections to animals."
Building empathy for animals also helps people
Heller of the Milwaukee Zoological Society points out that their programs help build empathy not just for animals but for fellow human beings. And that's something they plan to further explore with their grant funding.
Much of the society's programming is done in partnership with schools and community centers such as Boys & Girls Clubs and Big Brothers, Big Sisters.
"The feedback from our partnering organizations informs the way we're designing our programming, and we know they're interested in the social emotional learning of their kids," said Heller.
"These organizations are ground zero on who we're going to pilot our initiatives with," Herd added. "We want to make sure we're thinking about how empathy for wildlife will help their mission as well as ours."
Zoos can also tailor their programming to increase empathy toward other people by highlighting the cultural practices of the people in the countries the zoo's animals come from — especially those practices that are related to animals.
"One of the first things we're looking to do is to provide training to staff and volunteers to make sure our programs are culturally relevant," said Heller. "As people walk around the zoo, it's clear to see we have representative species from all over the world. As visitors recognize that there are many cultures that inform our experiences, that understanding helps us have empathy for each other."
'We want to show people the data'
The empathy grants also have one more important goal — to collect data.
Heller said the zoo society plans to set up a feedback loop by hypothesizing the best ways for people to relate to animals, putting those programs into practice and then gathering data to determine whether the expected connection really happened — and whether that connection corresponded with an increased interest in animal conservation.
"Our programs are set up to help kids connect to nature on an emotional and cognitive level," said Heller. "We want to make sure that we're measuring whether or not that's really happening."
Summers said the Racine Zoo is also collecting data to ensure that their programs are doing what they say they do, and what they hope to get funding to continue to do in the future.
"We've been doing a lot of this programming for a long time, but we want to be able to show our funders that this works to increase conservation," said Summers. "We know in our hearts that when you connect to an animal, you want to protect them. Now we want to show people the data." | 2022-04-20T12:20:49Z | www.jsonline.com | Milwaukee, Racine, Madison zoos receive grants to encourage empathy | https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/wisconsin-family/2022/04/20/milwaukee-racine-madison-zoos-receive-grants-encourage-empathy/9476581002/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/wisconsin-family/2022/04/20/milwaukee-racine-madison-zoos-receive-grants-encourage-empathy/9476581002/ |
Milwaukee property assessment notices are coming out soon. Here's what you should know.
Milwaukee residents opening their property assessment notices may need to brace themselves.
Notices were expected to be sent out by April 20.
The citywide increase in assessed value was 13.23% between commercial and residential property, according to new City Assessor Nicole Larsen.
But it's some of the city's lowest-income areas that are seeing the greatest jumps.
More: With Milwaukee property assessments increasing nearly 18% on average, leaders are expecting residents to be angry
And while higher assessments don't automatically translate into higher property taxes when the bill arrives later in the year, they do tend to cause some consternation for residents.
Here's what you need to know in 2022:
Why are assessments going up so much?
The city did not do a revaluation in 2021, so the 2022 reassessments will reflect two years of market changes instead of the typical one, Larsen told the Common Council's Judiciary and Legislation Committee recently.
She also noted that the market for residential real estate was robust in 2020 and 2021, with the median sale price of homes in the city rising from $138,000 in 2019 to $172,000 in 2021.
Meanwhile, the number of sales of residential properties increased from 4,700 in 2019 to about 8,600 in 2021.
The decision not to perform a reassessment last year was due to a "huge volume" of appeals and then-Assessor Steve Miner's sense that he did not have the staff to handle the workload at that time, Ald. Scott Spiker said in committee of his recollection of those discussions.
The Board of Review, the second body to hear objections to assessments, is still trying to dig out from an influx in the last couple of years.
Where were the biggest and smallest changes?
Two central city aldermanic districts saw the largest percentage increases in residential property values while the two lowest were in districts representing the east side and Riverwest and downtown, according to data Larsen presented to the committee.
The largest increase of 31.86% in District 7 in the central city was closely followed by a rise of 30.93% in neighboring District 15, represented by Alds. Khalif Rainey and Russell Stamper II, respectively.
Meanwhile, the smallest increase of 10.3% came in District 3, which covers the city's east side and Riverwest and is represented by Ald. Nik Kovac. The next-lowest was downtown District 4 represented by Ald. Robert Bauman, which saw a rise of 12.42%.
Why does a higher assessment not automatically mean higher property taxes?
Assessments are only part of how property tax bills are calculated.
The primary driver is the tax levy — that is, the total property taxes that will be budgeted by the Common Council and Mayor Cavalier Johnson during the budget process this fall.
Once the levy is set later this year, payments are spread across the overall value of taxable property in the city. That means individual property owners' tax bills depend more on whether their increase was above or below the average change in assessment citywide.
What do I do if I think my assessment is inaccurate?
Owners can appeal their assessments until May 16 and for the first time will be able to file their appeals online, Larsen said.
The Assessor's Office can be contacted during this period:
Online: Ask the Assessor
By email: assessor@milwaukee.gov
Monday – Friday 8:00AM – 4:45PM
A step-by-step guide to appealing can be found on the Assessor's Office website. | 2022-04-20T12:20:55Z | www.jsonline.com | What you should know about the new Milwaukee property assessments | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2022/04/20/what-you-should-know-new-milwaukee-property-assessments/7372751001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2022/04/20/what-you-should-know-new-milwaukee-property-assessments/7372751001/ |
MADISON – Republican candidate for governor Rebecca Kleefisch is inching toward backing a flat income tax, calling Wisconsin’s century-old tax system a foolish mistake.
The Republican former lieutenant governor made the comments this week as she called for ending taxes on retirement income and made the case for "transformational income tax reform."
She did not explicitly endorse a flat income tax but she came close to doing so by disparaging the state’s progressive income tax, which requires residents to pay higher tax rates as their income goes up.
Wisconsin was the first state to impose a workable income tax in 1911. The federal government adopted its current income tax system two years later.
"Wisconsin literally gave America the progressive income tax — whoops," Kleefisch said Monday in an interview on WSAU-AM. "I say that it happened in 1911 and that’s how it happened because women didn’t have the right to vote yet. Women would never have allowed such foolish policy.
"We have the opportunity right now to fix a generational wrong that Wisconsin gave to the world, so let’s just fix it. Let's do transformational income tax reform."
Thirty-two states have progressive income taxes, according to the Tax Foundation. Eleven states have flat incomes taxes and seven have no income taxes.
The other Republicans running for governor — management consultant Kevin Nicholson and state Rep. Timothy Ramthun — have not offered detailed tax plans, though Ramthun has said he’d consider a flat tax. The three will face each other in an Aug. 9 primary.
Gov. Tony Evers has backed progressive income taxes, as have his fellow Democrats who argue those who make more should pay a larger share of their income to the state.
As governor, Evers has signed two rounds of Republican-authored income tax cuts. He has touted the tax cuts after pledging during his 2018 run to cut income taxes for the middle class by at least 10%.
"Gov. Evers believes Wisconsinites should get to keep more of their hard earned money. That’s why he followed through on his campaign promise to cut taxes by signing a bipartisan, 15% income tax cut for working families," Evers campaign spokeswoman Kayla Anderson said in a statement.
Kleefisch and other Republicans have questioned Evers' commitment to lowering taxes because he called for raising the gas tax in 2019 and twice proposed raising taxes on large agricultural and manufacturing operations.
In her interview on WSAU, Kleefisch didn’t say how much she wanted to cut income taxes but said they should be lower than Wisconsin’s neighbors.
“Let’s drop rates to the lowest they have been in our entire adult lifetime and let’s actually compete,” she said. “Let’s beat our competitors in the Midwest.”
Wisconsin’s income tax rates start at 3.54% and rise to 7.65%. Republicans who control the state Legislature over the past decade have focused their income tax rates on the middle brackets but largely left in place the top rate, which is levied on individuals for income of $267,000 and up.
Minnesota’s income tax rates start at 5.35% and go up to 9.85%. Illinois has a flat income tax rate of 4.95% and Michigan has a flat income tax rate of 4.25%.
Iowa’s income tax rates start at 0.33% and rise to 8.53%. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds recently signed a law that will give the state a flat tax of 3.9% in 2026.
Kleefisch this week said she wants to eliminate taxes on retirement income, which she said would entice more people to remain in Wisconsin. She didn’t provide details on the cost of that part of her plan.
Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, endorsed Kleefisch this week, praising her for her support for cutting taxes when she served alongside Gov. Scott Walker.
Ramthun in an interview this week said he was open to establishing a flat tax or eliminating the income tax but wanted to study the ideas. Proposals to eliminate the income tax have generally been paired with raising the state’s 5.5% sales tax.
“Everything's on the table for me,” Ramthun said.
He said he thought eliminating taxes on retirement income was worth considering but contended Kleefisch has not fully vetted the proposal.
“It looks like she's pandering for votes for the retirement-age people,” he said.
Nicholson spokeswoman Courtney Mullen said Nicholson would focus on finding ways to cut spending and then work with lawmakers to decide how to cut income and property taxes.
That's in line with what he said in an interview in February.
"I just know that you have to structurally reduce your spend first, and then we can talk about how we do this going forward,” Nicholson said then. | 2022-04-20T12:21:01Z | www.jsonline.com | Rebecca Kleefisch nods at moving Wisconsin to a flat income tax | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/20/rebecca-kleefisch-nods-moving-wisconsin-flat-income-tax/7372139001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/20/rebecca-kleefisch-nods-moving-wisconsin-flat-income-tax/7372139001/ |
How Wisconsin's colleges and businesses can partner to transform the state's workforce
Michael Alexander and Jeff Rafn
In the last few years, northeastern Wisconsin workers and companies have told us they want education targeted for today's students, employees, and parents. They want education that leads directly to good jobs. We agree. On April 11, our two campuses, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and the University of Wisconsin Green Bay, announced a plan to meet their needs.
Made possible by deep collaboration, we created more than 20 degree programs — such as engineering technology — that start on the NWTC campus and continue to UW-Green Bay. We want to show our region and the state that we can ensure seamless transitions for students between all sorts of programs and degrees at NWTC and across the bridge at UW-Green Bay.
We recognize that not every student starts higher education at age 18, enrolls full-time, and moves on a path to earn a bachelor's degree four years later. We are allowing for the reality that life happens. We want students to know they can take courses, take off time for work or family commitments, and then come back to resume their studies.
Reflecting the financial challenges of the past several years and the needs of the workforce, we are expanding certification programs so workers can hone skills that lead to high-paying jobs and promotions in a matter of months, not years. We will be here when a student wants to continue growing in a career or switch careers.
Put it this way: Colleges often judge their success on the number of degrees awarded. Our main goal is not to create degrees but to create an educated population.
On April 8, the University Board of Regents enabled us to advance this goal and build on our 20-plus transfer agreements, approving NWTC to offer an associate of arts degree and an associate of science degree that transfer to UW-Green Bay and toward a bachelor's degree.
But we are taking an even more significant step, pledging to ensure the region has a robust, comprehensive higher education system that allows students to flow seamlessly and equitably between the institutions through all stages of life. We can then ensure they successfully transform, strengthen, and inspire themselves, employers, and our community.
We understand our region's agricultural and manufacturing heritage, and we'll build on that. We've seen the jobs of the future; we've talked to employers who are clamoring for workers who can think strategically, collaborate and communicate effectively. By our estimates, 20,000 good jobs are available in the region. That number will grow as the area lures more technology, healthcare, and manufacturing companies to the land of Lambeau Field and the Green Bay Packers.
A bit of background from me, Jeff Rafn at NWTC: When I became president of the college 25 years ago, in 1997, I found a contentious relationship with our local university on the other side of the river. Frankly, we did not see ourselves as equals in providing higher education. We viewed one as better than the other instead of valuing all forms of education as equally important to the community's well-being. Now, we must encourage all members of our communities to engage in higher education throughout their lifetime, recognizing that only in this way will they enjoy the quality of life to which we all aspire.
And some context from me, Michael Alexander at UW-Green Bay: When I started as chancellor two years ago, I promised to redefine what it means to be a regional comprehensive university. That means we commit to educating Wisconsin residents from pre-kindergarten through retirement with our peers across the river. In the 21st century, jobs and careers change many times. Some students might take 10 years to complete a bachelor's degree. Others might keep coming back to courses for decades as the workplace changes. We welcome them on their schedule, not ours.
We came to this agreement after doing what we encourage from our students: researching, questioning, and working together.
We studied demographic data and job trends. We visited community leaders and employers and hosted them on our campuses. We joined the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities' Transfer Intensive, a national initiative with community colleges and four-year institutions in 20 states to advance transfer student success and equity.
Aspen and AASCU challenged our campuses to make the transfer from a technical college to a four-year college not simply a handoff but a trajectory that leads to better jobs, a better hometown, and a better democracy.
We realize that either campuses collaborate with everyone, or the region will fail. That's why we became true partners to help lifelong learners cross the bridge — the metaphorical bridge and the Leo Frigo bridge — with higher education that is efficient, friendly, and personalized.
Michael Alexander is the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. Jeff Rafn is president of Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. | 2022-04-20T12:21:07Z | www.jsonline.com | How Wisconsin's colleges, business can partner to transform workforce | https://www.jsonline.com/story/opinion/2022/04/20/how-wisconsins-colleges-business-can-partner-transform-workforce/7368944001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/opinion/2022/04/20/how-wisconsins-colleges-business-can-partner-transform-workforce/7368944001/ |
LIFE CORRECTION: THE MARLIN DIXON STORY
Pastor Edith Washington, left, of Holy Redeemer Church of God in Christ, leads pallbearers, including family members of Charlie Young Jr., as they carry his casket to it's final resting place at Graceland Cemetery, October 7, 2002. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel archives
Nearly 20 years after the vicious beating death of her brother, Charlotte Young remains hesitant to talk about it.
The subject is still too painful; the memory of her words twisted around in news reports too fresh, she said.
With coaxing, she agreed to a phone interview, and in it, she made two points clear: The description of her brother at the time was mean-spirited and wrong, and the family has neither recovered nor made peace with the events of Sept. 29, 2002.
Her brothers declined to talk at all.
She chose her words carefully, often pausing as she recalled the night she saw Charlie in the emergency room, the decision to withdraw life support, the funeral, and then the hours spent in court listening to details of his beating.
A few times her voice cracked.
"There is never a day that goes by where I don't think about Junior," she said.
Charlie Young Jr., was killed by a neighborhood group of boys and young men who all knew him. When police arrived, his body was face down in a pool of blood. Rushed to what was then Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, he never recovered.
“This still hurts me to this day," Charlotte said. "The way everything happened. I lost a brother, but my mother lost a son. My brother should not have died that way.”
The family was horrified at how he was portrayed in both national and local media. Some reports described him as a vagrant; others labeled him a drug dealer.
“They said that because my brother drove a Mercedes-Benz, but that car was old, and he saved up for it and he worked hard on that car just to keep it running," Young said.
For all the attention paid to his car, he usually either took a bus or walked to wherever he had to go, often accompanied by his dog.
“He loved Tye Tye — now that was his heart,” said Charlotte, who kept the dog until its death in 2008.
She hated that the killing became a sensation.
“We never forgot some of the things said about Charlie. One news station even dug up things from my brother’s past that were hurtful. Nobody deserved to die like this, especially Charlie.”
'We didn't ask to be in this position'
Charlie Young Jr. never finished high school, and made money helping people with basic home improvement or fix-it chores.
He and his sister shared an apartment on North 72nd Street and West Silver Spring Drive, but he hung out on West Brown Street because most of his friends lived in the neighborhood. Most of his jobs were there, too.
“He was good with his hands," she said. "The week he was killed, he was putting a roof on someone’s store.”
For the Young family, time has been divided into life before the murder and life after it.
"My brother was loved by a lot of people, and we didn’t ask to be in this position," she said. "It was hard enough losing Charlie, but with all the media attention, that was just too much for us."
She was particularly haunted seeing all the makeshift weapons — sticks, rakes, shovels — used on Charlie that were presented in court as evidence. Many were discolored with her brother's dried blood.
One of the most hurtful moments, Charlotte said, came when one of the youths was sentenced, and his mother yelled from the witness stand to Fannie: “You aren’t the only one who lost a child. I’m losing a child, too.”
Fannie Young, the mother of Charlie Young Jr., is seen in 2002. Young’s son was beaten by a mob of youths on Sept. 29, 2002, and died two days later from his injuries. The last remaining youth sentenced in the crime, Marlin Dixon, was released on Sept. 22, 2020, from the John C. Burke Correctional Center after serving 18 years. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel archives
“I will never forget that moment and I knew that I could no longer keep going there,” Charlotte said.
She acknowledged in the interview that she didn't realize one of the boys, Marlin Dixon, was sentenced to 18 years in prison and 22 years of supervision.
“I had no idea he got that much time. That’s a lot of time behind bars” for a teenage boy, she said. “I really don’t know how to feel about that.”
Charlotte said she sensed her mother felt some compassion for the youths involved in the beating. She listened to their stories and heard how they grew up and, "in a way, I think it impacted her as well."
The Youngs asked the court to provide social services to help the families of the youths involved.
“We just wanted to make sure that the families received the help they needed and to help the other youths living in those homes,” said Charlotte, a former Head Start teacher.
She believes the stress of the trial contributed to her mother’s death in 2005.
Brother unrecognizable in photo
Charlotte noted the parallels between her family's life and the lives of some of those who killed her brother.
Her father worked in manufacturing at A.O. Smith Corp. and Allis-Chalmers but died of a heart attack at age 37. Her mother raised Charlotte and four boys.
The family attended True Love Apostolic Church. The kids were involved in choir and Charlotte taught Sunday school and was a member of the usher board.
Our faith in God helped us to get through it all, Charlotte said.
“There were a lot of things we didn’t have, and we had to go without a lot,” she said. “I was only 13 when my father died and there’s so much that I never got to know about him because I was so young.”
On the night of the attack, Charlotte said law enforcement came to the door, and she couldn't believe the photo they showed her was of her brother. His face was swollen beyond recognition.
“My brother didn’t like trouble and he tried to avoid it as much as he could, but they were telling me that he was beaten and I just couldn’t understand why someone would do that to him,” she said.
Charlotte Young visits the grave of her mother, Fannie Young, in 2011. Photo courtesy of Charlotte Young
When she arrived at the hospital, he was on life support.
“They told us that it didn’t look good because he had very little brain activity,” she said. “The doctors wanted to perform one more test on him and they said if he didn’t respond to it, then we would have to make a choice to take him off the respirator.”
Young said even 20 years later she still questions why it took so long for someone to get help.
“They left my brother on the porch for over an hour before they got him any help," she said. "I don’t understand how he was left on the porch like that, and nobody has been able to explain that to me. I’m not saying that my brother would be here today, but we don’t know.”
Young’s funeral was at Holy Redeemer Church, and Charlotte said the family was buoyed by the number of friends and family who showed up. He was buried in a light blue suit, in a light blue casket. Despite the beating, the family was able to have an open casket.
“That was important to us,” she said.
Charlotte traveled to Glendale, Arizona, in 2013, to visit her brother Rob. While there, she submitted a job application just to see what would happen. She got a call back right away.
The decision to move was easy.
“I wanted to leave to do something else and leave the memories behind,” she said.
Most of her family members have left Milwaukee as well.
“They still don’t want to talk about what happened,” she said.
She recently posted on her Facebook page: “Today it’s still fresh in my mind as if it happened yesterday. I think about him often, and wonder how life would be if he was here. I love you, and I truly miss you so, and I never want you to be forgotten. Much love Jr.” | 2022-04-20T15:49:09Z | www.jsonline.com | Charlie Young's sister says his killing 'still hurts me to this day' | https://www.jsonline.com/in-depth/news/special-reports/2022/04/20/20-years-after-the-beating-death-of-charlie-young-jr-the-family-still-relives-that-pain-marlin-dixon/6612768001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/in-depth/news/special-reports/2022/04/20/20-years-after-the-beating-death-of-charlie-young-jr-the-family-still-relives-that-pain-marlin-dixon/6612768001/ |
James E. Causey column
Marlin Dixon, 32, talks about his time spent at the John C. Burke Correctional Center. Dixon served 18 years for his role in the death of Charlie Young Jr. when he was 14. Angela Peterson / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Doris Williams, left, and Vickie Conte meet for the first time on Oct. 15, 2020, at Williams' home. Williams is the mother of Marlin Dixon, who was released from prison after serving 18 years for the beating death of Charlie Young Jr. Conte befriended Dixon while he was incarcerated and continues to encourage him as he transitions back into society. Angela Peterson/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Marlin Dixon, right, spends time with family, from left, brother Darryl Dixon; niece Niayah, 9; nephews Da’Kari, 8, and Jace, 3; and daughter Kamariya, 19, after playing basketball at Milwaukee Academy of Science. Angela Peterson / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Marlin Dixon relaxes at his apartment in Menomonee Falls on the one-year anniversary of his release from the John C. Burke Correctional Center. Angela Peterson / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | 2022-04-20T15:49:21Z | www.jsonline.com | Can Milwaukee do enough to prevent another Charlie Young Jr. case? | https://www.jsonline.com/in-depth/opinion/2022/04/20/james-causey-can-milwaukee-do-enough-to-prevent-another-charlie-young-jr-case/7169964001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/in-depth/opinion/2022/04/20/james-causey-can-milwaukee-do-enough-to-prevent-another-charlie-young-jr-case/7169964001/ |
If you want to start a public policy debate, round up a group of local government officials and residents from different backgrounds and say "tax incremental financing."
Anticipate a buildup of emotions, especially involving suburban communities where TIF districts have huge success stories.
Some firmly believe in this form of development incentive. Others view it as a straight-out bad deal for taxpayers, a criticism that tends to emerge especially when a project is unpopular with neighbors.
Either way, officials say, it is the only meaningful economic tool that Wisconsin has handed local governments, responsible for numerous projects ranging from industrial development to higher density residential projects, with varying success rates.
Deciding which projects merit this form of public investment is the key.
"The big picture is, obviously, if you're committing a dollar of TIF money to bring in a large development, then that's a great use of the money, as an absurd hypothetical," said Jason Stein, research director for the Wisconsin Policy Forum, a statewide nonpartisan, independent policy research organization with offices in Milwaukee and Madison.
"On the other end of the absurd range, if you're using TIF to make an investment that will take 100 years to pay off, it's a really bad use of the money, right?" Stein said. "In real life, it's never that clear. Or it's rarely that clear. It's a question of making judgment calls."
Wisconsin Policy Forum's own research suggests that the use of tax incremental financing by local governments has never been more popular, in terms of the establishment of new TIF districts.
Citing Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau data, Wisconsin Policy Forum's February 2019 report said state municipalities used $4.1 billion of new property tax revenues derived from TIF districts to support private development and public infrastructure within those districts between 2007 and 2017.
In 2017 alone, $472 million was used, an increase of 25% compared to 2007 (adjusted for inflation).
So what's it all about?
The theory behind TIF
It starts with a strategy allowed under state laws in which a developer can tap into a community's future earnings by promising, contractually, to improve a property or land parcel enough to generate new property tax values, well beyond what the property generated before the development began, to make it all worthwhile.
In doing so, however, taxes are diverted for a period of two decades or more to pay debts associated with a development. That means the community as a whole doesn't see the money flow into the tax coffer until after the debt is retired.
That rankles some TIF district opponents, who see it as a tax subsidy primarily benefitting developers who could choose to finance projects without public assistance.
But proponents said such thinking excludes an important reality: Without a tax-funded incentive, developers would either shy away from certain high-value, high-cost projects or simply move on to the next community which more actively supports such an incentive.
Here's how it works
To the average resident, tax incremental financing isn't something that's thoroughly understood. Some mistakenly believe that developers granted TIF dollars don't have to pay their taxes. Others think of it as entirely free money going into developers' pockets.
In reality, there is no tax break at all. In fact, as a development proceeds, the amount in taxes increases, a necessary component under the contractual arrangement between a municipality and a landowner.
In TIF districts, the "increment" refers to property tax dollars generated above and beyond the taxes paid before a new development or redevelopment begins. That increment, instead of going into the municipality's revenue fund, is diverted to pay for other aspects of a development project, usually for public improvements or certain redevelopment costs.
Let's say a property valued at $1 million is paying $15,000 in local property taxes every year. A developer sees greater potential and takes out an option to buy the property to build a $10 million project, but only if the developer can obtain TIF dollars to finance the costly plan.
Under that scenario, if a TIF district is created, the property owner would continue to pay the $15,000 every year, which continues to be distributed to the various tax jurisdictions. But as the project advances and is completed, the taxes generated by the additional $9 million in value, also paid by the landowner, would be diverted to pay off the development debts for a set period, usually 20 to 27 years.
Those new property tax dollars would not end up in the coffers of the various tax jurisdictions — typically the municipality, the school district, the county or the technical college district — until the development debt is retired.
Because those tax jurisdictions are each affected by a decision to create a TIF district, each has a say at the outset over whether one should be approved. Each jurisdiction is represented on what's called a joint review board, which also may include an at-large member. A majority vote is needed from that panel before a TIF district can be set up.
TIF stories and successes
If a TIF district achieves its goals within the timeframe set up at the start, it is considered a success. Some do so well that the TIF district can close earlier than contractually required.
A few such examples stand out.
Perhaps the most successful, as determined by how quickly the debt disappeared and how prominently the development stands in a community, is TIF District 14, which includes the Shoppes at Fox River in the city of Waukesha.
Kevin Lahner, Waukesha's city administrator, said that development alone is proof how well tax incremental financing can work for a community intent not only on economic development, but refurbishing rundown properties.
"It's almost a textbook TIF deal, in how to do one and have a high level of success in creating value," Lahner said, noting that the debt on that TIF district closed in 2021, years earlier than required, largely as a result of the 467,000-square-foot shopping center.
In 2018, a decade after Shoppes took shape, the city's development director, Jennifer Andrews, likewise praised the development's role in enhancing the city's revenue and aesthetics.
"We see the Shoppes at Fox River as a great success," Andrews said. "The development transformed a vacant distribution center with a value of $7.3 million to a vibrant neighborhood shopping area serving the southwest side of the city with a $60 million value."
Lahner said Waukesha has also invested TIF money in its downtown, particularly for recent apartment projects, including Mandel Group's BridgeWalk Apartments on St. Paul Avenue on what was once a railroad property.
"If we did not have TIF, we would not be having the renaissance we are having downtown," Lahner said. "Because the cost would cause the developers not to do projects."
For Oak Creek, the creation of a TIF district to create the city's true community center is equally as important as the Shoppes at Fox River were for Waukesha. More so if you consider that the development incorporated the city's main municipal offices and library as well as upscale apartments within a commercial center.
The development's value is expected to climb to at least $220 million by 2032, when the city's debt is expected to be retired just 19 years after construction started. All at what was once the Delphi Corp. auto parts factory.
"It just created more of a dynamic environment than you would expect to see in a community like this," developer Blair Williams, whose buildings there include both apartments and retail space, said in 2016.
Oak Creek has continued using TIF dollars to enhance its business center.
In Mequon, an Ozaukee County community that has been traditionally light on TIF districts, the desire for the development of a central business district has led to similar investments, including a 2018 plan.
The city has used the incentive funding for Mequon Town Center, but the Foxtown add-on development aspired for more. Before the project, the land generated $16,500 in annual tax revenue. According to city officials, the $51 million Foxtown will eventually generate $800,000 in annual tax revenue, all in exchange for $4.95 million in public funds phased over five years, through 2023.
Wauwatosa has likewise used tax incremental financing to rehab old industrial areas into modern, highly sought uses.
In 2013, a plan for the former Western Metals site took shape, eventually resulting in a project to build upscale apartments. In 2018, a plan to convert a former office building into a four-star Mayfair hotel gained support after the city offered $13.8 million to support the project, which is expected to create $53 million in new value.
Generating public debate
Success doesn't always sway some people — public officials or residents — who oppose TIF districts. Other factors lead to a debate that never seems to end, even as TIF districts continue to take up space in municipal borders across the area.
Stein said Wisconsin Policy Forum, which has addressed TIF as a public policy several times in its research efforts, acknowledged that local governments need to tread carefully in their decision making, not solely giving in to pressure by a developer.
"The argument is that if (developers) don't get a TIF, a project will just go somewhere else; that by itself is not a reason to do a TIF," he said. "The only reason to do it is if the project makes sense."
Stein said resistance to TIF as a fundamental concept does exist. What's important to keep in mind is that local government units in Wisconsin can do little else to spur development within their communities, Stein noted.
"The thing about TIF is it's really the only tool that local governments in Wisconsin have to do economic development to try to attract companies, employers, housing developments — all that stuff," he said. "So, if you're saying that a local community shouldn't do any TIF deals — a position a rational person could have — you need to understand what it's saying, that a local government shouldn't be directly involved in economic development."
Among those who have voiced concern loudly enough to gain public attention is state Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Cedarburg, who Lahner listed as someone who seems to detest the tool as policy. And that includes new legislation approved in March.
As chairman of the Senate Committee on Government Operations, Legal Review and Consumer Protection, Stroebel helped usher through a bill authored by State Sen. Joan Ballweg (R-Markesan) that requires TIF deals to have more public transparency.
In a statement after Act 142 was signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers recently, Stroebel noted the new transparency provisions "will make sure the right data is being collected and reported to the Department of Revenue so we can correctly analyze how tax increment financing ('TIF') interacts with levy limit and revenue limit laws to impact property taxes."
The law will also require municipalities to report the property tax impact of TIF deals as part of their annual reports.
Even closer to home, Lahner has seen resistance in Waukesha.
Frank McElderry, an alderman whose district includes the southwest corner of the city, indicated in a recent interview that he thinks TIF districts should not be set up as broadly as the city has in recent years.
McElderry, who sided with neighbors who opposed a recent proposal for a 72-unit apartment complex off Saylesville Road in an area where TIF districts have been used to jump-start similar projects, didn't rule out the use of tax incremental financing in general. But he questioned whether TIF dollars should be directed at any open developable parcel without good reason.
For instance, he accepted the TIF proposal for new BridgeWalk Apartments on St. Paul Avenue, similar to other downtown areas that need redevelopment, but said that doesn't mean the economic development tool should be employed elsewhere.
"Downtown development is needed. However, I am not in favor of TIF districts unless it qualifies for a blighted area," he said.
Perhaps more famously was a statement by Norm Cummings, a now-retired administration director for Waukesha County who served on a joint review board that seemed destined to turn down a proposal to extend TIF District 14 to incorporate Mindiola Park and other areas along Sunset Drive.
The fact that Cummings did not favor the Mindiola plan was not surprising. Others shared a concern that the plan to build a city-owned ballpark on the site as the basis for spurring economic development nearby was a nontraditional use of TIF dollars.
But Cummings, in board discussions, also intimated that he likely would have opposed TIF District 14 from the start, when developers first proposed the Shoppes at Fox River.
Even in Mequon, which has ranked the lowest in the metro region in percentage of new development dollars tied to TIF districts against the overall equalized property values in the community, the mayor is careful to stress the city's reluctance to invest too often in developments.
"Mequon has been exceedingly careful. That is the way we do things," Mayor John Wirth said in his 2019 campaign website.
In Bayside, residents opposed a mixed-use development — a 27.4-acre project would bring 350 to 450 apartments and housing units and a new North Shore Library — using TIF dollars. Those residents, under the group called No Bayside TIF, sued the village in January, claiming that the meetings in which the plan was approved were invalid.
Lahner said he sees some opposition to TIF districts arising not from the funding tool itself but from a specific development that residents simply oppose.
"For the folks that don't like TIF, I think their arguments are fundamentally flawed," he added.
It is possible to TIF districts to fail. That happens if a development fails to produce enough new taxes to pay off the outstanding debt. But Lahner said communities have successfully avoided such scenarios.
The key, Lahner said, is for communities to draft development agreements carefully, making sure a developer shares the burden equally and has the financial figures to back up projections of increased value.
Stein acknowledged there is sometimes an ideological divide among people who argue for and against tax incremental financing.
"Yeah, I think a lot of economists would say that it would be better for a government not to pick winners and losers," Stein said. "At the same time ... local governments may want certain amenities in a development that would be things people in the community want. And they make a judgment that the market wouldn't provide those things and TIF is a way to get them.
"I think a lot of this stuff comes down to people exercising good judgment." | 2022-04-20T15:49:27Z | www.jsonline.com | Tax incremental financing in Milwaukee area has success, opposition | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/2022/04/20/tax-incremental-financing-milwaukee-area-has-success-opposition/7146739001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/2022/04/20/tax-incremental-financing-milwaukee-area-has-success-opposition/7146739001/ |
TOWN OF OCONOMOWOC - One person is dead and three others were injured in an April 17 crash in the town of Oconomowoc.
According to a news release from the town Police Department, a sedan traveling east on Highway CW struck a northbound van with three passengers on Highway 67 at about 11:49 a.m. The collision caused the van to go off the road and roll.
The 38-year-old driver of the van was dead at the scene. Two juveniles in the van and the 28-year-old driver of the sedan were taken to the hospital with injuries.
The crash is under investigation by town police and Wisconsin State Patrol. The city of Oconomowoc Police Department and the Waukesha County Sheriff's Office assisted at the scene. | 2022-04-20T15:49:33Z | www.jsonline.com | One killed, three injured in Oconomowoc rollover crash | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/lake-country/2022/04/20/one-killed-three-injured-oconomowoc-rollover-crash/7380517001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/lake-country/2022/04/20/one-killed-three-injured-oconomowoc-rollover-crash/7380517001/ |
Another Mexican restaurant could be coming soon to Sussex
Another Mexican restaurant could be coming to Sussex in as little as four months if village officials approve.
Plan commissioners on April 19 recommended approval for a proposal for El Jimador Mexican Grill & Bar at N65 W24838 Main St. The plan is expected to go to the Village Board next.
Owner Daniela Solis said they will need to remodel the space to get it ready to open. While reluctant to provide a timeline for the opening, she said four months is realistic.
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"I am very excited. It will be more of a family restaurant where families with little kids can come," said Solis. "We want to make everyone comfortable, and our goal is to keep everything friendly."
Solis said she has had experience working at similar restaurants. "I have been in the industry for years," she said. "We felt Sussex needed a little something more. It seemed to be a spot to share our taste of food and drinks."
She said that the restaurant will provide an authentic Mexican experience. She expects to offer a full bar and full menu.
People can expect to see unique menu items such as a spicy dish served in a big stone dish that includes a mixture of items such as chicken, steak and shrimp with green sauce and shredded cheese.
Solis also expects to serve mangonada, a frozen mango drink with tamarind vodka.
Plans call for patio seating, and the interior will be designed with neutral colors, vintage pictures and a lot of paintings. She said there will be a story behind each decoration. "There will be Mexican music playing at all times," she said.
Its hours of operations are slated for 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Lunch specials should be available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day but Sunday.
Solis expects to hire about 10 to 15 employees for a variety of positions.
"There is the excitement of going to a new community and trying to better ourselves," she said. "This is a learning experiment."
Tekila, a Mexican restaurant, opened in December at N64 W23760 Main St. and Cabana Cortez, a Mexican food truck is open for limited hours at N63 W23580 Silver Spring Drive. Cabana Cortez opened in January. | 2022-04-20T15:49:39Z | www.jsonline.com | Sussex may get another Mexican restaurant if the village officials approve | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northwest/news/sussex/2022/04/20/sussex-may-get-another-mexican-restaurant-if-village-officials-approve/7378145001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northwest/news/sussex/2022/04/20/sussex-may-get-another-mexican-restaurant-if-village-officials-approve/7378145001/ |
The Milwaukee Memorial Day Parade is over for good.
Parade organizers have decided to end the annual event permanently, citing a lack of interest and rising costs.
"The volunteers whom have run the parade for some 30 years have tried their best to maintain such an important event for our community, but have exhausted the options available to try and keep it running," parade president Karen Armstrong said in a statement.
"Support and enthusiasm have diminished" over the last few years, Armstrong said.
The parade was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic. It also did not occur in 2021.
It was last held in 2019, which organizers said was the 154th annual Memorial Day parade in Milwaukee.
More:Here's the latest on Waukesha's response to the Christmas parade tragedy | 2022-04-20T15:50:03Z | www.jsonline.com | Milwaukee Memorial Day parade canceled permanently, 2022 event off | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/2022/04/20/milwaukee-memorial-day-parade-canceled-permanently-2022-event-off/7381105001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/2022/04/20/milwaukee-memorial-day-parade-canceled-permanently-2022-event-off/7381105001/ |
Ozaukee County is searching for a medical examiner after the County Board’s unanimous vote earlier this month to abolish the elected office of coroner.
Ozaukee County Sheriff James Johnson supports the new medical examiner position.
“I believe it professionalizes the office, it creates accountability and communication,” he said at a March 15 public safety meeting.
Officials discuss cause
Longtime coroner Timm Deppisch commented on his experiences in the role during the public safety meeting. Deppisch said he has been available 100% of the time, leaving family meals and funerals when his phone rings.
“I’ve tried to work with all the police departments and sheriff's departments to the best of my ability,” he told officials. “I don’t think I’ve had any major complaints, but if they did have complaints I wish they would’ve come to me.”
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Public safety committee member Janette Braverman said the county appreciates Deppisch’s service.
“Over 32 years, that’s amazing,” said Braverman at the meeting. “The fact that you’ve stuck with us this long and dedicated most of your life to this.”
Braverman also commented on the challenges and issues with the current role of coroner and the “reasons why we want to move this way.”
“I mean, you just have to be real about it,” she added, noting that it would have been great for Deppisch to have attended more meetings for officials to better understand his work. “Flexibility, attendance at committee meetings, all these things that you want to make mandatory that I guess would be more mandatory if you had a role reporting in to the county administrator versus an elected official.”
Discourse on Deppisch
Braverman supported the change but said she doesn’t like that the county has to “create a position to make that happen when we should just be working together anyway and abiding by the rules that are handed to us.”
The county collected stakeholder feedback in examining Deppisch’s role.
According to comments from five Ozaukee funeral homes, Deppisch has been “on time and takes care of what is needed” and “serves Ozaukee County above and beyond.”
According to coroner department staff feedback, Deppisch is described as “efficient,” “thorough” and “great and easy to work with.”
Local police departments said they are satisfied with the coroner's office and haven't had many issues.
“However, if the switch to a medical examiner system would guarantee someone with more medical and investigative technique then I would support the change,” according to feedback from one police department. “Sometimes it seems the coroner’s staff just comes out to collect the bodies, and I’m not sure how much medical background they had. It can seem more like a collection process and less investigative.”
Another police department said there are times when the coroner’s office communication is lacking, “and that puts us behind the 8-ball on investigations.”
Deppisch does not have a medical background, although he did work 10 years as a paid, on-call emergency medical technician for Mequon Fire and Rescue. For 40 years, he worked full-time in the building division of the Mequon Parks and Building Department, until his 2012 retirement.
The coroner's office investigates cases of homicide, suicide, poisoning, overdose, car accidents and suspicious deaths.
When John Holicek, one of Deppisch's EMT colleagues, was elected coroner in 1990, Deppisch joined the coroner's office as a deputy. Deppisch worked as a paid, on-call coroner's deputy under Holicek for 25 years, mostly on the weekends.
Holicek retired from office in 2015, and Deppisch was elected coroner in the next election.
Milwaukee pathologists once traveled to Port Washington to perform autopsies for the Ozaukee County Coroner's Office, but now, Deppisch transports bodies to Milwaukee for autopsies and toxicology reports. Deppisch forwards autopsy and toxicology results from Milwaukee County to local law enforcement agencies.
Ozaukee County does not have the caseload or financial resources to justify an in-house pathologist, Deppisch said in 2018.
Technically, neither a coroner nor a medical examiner is required to hold any medical certification, although most medical examiners do have a medical background.
Medical examiners will testify to facts and conclusions disclosed by autopsies they perform or direct. Medical examiners make physical examinations, conduct tests, testify as an expert for either the court or the state and perform duties of a pathological or medicolegal nature.
Choosing a medical examiner
Deppisch plans to finish his term, which expires Jan. 2, 2023, but in a letter to the County Board said he would not seek another term as coroner.
Candidates for the medical examiner role can submit nomination papers through June 1.
The medical examiner does not need to be a physician but should possess a strong understanding of disease process, pathology and investigative process, according to an information sheet prepared by Human Resources Director Chris McDonell.
“The coroner, medical examiner or their designee (chosen among deputies) is responsible for responding to death scenes that meet reportable criteria,” McDonell wrote. “They initiate an investigation, examine and photograph the deceased, and document the circumstances of death. Further, they determine the need for further investigation via autopsy or some other form of physical examination in a clinical setting.”
McDonell said the medical examiner position would allow the county to continue to use Milwaukee County for pathology.
The county estimates an annual cost increase of between $50,000 and $60,000 to hire a full-time medical examiner.
The current salary for coroner is $42,800, officials said.
“It is uncertain if the department would need to be restructured or additional staff hired, which would be an additional cost increase if needed,” according to a meeting agenda. | 2022-04-20T18:47:34Z | www.jsonline.com | Ozaukee County to replace coroner with medical examiner in 2023 | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northshore/news/2022/04/20/ozaukee-county-replace-elected-coroner-medical-examiner-2023/7372013001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northshore/news/2022/04/20/ozaukee-county-replace-elected-coroner-medical-examiner-2023/7372013001/ |
To add to the downtown mural collection in downtown Menomonee Falls, the next mural is slated to be painted by children.
Ages 6 to 18 are invited to participate in painting the community mural at Village Park, near downtown Menomonee Falls. To participate, children must sign up in advance for a one-hour time slot for April 30, May 1 or May 2. There will be a maximum of 40 children artists.
The mural is slated to be on one of the storage metal containers that serves the community at Village Park, said Stacie Estrada, owner of Art Lounge and coordinator of the project. She said the mural design will be a "fun and beautiful pop art flower garden."
"Everyone can be an artist," she said.
More:'It is totally vibrant': New murals are giving people more of a reason to visit downtown Menomonee Falls, BID director says
More:Doctors said she wouldn't live past 5 years old. Now she's nearly 6 and is Menomonee Falls' newest muralist.
"What a perfect way to boost morale, unity, friendship and creativity within the community with a chance to create local muralists," Estrada said. "We are looking forward to brightening up Village Park with color and vibrance with the community where we can all take pride in and enjoy.
"Painting with the kids on this Community Mural Project will be the most rewarding project of the year."
In summer 2020, Menomonee Falls launched its mural project , in which multiple murals were painted throughout the downtown, including "Sweet Dreams," which features life-size candy, and "Beyond Your Wildest Dreams."
Artists with Art Lounge also designed "Welcome to the Village," "Timeless Walk in the Park," "Breaking Through History" and "Athea" in downtown Menomonee Falls. They are also planning two more murals in 2022, with the exact location and topics to be revealed later.
Estrada said that the murals "demonstrate how important and impactful art can be to a community, to educate the process of a mural and how it improves their surroundings, to empower them on being a part of it."
To RSVP, visit www.artloungewi.com, click on Events and find the Community Mural Project, or call 262-246-9400. | 2022-04-20T18:47:40Z | www.jsonline.com | Children are invited to participate in Menomonee Falls newest mural at Village Park | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northwest/news/menomonee-falls/2022/04/20/children-invited-participate-menomonee-falls-newest-mural-village-park/7369652001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northwest/news/menomonee-falls/2022/04/20/children-invited-participate-menomonee-falls-newest-mural-village-park/7369652001/ |
After residents rejected a $149.8 million referendum in the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District on April 5, questions remain about what will happen next.
The referendum sought to consolidate Nathan Hale and West Allis Central high schools into one school; it was defeated with 59% of voters saying no and 41% saying yes.
West Allis-West Milwaukee School Board President Noah Leigh said after the vote that the district's need to upgrade the facilities hasn't gone away.
"Right now, from the district's perspective, we don't have any concrete plans moving forward other than our needs haven't changed, and we're going to have to look at those needs and determine what next steps will be," Leigh said in an April 13 phone interview.
Leigh said information from people who voted against the referendum would help inform the board.
"Is the majority of the reason because of the cost? Was the majority of the reason because of where it was located? Or is the majority of the reason because our community truly feels we should have two high schools?" Leigh said. "All those possibilities would have different outcomes as far as what next steps would be."
Hearing from voters
Alexandria Feavel has three children, two of whom attend school in the district. She voted in favor of the referendum and was a member of a committee supporting the measure.
"At (West Allis) Central High School, there is a lot of repairs that need to be done to that facility in order for it to even be up to code for our students to remain there. There's so many outdated classes in that building," Feavel said.
Feavel said the district needs to educate the community on its needs. She also noted the lower voter turnout.
"We have to get some of the younger crowd out there voting because I believe a lot of the voters who went out there were the older generations because they're used to stuff like that, know more about that.
"We want to make sure we're getting the word out to the younger generation, letting them know that your vote does count. This is why we're doing this. Is this going to be an increase on your taxes? The answer is yes, but in the long run, this is going to benefit all of us," Feavel said.
Resident Joe Mikolajczak voted against the referendum. He said the district should close West Allis Central High School, sell the building and transfer the students to Nathan Hale High School.
"There's also a number of other grade schools and middle schools that they don't need that they could sell, but they don't want to do that," Mikolajczak said. "One reason is because the best value for those buildings would be to sell them to a charter school. They don't want any charter schools in there because people are going to realize this is a terrible school district for education and they're going to go to those charter schools."
Resident and former West Allis-West Milwaukee School Board member Gary Schultz also voted no and was part of a group leading an effort against the referendum. He said the district asked for too much in the last referendum.
"I think they should take a step back and do a more grassroots effort at looking at different alternatives moving forward, and then they'll get a better sense of whether the community wants one high school or wants two high schools," Schultz said.
Schultz was also a member of a committee comprising staff members, community members and administrators that took on facility planning for the district. He said that in a survey of the committee about whether there should be one or two high schools in the district, there appeared to be more support for two high schools than one.
"They could do some alternatives analysis, and they might come back and say maybe one high school is still the best option, but we need to do it in an approach that is then going to be able to allow us to use money on the other needs we have in our school district at our elementary and intermediate school levels. Just get rid of the wants, (and) focus on the needs," Schultz suggested.
He also said some residents who voted against the referendum think the district should focus on its elementary schools first.
"I know a lot of people who say they would support that," Schultz said.
Facility planning for elementary and intermediate schools
Leigh said the district is also continuing its facility planning process related to the district's elementary and intermediate schools. He said a board workshop on that topic was scheduled for April 25.
"That is something I'd like our community to be aware of because even though it has nothing to do at all with the referendum whatsoever, it is important that they're aware of it and understand what is being considered so that if they have feedback or input they would like to provide before final decisions are made, the information that will be provided in the April 25 workshop will be very important," Leigh said. | 2022-04-20T18:47:52Z | www.jsonline.com | West Allis-West Milwaukee Schools figuring out facilities | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/southwest/news/west-allis/2022/04/20/west-allis-west-milwaukee-schools-figuring-out-facilities/7362788001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/southwest/news/west-allis/2022/04/20/west-allis-west-milwaukee-schools-figuring-out-facilities/7362788001/ |
The Wisconsin Alumnae Chapters of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. and Froedtert Health will host a women's health awareness event Saturday offering free breast cancer screenings for those who register in advance.
The organizers' goal is to offer 100 mammograms at the event, said Tamika Boone, president of the Iota Psi Sigma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.
“The earlier breast cancer is found, the better the outcome," Boone said.
The event also will include blood pressure screenings and health education resources and activities in service of the sorority's mission to raise breast cancer awareness and reduce health disparities, especially among women of color.
The health fair will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Froedtert Clinical Cancer Center, 8800 W. Doyne Ave.
The mammograms are available for those 40 or older, the recommended age screening should begin. People who have a family history of breast cancer should talk to their doctor.
Froedtert and the sorority, which is a member of the Divine Nine historically Black Greek organizations, will continue their educational efforts on breast cancer throughout 2022, including a second health fair that is planned for October.
“The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network is committed to developing relationships in the community that work to deliver quality and accessible health care to the diverse communities we serve,” said Kerry Freiberg, vice president of Community Engagement at Froedtert Health.
To register, call 414-777-1900 and choose option 1. Ask for the Sigma Gamma Rho mammogram. | 2022-04-20T18:48:04Z | www.jsonline.com | Froedtert, historically Black sorority offer free mammograms Saturday | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/health/2022/04/20/froedtert-health-historically-black-sorority-sigmai-gamma-rho-offer-free-mammograms-saturday/7383864001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/health/2022/04/20/froedtert-health-historically-black-sorority-sigmai-gamma-rho-offer-free-mammograms-saturday/7383864001/ |
Milwaukee Bucks all-star Khris Middleton left Game 2 against the Chicago Bulls with an apparent left knee injury with 6 minutes, 49 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
He was ruled out shortly thereafter in what the team called soreness in the knee and Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said an initial exam revealed a sprain of Middleton's medial collateral ligament (MCL).
He added Middleton will undergo further testing on Thursday.
Jrue Holiday acknowledged his teammate was upset, "But he's always been positive and he knows what type of team that we are and how resilient we are.
"We just want him to get back as quickly as possible and be healthy so he can come out here and help us win games."
Game 3 against the Bulls is Friday night.
Middleton hit the deck at the 7:30 mark after he drove to the baseline on Chicago guard Alex Caruso, and as he planted his left leg to spin away it slid out from under him. He remained on the court when Brook Lopez converted a basket and was slow to get up.
Once Middleton did get to his feet, he was limping and then flexed his left knee as he remained in the game. Giannis Antetokounmpo knew something was wrong when his longtime teammate requested a substitute.
"You know it's kind of bothering him because he doesn't leave the game if he's not hurting," Antetokounmpo said.
"We've got to focus on ourselves and we have a job to do here. Obviously Khris is one of the best players on the team. If he's not able to be with us it's going to be a tremendous loss for us, but at the end of the day we've got guys that hopefully that can step up and we can still do our job and compete and enjoy the game and hopefully it's not something very serious that he can come back and join us very soon."
The three-time all-star hyperextended his left knee in Boston on Dec. 13 and missed three games.
He finished the night with 18 points on 6 of 11 shooting. He also had eight assists, five rebounds and four turnovers.
"You feel for him," Bucks teammate Wesley Matthews said. "Obviously you feel for him. Khris is a huge part of this team, this organization, the city. I'm not sure what the situation is. I'm sure we'll know more (Thursday) but we'll just keep rallying with him and he's going to be there for us. Hopefully it's not as bad and we still got a job to do. Our goal is to win basketball games and get him back as fast as possible." | 2022-04-21T06:19:20Z | www.jsonline.com | Milwaukee Bucks all-star Khris Middleton suffers MCL sprain in Game 2 vs. Bulls | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2022/04/20/bucks-khris-middleton-exits-game-2-vs-bulls-knee-injury/7392500001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2022/04/20/bucks-khris-middleton-exits-game-2-vs-bulls-knee-injury/7392500001/ |
A Fleet Farm is coming to the Waukesha County community of Muskego in 2023
MUSKEGO - A plan for a Fleet Farm store on the city's northwestern edge has rolled ahead with city approval and a $1.7 million land sale.
Survey workers are staking a 15-acre parcel at College and Racine avenues this week as the expected yearlong construction project begins in the days ahead for the 47-store chain's newest location.
Since a wetland delineation report in January originally hinted at Fleet Farm's aspirations for a store in Muskego, the plan has taken a more definitive shape, including one surprise.
The store won't be nearly as large as relatively recent Fleet Farm stores, including the one that opened in Oconomowoc in 2018. According to documents presented to the city's plan commission on March 1, the Muskego store will total 137,455 square feet of space, about two-thirds the size of the Oconomowoc location, as measured from exterior walls.
Regardless, both the city and Fleet Farm officials see the development as a major step forward from their respective standpoints.
"As far as development opportunities go, I think this could be a catalyst for the area as a whole," said Adam Trzebiatowski, Muskego's planning manager. "We think this project will be a great thing for the city of Muskego, the residents of the city and the region/area as a whole."
More:Food Network contestant draws on her Muskego youth for a 'not contrived' approach to healthy dining
More:Voters in the Muskego-Norway School District pass a two-question facilities referendum totaling $44.6 million
Frank Steeves, executive vice president of Fleet Farm Group LLC, was heartened by the feedback he received from area residents, including during public hearings and private messages, about their enthusiasm for the arrival of the store, currently projected for spring 2023.
"We think we are going to be supported locally quite a bit, at least based on what we hear from community members that have written us or called us," Steeves said Wednesday. "We have lots of random, unsolicited comments that are positive from community members who want to see us come in and fill a gap in the market."
The project will include a store, gas station and car wash
While the interior layout of the store, and how it will differ from larger-format stores, was not publicly discussed during the city approval process, documents and Fleet Farm officials offered a glimpse.
During discussions with planning commissioners, Fleet Farm acknowledged the smaller size, noting the format will benefit from having a distribution center close enough to allow inventory to be delivered as needed instead of storing it on site.
In a follow-up interview, Steeves said the decision for a smaller store, which still consists of more than 100,000 square feet of sales-floor space, was based on the limited developable land along a wetland area and on market considerations for the specific site location.
Still, store officials are confident that space will contain all the inventory of the Oconomowoc store — which, he noted, is Fleet Farm's largest format.
According to its website, the Appleton-based chain's largest stores sell outdoor products, farm supplies, auto parts, work and family clothing, pet products, groceries and home improvement items, among other categories. The chain is also known for its seasonal Toyland department from October through December.
"Kind of all the things that you kind of need around a house or just recreationally," Steeves said.
The site will also include a roughly 60,000-square-foot outdoor materials yard.
Trzebiatowski said Fleet Farm's plan for the main store fits the general business district zoning already in place for that segment of the city just south of Interstate 43. But an accessory gas station and car wash required a separate conditional-use permit. That permit was granted April 7.
According to the building, site and operations plan — the package that was formally approved by the plan commission in March — the store and gas station will operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.
Certain details remain fuzzy. Store officials are working with Waukesha County officials about access from Racine and College avenues, both county roads. Steeves said the store anticipates entrances off both with a design that wraps parking lot traffic away from the roadways.
And supply-chain issues that continue to plague the construction industry could have an impact on the exact opening date of the Muskego store, he added.
But a major component — the acquisition of the 15-acre site — has been finalized, Steeves said. According to state Department of Revenue data, the sale of the land from College Square Development Group of Waukesha to Fleet Farm Group for $1.7 million was recorded on April 15.
The new store is expected to spur other development
From the city's perspective, the store's location is a key piece in economic development.
Trzebiatowski acknowledged that Muskego itself doesn't have a lot of developable vacant land near Racine and College avenues, a neighborhood that is close to the border with the city of New Berlin. But that doesn't mean developers, who are not as concerned with jurisdiction, won't be interested.
"There are a few properties in Muskego to the south and southwest that could develop/redevelop due to this project," Trzebiatowski said. "The city of New Berlin could also see further development occur as part of this project."
In fact, the open space in New Berlin could prove important, he added. "They have more land that is vacant and/or has redevelopment potential to the west and north," Trzebiatowski said.
Steeves acknowledged Fleet Farm had studied other sites south of Waukesha as it strategized for a new store. In the end, the chain settled on the Muskego site as the best.
It helped that the development proposal itself was met by enthusiastic support from the city's mayor, Rick Petfalski, and city staff.
"Muskego, the mayor and his staff have been really great to work with. Very professional in every respect, and really as professional as we have ever seen working with communities," Steeve said. "Obviously, they have to protect the interests of their community, and we think they've done that."
Fleet Farm has a long history in Wisconsin
Fleet Farm, as it is now officially called, more likely is still remembered as Mills Fleet Farm, which carried the name of its founder until 2018.
Stewart C. Mills Sr. began what would eventually become the current 47-store chain as Mills Companies in Brainerd, Minnesota, in 1922. But the company really established itself as a retail fixture in Wisconsin, with the opening of what was originally called Fleet Wholesale Supply, in 1955 in Marshfield.
Before opening larger-format stores in the decades ahead, the chain included smaller-format stores of roughly 25,000 square feet in rural areas. Among the remaining oldest and smallest locations is in Clintonville — where, Steeves said, Fleet Farm remains ingrained in the community.
Mills Fleet Farm was sold to the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 2016. | 2022-04-21T12:42:19Z | www.jsonline.com | Fleet Farm coming to Muskego in 2023 with smaller store | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/waukesha/news/muskego/2022/04/21/fleet-farm-coming-muskego-2023-smaller-store/7364455001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/waukesha/news/muskego/2022/04/21/fleet-farm-coming-muskego-2023-smaller-store/7364455001/ |
It looks as though we might be back to pre-pandemic life, at least as far as home tours go.
This year, there’s an impressive list of in-person tours. In fact, some of the tours are expected to be better than ever.
The Breast Cancer Showhouse, which runs from June 4 to June 19, is returning after two years off and will be held at the former UWM Alumni House; an approximately 24,000-square-foot private residence.
“We are back, and what a way to reappear — with a house that will be one of the best ever, not only in its vastness but also because of its history. We’re expecting a record crowd,” said Linda Short, public relations chairperson and volunteer coordinator for the showhouse.
The house, which is considered one of the best examples of Tudor architecture in the Midwest, was purchased by entrepreneur and philanthropist Andy Nunemaker, who has been restoring it since he bought it in early 2021.
Because the building has served many functions over the years, many people have connections to it, and that's likely to be a big draw, she said.
“I had a volunteer say, ‘I lived in that house as a student when it was a dorm, and I remember hiding beers in the toilet tank so the house mother wouldn’t find them.’ And someone else wrote and said that they worked on the second floor when there were offices there.
“And one woman from California, who is in her 80s, is coming here to take the tour with people she went to school with because she lived here years ago.
“So many people have fond memories of this house at so many different levels. They want to see what it looks like today, whether it was an office or a place for the UWM alumnae. It was a very versatile building for many years,” Short said.
More:Your guide to 2022 home tours in Milwaukee and Wisconsin
Tour-goers will be able to see the home decorated by more than 35 area interior designers, Short said.
Outside, there also will be points of interest, said Ellen Irion, chairperson of the showhouse board of directors and owner of Landscape by Design. She has been working on the gardens since last year.
“Planting will have been started by then, and people will be able to get a sense of the way the gardens will look. We are keeping the original garden footprint,” she said.
The west walls of the home's original sunken garden will be rebuilt by that time; a swimming pool that was filled in in 1955 will be turned into a fountain; and a four-car garage that was just built using stone from the same quarry used on the house will be the site of the showhouse's boutique, she said.
Spaces and Traces includes downtown
The Spaces and Traces tour, organized by Historic Milwaukee, will be held partially in downtown this year and will celebrate its 40th anniversary after a year off and a year of virtual tours, said Grace Fuhr, events director at Historic Milwaukee.
“We were planning to celebrate this since before COVID. The reason we are celebrating is that the first ever Spaces and Traces tour was held in the downtown area. It was called Loft Spaces and Historic Traces. Now, the area has become a residential district in addition to a business district,” she said.
Fuhr said the tour, to be held May 7, also will showcase the Third Ward, Westown and Yankee Hill neighborhoods and will feature condos, hotels and apartments in some of the most famous buildings in Milwaukee.
Some of the highlights are the high-rise BreakWater condominiums, 1313 N. Franklin Place; the boutique hotel Kinn Guesthouse, 2535 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.; and the Grand Wisconsin, 720 N. King Drive.
“We are really excited about featuring the BreakWater condominiums. It’s one of the newer buildings featured on the tour this year. One of the most exciting things is the views people get to see from these spaces. The BreakWater has views of the lake and of downtown.
“The Kinn Guesthouse is a beautiful mixture of historical exposed brick and contemporary interior design. People will also be able to see views from its rooftop.
“The Grand Wisconsin, which was once called Hotel Wisconsin and was built in 1913, was converted into apartments in 2007. People will be able to see the large historic lobby and the amenities room. And the area where the ballroom was is now an exercise space, a game room and a meeting room. There is also a terrace that was newly added,” she said.
Because the virtual tour they had in 2021 was a success, virtual components will be offered in addition to in-person tours this year, Fuhr said. Lectures on May 2, 4 and 9 are included in the price of the tour.
Cedarburg's treasures back in view
Another event coming back with a bang is the Cedarburg Cultural Center’s Architectural Treasures Tour. It was canceled in 2020, then offered as an outdoor walking tour of historic buildings last year.
This year, the Sept. 10 tour will feature the Nieman Haus, a historic home in Ozaukee County that is on the National and State Registers of Historic Places, said Peg Edquist, co-chairperson of the event..
“It’s one of the more unique homes in the county. It could be one of our best tours ever,” she said.
The house, an elaborately detailed Tudor Revival style brick-clad building, “is completely refurbished to its original grandeur of the late 1920s. All the light fixtures in the house are original, and it includes Italian tile in the front entryway and metalwork throughout the house from the famous German-Austrian master blacksmith Cyril Kolnik.
“Of particular note is the rathskeller in the basement with a replica Wurlitzer jukebox, a 1941 pool table and a children's play area with handcrafted tiles illustrating children's nursery rhymes,” she said.
The building also has maid’s quarters on the third floor, a sunroom, conservatory, kitchen, den, dining room, master bedroom with his-and-hers walk-in closets, a master bathroom and a nursery.
"The house is more like a small mansion and really has to be seen to realize its significance in architectural history. … At the tour we will not only tell the story of this beautifully restored home, but we will tell the story of life as it was in the late1920s,” she said.
Historic Concordia is back in person
Paul Vissers chairperson for the Historic Concordia Home Tour on June 18, said his group will feature about 10 homes on the west side of the neighborhood, after two years of virtual tours.
It will include a variety of styles of homes and even gardens.
“We have some wonderful houses over there. We have houses that haven’t been on the tour before, and some houses that have been on the tour years ago that have been upgraded,” he said.
One home is the Pabst Von Ernst House, a red-brick Queen Anne style home that is almost 6,000 square feet and is one of the few homes in the neighborhood that still have a porte-cochere, or carriage porch, he said.
There the owners have been working since the late 1990s to turn what had become a 22-room boarding house back into a single-family home. During the renovation, murals were found on some of the first-floor ceilings under layers of grime. The decorative murals are attributed to Otto Von Ernst (Captain Pabst’s son-in-law), who was an academic artist and major figure in the Milwaukee art world.
“Those ceilings are just amazing. The artwork was hand drawn,” Vissers said.
Gardens are included this year to show how neighbors interact with each other, he said.
“We have some wonderfully landscaped gardens in our neighborhoods … This tour really shows the diversity of the neighborhood. We want to make people aware of how awesome Concordia is,” he said.
He added that some houses on this year’s tour were featured in the virtual tours the past two years; those tours are still available on the website.
“In these tours, the homeowners gave their own personal stories. They talked about how they believe in the neighborhood. Even though we went virtual the last two years, we weren’t sitting idle. We really enhanced our website by adding more of a personal touch,” he added.
More:If you're hosting a garden tour in the Milwaukee area in 2022, send us details
More:Milwaukee area home and garden events in spring 2022 | 2022-04-21T12:42:31Z | www.jsonline.com | Southeast Wisconsin home tours are back and eager to show off in 2022 | https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/home-garden/2022/04/21/southeast-wisconsin-home-tours-back-and-eager-show-off-2022/9489642002/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/home-garden/2022/04/21/southeast-wisconsin-home-tours-back-and-eager-show-off-2022/9489642002/ |
As he runs for re-election for a third term, Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson is touting what he's calling his accomplishments that include passing a "right to try" law, ensuring President Donald Trump's tax bill benefited small businesses and digging into Hunter Biden's financial arrangements.
Johnson will detail the list Thursday in an email to supporters and a post on his website wisfacts.com, as he braces to take on a Democratic rival in the fall.
For their part, Democrats have sought to portray Johnson as a polarizing figure who argued the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was not an armed insurrection and through the COVID-19 pandemic raised doubts about vaccines and promoted unproven early treatments.
Johnson appears determined to run on his record. His "right-to-try" bill was signed into law in 2018 by Trump. The measure allows terminally ill patients to receive experimental drugs not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Claiming "there is no stronger advocate for small business in the U.S. Senate today," Johnson doubled down on his work for the 2017 business tax cut he championed.
He said the significance of his two signature measures "is hard to overstate, and few members of Congress have made a bigger impact on people's lives."
In 2017, as Republicans put together a sprawling tax bill, Johnson pushed for a tax break for small businesses and other so-called pass-through entities. In these businesses, profits pass through to the owners who pay taxes on their personal returns.
Democrats and their allies have pilloried Johnson's move, claiming it enriched the wealthy, including some of Johnson's top donors.
In August, an investigation from ProPublica found that Johnson's tax provision delivered millions in tax savings to key donors of his campaigns, Dick and Liz Uihlein of Pleasant Prairie-based Uline and Diane Hendricks of Beloit-based ABC Supply.
Johnson has said his Oshkosh plastics firm and many others also benefited from the provision.
"Perhaps my greatest achievement was tenaciously insisting that 95% of Wisconsin and American businesses were not left behind in the 2017 tax bill," Johnson wrote. "Without me, only C-Corp’s — representing most of the largest and approximately 5% of all U.S. businesses — would have gotten a tax cut. That would have put the other 95% of America’s smaller businesses at a distinct competitive disadvantage. I didn’t let that happen."
Johnson said he was able to shepherd 132 bills into law during his tenure as chair of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. But his final hearing as chair, amid the fallout from the 2020 election, was filled with acrimony.
Johnson lauded the committee's work for investigating the scandal at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which was dubbed "Candy Land" for its widespread distribution of opioids.
Emerging in recent years as an ally of Trump, Johnson claimed a key role in his committee's probe of what he termed "the FBI's corrupt investigation" of allegations that the 2016 Trump campaign colluded with Russia.
He also promoted his work with U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, claiming they "warned Americans of the foreign financial entanglements of Hunter Biden and the rest of President Biden's family."
Hunter Biden's international dealings have come under scrutiny in recent years.
Johnson also praised the Joseph Project, which links inner-city workers in Milwaukee to jobs in other areas. He indicated the program continues, despite the death of Pastor Jerome Smith of Greater Praise Church of God in Christ.
Johnson called his work with Smith and the Joseph Project as "perhaps most dear to my heart." | 2022-04-21T12:43:11Z | www.jsonline.com | Ron Johnson touts work on right-to-try legislation, Trump tax cuts | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/21/ron-johnson-touts-work-right-try-legislation-trump-tax-cuts/7385071001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/21/ron-johnson-touts-work-right-try-legislation-trump-tax-cuts/7385071001/ |
Record Store Day 2022: Here's what's planned in Milwaukee, including the last RSD at Exclusive Company stores
Record Store Day is returning to its typical April window for the first time since 2019.
But it still won't be Record Store Day as usual in Milwaukee this Saturday.
Off the Beaten Path, most recently located in South Milwaukee, closed last year, with plans to reopen in Kenosha this spring. (It may open on Record Store Day itself; check the shop's Facebook page for updates.)
But every location of the Exclusive Company — Wisconsin's largest, and one of the country's oldest, record store chains — will be closing down.
It happened for the West Bend location this year. There are plans in the works for the Milwaukee and Greenfield locations to open as standalone stores, as Lilliput Records and That Girl Records, respectively.
On Saturday, both of those locations will celebrate one last Record Store Day officially as the Exclusive Company. And there are other area stores planning their own festivities, with all of the stores carrying some Record Store Day-exclusive titles.
Here’s a guide to what’s happening for Record Store Day in the Milwaukee area. And if all the activities aren’t enough for you, you can check out a special pop-up record shop, dubbed Paved Paradise, on May 1 at the Radio Milwaukee studios (220 E. Pittsburgh Ave.), featuring titles from indie labels Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar and Secretly Canadian.
Acme Records, 2341 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
Acme will have normal operating hours, from noon to 7 p.m., and isn't planning any specific festivities, but it will carry some Record Store Day-exclusive titles.
Bullseye Records, 1627 E. Irving Place
The shop will open two hours earlier than usual, at 9 a.m., and close at 7 p.m.
The Exclusive Company, 1669 N. Farwell Ave.
For its last Record Store Day as Exclusive Company, the Milwaukee location will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and have a special guest — Britt Daniel of Spoon. Ahead of Spoon's concert at the Rave Saturday night, Daniel will do a DJ set from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Beginning at noon, visitors also can look for rare Spoon items and tickets to the show hidden throughout the store. It's all free to check out, but donations will be accepted to support Lilliput Records' planned opening in July.
The Exclusive Company, 5026 S. 74th St., Greenfield
The Greenfield location will have expanded hours from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Fermentorium Barrel House, 6933 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa
A pop-up record store will be set up in partnership with We Buy Records, with 400 LPs on sale for $5 each.
Lion's Tooth, 2421 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
The bookstore and cafe is donating 10% of all of its sales Saturday to a fund to help support Lilliput Records' opening.
Rush-Mor Records, 2635 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
The shop will open at 8 a.m., the same time a bake sale will be set up outside to support JR's Pups-n-Stuff Dog Rescue. And in addition to national RSD titles, the shop will have a couple of local exclusive releases, the latest albums from Milwaukee bands Convert (on limited color vinyl) and Guerrilla Ghost (on CD). And after the shop closes at 7 p.m., festivities will move over to Puddler's Hall, 2461 S. St. Clair St., and Club Garibaldi, 2501 S. Superior St., for a show headlined by the Crosses (led by Die Kreuzen frontman Dan Kubinski) that begins at 9 p.m.
We Buy Records, 904 E. Center St.
Open for its regular hours from noon to 4 p.m., the newest local record shop in town will sell some of the more obscure Record Store Day-exclusive releases, and some rare groove records imported from the UK. It'll also be selling about 700 used records for $2 and $5 each. | 2022-04-21T15:06:12Z | www.jsonline.com | Milwaukee shops, including Exclusive Company, to mark Record Store Day | https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/04/21/milwaukee-shops-including-exclusive-company-mark-record-store-day/7385120001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/04/21/milwaukee-shops-including-exclusive-company-mark-record-store-day/7385120001/ |
He's 32, running for public office for the first time and not even a blip in the polls.
But Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Steven Olikara has big ideas about shaking up the "business model of politics."
Term limits? He's for them.
Open primaries and ranked-choice voting? Absolutely.
Fundraising while Congress is in session? He'd ban it.
"We today have a system of legalized bribery in Congress," Olikara said in an interview as he rolled out his "agenda to make government work."
Olikara is a Brookfield native and University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate who gave up his job to run for U.S. Senate. He was the founder and chief executive of Millennial Action Project, a Washington-based nonprofit devoted to "post-partisan political cooperation."
He is now trying to elbow his way into political contention, making more than 120 appearances across the state. He's drumming up interest in his campaign by doing such things as selling NFTs, non-fungible tokens.
But Olikara is a long way from the top four in the Democratic primary: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, the front runner, Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson.
Since joining the race in August, Olikara has raised $372,000, decent numbers for a first-time candidate but far behind many of his rivals.
The most recent Marquette University Law School Poll showed he had zero support among those who said they'll be voting in the Aug. 9 primary and hardly anyone knew of him.
"The majority of the voters haven't heard of or formed an opinion on any of the candidates so it continues to be a wide open race," Olikara said.
Olikara is banking on his ideas to get traction in a crowded primary field.
Olikara said he's out to create a coalition of voters "that can cut across party lines."
"I'm appealing to that exhausted majority," he said. | 2022-04-21T15:06:18Z | www.jsonline.com | Wisconsin Democrat Steven Olikara running for U.S. Senate seat | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/21/wisconsin-democrat-steven-olikara-running-u-s-senate-seat/7388061001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/21/wisconsin-democrat-steven-olikara-running-u-s-senate-seat/7388061001/ |
Opinion: Cooperation between U.S. public and private sectors will be critical in the years ahead
Tana Johnson
During April — tax season — we are keenly aware of what we pay to the government and what we expect that money to deliver. Taxes remind us to look at the balance between the public and private sectors.
Understanding that balance is crucial for researchers and public servants but also for the average person, whether you’re concerned about jobs, health, security, or something else.
Why does the balance between the state and the market change? How do those changes relate to challenges facing the nation? And why do policymakers need to pay attention to the private and public sectors’ similarities and differences?
Big differences between nations
Preferences about the role of the market and the state change over time. Broadly speaking, the demand for governments to take on a bigger role often increases when there’s a crisis, and the demand for businesses to take on a bigger role often increases when things are calmer.
The balance between the state and the market differs across countries. Consider the United States and China. Both are powerful nations but with very different political and economic systems. In the United States, the public sector is often subordinate to the private sector: Markets are permitted to run their course unless some perceived “market failure” (such as a company squashing all competitors and becoming a monopoly) prompts government intervention.
In China, the private sector is often subordinate to the public sector. The central government is very involved in the economy, has many domestic and foreign policy goals that are tied to controlling the economy, and even directly owns large parts of it.
This is part of a bigger pattern. Countries like the United States, which industrialized by the early 20th century, tend to have a large role for the private sector. Countries like China, which industrialized more recently, tend to prioritize the public sector.
A blurring of the lines
Many of our country’s biggest rivals are countries that subordinate the market to the state. Certainly, this includes China when it comes to economic matters. And, as has become increasingly apparent in recent weeks, this also includes Russia when it comes to security.
But the state/market balance isn’t just relevant for international challenges — it also matters for challenges the United States faces domestically.
Americans who admire the private sector’s efficiency or innovation demand that governments get more streamlined and creative. Meanwhile, Americans who admire the public sector’s ability to look beyond the next financial quarter or take on big risks are demanding that businesses adopt a longer view and help more with things that are good for society.
That can lead to a blurring of the lines between the state and the market.
We’ve seen this with the COVID pandemic. The federal government has funded private-sector research, bought up vaccines and testing kits made by the private sector, and used the Postal Service to deliver testing kits to people’s doorsteps for free. So, a public policy goal like “health” has been dependent on both the public and private sectors.
The state and the market: some similarities, but different goals
As the COVID pandemic has shown, public policy actually involves the state and the market working with and through each other in lots of ways. Prior to the pandemic, there was a great deal of interest in making governments in the United States more efficient, like businesses. And in the midst of the pandemic, there was outcry for businesses to be more socially minded, like governments.
These demands aren’t so surprising when you consider that the two sectors share a fundamental feature: Much of the private and public sectors are organized as bureaucracies.
Bureaucracy is neither all good nor all bad — it just means that operations are based on rules, hierarchies, specialization, and so on. Although governments get painted as bureaucratic, many businesses are, too. You may have firsthand experience with this when you call a company’s support line and are transferred among several departments before you get to the right person.
But the private and public sectors have profoundly different goals. Businesses pursue and are judged by their profitability; governments are charged with many additional objectives, such as fairness and societal cohesion. If profitability and the private sector were the only option, many rural areas in the United States, for example, would be shut out of healthcare, transportation, or Internet access.
Finding ways for private and public sectors to work together
Demanding each sector to act more like the other doesn’t always make sense. In fact, it’s not always possible. Just because a football player and a golfer both play on grass, it doesn't mean they could play each other's sport.
Both the public sector and the private sector play important roles in the United States, and both can find ways to improve. Neither is able to fully substitute for the other.
The key is to continue to find ways for governments and businesses to work together. That will be necessary as the nation continues to emerge from the pandemic, and it will also be indispensable as we confront the challenges that lie ahead.
Tana Johnson is a faculty member in the La Follette School of Public Affairs and the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
La Follette Forum
What: UW–Madison La Follette School’s 2022 Forum, "American Power, Prosperity & Democracy"
Where: Monona Terrace, 1 John Nolen Drive, Madison, or virtually
Register: https://go.wisc.edu/LaFolletteForum
What to expect: The 2022 Forum will bring together journalists and experts from academia and business to discuss the most serious problems confronting the United States in decades: the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant international economic crisis; the rise of China and the challenge it poses to the world order and the future of American global power and leadership; and the rise of authoritarianism and the threat it poses to American democracy. | 2022-04-21T15:06:24Z | www.jsonline.com | Cooperation between public private sectors crucial in the years ahead | https://www.jsonline.com/story/opinion/2022/04/21/cooperation-between-public-private-sectors-crucial-years-ahead/7367031001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/opinion/2022/04/21/cooperation-between-public-private-sectors-crucial-years-ahead/7367031001/ |
While it says it is still investigating what caused some Waukesha North High School students to become ill after attending prom earlier this month, the Waukesha County Health Department has said one of the ill attendees has norovirus.
The department said in an emailed statement that it has not identified a potential source or cause of the illness.
According to an April 13 letter from Waukesha North principal Kristin Higgins, the school's administration received more than a dozen reports of students experiencing gastrointestinal issues such as vomiting and diarrhea following prom. The school held its prom on April 9 at the Brookfield Conference Center.
Higgins encouraged anyone who suspected their child's illness was the result of the dinner served at prom to contact the county and to keep them home until the illness has passed.
"The Brookfield Conference Center is dedicated to providing our guests with a safe and secure environment," the Brookfield Conference Center said in an emailed statement. "We take all health and safety concerns very seriously. We are working with the Waukesha County Health Department and have offered our full cooperation to assist in their investigation and we are committed to working with them to determine a cause."
According to the CDC, norovirus causes 58% of foodborne illness acquired in the United States each year, with about 2,500 norovirus outbreaks reported annually. The CDC said while outbreaks of the virus occur throughout the year, they are most common from November to April.
The most common symptoms of norovirus are diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain, while other symptoms include fever, headache and body aches. Symptoms usually develop within 12 to 48 hours after exposure.
"Most outbreaks of norovirus illness happen when infected people spread the virus to others through direct contact, such as by caring for them or sharing food or eating utensils with them. Food, water and surfaces contaminated with norovirus can also cause outbreaks," the CDC said on its website.
The CDC lists healthcare facilities, restaurants and at catered events, schools and childcare centers and cruise ships as some of the most commonly reported outbreak settings.
Higgins said in her letter that next year's prom would be held at the Ingleside Hotel in Pewaukee. | 2022-04-21T17:25:11Z | www.jsonline.com | Norovirus case linked to Waukesha North prom that left students sick | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/waukesha/news/waukesha/2022/04/21/norovirus-case-linked-waukesha-north-prom-left-students-sick/7387905001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/waukesha/news/waukesha/2022/04/21/norovirus-case-linked-waukesha-north-prom-left-students-sick/7387905001/ |
A special election has been ordered for the Milwaukee Common Council seat vacated by Cavalier Johnson when he was elected mayor earlier this month.
The election for the District 2 seat on the city's northwest side will take place in conjunction with the Aug. 9 primary and Nov. 8 general election, when races for governor and U.S. Senate will be on the ballot.
The deadline to submit nomination papers to the city Election Commission in order to appear on the ballot is 5 p.m. June 1.
The new council member will represent the district under the boundaries that existed when Johnson was last elected in 2020, not as it is newly drawn under the recent redistricting process.
Whoever is elected will serve the remainder of Johnson's term, which expires on April 16, 2024, according to a letter council President José G. Pérez sent to Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg on Wednesday.
Johnson represented the district from April 2016 until his election earlier this month.
A second council seat is also likely to see a special election, though the timing remains unknown.
Johnson tapped District 3 Ald. Nik Kovac, who represents the east side and Riverwest, to serve as budget director in his administration. Kovac has represented the district since April 2008.
However, Kovac has not yet been confirmed by the council and has not resigned from his aldermanic seat.
A special election has to be ordered by May 9 for it to coincide with the fall election cycle, but the next council meeting is scheduled for May 10.
It remains to be seen whether a special council meeting to confirm Kovac ahead of the May 9 deadline will be scheduled.
The ordering of the special elections is among the most pressing duties facing Pérez following his own election to the council presidency on Tuesday.
He succeeds Johnson as council president, a role the now-mayor held since April 2020.
More:See how far Milwaukee was behind similar cities in electing a Black mayor | 2022-04-21T17:25:23Z | www.jsonline.com | Election ordered for Milwaukee council seat vacated by Mayor Johnson | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/21/special-election-ordered-milwaukee-council-seat-vacated-mayor-cavalier-johnson/7394620001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/21/special-election-ordered-milwaukee-council-seat-vacated-mayor-cavalier-johnson/7394620001/ |
As their 6-year-old mends from a serious blood disorder, a local racer and his wife hope to help others living every parent's nightmare
In the greater sports world, Steve Apel is far from famous. But within his little corner, as a five-time Slinger Speedway champion and sometimes regional stock car racer, maybe his name may carry some clout.
Whatever it is he has, Apel and his wife, Liz, would like to use it to help others. If telling their story convinces 10 people or 10,000 people to take action — to donate blood or enter the bone marrow registry — or if it helps some other person living every parent’s nightmare know they’re not alone, then that will be beneficial.
When your 6-year-old child is stricken with a potentially deadly disease, every word of encouragement, every ounce of support, every last bit of help is welcome. They know that firsthand.
“We've all seen the commercials for the MACC Fund and Children's Hospital and thought, man, that’d really stink to have a kid go through that. You hope it's never you,” Steve said. “When it is you it brings you to realize that when you have a bad day, it's not that bad. There's kids that are going through a lot harder days than what you're going through.
“(We’re) just trying to raise awareness for kids that need help and the MACC Fund and blood donations. Try to do our best to have a positive (influence) on what's going on. It's been what's kind of kept us positive and something to look forward to. The days drag on. So to know what you can do to help out other people has been rewarding for us.”
When your child gets sick
The Apels’ journey began in February, although looking back the signs were present by Christmastime. Anytime the sniffles or a stomach bug made the rounds, Cameron would need longer to recover than his 4-year-old brother, Harrison.
“People were saying that he just didn't look himself, so we decided to take him in and have some blood work done,” Liz said. “And that's kind of when it all transpired in February that all of his blood counts were down. He might have leukemia, he might have some sort of bone marrow failure.”
Severe aplastic anemia, specifically?
“I had no idea what it was until Cam had it,” Steve said.
For five days, Cameron was at Children’s Wisconsin in Wauwatosa, undergoing an exhaustive series of tests.
“Just watching your kid go through doctor's appointments after doctor's appointments, and blood draws and needles and pokes and it's … it's pretty hard,” Steve said. “You’d rather switch spots with them in a heartbeat.”
Steve and Liz largely kept to themselves. To tell friends would only create more questions, and they had no answers.
“I think the first admission (to the hospital) was kind of that whirl of emotions,” Liz said. “Crying. You know, feeling OK (and then) upset. … And then once you finally get that diagnosis, you kind of can wrap your head around it a little bit more. The waiting game, that's the hardest I think on everybody.
“We're definitely both still learning every single day. But yeah, you kind of just put your head down and you go through it because if you let your emotions get you, you just continue to spin and you don't get anywhere.”
Everything moves quickly
No sooner did Cameron’s diagnosis come than the planning began.
What might treatment involve? Immunosuppressant therapy? More transfusions? Cameron already had had plenty of those. A bone marrow transplant?
“They had given us the kit to test yourself to see if (Harrison) was a match,” Liz said. “That did take like a week or two to come back.”
It was a perfect match for a transplant.
“We just had to go through some genetic testing to make sure that this form of aplastic anemia wasn’t genetic, because if it was, Harrison could potentially have it as well,” Liz said. “There's just a lot leading up to that and lots of testing like EKG, all sorts of things that Cameron had to go through and then blood testing that Harrison had to go through, physicals and all sorts of things.
“All that went as soon as it could. So then we were admitted at the beginning of April and here we are.”
In addition to each other, the Apels draw on the strength of parents and siblings and friends. But they also find inspiration and comfort from a source they might not have imagined: one little boy who has lost his hair to chemotherapy and another who just wants his big brother to feel better.
“(Cameron) has been super strong through it all,” Steve said. “So that's been very uplifting.
“He's had a positive attitude since Day 1. Really, at this point, he just wants to go home. He’s been here now for I think two weeks and has a couple of weeks to go more than likely. He misses his brother and his dog more than anybody else.”
And Harrison? Although he doesn’t fully understand what’s going on, he knows Cameron is sick, he misses him dearly and he was in a position to help him get better. Even if that meant some scary tests and getting put under anesthesia so doctors could harvest cells from his pelvis, Harrison was eager to help.
“The day of the transplant, Harrison was able to come in and see his brother. So that was really special,” Steve said. “Harrison was able to watch what he calls his ‘bow and arrows’ go into his brother, so that was really cool to see.
“Cameron was sleeping at the time, but Harrison was really excited. He had no side effects. He wasn’t sore or tired or anything. He was bouncing off the walls, wanting to play.”
Life won’t be the same for a long time
Cameron’s prospects are good.
If all goes as expected after the transplant, doctors have told the Apels the disorder and recovery will be “just a speed bump in his long and healthy life,” Steve said.
But before the road is clear, both boys will have missed at least a year of school, not to mention the socialization that is important to their development.
For the past two weeks, Steve and Liz have taken turns with one at Children’s and the other attending to Harrison and the rest of life. That could go on for another two to four weeks, depending on how quickly and how well Harrison’s marrow and Cameron’s body work together.
When Cameron does go home to Slinger, he’ll be on intravenous fluids and other medications for months to come.
“Liz and I were talking about it the other night,” Steve said. “It’s COVID on steroids, but nobody else is doing it. We have to wear masks. We have to be somewhat isolated. We have to be extremely careful and wash our hands more than most but nobody else is.
“We’ll manage. We’ll get through it.”
At some point, the clinic visits will become less frequent and eventually Cameron will have only periodic blood tests to see if the anemia recurs.
Handling ‘the day-to-day boredom’
Having been around racing for most of his life, Apel was aware of competitors stepping in to help one another in tough times. If someone needs a part and someone else has it, there’s a reasonable chance that first driver will get back on track. Then the favor will be returned.
But what’s happened since Cameron got sick is an example of people in the sport pulling together to the nth degree to try to boost his spirits.
“At this point the mailroom at Children's is ready to give up on us,” Steve said. “They’re ready for us to go home.”
Cameron has received literally hundreds of hats and T-shirts, countless autograph cards and more than 400 packages in all.
Gabe Sommers put Cameron’s name over the door of his car for the Dells Raceway opener, and Derek Kraus did the same with his NASCAR truck last weekend in Bristol, Tennessee.
“Chase Elliott's one of his favorite drivers,” Liz said, “so he sent him like a little Chase Elliott jacket with a signed diecast car. Just some really awesome things teams have done.”
Cameron had been active, preferring to play outside or spend time with his dad in the race shop rather than be in the house. The real gift will come when he can go home and do those things again.
As for the cards and trinkets, one minute Steve wonders if it isn’t all too much for a boy and the next he knows how much the whole family appreciates them.
“The racing community has really stepped up to help Cam with the day-to-day boredom of being here,” Steve said.
“You put a kid like that … it’s almost like being in a jail cell in a way that he goes crazy. Having some stuff to open has really helped Cameron get through the longness of the day, because it gets pretty long, especially late afternoon.”
‘If there’s a way to help somebody else’
The Apels have been open about what Cameron is going through, offering even casual racetrack acquaintances updates through social media. In part, that’s a reflection on society today. It also saves hours worth of calls and texts with family members from out of the area.
They’ve found another unexpected benefit.
“If there's a way to help somebody else, or people have reached out to us and said, I went through this with one of our kids and to share their story with us kind of helps us get a better picture of what to expect when it comes to care afterwards,” Steve said.
Although they can’t attend the Slinger Speedway opener Sunday, the Apels’ presence will be felt as much as ever.
Track owner Todd Thelen has worked with them to raise awareness for blood disorders such as the one Cameron has, and Be The Match, part of the National Bone Marrow Registry, will have a van at the track. From noon to 2 p.m. Be The Match will take cheek swabs from people willing to become part of the registry.
Not everyone has a perfect match the way Cameron did with Harrison, but the more people who become involved, the better any patient’s chance is to find a suitable donor.
“That was one way that we can use racing as a way to kind of give back to the organizations that have helped Cam so far,” Steve said. Another is to encourage blood donation.
“Cameron’s got tons of blood the last two months. Liz and I can't keep up with the demand of how much blood he's been getting. So (we’re) trying to help backfill what Cameron’s needed and also to help other kids in his position and people in general.”
Eager to get back to the track
This was supposed to be the biggest season of Steve’s time in racing.
He and his crew had built a second car and had 34 races on his calendar, from the full super late model schedules at Slinger Speedway and Dells Raceway, to some ARCA Midwest Tour and TUNDRA special events.
Last year Steve took on a teammate in RJ Braun and helps with setups. He also has done a deal for West Coast hotshot Derek Thorn to race one of his cars in the prestigious Slinger Nationals in July.
When the five-time Slinger champion gets back in his No. 51 car depends on Cameron’s recovery. Until then, his crew is helping Braun, and they will have Thorn’s car ready regardless of whether Steve can be at the track.
“He was the first one to come up and say, hey, man, I know that we want to do this Nationals thing but with everything that's going on with your family, let's just pause,” Steve said. “And I’m like, no. That’s something to look forward to. … Having something to look forward to is vital.”
The Apels are a racing family, and the boys love nothing more than to join their father in victory lane. They’re all itching for the excitement of the sport but have no idea of when or how they’ll get to enjoy it again.
“We hope that we can get Cameron to different racetracks because that's what we all want to do,” Liz said. “But we just have to do it in a safe manner, and for people to just respect that. We can't be, you know, hugging and touching, you know, surrounded. … Just finding that space for us to be safe with him so that we can enjoy ourselves.”
If their journey back helps someone else, even better. | 2022-04-21T17:25:35Z | www.jsonline.com | Wisconsin racer Steve Apel's son Cameron recovers from aplastic anemia | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/motor/2022/04/21/wisconsin-racer-steve-apels-son-cameron-recovers-aplastic-anemia/7392131001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/motor/2022/04/21/wisconsin-racer-steve-apels-son-cameron-recovers-aplastic-anemia/7392131001/ |
A senior-focused group hopes to make Oconomowoc resources more accessible
CITY OF OCONOMOWOC - A group supported by city government is researching and acting on the needs of seniors in the community.
The Senior Cohort Group was created in August 2021. Initiated by Mayor Bob Magnus, the group includes senior representatives from the city's senior institutions like Oconomowoc Area Senior Center, Shorehaven Senior Living, Tower Crest, Evin, Wilkinson Woods, and The View at Pine Ridge.
The group is led by Ginni Hicks, president of the Oconomowoc Area Senior Center
"There are so many seniors in our community and every community who aren’t reached," she said. "Our goal is to try to reach this group. Getting their opinion and reaching out to them, that’s how we make change and that’s how we make a difference."
Meeting regularly with representatives from these facilities and with other seniors in the city, the group is working toward making the area, and its resources, safer and more accessible for seniors.
Work so far
Hicks presented the group's progress, plans and actions so far to the Common Council on April 19. Among the areas the group is focusing on is safety and accessibility for seniors in the community.
"As a child, we hop, we skip, we jump, we ride our bikes, we go down the street, and the last thing we think about is safety or us getting hurt," Hicks told the council. "As a senior, like me, the slightest crack in the sidewalk, the lip on the edge of where sidewalks meet, they create a trip hazard to anyone who shuffles their feet down the road."
Beyond sidewalk maintenance, Hicks also mentioned the speed and ease of use for crosswalks for seniors in wheelchairs or who are unable to cross in time for the lights to change, as well as poor street lighting in some places.
"I can tell you, if a senior doesn’t feel safe, they just don’t go out. They just don’t go out.," Hicks added. "And if they don’t go out, they’re isolated. If there is one thing you, me, we all have learned in the last two years is that isolation isn’t good for anybody."
The group is still researching the topic and keeping records of areas that can be improved. But the group has taken action already.
In an effort to connect with the Oconomowoc Police Department, the group is hosting an open house for seniors from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 12 at the department. It will include guided tours and resources on senior safety and senior scams.
Transportation will be available to all seniors in the city via buses running between senior centers. Silver Streak Oconomowoc will also provide transportation the day of the event.
Additionally, the group created a city directory for seniors that uses larger fonts and includes contacts they may need. The directories were created in collaboration with city intern Megan Little. The idea came from one senior who mentioned they'd like a more legible directory that seniors can use.
"One comment from one senior can affect many people," Hicks said.
Hicks said that group is still in the "toddler phase" but plans to continue to reach out and connect with seniors in the area to hear their concerns.
To learn more, make a comment or get in touch with the Senior Cohort Group, residents are encouraged to contact Magnus directly at 262-569-1111 or rmagnus@oconomowoc-wi.gov.
“The formation of this group fills a huge local need supporting our seniors,” Magnus said after the meeting. ”It's an incredible group of folks giving back and making positive and real changes. One of our greatest assets in Oconomowoc are our seniors, those folks who help build what we all enjoy today.” | 2022-04-21T19:31:15Z | www.jsonline.com | A senior-focused group hopes to make Oconomowoc resources more accessible | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/lake-country/2022/04/21/senior-focused-group-hopes-make-oconomowoc-resources-more-accessible/7368477001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/lake-country/2022/04/21/senior-focused-group-hopes-make-oconomowoc-resources-more-accessible/7368477001/ |
The Milwaukee Bucks laid an egg in Game 2 of their playoff series with the Chicago Bulls.
Now they have to go to Chicago and try to get back on track in the best-of-seven NBA playoff series.
Game 3 is set for Friday at 7:30 p.m.
More:Aaron Rodgers was courtside next to Randall Cobb, Mallory Edens for the Milwaukee Bucks' NBA playoff game against the Chicago Bulls
The Bucks were 10-point favorites in Game 2. Now they are 1.5-point favorites in Game 3.
The Bucks are two-point favorites. But their odds of repeating as NBA champions plummeted after the injury to Khris Middleton.
Isaiah De Los Santos wrote: "The Bucks owned +500 odds to win the title entering Wednesday night, which placed them third behind the Golden State Warriors (+350) and the Phoenix Suns (+360). Following the loss to the Bulls and Middleton's injury, Milwaukee has fallen to +750, landing them in fifth. Their dropoff has allowed Eastern Conference foes Boston (+550) and Miami (+600) to surpass them.
The Bucks are a 1.5-point favorite.
It writes: "The momentum the Bulls grabbed in Game 2 is just what pushes them over the edge and gets them that vital victory in Game 3." | 2022-04-21T19:31:27Z | www.jsonline.com | Bucks vs. Bulls odds, predictions in Game 3 2022 NBA playoff series | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2022/04/21/bucks-vs-bulls-odds-predictions-game-3-2022-nba-playoff-series/7398695001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2022/04/21/bucks-vs-bulls-odds-predictions-game-3-2022-nba-playoff-series/7398695001/ |
Whitnall Beer Garden opens this weekend with free beer and live music just in time for warm weather in Milwaukee
Milwaukee County's Whitnall Park Beer Garden, at 8831 North Root River Parkway, Greendale, is opening just in time for warm, 70-degree weather that is forecast for Milwaukee this weekend.
At 4 p.m. Friday the Beer Garden will open with a keg tapping with free beer.
Beer Garden attendees can bring their own pint or stein glasses, or get parks-branded glassware to enjoy their beer in.
Live music will hit the park stage at 4 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday.
The Whitnall Beer Garden will have 24 beers on rotation this season from breweries including Fox River Brewing, War Pigs, Explorium, Eagle Park Brewing, Sprecher Brewing Co. and more. Wine and soft drinks are also available.
Hours are 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and holidays.
Milwaukee County Traveling Beer Gardens at locations including Juneau Park, Grant Park, McCarty Park and more begin their rotation on May 11.
More:Milwaukee County Parks and Sprecher Brewery announce traveling beer garden dates
More:Here's your Milwaukee-area beer garden guide for 2022
Estabrook Beer Garden, 4600 Estabrook Drive, has already opened to the public but will also celebrate its grand opening at 6 p.m. Friday with a keg tapping and free beer.
Its hours are noon to 9 p.m. daily.
South Shore Terrace and Beer Garden, 2900 South Shore Drive, continues to be open to the public. This week it will be open 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and noon to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Their summer hours will begin April 27 expanding to 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and holidays.
For more information visit Milwaukee County Parks Beer Gardens. | 2022-04-21T21:33:04Z | www.jsonline.com | Milwaukee Beer Gardens at Whitnall Park, Estabrook, South Shore open | https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/2022/04/21/milwaukee-beer-gardens-whitnall-park-estabrook-south-shore-open/7400397001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/2022/04/21/milwaukee-beer-gardens-whitnall-park-estabrook-south-shore-open/7400397001/ |
Which Green Bay Packers draft picks are still with the team, and which are now toiling elsewhere? Take a look at this list, which primarily focuses on players who saw the field in 2021 and doesn't necessarily account for all players on practice squads or futures contracts.
Aaron Rodgers (1st round, pick 24). Perhaps you're familiar? The selection became an unforgettable moment in Wisconsin sports history, when then-general manager Ted Thompson took the Cal quarterback at a time when Brett Favre was still an elite quarterback. The investment paid off when Rodgers became a superstar and four-time MVP.
Mason Crosby (6th round, pick 193). The kicker taken out of Colorado has been almost as constant a staple as Rodgers over the past 15 years of Packers football. He long ago set the mark for most career points in Packers history and battled through career valleys to continually produce in big moments.
More:Packers ready for special-teams overhaul under new coordinator after postseason meltdown
Randall Cobb (2nd round, pick 64). The receiver out of Kentucky left and came back to the Packers, and he'll be in his second season of his second stint next year. He caught five touchdowns last year, adding to the 41 he caught between 2011-18 in his first stint with the Packers before spending one year with Dallas and another with Houston.
More:Aaron Rodgers is back at Fiserv Forum for the Milwaukee Bucks' NBA playoff game against the Chicago Bulls
David Bakhtiari (4th round, pick 109). The two-time first-team All Pro still is battling back from the knee injury that kept him from the 2020 postseason, but he remains one of the most respected left tackles in all of football. As "value picks" go, he's one of the best in franchise history.
Kenny Clark (1st round, pick 27). The force-of-nature defensive lineman from UCLA has been selected to two Pro Bowls and remains on the short list of Green Bay's "best player on defense" at any given moment. He's still just 26 years old, turning 27 early in the 2022 season.
Dean Lowry (4th round, pick 137). The defensive tackle out of Northwestern signed a three-year contract extension in 2019 and has played in every game since, with five sacks last year and four passes defended. He has 15 career sacks plus four fumble recoveries and an interception.
Aaron Jones (5th round, pick 182). A fifth-round steal out of UTEP, Jones has amassed more than 4,000 career yards with the Packers and 41 touchdowns, with a spot in the 2020 Pro Bowl and a league-high 16 rushing touchdowns in 2019. He signed a lucrative four-year extension to stay in Green Bay in March 2021.
Jaire Alexander (1st round, pick 18). The cornerback out of Louisville has established himself as a star in the league, even if he missed most of last season with a shoulder injury. The second-team all-pro in 2020 is a candidate for a long-term extension.
Rashan Gary (1st round, pick 12). The pass rusher out of Michigan has gotten significantly better during his time with Green Bay, to the point that he emerged as a disruptive force in 2021, when he started all 16 games and posted 9½ sacks.
Darnell Savage (1st round, pick 21). The safety out of Maryland has had his moments over the past three years, both good and bad, and 2022 stands to be a big season for him. He's made 46 starts and recorded eight interceptions, with two forced fumbles.
Elgton Jenkins (2nd round, pick 44). A torn ACL sidelined Jenkins midway through the 2021 season and proved costly for the Packers. Though he was taken as a center out of Mississippi State, he's proven he can play anywhere on the line, and do so with excellence. He was named to the 2020 Pro Bowl team.
More:Elgton Jenkins' departure from left tackle could be 'delicate situation' long term for Green Bay Packers
Ty Summers (7th round, pick 226). The linebacker out of TCU saw action in 14 games last year and made nine tackles.
Jordan Love (1st round, pick 26). One of the most-discussed draft selections in franchise history, the quarterback out of Utah State looked like the heir apparent to Aaron Rodgers. But Rodgers has won back-to-back MVPs and seems to have settled his discontent with the franchise, leaving Love's role on the team in limbo. He made his NFL debut in 2021 against Kansas City.
AJ Dillon (2nd round, pick 62). The thunderous running back out of Boston College has won the hearts of Wisconsinites, throwing out first pitches at baseball games and gushing over Door County, and it doesn't hurt that he has nine total touchdowns in two seasons and 1,045 yards rushing.
Josiah Deguara (3rd round, pick 94). The "H-Back" was a surprising pick in the third round out of Cincinnati, and he's had to battle injury to get on the field. Last year, he saw time in 16 games and made 25 receptions with two touchdowns.
Jon Runyan (6th round, pick 192). Runyan, a guard out of Michigan, has proven himself as valuable depth on the offensive line, starting 16 games in his two seasons.
Jake Hanson (6th round, pick 208). Drafted out of Oregon, he saw time in five games in 2021.
Vernon Scott (7th round, pick 236). The safety out of TCU appeared in three games last year as he battled a hamstring injury after seeing time in 15 the year before.
Jonathan Garvin (7th round, pick 242). Garvin picked up his first NFL start in 2021 and finished the year with 19 tackles and 1½ sacks.
Eric Stokes (1st round, pick 29). The speedy cornerback out of Georgia flashed serious promise in his rookie year and will be heavily relied upon in 2022.
Josh Myers (2nd round, pick 62). With Corey Linsley moving on, Myers became the team's starting center immediately, though injury limited him to just six games.
Amari Rodgers (3rd round, pick 85). Rodgers had a rugged first year as a receiver and return man, but there remains a lot of potential for the receiver out of Clemson. He caught 20 passes for 166 yards as a rookie.
Royce Newman (4th round, pick 142). The offensive lineman out of Mississippi proved highly valuable, with 16 starts and appearances in all 17 games at guard.
T.J. Slaton (5th round, pick 173). The defensive tackle from Florida had a sack and 23 combined tackles in his rookie season, a promising start that lends intrigue to what's ahead.
Shemar Jean-Charles (5th round, pick 178). A potential slot corner, he saw time in 14 games mostly on special teams and posted eight tackles as a rookie.
Cole Van Lanen (6th round, pick 214). The University of Wisconsin offensive lineman saw action in one game against the Minnesota Vikings in 2021.
Isaiah McDuffie (6th round, pick 220). Drafted as a linebacker out of Boston College, McDuffie made an appearance on the field in 13 games as a rookie.
Kylin Hill (7th round, pick 256). The running back out of Mississippi State flashed major promise as a kick returner and running back before an ACL tear cut his season at eight games.
Still in the NFL, but not with the Packers
Clark Harris (7th round, pick 243). Be honest, you've forgotten the name ... if you ever knew it. The long snapper out of Rutgers only briefly spent time with the Packers — on the practice squad — in September 2007 but stuck around the league and found a permanent job with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2009. Ever since, he's been their guy, with a Pro Bowl spot in 2017 and a one-year extension for 2022. He'll be 38 just before the start of the season.
Bryan Bulaga (1st round, pick 23). The offensive lineman out of Iowa became a rock at right tackle through the 2019 season before joining the Chargers in 2020. Injuries limited him to 10 games in 2020 and just one game last year, and Los Angeles released him in March.
Lawrence Guy (7th round, pick 233). The defensive tackle out of Arizona State never saw the field with the Packers, spending his two seasons either injured or on the practice squad. But he overcame the odds and found new life in New England, where he's played the past five seasons after bouncing around the NFL. He first got a foothold in 2015 when he played in 16 games for the Ravens, the first of back-to-back seasons in Baltimore.
Casey Hayward (2nd round, pick 62). One of the great "what ifs" of recent Packers history is the decision to move on from the cornerback out of Vanderbilt after his fourth season in Green Bay in 2015. Hayward made back-to-back Pro Bowls with the Chargers in 2016 and 2017, the first of his five steady years with the Chargers. He started 17 games last year for Las Vegas in his age-32 season, credited with 46 tackles, an interception and a safety.
Mike Daniels (4th round, pick 132). The defensive tackle out of Iowa got to a Super Bowl this past season with the Cincinnati Bengals, although he was limited greatly by injury and saw the field for only one postseason snap. Daniels started 11 games last year for the AFC champions and proved to be a standout with Green Bay from 2012-18, when he racked up 29 sacks and made a Pro Bowl.
J.C. Tretter (4th round, pick 121). Drafted as an offensive tackle out of Cornell, Tretter became the Packers' starting center in 2015 and 2016 before an injury knocked him out of the latter season. He signed with Cleveland thereafter and played with the Browns for five seasons, though he was just released in March. He's still president of the NFL Players Association.
Micah Hyde (5th round, pick 159). One of the biggest "ones that got away" on this list. Hyde, a defensive back drafted out of Iowa, played in Green Bay from 2013-16 and then flourished with the Buffalo Bills after the Packers released him. Hyde was named second-team all-pro last year for the second time with the Bills, posting five interceptions last year and starting all 17 games for a Super Bowl contender.
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (1st round, pick 21). The safety from Alabama made a Pro Bowl in 2016 and spent four-plus seasons in Green Bay. He was opportunistic (14 interceptions) and healthy but didn't emerge as a standout safety. He spent time with Washington, Chicago and Las Vegas over the past four years, most recently with the Raiders for two games last year. He's currently a free agent.
Davante Adams (2nd round, pick 53). He has a case as the greatest receiver in franchise history, a two-time first-team all-pro and five-time Pro Bowler who owns the franchise single-season yards and receptions record. But he was dealt in a high-profile trade to the Raiders in the offseason.
Richard Rodgers (3rd round, pick 98). He caught one of the most iconic passes in Aaron Rodgers' career, and he was a steady tight end out of Cal for Green Bay from 2014-17. He's been with Philadelphia (though, oddly, bouncing back and forth with Washington and never seeing the field for the Commanders), appearing in 22 games since 2018 with Philly. He appeared in three games last year for the Eagles and was on the roster for the playoffs.
Corey Linsley (5th round, pick 161). He was named first-team all-pro at center in 2020, his last year with the Packers after a rock-solid seven-year stay. Last year, he was second-team all-pro in his first year with the Los Angeles Chargers, with whom he signed a five-year contract. He played in 99 games with the Packers and 11 in the playoffs.
Ty Montgomery (3rd round, pick 94). A rare remainder from the doomed 2015 draft class still in the NFL (though Damarious Randall had a practice-squad job last year with the Rams), Montgomery was drafted out of Stanford as a wide receiver but moved to running back during his run with the Packers from 2015-18. He was traded to Baltimore in 2018 and played since for the Jets and Saints. With New Orleans, he played in 14 games last year, rushing the ball 15 times and catching 16 passes. In March, he signed a two-year deal with the Patriots.
Brett Hundley (5th round, pick 147). Hundley spent last year with Indianapolis, largely on the practice squad, but has not seen the field since 2019 with Arizona and currently is a free agent. He played in 11 games with the 2017 Packers, throwing for nine touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Jason Spriggs (2nd round, pick 48). The offensive tackle out of Indiana wasn't able to win a starting job but did make nine starts over three seasons with the Packers. He was with the Bears in 2020 and made one start last year with Atlanta.
Kyler Fackrell (3rd round, pick 88). The linebacker from Utah State spent four seasons in Green Bay, recording 10½ sacks in 2018 and 16½ overall for the Packers. He had a productive season with the Giants in 2020, was with the Chargers last year and just signed a one-year deal with the Raiders.
Blake Martinez (4th round, pick 131). The inside linebacker from Stanford stayed four years with the Packers, sharing the league lead in tackles in 2017. He was limited to three games by a torn ACL last year in his second season with the Giants.
Kevin King (2nd round, pick 33). One of the more infamous picks in recent history because Green Bay traded back — and of course missed out on taking future NFL defensive player of the year T.J. Watt as a result — before taking the cornerback out of Washington, a player who's battled injury and ineffectiveness. He played in 10 games in 2021 for the Packers in his fifth season with them, though now he's a free agent.
Josh Jones (2nd round, pick 61). The safety couldn't quite catch on in his two seasons with the Packers and he's bounced around in the years since. He saw the field for 10 games last year, split between the Colts and Seahawks.
Montravius Adams (3rd round, pick 93). The defensive tackle out of Auburn just signed a two-year extension to remain in Pittsburgh after starting four games with the Steelers last year and splitting time with New Orleans. He was in Green Bay through the 2020 season.
Vince Biegel (4th round, pick 108). The University of Wisconsin alumnus returned to the field after a serious injury, appearing in five games for the Dolphins in 2021. He saw the field for Green Bay only in 2017.
Jamaal Williams (4th round, pick 134). The fun-loving running back out of BYU spent four seasons in Green Bay and then signed a two-year deal with Detroit before the 2021 season, during which he ran for a career-best 601 yards and caught 26 passes for another 157 yards.
Josh Jackson (2nd round, pick 45). The hard-hitting cornerback out of Iowa started 15 games over three seasons with the Packers but was then traded to the Giants for Isaac Yiadom. Jackson was waived but did appear in two games for the Chiefs in 2021.
Oren Burks (3rd round, pick 88). Burks just signed with San Francisco after four seasons with the Packers. The linebacker out of Vanderbilt became a key contributor on special teams.
J.K. Scott (5th round, pick 172). The punter out of Alabama didn't live up to his draft spot during his three seasons with the Packers, but he appeared in one game for Jacksonville last year and signed in March with the Chargers.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling (5th round, pick 174). The deep-threat receiver out of South Florida signed a three-year, $30 million deal with Kansas City in March. He was limited by injury in 2021 but played in all 16 games the three years before that and finished his tenure in Green Bay with 13 touchdowns and more than 2,100 yards.
Equanimeous St. Brown (6th round, pick 207). The receiver out of Notre Dame battled injury and couldn't crack the regular lineup, though he did have 35 career receptions in Green Bay over his four years. He signed with the Bears in March.
Hunter Bradley (7th round, 239th overall). Drafted as a long snapper out of Mississippi State, Bradley saw the field each of the past four seasons but was released in November.
Kingsley Keke (5th round, pick 150). The defensive lineman had his moments during his tenure from 2019-21, though he was released under somewhat mysterious circumstances in January, after a reported disagreement with coaching staff, and was claimed on waivers by Houston.
Other members of the 2019 draft class Ka'Dar Hollman, Jace Sternberger and Dexter Williams spent time in the NFL last year but did not see the field.
Kamal Martin (5th round, pick 175). Martin, a linebacker out of Minnesota, played in 10 games in 2020 and finished with three tackles for loss and a sack, but he was waived before the 2021 season and signed with Carolina, where he played in six games last year. | 2022-04-21T21:33:16Z | www.jsonline.com | Packers draft picks in the NFL, both with Green Bay and elsewhere | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2022/04/21/packers-draft-picks-nfl-both-green-bay-and-elsewhere/7396401001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2022/04/21/packers-draft-picks-nfl-both-green-bay-and-elsewhere/7396401001/ |
Waukesha officials are considering naming one of the city's youth baseball fields after parade victim Jackson Sparks
WAUKESHA - Jackson Sparks, the 8-year-old Mukwonago boy whose name has become synonymous with youth baseball since his tragic death in the Waukesha Christmas Parade, may have a renovated ball field named in his honor.
Waukesha city officials are pondering a proposal by three area residents and the Waukesha County Community Foundation to fund and improve one of the four fields at the William R. Oliver Youth Sports Complex on Summit Avenue and Meadowbrook Road. Upon completion, the park would be renamed to Sparks Complex at William R. Oliver Park.
Jackson, and his older brother Tucker, 12, were both participants in the Nov. 21 parade as part of the Waukesha Blazers baseball team when they were struck by an SUV that police say was driven by Darrell Brooks Jr. of Milwaukee. Jackson died two days after the incident, becoming the sixth fatality. Brooks is expected to stand trial in October on 83 criminal counts tied to the deaths and more than 60 other injuries.
Under a park proposal publicly discussed for the first time April 18, the existing field, No. 4, at sports complex on Waukesha's northwest side would be heavily renovated.
It would include a memorial plaza entrance, full synthetic turf field with concrete slabbed dugouts, fencing, audio-visual equipment, bleacher seating with viewing deck and LED field lighting. The complex itself would get a new sign at the main entrance of the park, with the words "William R. Oliver Park" and "Sparks Complex" included.
The plan was presented by Matt Drvaric, a partner in Riverwaters Partners; Sean Cullen, the director of business development for J.P. Cullen; Jeff Ohm, accounts director for SRH Agency; and Melissa Baxter, president of Waukesha County Community Foundation.
In a letter to parks officials, they said the $1.3 million project would largely be covered by fundraising efforts involving local businesses, community leaders and the public. Any residual funds after construction could go toward operating costs managed by the city of Waukesha, which would be responsible for field maintenance.
Essentially, the field itself would carry Jackson's spirit forward by recalling his "love for the game of baseball," they said.
"The spirit of the field will serve to create excitement for the families, share memories, and teach youth baseball players character through the game while bringing the community together," they said.
If all goes as planned, the work would be completed by spring 2023. The city's Parks, Recreation and Forestry Board unanimously recommended the plan's approval to the Waukesha Common Council.
Both Sparks boys were avid baseball players. But in the emotional aftermath, the focus of their participation in the national pastime has been amplified.
Jackson was honored posthumously, with children encouraged to wear baseball jerseys in his honor during his funeral service and a Georgia baseball-bat company manufacturing custom bats carrying his name and uniform number, 23.
Tucker, who is still recovering from a skull fracture, recently threw out the first pitch during the Milwaukee Brewers' home opener. | 2022-04-22T12:42:19Z | www.jsonline.com | Baseball field in Waukesha could be renamed for Jackson Sparks | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/waukesha/2022/04/22/baseball-field-waukesha-could-be-renamed-for-christmas-parade-victim-jackson-sparks/7386516001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/waukesha/2022/04/22/baseball-field-waukesha-could-be-renamed-for-christmas-parade-victim-jackson-sparks/7386516001/ |
Newer Indian restaurants tend to have modern decor, but the new Antique Indian Restaurant on the southwest side bucks that trend, with traditional decor and table settings.
For instance, chef-owner Pawan Saini said, the water cups are copper, and so is the water jug that’s brought to the table. The plates are traditional heavy pottery that are handmade, he said, crediting his daughter with the idea for the restaurant.
Antique Indian Restaurant opened in January at 3933 S. 76th St. and recently received its liquor license, serving a brief selection of beer, wine and spirits to diners at their tables.
The location, in a shopping center at Howard Avenue, previously was Shah Jee’s and Awan’s Desi Cuisine.
Antique Indian has table service for lunch and dinner, seating 72 in the dining room at spaced tables. It opens at 11 a.m. daily, serving until 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and until midnight Friday and Saturday.
Friday through Sunday, it has a lunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The buffet ($16.99) has more than 20 items, including appetizers and dessert, Saini said.
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A native of Punjab state in northern India, Saini began his career as a chef in the Indian army. He continued cooking after leaving the army and now has nearly 35 years of experience in kitchens. Antique Indian is the first restaurant he’s owned.
Although the menu includes dishes from all around India, a number of items on the menu are traditional to India’s north — such as appetizers of chicken hariyali or paneer hariyali, flavored with a marinade of chopped mint and cilantro leaves with seasonings.
There’s also paneer bhurji, a seasoned scramble of the fresh cheese that the restaurant makes itself, and saag Punjabi, mustard greens and spinach flavored with garlic, ginger and spices.
Some of the plates Saini recommends to new customers include butter chicken and dal makhani, the lentils and legumes in butter and spices.
Some of the other dishes on the menu include half or whole chicken tandoori, lamb shahi korma, vegetable biryani, goat masala and spicy shrimp vindaloo.
Most main dishes are $11.99 to $14.99. A variety of vegetarian and meat appetizers range from $3.99 to $14.99.
The restaurant has two tandoor ovens, one for meats and the other for vegetables and bread, Saini said.
Antique Indian accepts reservations, can accommodate larger parties and offers takeout. To contact: (414) 509-5839. Delivery is available through third-party services such as DoorDash.
Antique Indian Restaurant is on Facebook. | 2022-04-22T12:42:25Z | www.jsonline.com | Antique Indian Restaurant on Milwaukee's southwest side is open daily | https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/04/22/antique-indian-restaurant-milwaukees-southwest-side-open-daily/7399341001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/04/22/antique-indian-restaurant-milwaukees-southwest-side-open-daily/7399341001/ |
Milwaukee's long-closed Lake Park footbridge on pace to reopen this fall
The long-closed Lake Park footbridge is expected to reopen this fall.
"One thing I’m promising is we are going to have a big opening ceremony," said Milwaukee County Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman, who represents the district that includes Lake Park.
Ravine Road leading to Lincoln Memorial Drive was closed in 2014 due to safety concerns related to the condition of the bridge above. The footbridge, built in 1905, closed two years after the road. Those included increased cracking and soil erosion around the supports.
Views of the historic bridge were replaced by ones of wire fences and concrete blockades in recent years.
The debate over whether the decaying structure should be demolished, reconstructed or refurbished ended when Lake Park Friends raised money and hired a consultant who determined the bridge could be renovated.
Today, the views are of a bridge under reconstruction — a welcome sight for those who fought for it to remain.
Jan Uebelherr, president of Lake Park Friends, said her group was "ecstatic" to see the progress on the bridge and noted that there had been more than a few challenges along the way.
"It’s just extremely gratifying to see this," she said in an email. "We are all about preservation — that’s our mission. And this is preservation in action."
Important decisions on the project are not all made, however. A key remaining question is what will happen to the road below.
September timeline for reopening
The Milwaukee County Parks Department anticipates the bridge will reopen in September after about a year of work.
One of the trickiest parts of the project has been securing the arch that is being restored while completely reconstructing the abutments where the bridge meets the land on either side, said Sarah Toomsen, manager of planning and development at Milwaukee County parks.
"When we approached it as a rehabilitation it was important that we kept as much of the original material as we could while making sure that we got the appropriate lifespan out of the bridge," she said.
The project continued throughout the winter, when certain concrete work could be done, but putting up the scaffolding was a project of its own, Toomsen said.
So, too, was creating a workspace in the heavily wooded area. That meant cutting down a number of trees and removing shorter vegetation.
Removal of trees will also limit the shade on the bridge, which allows moisture to sit on the structure, she said.
Overall, she said, the construction phase has gone smoothly because of the amount of planning and public engagement that preceded it, and the involvement of Lake Park Friends.
She highlighted the group's establishment of a $300,000 maintenance fund to ensure the upkeep of the bridge. That fund is expected to more than double over its life, according to county documents.
The bridge's completion is a bright spot in the otherwise challenging picture of a parks department facing hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance.
It shows the necessity of funding from grants and friends groups in taking projects from concept to reality in Milwaukee County parks, Toomsen said.
"All the outside help helps us achieve the goals not only in specific parks but for the system overall," she said. "If I can get this project done, that means that a different project on a different list can move up the line, and it all helps."
Reimbursement of $1 million a work in progress
While the bridge reconstruction is moving forward, work continues to reimburse a $1 million infusion from county emergency funds for the bridge.
That funding was needed to leverage a $2 million grant that the county said it risked losing if construction did not begin last year.
Wasserman said when the County Board approved the $1 million allocation in May that he would do everything in his power to reimburse the county contingency fund.
The county has not yet been able to secure the funding by lobbying the state's congressional delegation, so officials plan to seek that money from the $1 trillion infrastructure package President Joe Biden signed last year.
The project is expected to cost a total of $3.7 million.
Ravine Road next big question
The next big question will be the fate of the road beneath the bridge.
Nature has taken over Ravine Road during the years it has been closed, Toomsen said.
"The condition of the road is really deteriorated and the catch basins haven't had usual maintenance, so I'm not sure how ready to open that road we'll be regardless, not due to the construction of the bridge but just because of what's happened to the road," she said.
The department has left the options for future uses open so far.
A December 2019 report to a County Board committee lays out options that consider accessibility for vehicles, bicyclists, pedestrians or some combination — but also its restoration to a natural area.
A rise in construction costs, however, means the price tags for each option presented pre-pandemic would be significantly higher today.
And no funding has been allocated to the project at this time, said County Parks Director Guy Smith.
Community engagement on the future of Ravine Road is expected to begin once the funding has been allocated.
Uebelherr, of Lake Park Friends, said the group wants to see the road reopened and will advocate for that outcome.
A December 2019 statement from the group says its Board of Directors adopted a resolution supporting reopening Ravine Road to vehicle traffic with its original pattern and alignment. It also offers support for closing the road at times and installing methods to reduce speeds such as textured pavement in order to address neighbors' concerns about safety and the flow of traffic.
And, the statement says, the group also supports a possible use by bicyclists or pedestrians at "certain times."
The county's finances will also play a key role in those discussions — and what options are truly feasible, Wasserman said. | 2022-04-22T12:42:37Z | www.jsonline.com | Milwaukee's long-closed Lake Park footbridge to reopen this fall | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2022/04/22/milwaukees-long-closed-lake-park-footbridge-reopen-fall/7337744001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2022/04/22/milwaukees-long-closed-lake-park-footbridge-reopen-fall/7337744001/ |
On a frigid March morning, 21-year-old Gabbie Arnold lugged a box of hand-painted signs to the center of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point campus.
Dropping the box on the ground, she set to chalking the sidewalk ahead of the afternoon's climate rally. "Climate justice!" one cement square said. She carefully chalked out "Stop Line 5" across another series of squares.
Arnold was one of a dozen who braved the late-winter wind chills to gather for a march into downtown Stevens Point to raise awareness of climate change and climate justice issues with the group 350 in Stevens Point. As the president of the group, Arnold a junior, welcomed others and handed out signs for them to carry along their route.
Arnold said she's been aware of climate issues since she was very young, after seeing litter on the streets of New York City during a visit.
"I saw all this trash on the streets and I thought that was the full extent of what pollution was, and then I slowly started to realize pollution is integrated into so many parts of our daily lives," she said.
More:Take a conservation tour of 5 spots in the Baraboo area
More:Toxic 'forever chemicals' aren't defined as hazardous in Wisconsin — so the state can't force cleanup, judge says
The Stevens Point gathering was one of many across the state in March, as a part of March 4th to Earth Day, a series of events planned every Friday from March 4 until April 22.
Many of the gatherings occurred on college campuses, where young people are being drawn to the issue of climate change and the impacts they will likely face in their lives. Arnold worries for the future of the world she will inherit as she becomes an adult, and studies have found she isn't alone.
A survey conducted last year by researchers at the University of Bath in England of 10,000 people between the ages of 16 and 25 in 10 countries across the globe showed that about three-quarters of the respondents found the future frightening when it comes to climate change.
And those fears are translating into action for some young Wisconsinites, driving them to the polls to vote for candidates they hope will take the future of young people into account instead of only issues currently facing the country.
"(Climate change) basically takes over 100% of my decisions," Arnold said of voting. "I am very environmentally driven. I think it is one of the most important issues considering it impacts everyone. And without the environment, we wouldn't exist."
'Voting can be an important tool'
Anders Hanhan, 20, is also driven by a passion to protect the environment.
A sophomore at Lawrence University in Appleton, Hanhan has taken to participating in recent hearings held by the state Department of Natural Resources on topics such as "forever chemicals" and the reroute of Enbridge's Line 5 in northern Wisconsin.
He's also a part of liberal climate action group Sunrise on his campus, helping to organize and motivate other young people in the community to take action and ensure there will be clean water and a healthy climate for future generations.
"Our environment is degrading very quickly and a lot of the impacts will really be felt by us within our adult lifetimes," he said. "So I think there's both a personal interest there but also a personal sense of urgency."
That urgency drove Hanhan to vote as soon as he was able to in the primary for the 2020 election, and still motivates him to cast his ballot even in small local elections, like that on April 5.
"Local decisions, while they are inadequate to solve a global problem, are really important," he said. "I think the really important thing to do when you're voting in local elections in Wisconsin is to reflect on that. Reflect on who prioritizes environmental policy, who recognizes that cities can make a difference themselves.
The number of young people casting votes has been growing in recent years, said Barry Burden, a political science professor for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, picking up especially in 2018 for the midterm elections and again in 2020 for the presidential election.
"We had two cycles in a row which have really busted the old record books," he said. "Will those high levels of turnout and the boost it provides for young people hang around again this year? It looks like, from polls, there is a lot of interest in this year's elections."
The number of young people who voted in both 2018 and 2020 were likely driven by a host of issues, but none as large as former President Donald Trump.
"He was a disruptive force that showed up as these people were reaching adulthood, as they were in their teens and young adulthood, and I think that was a shocking development," Burden said. "Whatever it is about his style of governing really motivates people, both his allies and his enemies, to show up and participate."
Climate change could have also played a role in those decisions, Burden said. As a professor in Madison, he's noticed that students are compelled by climate warnings being issued by international groups and the changes they've seen occurring in the world around them.
"There are a lot of students who are motivated by it, who don't understand why the government is not taking more action, why businesses or other organizations are not doing more to stem climate change," he said.
But on the other side of things, there are also young people who feel helpless about the issue, and that there is nothing the government can do to fix the situation climate change has created.
"I think there's this sort of complicated picture for young people about whether they view elections as the way to get their climate change concerns dealt with or whether those things really can't be fixed or ought to be fixed in other ways," Burden said.
Mathilde Prosen-Oldani, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said it's easy to get caught up in seeing the lack of action and being conflicted about elections.
"We don't necessarily always know that voting is going to get the job done," she said. "But I do think that voting can be an important tool."
Disappointment in Biden administration
Voting is a way forward for many young Wisconsinites, who feel that the Biden administration is letting them down after promising grand climate measures during the 2020 campaign.
"There has been no sense of urgency and no adequate action on climate," Hanhan said.
Other feel similarly.
"I think in Washington right now, there's almost this, like, glossing over," Prosen-Oldani said. "And with the Green New Deal, and everything, that's great and amazing, but at the same time, that's the bare minimum. And we're barely getting the coverage we need for that."
Despite the perceived lack of action, young Wisconsinites remain optimistic. They see climate change as a large and unwieldy topic, but they're hoping that continued advocacy and engagement by younger voters will create the change they hope to see as they become adults.
"Even though these issues seem absolutely suffocating at some points and unchangeable, like an individual doesn't have an impact, that's a complete lie. That's a hoax," Arnold said.
"The impact every individual has in this movement is incredibly important. Everybody who makes a small difference leads up to this big and astronomical change in our systems, and the more people that start to speak about these issues, the more politicians will recognize people do care about it, and if they want our vote, then they have to be environmentally conscious." | 2022-04-22T12:42:43Z | www.jsonline.com | Climate change issues motivating young Wisconsinites to vote | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2022/04/22/climate-change-issues-motivating-young-wisconsinites-vote-wisconsin/7047863001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2022/04/22/climate-change-issues-motivating-young-wisconsinites-vote-wisconsin/7047863001/ |
Marquette head coach Shaka Smart and the Chicago Bulls' Billy Donovan have a long history
Marquette's Shaka Smart is 45 years old and just completed his 13th season as head coach of a college basketball team.
It's hard to remember a time that Smart wasn't running his own program, but there were several crucial stops on his journey to get there. One of them often gets overlooked because it was so brief, though Smart's stint as an assistant coach under Billy Donovan at the University of Florida in the 2008-09 season was a formative experience. Smart and Donovan have remained close even with Donovan moving on to the NBA, where he is leading the Chicago Bulls against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs.
“He’s the best," Smart said. "So I learned a ton from him. One of the things I so much enjoyed about working for him was the conversations we would have about trying to help players. I really look at the game from the standpoint of the mental and the psychological approach in a similar way. Where I would try to emulate, I would say, the way he approaches it. He’s constantly thinking about how he can help positively affect the minds of his players. And help guys be in a good place to be their best."
Smart first entered the orbit of Donovan in the summer of 2000 when Donovan was one of the hottest young coaching stars after leading Florida to the national championship game. Smart was just getting his career started after graduating from Kenyon College in 1999 and got a gig working at Donovan's summer camp.
Eight years later, Donovan was looking for an assistant coach. Rob Lanier, then on the Gators' staff and now the head coach at Southern Methodist, had become friends with Smart and connected Donovan with the then-Clemson assistant.
“I had always really looked up to Coach Donovan because of the way he coached and the way his team played," Smart said. "Then just having been on campus and worked their camp, watching their players play pickup after camp, I just looked up to them and thought they had a great program.”
Florida won back-to-back NCAA titles under Donovan in 2005-06 and 2006-07, but the Gators were going through a transition season in 2008-09 and lost in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament. Crucially for his career, though, Smart became friendly with Doc Rivers while recruiting the influential Marquette alumnus' son Austin while also closely watching how Donovan ran his program. Smart had developed a reputation as an up-and-comer and was hired by Virginia Commonwealth in March 2009.
“I really went down there to be there a long time," Smart said. "And then the AD from VCU called me less than a year later and it was a tough decision because I went down there to work for Billy for five, eight years. But it was just a great opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. And Coach Donovan was extremely supportive in me trying to get that job.”
Donovan and Smart worked together again with the USA Basketball U18 and U19 teams in 2012 and 2013.
"He’s been great," Donovan said. "I love him. He and I are very, very close. We talk a lot. He’ll do a great job here (at MU). Our time was together was not very long. Obviously, he did a great job at VCU.
“I know his family is from Wisconsin. So being back in the state means a lot to him. But he’s a terrific coach and an even better person. I really, really enjoy our relationship.”
Smart still leans on his old boss for guidance. Donovan jumped to the NBA with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015. He was hired by the Bulls in 2020.
“I try not to bother him too much," Smart said. "I mean, he’s the head coach of an NBA playoff team. But he’s been awesome. I remember calling him when I first got here to Marquette. In fact, I was staying in a little dorm-apartment on campus for a few days. I remember just sitting there and talking with him about early interactions with players and some of the challenges. At that point, not a lot of guys were on campus. Trying to kind of work through helping guys figure out whether they were in or out. He’s always given me great advice.”
The connections continue. One of Smart's former players at VCU, Bradford Burgess, works for Donovan as player development coordinator. Before MU's season, Smart took the Golden Eagles to Chicago, where they toured the Bulls' facility and heard from Donovan.
"I think those guys gained a sense of the fact that I got a lot of my approach from him," Smart said. "Because he talked a lot about relationships. He talked a lot about playing for each other. He talked a lot about the love and the bond that great teams have."
Smart isn't surprised that Donovan has found success in the NBA.
"I think Billy Donovan could coach on Mars," Smart said. "He could coach in the MBA, the Mars Basketball Association. Those of us that have worked around him and with him, he’s the type of the guy that if you don’t like him, there’s something wrong with you. Because he’s universally adored by people that know him and work for him." | 2022-04-22T12:42:49Z | www.jsonline.com | Marquette's Shaka Smart worked for Bulls' Billy Donovan at Florida | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/marquette/2022/04/22/marquettes-shaka-smart-worked-bulls-billy-donovan-florida/7394090001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/marquette/2022/04/22/marquettes-shaka-smart-worked-bulls-billy-donovan-florida/7394090001/ |
The Cedarburg Common Council agreed to create a tax incremental financing district that would bring 160 apartments and more than 60 homes to N49 W6337 Western Road, just east of the Ozaukee Interurban Trail.
The development will be on a 12.76-acre blighted parcel, the site of the former Mercury Marine Plant 1, which produced outboard motors from 1951-82, according to the plan submitted to the city by Ehlers Public Finance Advisors on behalf of P2 Development.
“Portions of the former plant were demolished in 2020,” the plan reads. “Wilo Machine Co. is presently operating in the remaining building located on the site and will be relocating that operation to their new facility in the Cedarburg Business Park.”
P2 Development is proposing 160 rental apartment units in two buildings, 44 two- and three-bedroom rental townhomes and 26 pocket homes at the site.
The city expects to spend $17.08 million to undertake the projects listed in the plan. Costs include an estimated $2.54 million for extension of Hanover Avenue, $930,000 for interest on associated long-term debt and related costs of financing, $13.48 million in development incentives and $130,000 for administrative costs, according to the plan.
Based on the Economic Feasibility Study cited in the plan, the city anticipates that the district will generate sufficient tax increment to pay off all project costs within 20 of its allowable 27 years.
“In addition to the incremental property value that will be created, the city expects the project will provide increased opportunities for employment, personal income and business income related to the construction and operation of the project, and provision of housing opportunities for city residents,” the plan reads.
Resident Elizabeth Brennan told officials that the proposal isn’t an appropriate development.
“It seems to me that this type of development is not what the citizens have been asking for or making comments about,” Brennan said during public comment at the meeting. “I’d like to remind the council that there have been city surveys that state that. I think the comments have been kind of clear, as far as direction, that there isn’t affordable housing.”
According to a 2021 city survey, 254 residents felt positive about the affordability of living in Cedarburg; 383 residents said they felt negative.
Mayor Mike O’Keefe said one of the biggest requests from residents is for the city to offer more dining options. O’Keefe said the historic downtown is the “gem of our city.”
“It’s kind of the thing, I think, that makes us unique from other neighboring communities,” he said at the meeting. “This is higher-end housing, which is going to bring in quite affluent people who will visit our restaurants and shops.”
O’Keefe said the proposal does address the issue of more restaurants because having more patrons is a way to expand the city’s dining options. He spoke about his personal experience of having raised a family in the city.
“(Families) tend to get into the position that my wife and I are in, where we just graduated a couple of kids from college and we’re looking to maybe downsize,” he said.
Construction would start this year with the development of apartments and townhomes, and extend through 2027.
The Joint Review Board on April 21 approved the TIF district. The project will now advance to the Planning Commission in May and June to continue with design and development plans for the project, said City Administrator Mikko Hilzo. | 2022-04-22T14:48:23Z | www.jsonline.com | Cedarburg officials approve TIF for 12-acre residential development | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northshore/news/cedarburg/2022/04/22/cedarburg-officials-approve-tif-12-acre-residential-development/7382937001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northshore/news/cedarburg/2022/04/22/cedarburg-officials-approve-tif-12-acre-residential-development/7382937001/ |
Troy Grosenick was eating dinner and watching a hockey game on TV with friends when he saw Linus Ullmark, the starting goalie for the Boston Bruins, head to the bench during a game against the Ottawa Senators.
He didn't think much of it then.
But later that night, he got a phone call: He was headed to the Boston Bruins as a backup goalie, as Ullmark was injured.
It's not the first time he's received that call. A nine-year veteran of the American Hockey League, he's been called up to the National Hockey League three times already.
In 2014, Grosenick set an NHL record for the most saves in an NHL debut, as he made 45 saves as the goaltender for the San Jose Sharks.
And just last year, Grosenick made two starts for the Los Angeles Kings.
Now, he has another opportunity, this time with the Boston Bruins.
He's been on the bench for two games so far, but there's a chance he'll get into a game in the coming days.
"I'll just kind of take it a day at a time," Grosenick said.
"Obviously, you're always excited to go up to the NHL, but it's just one of those things that comes with the territory," he added.
The Brookfield native has had a great year with the Providence Bruins of the AHL so far. The AHL is the minor league that develops players for the NHL.
As of April 21, he leads that league with the best save percentage (.931) and the best goals-against average (2.02). He's also allowed the fewest goals of any goalie in the league.
His reaction? He thanked his teammates.
"I don't want to be stat focused; I just want to be focused on stopping the next puck, and that's it, really," Grosenick said.
It's not clear yet whether he'll get to play in the net for the Boston Bruins this year, but he'll be prepared if the opportunity comes.
"That's just kind of the attitude you have to have; if there's an opportunity, be prepared for it and go run with it," Grosenick said.
Grosenick is a former Milwaukee Admiral
Grosenick was born in Brookfield in 1989. He learned how to skate at the Eble Ice Arena in Brookfield at age 4, and played hockey throughout the Midwest with his Wisconsin AAA junior team starting at age 7.
A Brookfield East High School graduate, he played for the Milwaukee Admirals for a few years. That made him the first player to grow up in the Milwaukee area to play for the Admirals.
Grosenick won the AHL Man of the Year award in 2019 with the Admirals for his outreach to the community.
But during the coronavirus pandemic, his experience in the AHL and NHL was not an ordinary one, as he bounced back and forth from Canada to the United States, needing to adhere to strenuous COVID-19 protocols.
After the 2021-22 season, the 32-year-old decided to sign with the Providence Bruins, who play in Rhode Island.
He knows the area well, as he spent two years playing hockey nearby in Worcester, Massachusetts.
His family made the move with him, as well.
His favorite memories from this year? Spending time with his teammates, several of whom he already knew before this season.
"Now, as I've gotten older, the chances of me going somewhere and not knowing at least one person is pretty small," he said.
More:Milwaukee native Ellie Barney scored overtime goal that gave her team NCAA Division III national title, undefeated season
More:Childhood friends and unlikely pros, the Milwaukee Admirals' Cole Smith and Mitch McLain enjoy being teammates again | 2022-04-22T14:48:29Z | www.jsonline.com | Brookfield native Troy Grosenick has the best save percentage in AHL | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/west/news/brookfield/2022/04/22/brookfield-native-troy-grosenick-has-best-save-percentage-ahl-boston-bruins/7382586001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/west/news/brookfield/2022/04/22/brookfield-native-troy-grosenick-has-best-save-percentage-ahl-boston-bruins/7382586001/ |
Milwaukee Police early Friday asked for the public's help in finding a critically missing 10-year-old girl.
Police said Ronnai C. McClelland went missing just after 10 p.m. Thursday in the 4100 block of North 16th Street. She's described as Black, 4 feet 6 inches with medium length hair and weighs about 145 pounds. She was last seen wearing a white-collared Oxford school uniform shirt, navy blue pants and black flats. She was carrying a white and purple "Lol doll" backpack.
McClelland was last seen with her brother, 13-year-old Kamarion McClelland. Police said Kamarion is also considered missing, but not critically missing. He's described as Black, 5 feet 6 inches with black hair styled in a short afro and weighs about 165 pounds. He was last seen wearing a white collared shirt, a navy vest, navy pants and a black shoes.
Anyone with information is asked to call MPD's Sensitive Crimes Division at 414-935-7022. | 2022-04-22T14:48:35Z | www.jsonline.com | Milwaukee girl Ronnai McClelland deemed critically missing by police | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2022/04/22/milwaukee-girl-ronnai-mcclelland-deemed-critically-missing-police/7408186001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2022/04/22/milwaukee-girl-ronnai-mcclelland-deemed-critically-missing-police/7408186001/ |
Patrick Baldwin Jr. is moving on.
The 6-foot-9 forward announced on social media Friday that he is declaring for the NBA draft after a disappointing freshman season at UW-Milwaukee.
Baldwin played in just 11 games for the Panthers, who were coached by his father, averaging 12.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists. Patrick Baldwin Sr. was fired after UWM finished 10-21 and 8-14 in the Horizon League in his fifth season as coach.
It was not the way the season was supposed to play out for one of the top high school recruits in the nation, who turned down scholarship offers from NCAA powerhouses like Duke to play for his father.
But Baldwin was plagued by a left ankle injury that ended his senior season at Sussex Hamilton High School after just two games.
Baldwin had 21 points and 10 rebounds at North Dakota in UWM's opener, then he aggravated his ankle injury and sat out six games. After returning, he contracted COVID-19 and sat out three games. The ankle kept bothering Baldwin whenever he returned to action, leading to more absences before he was finally shut down after playing 30 minutes against Northern Kentucky on Feb. 9.
He never expressed regret about his decision to attend UWM, however.
“A quote I want to use for this situation is, ‘A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor,’ ” Baldwin told the Journal Sentinel in February. “That’s one thing that my family has talked about a ton. Because I knew what I was getting into when I came here.
“I knew from Day 1 I was going to get a lot thrown at me from my teammates, my coaches. I was going to get the whole kitchen sink thrown at me, and it was just going to make me a better person and player. And I knew opposing defenses would have me circled on the scouting report. It’s been a learning experience that I felt like I needed to go through."
The rough season impacted Baldwin's draft stock. Widely seen as a sure-fire lottery pick heading into the season, Baldwin is now viewed as a late first-round selection by prominent mock drafts done by ESPN and The Athletic. While also digging into Baldwin's medical history, NBA teams also will be debating if he will perform better when surrounded by more talented players and if his pristine shooting mechanics will lead to better results than his 26.6% three-point shooting at UWM.
The Panthers, meanwhile, have moved on by hiring head coach Bart Lundy, who is in the process of reshaping the roster. UWM announced on Friday the signing of Zach Howell, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Springfield Catholic High School in Missouri. | 2022-04-22T18:39:04Z | www.jsonline.com | Patrick Baldwin Jr. in NBA draft after playing for dad in Milwaukee | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/2022/04/22/patrick-baldwin-jr-nba-draft-after-playing-dad-at-uw-milwaukee/7411376001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/2022/04/22/patrick-baldwin-jr-nba-draft-after-playing-dad-at-uw-milwaukee/7411376001/ |
Picture this: You sit down at one of your favorite restaurants. You order a New Orleans Benedict. While you're waiting for your order, you check your emails on your phone.
Then, you look up as 4-foot-tall robot wheels your order to your table.
You're not dreaming. This is the new reality at Wauwatosa's Golden Nest Pancakes & Cafe.
Wayne Doney, the general manager of the popular brunch restaurant at the Mayfair Collection, said they've been using the robot to deliver food to tables for a few days.
Doney said the robot isn't replacing his employees, but it is making their jobs easier. He's also had staffing shortage issues since the opening of the restaurant in 2020.
"It's always here, it shows up for work, it doesn't get sick," Doney said of the robot. "We plug it in at the end of the night, and it's ready to go the next morning and it can run 12-18 hours."
"It just gives the staff more time to spend with the customers on the floor," he added.
So how does it work? It's simple, really.
The robot, manufactured by Bear Robotics, has three platforms on which food can be placed. Once the food is on the platform, an employee punches in the table number and the robot rolls the food items to the table.
The robot has the layout of the restaurant programmed into it so it knows where each table and chair is.
If someone is in its way, it simply stops and says "excuse me." If a chair is in the way, it maneuvers around it.
The server then comes to the table to unload the food onto the table.
The robot is normally stationed in the back of the house until it's needed. It can also be used for to-go orders.
It's worked well so far, Doney said.
"The customers ... they've been amazed at what it does, and the kids really like it," he said.
Doney likes it so much that he ordered a second one to help when it gets busier. They're also running a contest soon to name the robots.
"So far, so good," Doney said.
Staffing has been an issue
Doney isn't alone in his staffing shortage issue.
Businesses across the area and nation have had to get creative when it comes to retaining and keeping employees.
Doney's been spending money on advertisements for openings every week. Even so, the restaurant hasn't been fully staffed since it opened in August 2020.
So, for now, the robot is helping fill a vacancy, especially on the weekends when the restaurant is busier.
The robot is on a trial basis for now. Doney estimates the robot costs him about $33 a day.
"Worst-case scenario, it doesn't work, they (Bear Robotics) take it back and we move on with what we were doing," he said. | 2022-04-22T20:27:49Z | www.jsonline.com | Wauwatosa brunch spot Golden Nest Pancakes & Cafe is now using robots | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/west/news/wauwatosa/2022/04/22/wauwatosa-brunch-spot-golden-nest-pancakes-cafe-now-using-robots/7408554001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/west/news/wauwatosa/2022/04/22/wauwatosa-brunch-spot-golden-nest-pancakes-cafe-now-using-robots/7408554001/ |
MADISON – A wealthy pipeline construction executive is joining the Wisconsin race for governor with just four months to overcome ground laid for months by his Republican opponents in the August primary election.
Tim Michels, co-owner of the Brownsville-based Michels Corporation and U.S. Army veteran, enters the GOP primary for governor nearly 20 years after his last statewide campaign — a 2004 loss to then-U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold.
Michels, who lives in Waukesha County, has the ability to pour millions into a short primary campaign which he begins with little name recognition in Wisconsin. He filed paperwork for his campaign on Friday and has purchased ads to run around the state beginning Monday.
He faces former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, U.S. Marine veteran Kevin Nicholson and state Rep. Timothy Ramthun of Campbellsport on an Aug. 9 primary ballot.
The Republican primary field has quadrupled since January when a top Republican sought to help clear the field for Kleefisch by telling Nicholson publicly not to join the race to defeat Democratic incumbent Gov. Tony Evers.
In the four months since Assembly Speaker Robin Vos' pronouncement, the party's base has come disillusioned with its leaders, fracturing over party priorities and how to find the best candidates to put forward.
Nicholson and Ramthun have responded by adopting a campaign message of being outside of the inner circle of Madison-centered politics to draw a contrast with Kleefisch, who served as former Gov. Scott Walker's lieutenant governor and has helped legislative leaders recruit candidates.
Michels, 59, has largely stayed out of the public eye since his 2004 U.S. Senate race. In 2021, he appeared at a news conference with Republican members of Congress to urge President Joe Biden to rethink his decision to halt construction on the Keystone XL pipeline.
Michels Corp. was among the Wisconsin-based companies awarded contracts to build the pipeline.
During the campaign, Michels will have to address how he will handle work his family business does with the state and how he could avoid conflicts of interest if he is elected. Michels Corp. received more than $660 million in payments from the state over the last five fiscal years, according to state records.
Earlier this year, Michels and his siblings donated $15 million to MCW Cancer Center for rare cancers research, a gift inspired by his daughter Sophie's experience battling a rare pediatric brain cancer.
You can find out who your legislators are and how to contact them here. | 2022-04-22T20:27:55Z | www.jsonline.com | Tim Michels running for Wisconsin governor, joins Republican field | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/22/tim-michels-files-paperwork-run-republican-primary-governor/7381270001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/22/tim-michels-files-paperwork-run-republican-primary-governor/7381270001/ |
MADISON - Although Wisconsin failed last season to qualify for the NCAA men’s hockey tournament for the fifth time in six seasons under head coach Tony Granato, UW officials announced Friday that Granato will return for the 2022-23 season.
Athletic director Chris McIntosh released a statement:
“Tony and I have had several discussions since the season ended. …We both realize the program did not perform to the level we want last season. Wisconsin is one of the storied programs in college hockey and I have high expectations for our program.
“I believe Wisconsin hockey can be a consistent winner on an annual basis. I know Tony will work hard to lead the program in a direction that will lead Wisconsin back to prominence.”
That announcement came four days after associate head coach Mark Strobel resigned after five seasons on the staff.
According to a UW official, the athletic board also voted to give Granato the standard one-year contract extension. His contract now runs through June 30, 2027.
McIntosh was not available to discuss the Granato's status after the meeting. According to a UW official, McIntosh will address the situation next week.
UW finished 6-17-1 in the Big Ten and 10-24-3 overall this past season.
That came one season after the Badgers won the 2021 Big Ten regular-season title with a 17-6-1 mark but were upset in the opening round of the NCAA tournament and finished 20-10-1 overall.
UW is 59-69-12 in Big Ten play and 92-106-16 overall under Granato. | 2022-04-22T20:28:01Z | www.jsonline.com | Wisconsin men's hockey coach Tony Granato will return for 2022-23 | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/uw/2022/04/22/wisconsin-mens-hockey-coach-tony-granato-return-2022-23/7408713001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/uw/2022/04/22/wisconsin-mens-hockey-coach-tony-granato-return-2022-23/7408713001/ |
An early childhood education center will be a key part of the $105 million ThriveOn King project in the Bronzeville area.
The 14,000-square-foot learning space will be located on the first floor of the ThriveOn King building, the former Schuster's department store, which is being redeveloped at 2153 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
The project, delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to be completed in 2023.
The six-story building will serve multiple uses and be home to the ThriveOn Collaboration, a partnership that includes the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Wauwatosa-based Medical College of Wisconsin's community engagement programs and Royal Capital Group.
The collaboration will focus on early childhood education, health and wellness, social cohesion, housing and economic opportunity.
The education component, announced Friday, will be in conjunction with the Malaika Early Education Center and is part of a five-year plan that will see $5 million mobilized throughout Harambee, Halyard Park and Brewers Hill. Funding comes from the foundation, and additional private philanthropy. Funding has also come from the community’s support for the Greater Together campaign.
“Resident input and local research have demonstrated to the collaboration that having quality, affordable options for early childhood education is a pressing need and that considerable gaps exist," ThriveOn said in a Friday news release.
The new learning center will offer infants and toddlers high-quality experiences that support critical social and emotional development, said Kathryn Dunn, senior vice president for community impact and chief strategy officer for the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.
“The center will represent an environment featuring some of the latest in design practices that stimulate and engage. And Malaika’s team and approach to education and care will provide the children with a loving environment that engages and supports the whole family,” Dunn said.
Malaika Early Education Center’s involvement in the project is the result of a thorough examination by the ThriveOn Collaboration.
“Malaika was chosen based on its strong leadership, level of family and community involvement, exemplary reputation for quality care and its alignment with the ThriveOn Collaboration vision,” ThriveOn said.
In addition to its investment in students, the organization is committed to investing in educators using tools such as scholarships targeted at supporting educators seeking to break into the early education field.
“We recognize the need to invest directly in providers now through the types of programs we are funding, while also working with partners to advocate to changes to how public resources flow — like WI Shares reimbursement rates — so the sector can support higher wages for staff,” Dunn said.
Other parts of the ThriveOn King redevelopment project include offices, apartments, a food hall and community space. | 2022-04-22T23:52:11Z | www.jsonline.com | ThriveOn announces childhood education effort in Bronzeville | https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2022/04/22/thriveon-announces-childhood-education-effort-bronzeville/7414009001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2022/04/22/thriveon-announces-childhood-education-effort-bronzeville/7414009001/ |
PHILADELPHIA - No hitter in blue and yellow is swinging the bat better than Rowdy Tellez right now, but don’t take that to mean he will be in the Milwaukee Brewers lineup every day.
Tellez, who leads the team in home runs (three), OPS (.920), wRC+ (160) and runs batted in (eight), enters the Brewers’ three-game weekend set against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park after homering in consecutive games to conclude the series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The 27-year-old first baseman was not in the starting lineup for Friday night’s game against Phillies starter Ranger Suarez, with Keston Hiura getting the start in his stead.
Friday night’s lineup decision was no surprise considering Suarez’s success against left-handed hitters. Suarez, a southpaw, gave up 11 hits and only two extra-base hits in 101 at-bats against lefties last season. His .109 batting average against was the best in baseball among pitchers who faced at least 75 lefties.
To date, all of those days for Tellez have come with lefties on the mound. He has only one start – against Baltimore’s John Means – and five total plate appearances against left-handers.
“I think there’s going to be days when we give Rowdy a day off,” Counsell said. “I think we have a good player we can put in there. I think 162 games at this point is a lot for Rowdy. I think it’s important to keep him fresh.”
Hiura has gotten the start at first in each of those games while only playing once against a right-handed starter, coming Sunday against St. Louis’ Dakota Hudson.
What’s unique about the Brewers first-base platoon is that Tellez has a relatively minor splits difference against lefties and righties (career .784 OPS vs. RHP vs. .752) while Hiura’s are the exact reverse of what you would expect (.839 vs. .536) from a right-handed batter.
The Brewers, however, believe Hiura is a better hitter against southpaws than he has shown over 215 plate appearances against them.
They are also facing something of a lineup conundrum when it comes to their desire to get Hiura playing time thanks to a logjam of other position players they want in the lineup everyday. To get Hiura in against righties at this juncture, it would require sitting one of Tellez, Christian Yelich, Hunter Renfroe or Andrew McCutchen and, to date, Counsell has shown a commitment to playing each one nearly every day.
“I’ve never really put much thought into it and just go up there and hit,” Hiura said earlier this month of facing righties and lefties. “Just try to go up there and barrel the ball every time regardless of which side it’s coming from.”
On Monday, Counsell noted he was pleased with how the playing time for his two first basemen had shaken out when asked how challenging it had been to balance playing time for Hiura while giving Tellez a near-everyday role.
“I’m actually really happy with that,” Counsell said. “(Keston’s) not in an every day role right now and he’s not going to be at this point, but he’s gotten at-bats and there are ways to continue to get him at-bats.”
Both showcased their ability to elevate the Brewers offense during the Pirates series. Tellez hit a two-run homer Tuesday, then he and Hiura each went deep to account for all of Milwaukee’s runs in a 4-2 win Wednesday.
While Hiura, with the third-fewest plate appearances of any Brewers position player this season, is adjusting to an off-the-bench role, Tellez is being given his best chance at consistent playing time of his career.
Tellez debuted with Toronto in 2018 and, over the next four seasons before being traded to the Brewers, started 182 of a possible 334 games over his four seasons with the Blue Jays. He was in Class AAA at the time of the trade and blocked for the foreseeable future at first by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
If there was a player on the Brewers most likely to break out and reach an offensive ceiling not yet seen, it would probably be Tellez.
“Rowdy’s a young player in terms of experience,” Counsell said. “He’s still getting better because he hasn’t had a lot of big league at-bats. We have a fairly experienced position player group but he’s a guy who can still get better just because he’s in that sweet spot where experience means something for him.
“It’s another year of experience for him. It’s more at-bats under his belt. He’s a dangerous hitter. He’s super strong, he hits the ball really hard and you can tell he’s going to be a home run threat every time he’s in there.” | 2022-04-23T01:32:13Z | www.jsonline.com | Brewers managing playing time for Rowdy Tellez, Keston Hiura | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2022/04/22/brewers-managing-playing-time-rowdy-tellez-keston-hiura/7408593001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2022/04/22/brewers-managing-playing-time-rowdy-tellez-keston-hiura/7408593001/ |
A Greenfield man died in a two-car crash in New Berlin, police say
A 39-year-old Greenfield man died early Saturday in a two-car crash in New Berlin.
Police said in a news release the accident happened around 6:39 a.m. at South Calhoun and West Beloit roads. Fire department paramedics had to extricate the Greenfield man from his vehicle and rushed him to Froedtert Hospital Trauma Center in Wauwatosa. Life-saving efforts failed and the emergency room staff pronounced the man dead.
The driver of the second vehicle was treated on scene and released. Police did not identify the victim or the other driver. Details of the crash also remain unknown.
The intersection will be closed for the next few hours as investigators try to reconstruct the scene. No additional information was immediately available. | 2022-04-23T16:49:58Z | www.jsonline.com | Greenfield man dead, another driver injured in New Berlin crash | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/2022/04/23/greenfield-man-dead-another-driver-injured-new-berlin-crash/7423177001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/2022/04/23/greenfield-man-dead-another-driver-injured-new-berlin-crash/7423177001/ |
An influential Milwaukee advocate who dedicated her life to helping women after abortions has died.
Recognized by the Vatican for her work, Vicki Thorn, 72, died Wednesday, her husband William Thorn said.
Thorn founded Project Rachel, a Catholic ministry for people struggling after abortions, in 1984 in Milwaukee. The ministry at one point ran offices in more than 160 U.S. dioceses — and more globally.
Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki said Thorn "single-handedly created a post-abortion healing ministry at a time when none existed,” according to a statement in the Catholic Herald newspaper.
Thorn's approach was non-judgmental and focused on listening, her husband said.
"It was always empathy for the pain that they were going through," William Thorn said.
Project Rachel trains priests, mental health and medical professionals to work with women and men affected by abortions. It also provides services such as pastoral counseling, support groups, retreats and referrals to licensed mental health professionals, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which now operates the ministry on a national level.
The name comes from the Bible verse from Jeremiah 31:15 — "Rachel mourns her children; she refuses to be consoled because her children are no more."
Thorn, who earned a degree in psychology and was a certified trauma and bereavement counselor, retired in late 2020 from her post as executive director of the National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing. The office, which was housed in Milwaukee, oversaw Project Rachel services.
Born in 1949, Thorn attended the University of Minnesota and moved to Milwaukee in 1975 with her husband. William Thorn is a retired Marquette University journalism professor.
The Thorns had six children together.
In the early 1980s, Thorn came up with the idea for Project Rachel. She previously told the Journal Sentinel she initially thought it would be a "nice local project."
It became "perhaps the leading post-abortion counseling and referral service in the world," a Journal Sentinel reporter wrote in 2005.
A moment from her teenage years was a major motivator. A high school friend told Thorn that she'd had an abortion, and that she was struggling emotionally.
"It was a life-changing experience for me in understanding that abortion was not a non-event, that it left enormous footprints in someone's life, and enormous pain," Thorn said in a video about her work last year.
William Thorn said his wife wasn't focused on politics and disagreed with the methods of anti-abortion protesters who displayed graphic images of abortions.
"She was adamantly opposed to anybody who wanted make political hay out of it," he said.
Thorn also disagreed with the notion that Project Rachel was exploiting women who regretted their abortions. In the 2005 article, she said her ministry offered a middle ground in the contentious abortion debate.
"The fact is that abortion exists in our culture. But we aren’t really caring for women or helping them move forward by pretending that abortion doesn’t have an effect," she said.
Thorn also trained leaders of other Christian denominations and traveled to 29 countries as a speaker on abortion issues, her husband said.
A highlight of Thorn's career was a private visit with Pope John Paul II, she told the Catholic Herald when she retired. He thanked her for her work.
Thorn was also a corresponding member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, a Vatican entity on bioethics whose members are named by the pope.
In 2021 Thorn received the Evangelium Vitae Medal from the University of Notre Dame, a lifetime achievement award honoring "heroes in the pro-life movement."
In a video for the medal presentation, a fellow from the university's de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture — which awards the medal — praised Thorn's innovative approach to caring for people after abortions.
"If it was not for her in the pro-life movement, I just can't imagine," said Mary Hallan FioRito, the Cardinal Francis George fellow at the de Nicola Center. "We'd be 10 to 20 years behind our work in ministering and reaching out to women who had abortions."
Thorn is survived by her husband, children and 19 grandchildren. | 2022-04-23T16:50:10Z | www.jsonline.com | Vicki Thorn of Project Rachel post-abortion ministry dies at 72 | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/2022/04/23/vicki-thorn-project-rachel-post-abortion-ministry-dies-72/7417546001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/2022/04/23/vicki-thorn-project-rachel-post-abortion-ministry-dies-72/7417546001/ |
A few weeks into the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic and metrics show both positive and negative signs.
Wisconsin has reached new lows this year in the average number of deaths reported by the state Department of Health Services. Currently, the seven-day average of confirmed daily deaths is fewer than two, the lowest average this year. The state reported 11 confirmed COVID deaths this week and another two deaths were probable.
The state averaged 46 deaths a day during the onslaught of the omicron variant peak in January. Now, new death totals provides optimism as the omicron variant wanes and new variants settles in.
The BA.2 variant has been the most dominant variant in the U.S. since mid-March, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is also an increase in the presence of other variants — BA.2.12.1, BA.1.1, BA.1.1.529 — in the last month.
The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene hasn't provided data that shows a significant presence of the BA.2 variant in Wisconsin cases.
The state, though, is experiencing a rise in cases and positivity rate. The seven-day average of daily cases is 895, up 563 cases from a month ago. The seven-day average of percent positive by test is 7.2%, up 4.5%.
Also, the number of total patients hospitalized has increased in recent days, but the number of people hospitalized (163 patients) is considerably lower than its peak of more than 2,250 patients in January.
Number hospitalized: 162 (intensive care: 33); down 73 patients from a month ago
Seven-day average of new deaths reported within 30 days of death: 1 (down seven deaths from a month ago) | 2022-04-23T19:35:14Z | www.jsonline.com | Wisconsin experiencing rise in COVID-19 cases, positivity rate | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2022/04/23/wisconsin-experiencing-rise-covid-19-cases-positivity-rate/7421681001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2022/04/23/wisconsin-experiencing-rise-covid-19-cases-positivity-rate/7421681001/ |
Saturday's warm and sunny weather welcomed thousands of volunteers picking up trash along the Milwaukee River Basin during the city's 27th annual Milwaukee Riverkeeper Spring Cleanup.
Estefany Montoya, a student at St. Thomas More High School, walked along the Kinnickinnic River with pride as she snatched up stray trash before it drifted into the river in the Pulaski Park neighborhood.
"I grew up in this neighborhood," Montoya said. "It feels good walking around and thinking of old memories here while I'm also cleaning it and making it a better place."
Around 4,300 volunteers throughout 36 organizations participated in Saturday's cleanup, removing an estimated 100,000 pounds of trash along the Milwaukee River, Menomonee River, Kinnickinnic River and nearby neighborhoods.
"What happens every year is the snow piles up and we forget temporarily about the trash and litter and debris," said Anne Michalski, creative director at Milwaukee Riverkeeper. "As the snow starts to melt, we realize what an issue it is again."
The event extends 800 miles throughout Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties.
"All that debris after the snow melts, it all floats around and flies around and ends up in our rivers and our waterways," Michalski said. "The things we rely on for drinking, swimming and fishing."
Travis Hope, president of the KK River Neighbors in Action plan, led one of the groups that collected trash along the Pulaski Park area. A lifelong southside resident, he has volunteered in the spring cleanup for the last eight years.
The Kinnickinnic River, sometimes referred to as the forgotten river, is typically one of the most trash-filled sties during cleanup events.
"Because of the channel design, everything is pushed in there," Hope said. "It's basically a big concrete sewer."
The conditions have improved following the city's river naturalization project — a $390 million restoration effort aimed at reducing flooding dangers, improving water quality and keeping currents from overwhelming storm sewers — but Hope still sees people throwing trash out of their car windows in the area.
"It's still an issue, but now because everybody is more aware, there's a lot more people picking up garbage," Hope said.
After the cleanup, Milwaukee Riverkeeper hosted a waste-free celebration at the Harley Davidson Museum.
More:Where your recycling actually goes – and what you can do about it
More:Biden Earth Day action targets protecting old-growth forests from wildfires, climate change | 2022-04-23T22:07:27Z | www.jsonline.com | Milwaukee Riverkeeper spring cleanup 2022 removes 100,000 lbs of trash | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2022/04/23/milwaukee-riverkeeper-spring-cleanup-2022-removes-100-000-pounds-trash/7413851001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2022/04/23/milwaukee-riverkeeper-spring-cleanup-2022-removes-100-000-pounds-trash/7413851001/ |
PHILADELPHIA – Two of the faces of the 24-hour period that helped change the course of the Milwaukee Brewers went toe-to-toe Saturday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, nearly seven years after the whirlwind series of events that connected them.
On the night of July 29, 2015, the Brewers, in the midst of a 68-win season and at the beginning of a rebuild, agreed to trade centerfielder Carlos Gómez to the New York Mets for right-handed pitcher Zack Wheeler and infielder Wilmer Flores.
Less than an hour after the trade was reported, the deal fell through over medical reviews, reportedly involving Gómez’s hip.
The most memorable image from the ill-fated trade was Flores, who had only played in the Mets organization as a professional, crying while in the field during the middle of a game after finding out he was a part of a trade.
More:With a parade of eighth-inning singles, the Phillies come from behind to end the Brewers' winning streak
Gómez himself, an all-star each of the last two seasons and one of the top position players on the trade market that summer, was in the middle of a team flight when news filtered in that he was being sent to New York, and he worked his way up and down the aisle saying his farewells.
Wheeler was the prized piece of the deal for the Brewers. The sixth pick in the 2009 pick by the San Francisco Giants, Wheeler was ranked as the No. 5 prospect in baseball by Baseball Prospectus when he made his major-league debut with the Mets in 2013. He was recovering from Tommy John surgery at the time of the trade in 2015 but had posted a 3.50 earned run average in 49 starts between 2013 and 14.
With no deal in place, the Brewers were forced to pivot with the clock winding down leading up to the trade deadline but made lemonade out of lemons when general manager Doug Melvin worked out a deal with Houston to trade Gómez and pitcher Mike Fiers for four prospects.
One of those prospects, pitcher Adrian Houser, started for the Brewers and Wheeler took the mound against them for the Phillies on Saturday.
It was the first time that the two pitched in the same game – and it’s safe to say that the collapse of the trade with the Mets worked out well for both Wheeler and Milwaukee.
Wheeler has turned himself into one of the best pitchers in baseball in recent years with a 3.52 ERA and 1,032 strikeouts over 171 starts. Last season, he finished second in National League Cy Young voting to Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes.
Wheeler is in the third season of a five-year, $118-million deal with the Phillies he signed after hitting free agency following the 2019 season with New York.
“I don’t think he’d be pitching for us anymore at this point,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell deadpanned before the game.
The Brewers are still reaping rewards from their deal with the Astros.
While Gómez, the centerpoint of the trade, struggled in Houston, the Brewers received Houser, Josh Hader, Brett Phillips and Domingo Santana.
Houser has become a reliable member of Milwaukee’s starting staff and has a 3.20 ERA in 28 starts since the beginning of the 2021 season.
Hader has won three NL reliever of the year awards in the last four seasons and is arguably the best closer in baseball.
Outfielders Phillips and Santana both contributed at the big-league level in Milwaukee before being traded away. Phillips returned Mike Moustakas, who was worth 3.1 wins above replacement as a Brewer, from the Kansas City Royals before the 2018 trade deadline while Santana was traded for Ben Gamel. | 2022-04-23T22:07:33Z | www.jsonline.com | Houser, Wheeler face off in reminder of Brewers' Carlos Gomez trades | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2022/04/23/houser-wheeler-face-off-reminder-brewers-carlos-gomez-trades/7416636001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2022/04/23/houser-wheeler-face-off-reminder-brewers-carlos-gomez-trades/7416636001/ |
“If we're not going to enjoy the game we should stay home."
More:Bobby Portis called his shot and rose to the moment in Bucks' Game 3 playoff win over the Bulls
“You got to have that balance of like, you want to win so bad, right? You care so much about trying to win but sometimes that makes you tight, sometimes that makes you tense, sometimes it makes you overthink, sometimes it makes me like ... when I miss a shot like, ahhhh!” Pat Connaughton said after the Game 3 win. “When in reality it's not about making or missing shots, it's about taking the right shot. It's about being excited. It's about being happy.
“It's about playing with that joy that Giannis always talks about because then you're playing free and you're not even thinking about the last shot because you knew it was the right decision, and sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't.”
“Sometimes, bro, in a long haul of a season guys on the team are regular individuals in real life, too,” Portis said. “The season can go up and down, guys sometimes need that injury boost from somewhere. | 2022-04-23T22:07:45Z | www.jsonline.com | Giannis Antetokounmpo's message to have fun resonated with Bucks | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2022/04/23/giannis-antetokounmpos-message-have-fun-resonated-bucks/7416317001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2022/04/23/giannis-antetokounmpos-message-have-fun-resonated-bucks/7416317001/ |
Milwaukee Brewers play the Philadelphia Phillies on 'Sunday Night Baseball' from Citizens Bank Park
The Milwaukee Brewers will wrap up their three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies on ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball."
The Brewers (9-6) and Phillies (6-9) split the first two games of the series.
The Phillies won Friday night, 4-2, while the Brewers came back to take Saturday's game, 5-3.
First pitch is set for 6:08 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park. | 2022-04-24T00:26:38Z | www.jsonline.com | Brewers vs. Phillies: lineup, game score, updates from Philadelphia | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2022/04/23/milwaukee-brewers-vs-philadelphia-phillies-lineup-game-score-updates-citizens-bank-park/7423139001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2022/04/23/milwaukee-brewers-vs-philadelphia-phillies-lineup-game-score-updates-citizens-bank-park/7423139001/ |
A man's body was found along the shoreline of Lake Winnebago in Fond du Lac County, sheriff's office says
A man's body was found partially submerged in the water along the shoreline of Lake Winnebago in the town of Friendship Sunday, according to a news release from the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office.
A citizen reported finding the body at N7595 Lakeshore Drive at 4 p.m.
While preliminary identification of the victim has been made, his name will be withheld until the medical examiner confirms his identity, the news release said.
An autopsy is scheduled for Monday morning. A deputy will remain where the body was found, pending the outcome of the autopsy, according to the news release.
"No further information can be shared at this time, as the case remains open and active," the news release said. | 2022-04-25T03:16:05Z | www.jsonline.com | Dead man found along shoreline of Lake Winnebago in Fond du Lac County | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2022/04/24/dead-man-found-along-shoreline-lake-winnebago-fond-du-lac-county/7435245001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2022/04/24/dead-man-found-along-shoreline-lake-winnebago-fond-du-lac-county/7435245001/ |
JR Radcliffe Curt Hogg
Home-plate umpire Ángel Hernandez has developed a reputation on social media for ... well, missing a few calls here and there. On Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN, he wound up taking the spotlight in Milwaukee's tense 1-0 win over Philadelphia, with an erratic strike zone that appeared to bother both teams, and tensions boiled over in the ninth.
Hernandez called Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber out on strikes in the ninth inning against Josh Hader, on a 3-2 pitch that looked low and outside. Schwarber reacted by throwing his bat and helmet, prompting a quick ejection, and he continued with a demonstrative discussion.
The out was the second of the ninth as Hader worked a 1-2-3 inning to cap off a 5-1 week of baseball for the Brewers. Hader's reaction after popping off the mound kind of says it all.
"It was a consistently big zone," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "It was just a little big in a lot of areas. I think Schwarber said it was big on both sides and there was bound to be somebody upset when its like that."
Said Brewers catcher Omar Narváez: "Everybody saw the game and everybody saw that he was at least consistent for both teams. I’m not gonna say he was good because he wasn’t, but at least he was consistent for both teams. Sometimes you just gotta adjust and not leave the decision to the umpire."
"The game is already hard as it is," McCutchen said. "When it comes to games like this, you just try to stay within yourself ... but at the end of the day, you've just got to be better than that.
"We knew what we were gonna get going into the game. You've just got to battle as much as possible.
"At the end of the day you've got to be ready for your pitch, especially that first strike. Very seldom are you going to get pitches, all three, out of the zone. You have to wait for that one and don't miss it." | 2022-04-25T05:31:20Z | www.jsonline.com | Umpire Ángel Hernandez draws ire of Schwarber in confrontation | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2022/04/24/umpire-angel-hernandez-draws-ire-schwarber-confrontation/7436098001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2022/04/24/umpire-angel-hernandez-draws-ire-schwarber-confrontation/7436098001/ |
LIFE CORRECTION: Cultivating Leadership
Alanis Aranda, left, and Kyla Chester, greet each other during the ice-breaker portion of an Urban Underground program in 2018. Angela Peterson/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Jeremy Triblett was 16 years old when he experienced one of the most transformative moments in his life.
As a junior at the Milwaukee High School of the Arts, he joined the youth leadership program Urban Underground at the urging of a friend. In September 2007, the organization took Triblett and dozens of other teens, predominantly African American, on a retreat two hours north of Milwaukee. For most, it was their first trip outside the city.
The goal was to give the teens a sense of their shared history, so they could understand the sacrifices made by those who came before them. On the first night, while the teens were relaxing under the stars, organizers rounded them up and blindfolded them.
Lined up single file, they were told to place one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them, and remain silent.
Deep in the woods, the blindfolds were removed and flashlights shined in their faces.
“Welcome to America,” someone said on the other side of the flashlight.
“We were on an auction block,” Triblett said. Just like the millions of Black men, women and children who were stolen from Africa to be enslaved in America.
Jeremy Triblett is the founder of Jeremy Triblett LLC, where he designs evidence-based presentations, curriculums, youth programs and professional development training. Angela Peterson / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The exercise, though jarring, showed the teens that the journey for people of color started long before their experience. Generations before them paved the way and made sacrifices, Triblett said.
“Our ancestors were stronger than the chains that bound them. Their spirit and fight exist in me. Do you understand how powerful that is?” said Triblett, who went on to found his own company specializing in youth training and professional development.
By setting up that exercise and many others, Urban Underground pointed its members toward a larger goal: engaging in their schools and community, and developing a deeper understanding of who they could be and how activism can spark change.
The idea is to allow teens to speak openly with peers about the things they see every day — crime, reckless driving, violence — and give them tools to create programming necessary to change those conditions.
Urban Underground exposes youth to possibilities that many of them may not ever have considered. It shows them what's possible.
“I say it to this day: Urban Underground was one of the most transformative organizations out there, because it was during my time with them that I knew that activism is what I wanted to do,” Triblett said.
Making youths visible, not invisible
Reggie and Sharlen Moore started Urban Underground in 2000 as a way to impact young people of color by offering life skills workshops.
“Milwaukee is a tough place to live and we wanted to make sure that our young people were equipped with the skills to cope,” said Sharlen Moore, the executive director, with more than 27 years of experience with young people
Reggie Moore, director of violence prevention policy and engagement at the Medical College of Wisconsin, speaks at a news conference in Sherman Park on Oct. 6, 2021. Moore and his wife, Sharlen, started the Urban Underground in 2000. Angela Peterson / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
After political leaders struggled to come up with solutions to curb Milwaukee’s cruising problem on the city’s northwest side in 2000, Urban Underground organized discussions, many led by young people. The result was a youth-led signage campaign. The cruisers listened because the message wasn’t coming from adults, it was coming from peers whom they respected.
Too often, teens feel overlooked and undervalued, Moore said. It doesn't help that recreational opportunities have disappeared, summer jobs and internships are scarce, and neighborhood-based arts and cultural programs have faded.
Urban Underground differs from other programs in that it places youths front and center, said her husband, Reggie Moore, now the director of violence prevention policy and engagement at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
“I’m not judging other youth programs, but Urban Underground exists because we wanted to see our young people, not hide them,” he said.
If there’s a spike in youth crime or violence, adults say, “We have to create a program to get youth off the street,” Moore said.
Taking them off the street to play basketball for a few hours doesn’t get to the root causes.
“Our youth know when a program is designed just so they don’t have to be seen or heard,” Reggie Moore said.
Young people want and need to be engaged, and if you don’t teach them their worth so they can become leaders, then the problem never goes away, he said.
Joining Urban Underground, which typically recruits at high schools during lunch, is easy. A person must be between 13 and 18 years old; tired of the violence in their school and neighborhood; open to connecting with new people from different schools; and ready to be a difference-maker. Every student goes through an interview process, but if a youth is motivated to make change in their community, they are not turned away.
David Crowley rose from dirt to leadership. He fears others with potential never make it.
The organization's work reflects critical consciousness theory — the ability to recognize and understand inequality and the commitment to take action to dismantle the systems that encourage oppression. It goes hand-in-hand with critical race theory, which has received a great deal of attention in political and education circles lately. Critical race theory is an academic examination of whether systems and policies perpetuate racism. For all the controversy, it is generally accepted as an obvious truth in communities of color.
A 2019 University of Illinois-Chicago report showed how researchers attempted to measure how low-income, minority youths put the critical consciousness theory into action. In the report, researchers asked a pool of Chicago youths ages 13-17 which issues most commonly impact them. About three in five said community violence; about three in 10 said prejudice and intolerance.
When asked to participate in solution-based activities to address these issues, 65% of the youths participated in at least one activity over a six-month period. In other words, when given the opportunity to be part of the solution, nearly two-thirds of the teens said yes.
“Our youth are some of the most incredible young people out there. When we cultivate them, the leadership comes out,” Sharlen Moore said.
Involved young people don't jump into stolen cars, drive reckless, fight in their neighborhoods or commit many of the crimes we often hear about. Involved young people build and get others to join them, she said.
From video games to a productive summer
One of the most gratifying honors Urban Underground leaders said they receive is when alumni send their children through the program.
While Triblett’s child is too young to join Urban Underground, he did get his nephew involved.
“He used to bring me into the office and let me play around on the computers and stuff. I really look up to my uncle, so when the opportunity opened up for me to join, I did,” said Jamire Carpton, 17.
Carpton, an 11th grader at Milwaukee Excellence Charter School, said he had the most fun last summer working with other teens on an environmental excavation team. The group looked for invasive plant species in the woods and eliminated them.
“It was definitely something that I never thought I could see myself doing. I learned a lot,” he said.
It was a change from previous summers.
“I mostly just spent time in the house eating and playing video games,” he said. “This was the first summer where I can say it was productive."
Carpton said the biggest surprise came when he received a check paying him $11 an hour for his work.
Urban Underground co-founder Sharlen Moore, center, moderates a segment of an Urban Underground program in 2018. Youths were invited to talk about conditions in their neighborhood. Angela Peterson / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“I didn’t even know I was going to get paid. I would have worked for them for free. If any kid out there is thinking about joining, I would say just do it,” Carpton said.
Urban Underground counts among its alums state Rep. David Bowen and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. But Reggie and Sharlen Moore said they are most proud of the “everyday” people who have come through.
People who are leaders in their church. People running block watches. People raising strong families. People involved in mentorship programs.
“Impact can be made in many ways,” Sharlen Moore said.
“We just have to keep embracing our young people and giving them the real skills they need to be successful,” she said. “That’s all we try to do.”
To sign up for Urban Underground, go to urbanunderground.org/join. | 2022-04-25T13:56:21Z | www.jsonline.com | Urban Underground's goal is to make teens visible, not invisible | https://www.jsonline.com/in-depth/news/special-reports/2022/04/25/urban-undergrounds-goal-make-teens-visible-not-invisible-milwaukee/8831978002/ | https://www.jsonline.com/in-depth/news/special-reports/2022/04/25/urban-undergrounds-goal-make-teens-visible-not-invisible-milwaukee/8831978002/ |
After two years in lockdown, Carol Burnett is back on the road, doing what she loves: Taking questions from and chatting with fans.
“It felt like getting right back on a horse again, or a bicycle — you know. It felt like no time had passed at all,” the TV legend, who turns 89 on April 26, said in an interview this month. " … It was like going back home.”
Burnett is coming to Milwaukee's Riverside Theater May 1 for "An Evening of Laughter and Reflection Where the Audience Asks Questions."
If the format sounds familiar, that's because it is.
It's more or less the bit she used to open "The Carol Burnett Show," the still-beloved comedy-variety show that aired from 1967-'78 on CBS, and for decades since in reruns. She'd take the stage, audience members would get her attention, she'd call on them and they'd ask whatever question they wanted.
“I was terrified of doing Q&As at first, when it was suggested that I do that," Burnett said of the format she opened her TV show with for 11 years. "It wasn’t until the third or fourth week after doing it that the audience who had seen us came ready to ask questions. And it soon became one of my favorite things to do.”
The May 1 show at the Riverside initially was scheduled for May 2020, then postponed to July 2020 and again to May 2021.
Many of the people coming to her shows on this year's tour have been waiting for two years. And they're pretty determined.
At an appearance last month, “I just called on this lady, and she said, ‘I bought two tickets two years ago for my 101-year-old mother and me.’ I said, ‘Oh, really?’ And she said, ‘And we’re here tonight. My mother’s a hundred and three.’ ”
'Flying without a net'
Burnett loves those kind of unexpected moments. The one constant in the live appearances like the one at the Riverside is they're unrehearsed.
"I never know what the audience is going to ask because I don’t want any preplanned questions," she said. "I’m flying without a net.”
That said, there is some predictability in "An Evening of Laughter and Reflection," Burnett said. People usually end up asking questions about working with members of the show's cast, like Tim Conway or Vicki Lawrence or Harvey Korman, or the show's many guests, like Julie Andrews or Steve Lawrence.
The questions keep coming because "The Carol Burnett Show" keeps finding new audiences. A half-hour version of the show airs at 10 p.m. weeknights and 9:30 p.m. on Sundays on MeTV — in Milwaukee, on Channel 58.2 and Channel 19 on Spectrum cable.
"I get mail now from 10-year-olds and teenagers who discovered me on YouTube and MeTV," she said. "It's just a delight for me. I'm thrilled."
The secret to the show's longevity, Burnett believes, is that it shied away from topical humor.
"I just wanted it to be a physical comedy review every week with sketches that people could identify with," she said. "I dare anybody today to watch Tim and Harvey do the dentist sketch and not lose it. … After 40 years, it’s one of the funniest sketches ever.”
'Carol Burnett Show' as well-oiled machine
Doing sketch comedy for 60-plus years, Burnett still revels in the form. When asked about who she thinks is funny today, she mentioned some of the premier sketch players of the past couple of decades, including Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Jane Lynch and Martin Short, "a person who never fails to make me laugh."
“I’m not one that much for standup. I admire it, but I always look to people who are doing sketch comedy, because that’s what I love,” Burnett said.
In addition to her current audience-Q&A these live shows, Burnett continues to act — she recently completed a guest shot on a TV drama that she said she couldn't talk about. But she clearly misses the well-oiled machine that was "The Carol Burnett Show."
"It was fun," she said of making her variety show. "We had a good time. We didn’t burn the midnight oil. … We finished taping the show on Friday nights … in two hours, so (for) the studio audiences was like being at a Broadway show. We’d finish in time to take our guest stars out to dinner.”
“Before the pandemic, I did a couple of sitcoms — you know, 22 minutes of show — and there was 4 or 5 hours to tape it," Burnett continued. "Which was ridiculous. … At one point, the (live studio) audience was getting so bored they ordered pizza just to keep them busy.”
Audiences are 'ready to have fun'
In her live show, Burnett doesn't worry about her audience being bored. The question-and-answer routine is broken up with clips from the show: musical guests, favorite moments like the show's classic movie spoofs, and memorable interactions with audience members.
“I show one when a lady comes up on stage during a Q&A and wants to sing, which is a great one. It always gets a big laugh. … She was fearless,” Burnett said.
When she asked the woman what she wanted to sing, she said, “ 'You Made Me Love You' in the key of G."
“She started to sing, and I started singing with her, and we were wailing away … and then at the end, I used to end that song (differently) from the way she ended the song, so it kind of petered out to nothing. And she looked at me and said, ‘Well, you screwed it up’,” Burnett recounted, laughing.
“ … Those were moments I cherish. Just off the cuff … the audience loved it. They loved her.”
And audiences, Burnett said, are clearly ready for those kinds of moments to return.
"We've been quarantined for a couple of years. That's kind of hard," she said. “I find doing these just recently, getting back into doing it, that (audiences) haven’t changed. I’m still getting pretty much the same vibe, which is good, and the same questions. … They’re ready to have fun.”
Who: "Carol Burnett: An Evening of Laughter and Reflection Where the Audience Asks Questions"
Where: Riverside Theater, 116 W. Wisconsin Ave.
How much: Tickets are $55 to $175, available at pabsttheater.org. | 2022-04-25T13:56:22Z | www.jsonline.com | After delays, Carol Burnett is ready for show at Riverside Theater | https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/television-radio/2022/04/25/after-delays-carol-burnett-ready-show-milwaukees-riverside-theater/7359461001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/television-radio/2022/04/25/after-delays-carol-burnett-ready-show-milwaukees-riverside-theater/7359461001/ |
Dozens of Milwaukee-area farmers markets are preparing for their seasons, with the earliest ones opening in just weeks.
Shoppers will find more of the activities that markets had before the pandemic struck in 2020. Yoga returns for the month of June at the Greenfield Farmers Market, for instance, and the Greenfield library will have story time at the market in June and July. At the Brookfield and South Shore markets, weekly musical entertainment returns.
Many markets still encourage the wearing of face coverings and distancing, however, to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19. The Brookfield market remains at its pandemic site of the Brookfield Central High School parking lot so that vendors and shoppers have more room to spread out.
And at least one pandemic measure has proved so popular, it promises to be around for the long run: Brookfield's punch card to reward frequent shoppers went touchless, kept on shoppers' phones; more than 200 shoppers already have signed up for it for the coming season, market manager Bobbi Harvey reported.
Brown Deer Farmers Market: 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wednesdays, June 15 to Oct. 26. Marketplace parking lot, (next to Firehouse Subs), 9078 N. Green Bay Road.
Cathedral Square Market: 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturdays, June 18 to Oct. 15. Cathedral Square Park, 520 E. Wells St., Milwaukee.
Fondy Farmers Market: 9 a.m.- noon Saturdays May 7 to July 2 (early season); 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays July 9 to Oct. 30 (regular season); 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, Nov. 5-19 (late season). 2200 W. Fond du Lac Ave., Milwaukee.
Greenfield Farmers Market: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays, May 1 to Oct. 30 (no market May 29). Konkel Park, 5151 W. Layton Ave.
Jackson Park Farmers Market: 3-6:30 p.m. Thursdays, June 16 to Sept. 29. Jackson Park Boathouse, 3500 W. Forest Home Ave., Milwaukee.
Oak Creek Farmers Market: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, May 14 to Oct. 22. Drexel Town Square, 361 W. Town Square Way.
Riverwest Gardeners Market: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays, June 5 to Oct. 30 (no market July 3). 2700 N. Pierce St., Milwaukee.
Shorewood Farmers Market: 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Sundays, June 19 to Oct. 30. Estabrook Park, 4100 Estabrook Parkway.
South Milwaukee Downtown Market: 3-7 p.m. Thursdays, June 2 to Oct. 13. 1101 Milwaukee Ave.
South Shore Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, June 18 to Oct. 29. South Shore Park, 2900 S. Shore Drive, Milwaukee.
Tosa Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, June 4 to Oct. 15. On the Oak Leaf bike trail, 7720 Harwood Ave., Wauwatosa.
West Allis Farmers Market: 1-6 p.m. Saturdays, and noon-6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. May 7 to Nov. 26 (no market Nov. 24). 6501 W. National Ave.
Whitefish Bay Farmers Market: 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturdays, June 11 to Oct. 15. Aurora Health Center parking lot, 325 E. Silver Spring Drive.
Watertown Farmers Market: 7 a.m.-noon Tuesdays, May 3 to Nov. 1 (no market Aug. 10). Riverside Park, 850 Labaree St.
Whitewater City Market: 4-7 p.m. Tuesdays, May to October. Historic Train Depot, 301 W. Whitewater St.
Kenosha Public Market: Outdoor summer market, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, May 14 to Oct. 29. On lots adjacent to the City of Kenosha Municipal Building and Veterans Memorial Park, 625 52nd St.
Saukville Farmers Market: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sundays, June 12 to Oct. 30 (no market July 3 and Labor Day weekend). Veterans Park, at East Green Bay Ave. and Dekora St.
Thiensville Village Market: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesdays, June 21 to Oct. 11. Village Park, 250 Elm St.
Burlington Farmers Market: 3-7 p.m. Thursdays, May 5 to Oct. 27, (3-6 p.m. Oct. 3). Wehmhoff Square, corner of Washington and Pine St.
Caledonia Outdoor Market: 2-6 p.m. Thursdays, June to October. Parking lot adjacent to St. Monica's Senior Living, 3920 N. Green Bay Road, Racine.
Milaeger’s Great Lakes Farmers Market: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays, from late April to September in outdoor lot. 4838 Douglas Ave., Racine.
Elkhart Lake Farmers & Artisans Market: 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, May 28 to Oct. 8. Village Square, 41 E. Rhine St.
Delavan Fresh Market: 3-6 p.m. Thursdays, June to Sept. Tower Park, Walworth Ave., Delavan.
Lake Geneva Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursdays, May 5 to Oct. 28. Horticultural Hall, 330 Broad St.
Germantown Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, May 7 to Oct. 22. Germantown Village Hall parking lot, N112-W17001 Mequon Road
West Bend Farmers Market: 7:30-11 a.m. Saturdays, May 21 to Oct. 29. Downtown on Main St.
Brookfield Farmers Market: 7:30 a.m.-noon Saturdays, May 7 to Oct. 29. Brookfield Central High School, front parking lot, 16900 Gebhardt Road.
Delafield Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, May 7 to Oct. 29. Fish Hatchery Sports Complex parking lot, 417 Main St.
Dousman Farmers Market: 2-6 p.m. Wednesdays, May 4 to Oct. 19. Dousman Village Hall parking lot, 118 S. Main St.
Hartford Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, May 21 to Oct. 29. Parking lot of the Hartford Recreation Center/ Schauer Arts Center, 125 N. Rural St.
Menomonee Falls Farmers Market: 2-6 p.m. Wednesdays, June 1 to Oct. 12, and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sundays, July 10 to Sept. 11. Village Park, N87-W16749 Garfield Drive.
Mukwonago Farmers Market: 2-6 p.m. Wednesdays, May 18 to Oct. 12. Field Park, on corner of Highway 83 and NN.
New Berlin Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, May 7 to Oct. 29. New Berlin City Center, 15055 W. National Ave.
Oconomowoc Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, May 7 to Oct. 29. (no market July 30). Bank Five Nine Campus parking lot, 155 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Pewaukee/ Lake Country Farmers Market: 3-7 p.m. Wednesdays, June 1 to Sept. 28. Christ Lutheran Church, W240-N3103 Pewaukee Road, Pewaukee.
Sussex Farmers Market: 9:30 a.m-1 p.m. Sundays, June 19 to Oct. 16. Sussex Civic Center Plaza, N64-W23760 Main St.
Waukesha Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, May 7 to Oct. 29. Along the the Fox River, Waukesha State Bank employee parking lot, St. Paul Ave. and Madison St.
If your farmers market is not on this list, send an email to jsfeat@journalsentinel.com. Carol Deptolla of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this article. | 2022-04-25T13:56:28Z | www.jsonline.com | Farmers markets, Milwaukee area, open in 2022 | https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/food/2022/04/25/farmers-markets-milwaukee-area-open-2022/7281141001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/food/2022/04/25/farmers-markets-milwaukee-area-open-2022/7281141001/ |
VILLAGE OF RUDOLPH - At 4:30 a.m. the moon hung in the sky like half a juicy tangerine.
Fifteen minutes later a shooting star etched the central Wisconsin sky.
With these celestial precursors, you might think what followed on a grassy few acres of Paul J. Olson Wildlife Area near Rudolph couldn't have been even more sensational.
But those were mere warm-up acts. And distant ones at that.
There is no way to adequately prepare for the other-worldly breeding ground displays of the greater prairie chicken.
"I think it's the greatest show on earth," said Jim Keir of Wisconsin Rapids. "Simply has to be seen to be believed."
I've been privileged to have a front row seat three times previously at Wisconsin prairie chicken "booming grounds."
I would only add this qualifier to Keir's assessment: I think it's possible to witness the spectacle and still doubt your eyes and ears.
More:Smith: Only one choice for securing a future for prairie chickens in Wisconsin
At 5:15 Keir led Suzanne Schicantek of Milwaukee and me through a willow thicket and into a grassy opening where a viewing blind – a weathered 5- by 5- by 15-foot rectangular plywood box atop a hay wagon – had been situated in the wildlife area.
Two wildlife photographers, Bruce Danz of Appleton and Bob Haase of Eldorado, shared the blind on the other side of a partition.
We sat on wooden benches and looked south into the purple of pre-dawn.
At 5:20 a staccato "kak-kak-kak-kak" broke the silence. Then another. And another.
Ten minutes later as pink brightened the eastern sky the source of the sounds became clear. Chicken-sized birds whirled across the tan dance floor, feet rapidly tapping the earth and white butts glowing like neon.
Prairie chickens gather to compete for mating rights on leks, or breeding grounds, each spring.
Cocks spar with other males in an effort to control prime real estate at the site. The goal is to tempt receptive hens into the area for breeding.
Every few moments the males dropped their heads, bowed forward and emitted an eerie "whhooo-doo-dooommhh."
Feathers on their heads stood up like horns and throat sacs swelled to the size and color of oranges.
Cocks faced off at the margins of their territories. Sometimes they'd back away after a stare down. Other times they jumped and kicked and flipped and squawked at each other in an avian version of kung-fu fighting.
If you didn't know by now, this is no ordinary chicken.
It's also no ordinary time for the species.
As its name implies, prairie chickens live in open, grassy areas. The species was historically found throughout Wisconsin and was abundant in the 1800s, according to the Department of Natural Resources, and relied on the extensive prairies and oak openings found at the time in the state.
Into the 1940s it was documented in all 72 counties.
But habitat losses due to increased agriculture and forest encroachment have caused large shifts in the range and abundance of prairie chickens. Today the birds exist only in isolated areas in a small portion of central Wisconsin.
The prairie chicken is listed as a species of greatest conservation need and was listed as state threatened in Wisconsin in 1979.
The DNR is in the process of updating its management plan for the species. Many feel it's make or break time for prairie chickens in Wisconsin.
"I'm hopeful enough people now are aware of the plight of these birds," said Keir, a retired DNR wildlife biologist who led the agency's prairie chicken program for 20 years. "And that we can provide the will and resources to do what's required to keep them on the landscape."
Keir is retired but remains an advocate for the species. As a volunteer with Wisconsin's Green Fire, he serves on the DNR's prairie chicken committee.
He also attempts to get people such as Schicantek, a mother, grandmother and retired chef who wants to focus her energies on environmental and conservation challenges, into the field to see the birds.
This isn't the first time prairie chickens have been at a crossroads in Wisconsin.
Found in every county of the state as late as 1948, the population and range of the native bird decreased dramatically over the following years and the species was holding on only in the grasslands and failed farming regions of central Wisconsin, according to a history prepared by the George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Arguably prairie chickens are present in the Badger State today only because of actions taken in the 1950s and 60s, including by the namesake of this public property.
Paul J. Olson was an elementary school principal in Madison and secretary of the Dane County Conservation League.
He saw prairie chickens for the first time in the spring of 1958 when he was taken to a booming ground in Portage County near the home of storied wildlife researchers Fred and Fran Hamerstrom.
Analogous to the physical changes displayed by male prairie chickens on the leks, the viewing experience was transformational for Olson.
"Like nearly everyone else, I came off the marsh 'bug-eyed,'" Olson wrote of the outing. "Here was something so grand, so exciting, I could put my restless energy to work."
At the time prairie chickens were in decline primarily due to forest regrowth and conversion of grasslands to agriculture.
Olson knew the only way to save the birds was to save their habitat. He bought 40 acres and then spent a year raising money to pay for it, according to his biography in the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame.
He then talked a friend into buying another 40 acres and convinced Bill Pugh, a wealthy Racine businessman, to provide what Olson called "90% of the muscle," the money, for additional purchases.
Between 1958 and 1984, Olson almost single-handedly raised $140,000 to help the Dane County Conservation League purchase 5,000 acres in the Buena Vista Marsh area of Portage County, according to the Hall.
This work was multiplied by another like-minded conservation organization – Milwaukee-based Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus (Latin name for prairie chicken) – which bought about 7,000 acres to assist the species in central Wisconsin.
It took years for the additional habitat to make a difference, but after dropping from 782 cocks on booming grounds in 1950 to a low of 181 in 1961, the numbers then climbed fairly steadily to a high of 1,121 in 1981, according to the DNR's annual prairie chicken report.
Since then it's been a struggle. The DNR has not achieved its goal of buying and managing more grasslands. And the quality of the existing habitat has declined.
Compounding the population drop are a loss of connectivity between the remaining flocks and an overall decline in genetic diversity.
In 2021, the prairie chicken count had fallen to 251 males.
The DNR offered four prairie chicken management options to the public earlier this year. The proposals included: a $4.2 million a year plan which would attempt to add 12,500 acres of grassland habitat to the central Wisconsin area, including half by acquisition and half through leasing as well as dedicate two DNR employees to the project; a $2.8 million option with lower goals for land acquisition and habitat work; a $130,000 proposal which would not seek any additional lands, either by purchase or lease, and have only one employee; and an option to reduce work on the species, including cessation of the annual prairie chicken survey. It would save the DNR about $4,700 a year compared to current activities.
Keir said 365 public comments were received; the overwhelming majority were in favor of option one, the most aggressive proposal to save the species.
He also said the amount of input was impressive; a ruffed grouse plan update a couple years ago received just 50 comments, according to Keir.
The DNR is now finalizing its draft of the updated prairie chicken management plan, said Alaina Gerrits, DNR wildlife biologist who is coordinating the work. It's expected to be released to the public this year.
"We know there is good public support for these birds," Gerrits said. "Now we need a workable plan and the resources to put it in action."
A "game changing" bill called the Recovering America's Wildlife Act, now advancing in Congress, could provide funding for prairie chicken management. Wisconsin is forecast to receive $18 to $20 million annually under the proposed legislation.
By 6 the booming ground was teeming with 32 birds, including six hens.
Golden rays of sun streamed over the grassland, making the cock's orange throat sacs glow even brighter.
The birds darted and flapped and strutted. No theatrical stage has ever been graced by more impressive performers.
"I'm seeing (the prairie chickens), and I'm awestruck," Schicantek said. "It's so unique. And then I think about how it's been going on for hundreds of years on grasslands in Wisconsin but has now become an extremely rare sight. We've got to do make a better future for these birds."
And what's good for prairie chickens also benefits a broad suite of grassland-reliant species, many of which are threatened or declining, Schicantek added.
At 6:30 a pair of the hens left the lek. By 7 all the hens departed.
But most of the males stayed, and several continued confronting their rivals.
At 7:45 the five of us agreed it was time. We swung open the doors of the blind and stepped out.
The birds flushed and flew 200 yards south. We walked back to our vehicles, attempting to process what we had just seen and heard.
Keir said the males would be back on the lek within minutes after we departed.
The challenge is to give the prairie chickens what they need to make sure they'll return year after year for generations to come.
Let's make sure this time the plan and the resources are up to the task. | 2022-04-25T13:56:47Z | www.jsonline.com | Prairie chickens need help to keep booming on Wisconsin grasslands | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/columnists/paul-smith/2022/04/23/prairie-chickens-need-help-keep-booming-wisconsin-grasslands/7415791001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/columnists/paul-smith/2022/04/23/prairie-chickens-need-help-keep-booming-wisconsin-grasslands/7415791001/ |
Students and staff in the Whitefish Bay School District returning to school this week will be required to wear masks again.
In an April 22 letter to parents and staff, the district said beginning April 25, masks would be required for two weeks because of an increase in COVID cases in the North Shore.
Under the district's criteria, masks will be required for all district schools for two weeks beginning the following Monday if the North Shore COVID disease burden rate is greater than or equal to 350 on a Friday. As of April 22, the North Shore burden rate was at 415, which is classified as "high."
The district tracks the North Shore burden rate and school positivity rates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Regardless of the the North Shore rate, the district requires masks for two weeks if a school's positivity rates reaches at least 3% on a Friday. However, that rate is at less than 1% at all district schools, the letter noted.
"In the future, we will only be sending out an email update if and when there is a change to mask wearing for the following week based on Friday’s metrics," the district said in its letter.
Whitefish Bay's decision came just two days after Milwaukee Public Schools reinstated its mask requirement after just one school day of making them optional. MPS cited COVID spread in the city as the reason for its decision. | 2022-04-25T16:33:12Z | www.jsonline.com | Masks required for two weeks in Whitefish Bay School District | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northshore/news/whitefish-bay/2022/04/25/masks-required-two-weeks-whitefish-bay-school-district/7438723001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northshore/news/whitefish-bay/2022/04/25/masks-required-two-weeks-whitefish-bay-school-district/7438723001/ |
The Wauwatosa School District announced random searches, K-9 searches and an "increased police presence" will start at Wauwatosa West High School on Monday after two students were caught with a box cutter and a handgun in the school.
A letter from Wauwatosa School District Superintendent Demond Means said district administration learned of the weapons on Friday. The Wauwatosa Police Department "responded immediately" to the school.
"The student in possession of the handgun was removed from campus and taken into custody. Neither student will return to school until a full investigation has been completed and disciplinary action has been administered," the letter said.
In response to the incident, Means announced three measures would begin at the school Monday:
"Random searches: Students will have a 1 in 10 chance of being selected to participate in a random search. Students will draw chips to determine who will participate in the search and ensure that the process is completely random.
K9 searches: On an undisclosed date in the coming weeks, the district will work with the Wauwatosa Police Department to conduct at least one unannounced K9 search at Wauwatosa West High School.
Increased police presence: The district is working with the Wauwatosa Police Department to secure additional officers to patrol the Wauwatosa West campus on Monday."
It's not clear how long the measures will be in place; the school year ends June 10.
More:A former Wauwatosa schools administrator, who resigned over conflict of interest concerns, will not face criminal charges
More:Michelle Obama's brother and his wife sue University School of Milwaukee, alleging racial bias
A Wauwatosa School District spokesperson has not yet said what type of handgun was recovered. The district has also not yet said whether the incidents were related, or how the weapons were found.
But Means did send a video address to families, students and staff on Friday.
"For the remaining weeks of the school year, we will become more vigilant in regards to addressing behavioral issues and ensuring that our schools remain safe," Means said in the video.
"Students, families, it's all of our jobs to make sure that our schools are safe," he added
"More importantly, ultimately the responsibility rests with administration and with me, and you have my commitment that we will do everything in our authority and power to ensure that there's a change in our schools moving forward." | 2022-04-25T16:33:23Z | www.jsonline.com | Wauwatosa West students bring handgun, box cutter to school | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/west/news/wauwatosa/2022/04/25/wauwatosa-west-students-bring-handgun-box-cutter-school/7438758001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/west/news/wauwatosa/2022/04/25/wauwatosa-west-students-bring-handgun-box-cutter-school/7438758001/ |
The Milwaukee Art Museum hosts its first community free day since 2019 on Thursday
Admission to the Milwaukee Art Museum will be free on Thursday, April 28.
According to a news release, the periodic free days the art museum held before the pandemic were among its most popular events, but it has "not had the opportunity to host one since 2019."
Thursday's free day is sponsored by Bader Philanthropies Inc. and is being held to commemorate the birthday of the late Dr. Alfred Bader, a Milwaukee philanthropist who was also an art museum member and donor.
The art museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday.
More:Discourse coffee now is at the lakefront, in the Milwaukee Art Museum | 2022-04-25T16:33:26Z | www.jsonline.com | Milwaukee Art Museum will have free community admission on April 28 | https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/2022/04/25/milwaukee-art-museum-have-free-community-admission-april-28/7439589001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/2022/04/25/milwaukee-art-museum-have-free-community-admission-april-28/7439589001/ |
Less than a month after losing a bid for Milwaukee mayor, former Ald. Bob Donovan announced Monday he is running for a seat in the state Assembly.
"I’m just excited about the opportunity," Donovan told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I think this is certainly a challenge that I’m up to, and we're going to give it our best fight."
Donovan will be running as a Republican for the 84th Assembly District from his home in Greenfield. He said he moved back to the suburban home within a week of losing the April 5 mayoral election to Cavalier Johnson.
Donovan had said during the race that if he lost he planned to return to the Greenfield condo where he and his wife moved after he retired as a Milwaukee Common Council member in 2020.
More:Construction executive Tim Michels running for Wisconsin governor, bringing the Republican field to 4
For 20 years, Donovan represented Milwaukee's aldermanic District 8 on the city's south side, the area where he grew up.
His early April loss was his second unsuccessful bid for mayor. He ran in 2016 against then-Mayor Tom Barrett.
On Monday, Donovan said he decided to run for Assembly after being approached by a number of people about a campaign. He said he still has a lot to offer and is concerned about the "problems in Milwaukee spreading to our suburbs."
And, he said, he would like to be part of fashioning a partnership between Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin.
Republican businessman David Karst has already filed to run.
The seat is currently held by state Rep. Mike Kuglitsch, R-New Berlin, who has announced that he will not be seeking reelection.
The fall partisan primary will be held on Aug. 9 with a general election on Nov. 8. | 2022-04-25T16:33:27Z | www.jsonline.com | Former Milwaukee mayoral candidate Bob Donovan running for Assembly | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/25/former-milwaukee-mayoral-candidate-bob-donovan-running-assembly/7439037001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/25/former-milwaukee-mayoral-candidate-bob-donovan-running-assembly/7439037001/ |
The inexact science of the NFL draft yields a wide variety of outcomes for first-round draft choices, and the Green Bay Packers are no exception. Most Packers fans could probably name the first-round busts as readily as the first-round successes.
Which are the best and worst in franchise history? To cut out some opinion, let's use the Football Reference metric for weighted approximated career value, which attempts to emphasize a player's best seasons in the league rather than just reward players for sticking around a long time.
It's still a stat that tracks players throughout their career, so a player such as B.J. Raji won't rank very highly because he didn't play deep into his 30s. Moreover, a player like Kenny Clark isn't yet in the top 10, but he could easily get there eventually.
Also, the metric keeps track of a player's entire career, so this may not simply include what was accomplished with the Packers.
Bearing that in mind, and focusing on players drafted in 1960 or later (meaning players who played relatively close to the "Super Bowl Era"), here's the top-10 list:
T-10. Nick Barnett (29th pick in 2003), Fred Carr (fifth pick in 1968)
One would imagine you didn't expect to see either of these names on a top-10 list. Barnett, drafted out of Oregon State, started 139 games in his career and started nine years, including two years with Buffalo after departing Green Bay. He made second-team All-Pro in 2007 and proved to be a relatively effective linebacker. Carr was a three-time Pro Bowl linebacker, playing from 1968-77 with the Packers, and he routinely started every game. He finished with eight interceptions, 15 fumble recoveries and 13 sacks in his career. Quarterback Babe Parilli (drafted in 1952) is also tied with these two in the Football-Reference metric.
T-8/9. Vonnie Holliday (19th pick in 1998) and John Anderson (26th pick in 1978)
Holliday garnered much of his career success outside of Green Bay, with four seasons as a regular starter in Miami and another in Kansas City. The defensive end was only with the Packers for five seasons, taking second in the defensive rookie of the year voting in 1998 and getting an amazing 32 of his 62 1/2 sacks as a Packer. The linebacker Anderson, a Wisconsin native who played at Michigan, spent all 12 of his seasons with the Packers, finishing with 25 interceptions, 15 fumble recoveries and 24 1/2 sacks.
7. Donny Anderson (7th pick in 1965)
The running back was new to the scene when the Packers won their first two Super Bowls, and he really took off after that, starting with a Pro Bowl campaign in 1968. He finished his career with 4,696 rushing yards and 41 touchdowns, many with the Packers, though he finished his career with three years in St. Louis.
6. Sterling Sharpe (7th pick in 1988)
The perpetual "what if" conversation revolves around what happens if Sharpe doesn't suffer a career-ending neck injury. For seven seasons, the wide receiver out of South Carolina was the gold standard at his position, three times earning first-team All-Pro and making five Pro Bowls. He set new records for catches in a season twice (108 in 1992 and 112 in 1993) and racked up 8,134 yards receiving and 65 touchdowns in his career. There's a strong case to be made that he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame regardless of his truncated career.
5. Clay Matthews (26th pick in 2009)
The Packers traded up to get Matthews, making him the second first-round pick of the day along with B.J. Raji. Two years later, both players were central figures in Green Bay's run to a Super Bowl title. The USC alumnus made six Pro Bowls with the Packers and earned first-team All-Pro once, taking second in the defensive player of the year voting during that Super Bowl season. His 83 1/2 sacks are considered a franchise best.
4. Dave Robinson (14th pick in 1963)
We've entered the "Hall of Fame" portion of the program. Robinson, a linebacker out of Penn State, started for nine years, twice earning first-team All-Pro. He was a staple on the great Lombardi-era teams and earned a spot on the 1960s all-decade team. He was part of three NFL championships and two Super Bowl titles.
3. James Lofton (6th pick in 1978)
The receiver out of Stanford, like Robinson, has also been enshrined in Canton, though his career is split among a few destinations. He was at his best with the Packers, making seven Pro Bowls in his nine seasons, including one first-team All-Pro season in 1981. He caught 530 passes for more than 9,600 yards and 49 touchdowns in Green Bay, and he tabulated more than 14,000 receiving yards in his career, with stops in Oakland, Buffalo and briefly Philadelphia. Though the Packers struggled in the 1980s, he landed a spot on the NFL's all-decade team.
2. Herb Adderley (12th pick in 1961)
The defensive back out of Michigan State is also in Canton, and he played a starring role in Super Bowl II with the first defensive touchdown in Super Bowl history, a 60-yard pick-six. The five-time All-Pro pick posted 48 interceptions in his career, with 39 in Green Bay before spending his final three seasons in Dallas. He also has a spot on the 1960s all-decade team.
1. Aaron Rodgers (24th pick in 2005)
It couldn't be anyone else, could it? Now a four-time MVP and Super Bowl champion, the ageless Rodgers will enter his 14th season as starter. He's made 10 Pro Bowl rosters and sits 10th all-time in NFL passing yards, and fifth in touchdowns.
What about these guys?
Don't freak out when you don't see these names on the list. Remember the caveats:
Willie Buchanan (1972). An All-Pro cornerback who started eight seasons in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Ken Ruettgers (1985). A rock on the offensive line for more than a decade, including the start of the Favre glory years.
Gale Gillingham (1966). Offensive lineman named to five Pro Bowls.
Paul Hornung (1957). He's this low on the list by the metric but also was drafted before our timetable of 1960. He's one of two players taken first overall in franchise history (Randy Duncan is the other in 1959), and he's one of four players on this list who are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He won the 1961 MVP and probably would have collected even more accolades had he not been suspended for gambling in 1963 or been asked to do so many different things instead of focusing on just running, receiving or kicking.
Kenny Clark (2016). Give it a little more time.
The 10 worst picks in Packers first-round history
We're starting in 1960, remember, but we're also going to give a pass to the last five draft classes who haven't had a chance to leave a career mark yet.
T-9/10. Datone Jones (26th pick in 2013) and Don Horn (25th pick in 1967)
The quarterback Horn started 15 games in his career, including six with the Packers, and he posted 36 interceptions with only 20 touchdowns. He was part of the 1967 team that won Super Bowl II, however, before enlisting in the U.S. Army for most of the 1968 season. He came back to lead the Packers to a thrilling win over the Bears in relief of Zeke Bratkowski and Bart Starr when both got injured. Horn threw for 410 yards against St. Louis in one game of the 1969 season.
The defensive end Jones, from UCLA, played four years in Green Bay, amassing 10 sacks and an interception, but he wasn't able to become a consistent pass rusher and finished his career with brief stints in with the Cowboys, 49ers and Raiders.
8. John Michels (27th pick in 1996)
The offensive tackle from USC only played two seasons with the Packers, starting in 14 games but dealing with knee injuries that ultimately short-circuited his career. Today, he's a pain-management doctor.
7. Jerry Tagge (11th pick in 1972)
The quarterback who hailed originally from Green Bay and witnessed Lombardi's Packers firsthand as a child played at Nebraska started 12 games for the Packers from 1972-74, throwing three touchdowns and 17 interceptions. When Starr replaced coach Dan Devine, he released Tagge before the 1975 season.
6. Barry Smith (21st pick in 1973)
It was back-to-back tough first-round picks for the Packers. The receiver out of Florida State did start 23 games in his NFL career and enjoyed three years as a starter, with most of that work in Green Bay. In 1976, he was selected by the Buccaneers in the expansion draft.
5. Larry Elkins (10th pick in 1965)
The wide receiver out of Baylor started nine AFL games, all during a two-year stretch with Houston. He chose the AFL destination over the NFL's Packers, then suffered a knee injury in training camp in the first of multiple injury obstacles.
4. Jamal Reynolds (10th pick in 2001)
Green Bay traded up to select the defensive end out of Florida State, but he never started a game in the NFL and only spent 2001-03 with the Packers. Reynolds battled injuries, and the rise of Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila meant less playing time.
3. Derek Sherrod (32nd pick in 2011)
A catastrophic leg injury kept Sherrod from ever showing what he could do after he became the last pick in the 2011 first round. He played in just 20 games, starting once,
T-1/2 Justin Harrell (16th pick in 2007) and Rich Campbell (6th pick in 1981)
A player who dealt with injuries at Tennessee, Harrell wasn't a popular selection even in the moment, and certainly not in retrospect after injuries continued to limit his availability. He started two games in his career and made 27 tackles.
Becoming the rarest of rarities as a first-round quarterback who never started an NFL game, Campbell appeared in only seven, completing 31 of 68 passes with three touchdowns and nine interceptions. Green Bay didn't draft another first-round quarterback until it took Rodgers in 2005.
Tony Mandarich (1989). It's the first name you thought of, right? But the poster child for "Packers draft bust" is actually middle of the pack on this metric; one shouldn't forget that he started 63 NFL games and was an effective starter for Indianapolis his last three seasons in the league. That's enough to keep him out of the bottom.
Bruce Clark (1980). The defensive tackle expressed reservations about playing for the Packers, specifically their desire to play him as a nose tackle (he preferred linebacker). But the Packers made him the fourth overall choice in 1980, then watched as he signed with Toronto of the Canadian Football League. He played in the NFL two years later and fashioned a fine career (which is why he's not officially on this list), but never for the Packers.
Randy Duncan (1959). The first overall pick only played in 14 career games and started two for the Dallas Texans of the AFL, but he was drafted just ahead of our 1960 cutoff. Instead of joining the Packers, he elected to take more money to play for the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League before winding up in Texas.
Ahmad Carroll (2004) and Antuan Edwards (1999). The defensive backs were both misfires, but they miss the bottom 10 narrowly. | 2022-04-25T16:33:32Z | www.jsonline.com | The 10 best first-round picks in Packers history (and the 10 worst) | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2022/04/25/10-best-first-round-picks-packers-history-and-10-worst/7414312001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2022/04/25/10-best-first-round-picks-packers-history-and-10-worst/7414312001/ |
A staff member at a Wauwatosa middle school is on administrative leave after initiating an inappropriate conversation with a group of students about sex April 20.
According to an April 20 letter to parents from Whitman Middle School interim principal Angela Dye, the staff member told students that "you should not have sex with anyone you don't trust."
"This conversation was not part of the approved curriculum. It has also been reported that this staff member was involved in several other concerning verbal interactions with students today," Dye said in her letter.
Dye also said the staff member, who was not identified in her letter, was escorted off campus and sent home for the day as soon as staff were made aware of these reports.
"The Department of Human Resources has been notified, and the staff member has been placed on administrative leave, pending a thorough investigation. The staff member will not be allowed to return until the investigation has concluded," Dye said in her letter.
She also noted that school counselors and the school psychologist planned to speak with students April 21 about the incident.
Wauwatosa School District Superintendent Demond Means said in a separate letter April 22 that the district's human resources department "has submitted initial information" to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and would submit additional information once the investigation concluded. He did not identify the staff member in his letter.
Means said the Wauwatosa Police Department was notified, but said the department would not pursue criminal charges.
All district employees requiring licenses have appropriate licenses and all employees are required to complete background checks before being hired, Means noted.
"The Wauwatosa School District’s number one priority continues to be the safety and well-being of our students and staff. We understand that the community has many unanswered questions, and we regret that we are unable to legally share more information at this time regarding the ongoing investigation," he added.
Means said the district would follow up with parents once the investigation was completed and when there was more information to share. | 2022-04-25T18:56:58Z | www.jsonline.com | Tosa middle school staffer on leave after inappropriate conversation | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/west/news/wauwatosa/2022/04/25/tosa-middle-school-staffer-leave-after-inappropriate-conversation/7441304001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/west/news/wauwatosa/2022/04/25/tosa-middle-school-staffer-leave-after-inappropriate-conversation/7441304001/ |
That low, deep-throated sound of “potato-potato-potato-potato" will come roaring back into Milwaukee July 13-16, 2023 when Harley-Davidson celebrates its 120th anniversary.
The party will include the launch of a new, annual event, the Harley-Davidson Homecoming. A four-day festival that will include music, food and "moto-culture," the company announced Monday.
“This will be the first in a series of unforgettable annual events in Milwaukee," Jochen Zeitz, chairman, president and CEO of Harley-Davidson.
Harley has not offered many details on the 120th anniversary or H-D homecoming, but said more information will be released in coming months.
Riders from around the world came to Milwaukee in 2018 for Harley-Davidson's 115th celebration. The event included a military skydiving show, bike races along Lake Michigan, motorcycle thrill shows and helicopter rides.
Harley-Davidson launched “The Road to Harley-Davidson Homecoming Challenge” on April 1 with the grand prize being a chance to win a trip to Milwaukee for the 120th celebration.
Visit Milwaukee has set up a website for the event for visitors wanting to book a hotel room.
Camping and RV parking information is available at Wisconsin Campgrounds
Most reservations are not available to book until one year in advance of event. | 2022-04-25T18:57:04Z | www.jsonline.com | Harley-Davidson 120th anniversary celebration July 13-16, 2023 in MKE | https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/2022/04/25/harley-davidson-120th-anniversary-celebration-july-13-16-2023-mke/7440545001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/2022/04/25/harley-davidson-120th-anniversary-celebration-july-13-16-2023-mke/7440545001/ |
The Milwaukee Bucks are not a better team without three-time all-star Khris Middleton, but in the first-round matchup with the Chicago Bulls the addition of Bobby Portis to the starting lineup helped the team regroup after Middleton’s injury in a Game 2 loss.
Consecutive blowout wins in Chicago have the Bucks on the verge of ending the series in five games — but it won’t speed up the timeline for Middleton’s return from a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL).
After Middleton was injured in the fourth quarter April 20, the team said the 30-year-old's status would be updated after about two weeks. Wearing a brace while watching his teammates win in Chicago, Middleton seemed in good spirits on the bench and in the hallways of the United Center.
Could he play in the next round?
“I hope so,” he said Friday morning. “For sure, they say two weeks. Hopefully I’ll be ready or close to getting back to the court around then.”
The Boston Celtics have a chance to sweep the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night, but the NBA has not yet set dates for the beginning of the semifinal round. Since the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown era began in Boston in 2017-18, Middleton has averaged 22.4 points per game on 51.6% shooting in two playoff series against the Celtics and 19 points on 45% shooting in 16 regular-season games.
But until then, the Bucks will have to make do without their second-leading scorer, a clutch late-game performer and an underrated defender.
“We did it last year as a group,” Middleton said. “When Giannis (Antetokounmpo) went down (in the Eastern Conference finals) everybody stepped up and played a major part, so I expect nothing less. I feel like guys are ready to step up and play. They know right now it’s win or go home time.”
George Hill has a ways to go
Veteran George Hill suffered an abdominal strain against Detroit on April 8 and though Hill didn’t practice during the week leading into the playoffs, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer was optimistic point guard would be available to play against the Bulls.
But once the first-round series began, Hill was ruled out immediately.
“I don’t think that I would put it in the day-to-day category,” Budenholzer said Sunday. “I think he’s going to need a little bit more time. Hopefully it’s shorter rather than longer, but I don’t think he’s considered day-to-day.”
Hill said he has an issue in his back between his T6 and T7 vertebrae that will need to be addressed in the offseason, which led to a neck issue that sidelined him for 17 games. In all, he missed 28 regular-season games.
Jevon Carter has taken Hill’s place in the rotation and has averaged 14.5 minutes per game against the Bulls. Though Carter is averaging just 1.5 shot attempts per game, he has an incredible 82.7 defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) while on the court. | 2022-04-25T18:57:16Z | www.jsonline.com | Milwaukee Bucks injury updates on Khris Middleton, George Hill | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2022/04/25/milwaukee-bucks-injury-updates-khris-middleton-george-hill/7437872001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2022/04/25/milwaukee-bucks-injury-updates-khris-middleton-george-hill/7437872001/ |
Elaine Ruth Schreiber, who became Wisconsin's first lady when her husband, Marty, entered the governor's mansion in July 1977, then later went on to advocate for the millions of patients like herself, battling Alzheimer's Disease, died in her sleep early Monday morning.
She was 82 and died at the Elaine's Hope Memory Care Assisted Living center at the Lutheran Home in Milwaukee, named in her honor in 2020. Named after her also is the child care facility at the Silver Spring Neighborhood Center, where she spent roughly a decade teaching children ages 3 to 5.
In accordance with her wishes, Elaine's brain is being donated to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Brain Donor program to be used in Alzheimer's research.
"In every endeavor I tried she was there," said Marty Schreiber, a prominent political figure in Wisconsin for three decades. "She was always gracious and kind and if I would lose, she never let me feel defeated. And maybe that's her legacy, she never let anybody feel defeated."
High school sweethearts who were married for more than 60 years, the Schreibers became a longtime fixture of Wisconsin politics, campaigning across the state, and attending chicken dinners and other fundraising events, including one with Bobby Kennedy in 1966.
In 1978, a photographer captured Elaine, dressed in an elegant white suit, a white flower in her hair, dancing with President Jimmy Carter in the White House.
But Elaine Schreiber became best known for her work to raise awareness of Alzheimer's Disease, the illness she lived with for her final 18 years.
In 2017, her husband co-wrote the book "My Two Elaines," with journalist Cathy Breitenbucher, a love story chronicling life with Alzheimer's Disease. The book, which has sold nearly 50,000 copies, includes excerpts from the journals Elaine had been keeping as her disease progressed. In June, HarperCollins Focus will publish a new edition.
She was born Elaine Thaney on Aug. 30, 1939, in Milwaukee, but it wasn't long before she and her future husband crossed paths.
They met in high school Latin class when the teacher seated students alphabetically. Martin Schreiber wound up next to Elaine Thaney. He would later say that from the moment he met the warm, intelligent woman, who wore her brown hair in a pageboy cut, he decided he would marry her. He was 14.
During his first campaign in 1962, for Wisconsin state Senate, he would greet voters on one street while Elaine went door-to-door for the campaign on another, pushing a stroller with their two young children.
When the third of their four children, Kristine, arrived in September 1966, Elaine walked to St. Joseph Hospital, her husband recalled, "because I was giving a speech in Beloit."
She was with him as he rose to state Lieutenant Governor in 1971, then governor six years later. She was with him too in defeat helping him weather losses in two races for governor and one for mayor of Milwaukee.
The two enjoyed sailing and bicycling. Elaine Schreiber made Easter dresses for her daughters and loved to cook.
It was on a 5,000-mile boat trip between 2005 and 2007, that the first symptoms of Alzheimer's began to appear. Sometimes she would put the wrong dish in the oven.
Even then, it was she who cared for him when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2007. She took him to his chemotherapy appointments and sat by him, leaving only to get his lunch. During the treatments, she would cover his arms and keep him warm.
The treatments lasted six months. Not long afterward, her own symptoms worsened. In the space of a few months, she backed their car into the side of the garage three times. Preparing one of her famous German meals, she forgot certain ingredients and overcooked some dishes.
"When she realized what had happened she felt so sad, so terrible," Schreiber recalled. When he saw the sadness in her face, he guessed her condition. Doctors soon confirmed that she had Alzheimer's.
"I know that we cried a lot together," Marty Schreiber said.
One by one, the disease took away the things they had enjoyed together, including boating and bicycling.
Just after Labor Day in 2015, Marty reluctantly moved Elaine to the Lutheran Home. For the last time, he helped her out of the home they'd shared for many years near Lake Michigan.
"It was like closing the door on our life together," he said.
About three weeks before "My Two Elaines" was due to go to press, he was in West Palm Beach, Florida, cleaning the condo they'd owned. Inside a drawer, he came across a notebook, then another and another. They contained Eliane's journals and letters.
He read them as he flew back to Milwaukee:
It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I really had to say ‘Yes, I do have Alzheimer’s.’...Still I felt I could handle it -- ‘It won’t get worse.’ But this morning I started reading about the mid-stage of Alzheimer’s, in hopes of preparing myself better, and realized I am not very far away. That is most scary! But I have to accept it. — Letter from Elaine to her “Dear Loved Ones,” March 11, 2009.
“Marty is still a very good husband and I can’t blame him for being a little short sometimes….He knows I’m trying my best and (he) tries hard to help me. I know it is no easier for him than for me.” — July 3, 2012
“I never realized how bad I had gotten until I overheard a phone conversation with whomever you were talking with, and I’m sorry to make life so difficult for us, and I guess I don’t fully understand how difficult I’ve been for you….I don’t want to be a burden to you anymore ... And I want to thank you for all you have done for me and love you forever.” — Note from Elaine to Marty, date unknown.
He wept as he read her words. Excerpts from her journals and letters were incorporated into "My Two Elaines," offering readers two views of the disease: that of the patient and that of the caregiver.
During her time at the Lutheran Home, Marty visited often. They would sit at a table off the kitchen and listen to CDs of Mitch Miller, the conductor and star of the 1960s television show “Sing Along With Mitch.” When the oldies played — “There Are Smiles,” "Down By The Old Mill Stream,” “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” — he would sing along and sometimes her lips would move as she sang too.
On Monday, Marty Schreiber reread a note from her.
"When in heaven," she'd written in 2015, "I will always be smiling down at you, with great love, to the best man in the world."
Elaine Schreiber is survived by four children: Kathy Lyon in Boston, Kristine Haas in Idaho Falls, Matthew Schreiber in Oak Creek and Marty Schreiber in Stevens Point; 13 grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren and two sisters: Lois Wagner and Claudia Steadman, both of Milwaukee. | 2022-04-25T23:10:21Z | www.jsonline.com | Former Wisconsin First Lady Elaine Schreiber dies from Alzheimer's | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2022/04/25/former-wisconsin-first-lady-elaine-schreiber-dies-alzheimers/7441114001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2022/04/25/former-wisconsin-first-lady-elaine-schreiber-dies-alzheimers/7441114001/ |
Brent Suter has worn many hats during his tenure with the Brewers: efficient-working left-hander, win accumulator, impressionist, raptor and environmentally-conscious ballplayer. Add children's author to the list.
Suter's children's book, "The Binky Bandit," centered on Suter's actual 5½-year old mini golden doodle, Wally, will launch with an event June 6 at the Brewers team store at American Family Field.
"I wrote it several years ago when my dog was actually destroying my son's 'binkies' left and right," Suter said, referring to his son, Liam's, pacifiers. "I thought it could be a fun little story I could write about it to read to Liam. I talked about it in a Milwaukee Magazine article and all of a sudden, the publisher contacted me and said we want to do your book."
Published by Orange Hat Publishing out of Waukesha and illustrated by Jayden Ellsworth, the story follows Wally as he responds to the arrival of a newborn in his household with some havoc-wreaking, only to discover his actions have consequences for the environment.
Suter expects to split the book's proceeds with the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee. He also anticipates traveling to local schools for book readings. Those interested can also order the book online.
More:Brent Suter will save the planet. Or at least get his Brewers teammates to reduce their use of one-use plastic bottles
More:Brent Suter's logic-defying fastball is one of the slowest in baseball. It's also one of the best. | 2022-04-25T23:10:27Z | www.jsonline.com | Brewers pitcher Brent Suter to release children's book | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2022/04/25/brewers-pitcher-brent-suter-release-childrens-book/7445928001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2022/04/25/brewers-pitcher-brent-suter-release-childrens-book/7445928001/ |
MADISON – Chris McIntosh likely won’t ever forget July 1, 2021.
That was McIntosh’s first official day as Wisconsin’s athletic director.
McIntosh, 44 at the time, had accepted the challenge of replacing Barry Alvarez, his coach at UW and the man who went on to lead UW’s athletic department for nearly two decades.
That same day, college athletes for the first time were allowed to secure compensation for their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) without facing any NCAA penalties.
Athletic directors from coast to coast were entering into a new, challenging era.
Nearly 10 months since that landmark day, McIntosh is comfortable with the manner in which UW athletes have benefited from the introduction of NIL.
“I think what has been most gratifying to me is that NIL at the University of Wisconsin can deliver on whatever expectation our student-athlete has,” he said. “We have on one end of the spectrum, we’ve got multiple examples of student-athletes with six-figure earnings (from) NIL.”
Six figures? McIntosh declined to name those individuals.
“And we’ve got examples of student-athletes that have used NIL to build their own brand and position themselves to meet their own goals,” he continued. “And those might be more career oriented.
“As I walk through the spectrum here, we have student-athletes that have captured the opportunity of a moment.”
McIntosh cited former UW safety Collin Wilder and current freshman guard Chucky Hepburn.
Wilder, who finished his college eligibility last season, signed two deals for “Grit Factory” merchandise, hats and shirts.
Hepburn banked in a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to give UW a 70-67 victory over Purdue and a share of the Big Ten regular-season title. Not long after that, Hepburn struck a deal to sell T-shirts and sweatshirts.
The clothing features the words “THE CHUCKY SPECIAL” and Hepburn hitting the game-winner.
“And then we’ve got examples of student athletes that have used NIL in ways that it couldn’t have been used prior to a year ago to help fulfill altruistic or charitable endeavors,” McIntosh added. “I think of Chris Vogt and what he did for his hometown.”
Vogt was with his teammates in Columbus, Ohio, last December when his hometown of Mayfield, Kentucky, was devastated by a tornado. Vogt played that afternoon and not long after returning to Madison he started a gofundme page to help raise money for the victims.
Those efforts led to almost $200,000 in donations.
“What has been most gratifying,” McIntosh said, “is that NIL can be done at Wisconsin in a way that delivers on whatever motivations student-athletes have.”
UW made two moves this month to aid student-athletes interested in capitalizing on NIL opportunities.
First, UW reached an agreement to work with Altius Sports Partners, an NIL advisory and education firm.
Altius Sports Partners, to provide strategic guidance and a robust offering of educational programming to UW student-athletes, staff and stakeholders.
“Altius can help educate our department, our coaches and student-athletes,” McIntosh said. “But also our donors and supporters. They have a perspective that is a bit more far-ranging and wider than just Madison.
“They can help us understand how the landscape is unfolding and the opportunities that we can create at Wisconsin that are different and might benefit us.”
Second, UW officials launched a dedicated NIL marketplace specifically for UW student-athletes – the YouDub Marketplace.
YouDub Marketplace is designed to give UW fans, boosters and business a single platform to access hundreds of student-athletes and pitch NIL opportunities.
Student-athletes can review potential deals, accept them and receive compensation through the marketplace. Once any deal is completed, the same platform is used to disclose the activity automatically to ensure compliance.
“This is an exciting step in our evolving efforts to provide the highest level of support to our student-athletes when it comes to their NIL opportunities,” McIntosh said.
McIntosh does have concerns about the rapidly changing landscape and is not oblivious to stories from other schools.
Some intriguing examples include:
Texas officials last December announced that beginning with the 2022 season every Longhorns offensive lineman on scholarship would receive $50,000 annually to support charitable causes.
It is unclear how much money will be earmarked for those causes and the announcement came less than two weeks before the start of the early signing period.
Kentucky center Oscar Tshiebwe, the men’s consensus national player of the year last season, recently announced he would return to school and play for the Wildcats next season. He is reportedly expected to earn $2 million from NIL next season.
Oklahoma officials recently announced the formation of 1Oklahoma, a collective headed by former Sooners football coach Barry Switzer.
The plan is pay football, basketball and softball $40,000 to $50,000 per academic year. Expansion to other sports is already being discussed.
Miami’s men’s basketball team recently received an oral commitment from guard Nijel Pack, who is transferring from Kansas State. Pack agreed to a two-year, $800,000 deal with LifeWallet, a Miami business that aims to pool its clients’ medical records in one place so they can be easily accessed.
“The concerns I have are more when I zoom out and learn about stories where you have to really question whether NIL was playing out like it was intended,” McIntosh said. “I think we all have concerns about what we continue to learn as NIL unfolds across the college landscape.” | 2022-04-26T01:11:53Z | www.jsonline.com | UW's McIntosh encouraged by how athletes are benefiting from NIL | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/uw/2022/04/25/uws-mcintosh-encouraged-how-athletes-benefiting-nil/7445685001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/uw/2022/04/25/uws-mcintosh-encouraged-how-athletes-benefiting-nil/7445685001/ |
Venice Williams, director of Alice’s Garden Urban Farm, minister at The Table spiritual ministries, and owner of Kujichagulia Producers Cooperative, has seen a lot of Black excellence in Milwaukee since she moved here from Pittsburgh in 1990.
But when her friend, Milwaukee historian Adam Carr, showed her a Black-owned business guide from 1950, Williams was even more astounded by the strength of the Black community during the Jim Crow era.
“When I went through it page by page, I was incredibly overwhelmed and inspired. I’ve been here 33 years,” Williams said. “There was so much in this document and it had so much that I hadn’t heard of.
“If it had this impact on me, the rest of the African American community needed to see this,” she said.
Williams is selling a reprinted version of the 1950 guide through Kujichagulia Producers Cooperative at Sherman Phoenix, 3536 W. Fond du Lac Ave., for elders in the community to reminisce about what used to be, and to inspire youth.
The business guide is similar to annual editions of the Green Book, which were printed across the country to highlight businesses and organizations that were willing to serve Black travelers prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
MORE:Green Book guides helped African-Americans travel through Wisconsin and the U.S.
The "Negro Business Directory of the State of Wisconsin 1950-1951" is more specifically a guide of Black-owned entities, explained Milwaukee historian Reggie Jackson. It has 126 pages of information about Black-owned business, churches and social organizations from throughout the state, but mostly located in Milwaukee.
'An invitation to go down memory lane'
The book portrays the vibrancy of the Black community, especially in the Halyard Park, Hillside and Haymarket neighborhoods, now also known as Bronzeville. Dozens upon dozens of businesses were located on its main thoroughfare, West Walnut Street.
On Page 67, there is a list of Black dressmakers and Black music entertainers. There's also the number and address of William Curry, a Black fireman.
On Page 71, readers find everything from rental halls, like the still-standing Prince Masonic Temple, 1218 W. North Ave., to a list of Black tax consultants.
On Page 93, the guide describes Ron Troy's Gift Shop, 901 W. Walnut St. (now an apartment complex), as a place to buy stationery and school supplies. It also lists more than two dozen taverns.
One thing that stuck out to Williams was the listing of Black social clubs from the time, advertised on Page 59, including the Cosmopolitan Club, the Chatter Box Club, the High Steppers Club, and the Mutual Welfare Club.
"There are pictures of churches and ministers and clubs and organizations, and it brings Milwaukee to life. It's an invitation to go down memory lane," Williams said.
The Milwaukee Black population was just over 21,000 in 1950. It had more Black-owned businesses per capita than anywhere else in the United States, Jackson said.
"Along Walnut Street, you had so many businesses and nightclubs. All of the famous jazz musicians would come to Milwaukee," Jackson said. "It was called the Harlem of the Midwest."
The city of Milwaukee's website describes Bronzeville as "a self-sufficient economic community with renowned nightlife entertainment. Walnut Street became such an essential artery of Milwaukee nightlife that it transcended racial divides and welcomed white and black patrons alike.
As Black Americans moved North in the 1950s and 1960s, they were kept from living south of Juneau Street in Milwaukee by redlining — racial discrimination in mortgage lending — and other factors.
The population of the area west of Third Street (now King Drive), east of 12th Street, north of Vliet Street, and south of North Avenue had about 65% Black residents in the late 1930s. By 1960, Black people made up more than 95% of the neighborhood's population.
Many had decent jobs and built every business a community would need, as shown in the 1950 Black-owned business book.
“We were told where to live, and we birthed a community just as incredible and beautiful as Harlem," Williams said. "You see knitting businesses and restaurants in between homes. Oh, how I would have loved to see that Milwaukee."
Black businesses destroyed
Despite the success of the Black community, the area experienced hardships.
It was redlined by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation using racist language, calling it "a slum area of Milwaukee" where Black and Jewish people lived.
Redlining made it impossible for residents in the area to get mortgages to buy property. The area, made up of 60% single-family homes and 30% duplexes, had a 10% home-ownership rate at the time of the HOLC's property report in 1937.
Then, the destruction of the area began in the 1960s, through the combination of an ongoing urban renewal project and construction of the North-South freeway.
"Most people think that the freeway ruined the business, but the urban renewal project came first," Jackson explained. "It was designed by the federal government to do a 'slum clearance' and to tear down old businesses and build new houses, but unfortunately it didn’t work out that way."
The project wiped out everything on Walnut Street between Sixth and 10th streets, destroying 50% of all Black-owned businesses in Milwaukee, Jackson said. Those businesses would never come back to that street.
"Milwaukee was no different than other cities across the country," Jackson said. "Ninety percent of the buildings destroyed by urban renewal were never rebuilt, despite the promises."
Then came the North-South freeway, now I-43, cutting the neighborhood in half and doing further destruction.
For example, on multiple pages of the 1950 book, there are pictures of beautiful churches that used to be found throughout the Bronzeville neighborhood, like Mount Zion Baptist Church, a brick Romanesque-style building. The since-demolished church was at 1007 W. Brown St., a location that would now be in the middle of I-43.
The Black community in Milwaukee still persisted, Jackson said. They had some success from the open housing marches of 1967-'68, when both the federal government and city council passed fair housing policies, prohibiting discrimination in selling or renting on the basis of race, religion, or sex.
In the 1970s, Black Milwaukeeans moved more north and west of Bronzeville and took on manufacturing jobs.
But those jobs eventually left the area, replaced by low-wage jobs. It is another part of the disconnect that Milwaukee sees between the strong Black community of 1950 and the weakened community of today.
"It's kind of a double whammy. We recovered from losing those businesses on Walnut Street, but we never recovered in a way that had such a high rate of business ownership," Jackson said. "Today versus where Milwaukee was a little over 50 years ago when it was a great place to live, now one of the worst places for Black people by multiple measures, and there are reasons that it shifted. It’s a giant onion with a lot of layers to it."
RELATED:Milwaukee's trauma care initiatives are meant to heal. Now they are at the heart of the city's racial divide.
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RELATED:Historian cites Milwaukee’s “perfect storm” to explain the city’s social distress
Inspiration from 1950
Still, Jackson said that Milwaukeeans of today can take some inspiration from the small but vibrant Black community of 1950. He said it is also important to acknowledge that the fruits of their hard work were taken from them and the institutions that did so need to be held accountable.
Williams said she sells the Black-owned business guide at reprint cost ($8) so that it can spread the history of Bronzeville around Wisconsin as much as possible.
"For me, this very precious piece of history," Williams said. "I want people of all ethnic backgrounds to see and to understand the state of our community, the African American community, wasn’t always like this. We fed each other. We were not a fast-food city. We had healthier living habits and we sat more in one another's kitchens and backyards."
She has shared the book with elderly neighbors whose eyes have lit up seeing the businesses and music clubs that they remember going to when they were younger.
She said that when she shared the book with her mother-in-law, "pure joy spread across her face to remember the life they entered here when they came from the South."
“It’s a testament to the generosity, self-determination and intentionality of those who are elders or ancestors now, who were committed during the Great Migration to support anyone and everyone," she said. "It tells a story of what the village really looked like and what it means to be such a village, and to care for each other."
Williams also hopes it inspires young Black Milwaukeeans.
Will Turner, dean of students at Kingdom Prep Lutheran High School, brought a group of freshmen into Kujichagulia Producers Cooperative to take a look at the business guide while they were on a redlining tour in March.
"A lot of our students are coming from the Bronzeville area, and they could put two and two together and see that it doesn't look like what it did in the pictures," Turner said. "It was great to even have that information to share with the young men. We were going around looking at some of those sights that day, and there's this book that can tell us 1,000 different things about what it used to be."
Turner said students were also following Williams' excitement about the book.
"They're young, but they can pick up when people are really passionate about something, and they get just as passionate as the speakers," Turner said. "So they felt the passion (Williams) was speaking in, and got excited about the book themselves."
Williams is continuing to spread the 1950 Black-owned business guide around the community hoping that it inspires some form of art, like a play or painted piece, to bring the directory more to life.
"I want everyone to see how incredible our ancestors are," Williams said. "I'm grateful that this fell into my hands and it's just an honor to make it available to others in Milwaukee." | 2022-04-26T13:06:15Z | www.jsonline.com | 'Green Book'-type directory of Milwaukee Black-owned business inspires | https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/2022/04/26/green-book-type-directory-milwaukee-black-owned-business-inspires/7223172001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/2022/04/26/green-book-type-directory-milwaukee-black-owned-business-inspires/7223172001/ |
Lily Peters live updates: Homicide investigation launched in death of Lily Peters in Chippewa Falls
On Monday, 10-year-old Iliana Peters, also known as Lily, was found dead near a walking trail in downtown Chippewa Falls. Police are investigating her death as a homicide, but as of Tuesday morning, no one was in custody. | 2022-04-26T16:26:53Z | www.jsonline.com | Lily Peters live updates: Homicide investigation launched in her death | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2022/04/26/live-updates-10-year-old-lily-peters-found-dead-downtown-chippewa-falls-wisconsin/9537642002/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2022/04/26/live-updates-10-year-old-lily-peters-found-dead-downtown-chippewa-falls-wisconsin/9537642002/ |
Construction is to begin this week for SpringHill Suites in Whitestone Station in Menomonee Falls
Construction is expected to begin this week on SpringHill Suites, a hotel in Menomonee Falls. The project is slated for completion in 2023.
The 103-room hotel will be part of the Whitestone Station mixed-use development south of Interstate 41/Highway 45, between Pilgrim Road and Water Street.
The hotel will be on the west side of Falls Parkway between the Home2Suites hotel and Café Zupas, according to village documents.
More:Dave's Hot Chicken is slated to open its first Wisconsin restaurant in Menomonee Falls
More:Children are invited to help create a mural at Village Park
The new hotel will include a business center, fitness center, indoor swimming pool and outdoor spaces featuring a fire pit, according to village documents.
It is being developed by the same firms that developed the Home2Suites in June 2017: Milwaukee-based Cobalt Partners LLC; Coralville, Iowa-based hotel operator Kinseth Hospitality Cos. and American Construction Services, an architectural and construction firm based in West Bend.
The popularity and success of Home2Suites led the development team to start the SpringHill Suites project, according to village documents.
Village Planner Tyler Zwagerman said the Whitestone Station development has been a popular area for recent projects. Although the village did not seek another hotel in that area, it is glad to see one going in. "It shows that people want to come here," he said.
He predicted the success of the new hotel, pointing to the growth of the downtown area, local corporations supporting business travel and area events.
The success of Whitestone Station
Since the development of Whitestone Station began in 2014 with the construction of Costco — an anchor store that opened in late 2015 — there has been a consistent market for retail, restaurants and apartment projects.
Retail businesses such as HomeGoods, Ross Dress for Less and Ulta Beauty have also opened in that area. Firehouse Subs opened in 2017, and Olive Garden opened in 2020.
The Junction, seven three-story apartment buildings comprising 330 units, is also part of Whitestone Station.
Most recently, Dave's Hot Chicken, the first in Wisconsin, opened in January in the development. | 2022-04-26T19:29:24Z | www.jsonline.com | Constructions is beginning on SpringHill Suites in Menomonee Falls | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northwest/news/menomonee-falls/2022/04/26/constructions-beginning-springhill-suites-menomonee-falls/7382772001/ | https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northwest/news/menomonee-falls/2022/04/26/constructions-beginning-springhill-suites-menomonee-falls/7382772001/ |
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