Two plants sales in Bay View, Saturday, June 2
May 9, 2012
| PLANT SALE IN SOUTH SHORE PARK
The Bay View Garden and Yard Society (BVGAYS), in collaboration with the South Shore Park Watch and Milwaukee County Parks, is excited to begin the 2012 growing season with its annual Bay View Plant Sale at South Shore Park, 2900 South Shore Drive, on Saturday, June 2 from 8am-1pm. Blooming in color with Milwaukee’s beautiful lakefront as a backdrop, the Bay View Plant Sale hosts a variety of local, commercial plant vendors with hundreds of beautiful, quality plants; including annuals and perennials, hanging baskets, ornamental trees and shrubs, vegetables and herbs, some of the best exotic heirloom favorites, and tropical plants. Delicious bakery, food items, and coffee will also be available for sale. The Society members will be on hand to answer any questions you may have about gardening. Formed in 1995, the Bay View Garden and Yard Society has been committed to beautifying yards and public gardens in the Bay View community, including the development and maintenance of the Village Roots Community Garden, the WWII Memorial Garden on Kinnickinnic, the Pryor Avenue Well and the Fire Department Engine House on KK.
PLANT SALE IN HUMBOLDT PARK The Bay View Neighborhood Association (BVNA) has announced its very first plant sale to take place on Saturday, June 2nd at the Humboldt Park Pavilion from 12pm-3pm. BVNA will sell annuals and perennials at special prices. Lowe’s is credited for delivering the plants. The Neighborhood Improvement Development Corporation also contributed to the event. The Bay View Neighborhood Association exists to maximize the quality of life for individuals and families, and to promote economic development in Bay View through activities that facilitate an attractive, safe and diverse neighborhood.
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Milwaukee Recreation will host the citywide Aquafina Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit & Run Competition
May 8, 2012
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MILWAUKEE RECREATION HOSTS YOUTH BASEBALL COMPETITION
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Aquafina Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit & Run set for May 9 and May 12 |
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Milwaukee Recreation will host the citywide Aquafina Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit & Run Competition on Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 p.m. at 53rd Street School Playfield, 3618 N. 53rd Street, and Saturday, May 12 at 10:00 a.m. at Wick Playfield, 4929 W. Vliet Street. Participants are asked to select and attend only one location. Pitch, Hit & Run is the official skills competition of Major League Baseball. This grassroots program is designed to provide youngsters with an opportunity to compete, free of charge, in a competition that recognizes individual excellence in core baseball and softball skills. Competitors are divided into four age divisions: 7/8, 9/10, 11/12, 13/14. Participants will have the chance to advance through four levels of competition, including Team Championships at Major League ballparks and the National Finals at the 2012 MLB All-Star Game. The individual pitching, hitting and running champions, along with the all-around champion in each age group at the local competition will advance to the sectional level of competition. Each participant must bring a copy of his/her birth certificate and fill out a registration and waiver form prior to the start of the competition. Metal spikes will not be allowed. For questions concerning the competition, please contact Andrew Rossa at (414) 475-8906 or Andrew@MilwaukeeRecreation.net. Milwaukee Recreation is a department of Milwaukee Public Schools, established in 1911 to provide the entire community with affordable and enriching recreational activities. For more information, visit MilwaukeeRecreation.net or contact Brian Hoffer at (414) 475-8938. |
District 14 items of May 17 Board of Zoning Appeals meeting
May 8, 2012
Board of Zoning Appeals, Hearing on Thursday, May 17, 2012
4:00 p.m. Consent Agenda
Items Scheduled for approval on the Consent Agenda
No oral testimony will be taken on these items.
If there are any objections to these approvals, please make them known to the Board office in writing and at least 24 hours prior to the time of the hearing. If written objections to these approvals are received, the item will not be approved and will be held for a public hearing to allow additional testimony.
14th District
Special Use
William Frickensmith, Lessee 2653 S. Kinnickinnic Av.
Request to occupy a portion of the premises as a
second-hand sales facility
14th District
Use Variance
Brew Haus LLC, Property Owner 2029 S. 1st St.
Request to continue to allow a temporary banner sign
attached to a fence
14th District
Dimensional
Variance
Brew Haus LLC, Property Owner 2067 S. 1st St.
Request to erect an off-premise wall sign that is
within the required distance between signs (required
200 ft. / proposed 0 ft.), without the minimum
required setback (required 10 ft. / proposed 0 ft.), and
does not meet the required height of a sign located
near the public right-of-way (required 10 ft. /
proposed 0 ft.)
U.S. News’ top 200 high schools nationwide include Rufus King and Ronald Reagan College Prep
May 8, 2012
MPS has state’s only 2 schools in U.S. News’ top 200 high schools nationwide
Two Milwaukee Public Schools high schools are the only schools in the state to be ranked among the top 200 in the country by U.S. News and World Report in a report released Tuesday.
Rufus King International School ranked 130th nationally and Ronald Reagan College Preparatory High School ranked 197th. The next Wisconsin high school on the list was ranked 893rd.? ?MPS’ Milwaukee School of Languages ranked seventh among Wisconsin high schools, rounding out the three MPS high schools that were the only ones in southeast Wisconsin to be among the state’s top 20 (http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/wisconsin).
To create the list, U.S. News worked with the Washington, D.C.-based American Institutes for Research, “one of the largest behavioral and social science research organizations in the world,” according to the magazine. “AIR implemented U.S. News’s comprehensive rankings methodology, which is based on the key principles that a great high school must serve all of its students well, not just those who are college-bound, and that it must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes to show the school is successfully educating its student body across a range of performance indicators.”
Top Ranked WI Schools
To be eligible for a state ranking, a school must be awarded a national gold or silver medal.
Wisconsin Primary Tuesday, May 8; Where do I vote? Find your polling station
May 7, 2012
Find answers to your questions about voter registration, your polling station, absentee voting, and more here.
Remember, you do not need to present your identification to vote in tomorrow’s primary or the general election June 5. But you will be asked to sign the poll book. However, if you want to register at the your polling station, you will need your identification and proof of address. Learn more here.
Find past and future election results here.
Full freeway closure tonight 10pm-4:30at at the Mitchell Interchange
May 3, 2012
Airport Noise-Alert: Mitchell runway closures begin Saturday night (May 5)
May 3, 2012
Bond announces MPS school board directors’ committee assignments
May 3, 2012
Committees for 2012-2013
In an effort to utilize the expertise and talents of the members of the Board of School Directors, Milwaukee Board of School Directors’ President Michael Bonds has announced the following Committee assignments for the 2012-2013 Board year
Committee on Accountability, Finance, and Personnel: Director Bonds, Chair; Director Voeltner; Vice-Chair; Director Blewett, Director Sain, Director Spence
Committee on Student Achievement and School Innovation: Director Miller, Chair; Director Falk, Vice-Chair; Director Holman, Director Voeltner, Director Woodward
Committee on Legislation, Rules and Policies: Director Blewett, Chair; Director Holman, Vice-Chair, Director Falk, Director Spence, Director Woodward
Committee on Parent and Community Engagement: Director Woodward, Chair; Director Sain, Vice-Chair; Director Bonds, Director Holman, Director Miller
Committee on Strategic Planning and Budget: Director Falk, Chair; Director Spence, Vice-Chair; Director Blewett, Director Bonds, Director Holman, Director Miller, Director Sain, Director Voeltner, Director Woodward
Reminder: Bay View Tragedy Commemoration, Sunday, May 6—features Larry Penn and John Gurda
May 3, 2012
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Outdoor CeremonyCity of Milwaukee’s 2011 water quality report card
May 2, 2012
The City of Milwaukee’s drinking water utility is mailing its annual water quality report to customers now through June. The Consumer Confidence Report says Milwaukee’s drinking water is of the highest quality in the United States and in full compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards.
The EPA requires public water suppliers to issue the annual report about water quality and related topics. The purpose is to provide information to consumers so they can make informed decisions about any potential health risks pertaining to the quality, treatment, and management of their drinking water supply, source, and the environment. The report includes “Use Water Wisely” consumer advice about finding and fixing household water leaks to control water costs and avoid wasting water.
The report is being mailed as an insert with the Municipal Services Bill to customers in Milwaukee, Greenfield, Hales Corners, St. Francis, and West Milwaukee. (The suburban communities receive billing service from the utility.) The report data is shared with the utility’s customer communities of Brown Deer, Butler, Franklin, Greendale, Greenfield, Menomonee Falls, Mequon, New Berlin, Shorewood, Thiensville, Wauwatosa, and West Allis. The Milwaukee Water Works also provides water to the Milwaukee County Grounds facilities.
Copies of the report are available at city government offices and health centers, and Milwaukee Public libraries. Find the report online at http://city.milwaukee.gov/water/about/WaterQuality.htm.
Milwaukee company Precious Transit convicted of Medicaid fraud
May 1, 2012
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced today that Precious Transit, LLC, of 9746 West Appleton Avenue, Milwaukee, a specialized medical vehicle transportation company owned by Frederick Rutledge of Menomonee Falls, was convicted of 18 counts of medical assistance fraud in Milwaukee County. The convictions were based on allegations that drivers for the company were not properly certified as required by Wisconsin Medicaid.
Former employees came forward with information that Precious Transit, LLC, falsified paperwork that documented transportation services provided to Medicaid recipients and formed the basis of claims for payment submitted to Wisconsin Medicaid. The documents were falsified to show that drivers who were trained and certified provided the transportation services when, in fact, they did not. The allegations were that the company received approximately $3,000 for trips that were actually provided by non-certified drivers. The company was ordered to pay a $10,000.00 fine and court costs.
The case was investigated by the Medicaid Fraud Control and Elder Abuse Unit at the Wisconsin Department of Justice and was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Gabrysiak.
The brouhaha that Brew Haus built
May 1, 2012
By Katherine Keller
“Was you ever bit by a dead bee?”
That’s what Eddie (Walter Brennan) asks Slim (Lauren Bacall) in the 1944 film To Have and Have Not. Then he adds, “You know, you gotta be careful of dead bees…they can sting you just as bad as live ones.”
Tim Brodersen, aka Brody, the proprietor of Down and Over, formerly the Bay View Brew Haus, 2534 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., may have felt that he had trodden on some of those “dead bees” April 24 as he was confronted by a group of angry and disgruntled neighbors.
His irate neighbors shared the sentiment. They had been subject to loud music, car alarms, noisy loiterers, and acts that defiled property and deprived them of sleep since 2009 when the Brew Haus opened. They had already been stung and they were there to say no more.
The bite
The Down And Over’s first-floor main hall was filled with about 130 people who came to the meeting organized by District 14 Alderman Tony Zielinski to allow residents to air their opinions about Brodersen’s liquor license application.
This is Brodersen’s second bar; he has owned and operated Up And Under, also a live music venue, at 1216 E. Brady St., for six years.
Brodersen purchased the building April 4 from Stephen Fix, who had negotiated a purchase via land contract from owner Arthur Manske. Before Fix opened the bar in the building, once a Masonic temple, Manske had operated a banquet hall business there.
Fix acquired the building in 2009, where he intended, but never fully launched, the microbrewery he planned to operate on the first floor.
Along with the real estate, Brodersen also acquired Fix’s corporation, Spectacle Enterprises—with its liquor license.
In Wisconsin, a liquor license can be issued to a corporation. “The corporation is the actual licensee and the corporation designates a person as agent,” according to Jessica Celella, specialist in Milwaukee’s City Licensing Division. The new agent, in this case Brodersen, then has ten days to file the change of agent with the city. Brodersen did so, he said, on March 29, the day he and Fix were originally scheduled to close the sale of the Brew Haus.
The city’s License Committee and the Common Council must approve the change of agent. Brodersen’s hearing before the committee is May 7, and if approved the change of agent will be forwarded for a vote by the Common Council May 22.
Brodersen must again appear before the License Committee and Common Council in June, when the license is up for annual renewal.
Twice bitten
Joanie Kitzrow contacted the Compass April 23 to voice her opposition to the new tavern. She claimed that she represented the opinion and sentiment of a number of her neighbors, who like herself, were planning to oppose Brodersen’s tavern license. During the tenure of former Bay View Brew Haus owner Stephen Fix, Kitzrow said that she and her neighbors were often disturbed by loud music from the bar and by Brew Haus patrons who boisterously loitered outside the bar, and littered and urinated on their properties.
She and husband Terry Kitzrow, she said, felt betrayed by Stephen Fix, who stated during a public meeting concerning his plans for the Bay View Brew Haus, that his establishment planned to book live music but that he would restrict it to acoustic music because he wanted to respect the neighbors in the vicinity of the bar.
Kitzrow said that she contacted Zielinski April 2, the day before the spring election in which Zielinski was defending his aldermanic seat, “when we heard a rumor that a new bar was to open” in the former Bay View Brew Haus. Zielinski told her he was not aware of “any bar opening there,” Kitzrow said.
However, the Compass contacted Zielinski for comment March 28, the morning after we published a notice on this newspaper’s website of the pending sale of the Brew Haus to Brodersen. Zielinski replied that he had just learned of the pending sale that morning when he read it online.
On April 3, at Zielinski’s election celebration, Kitzrow said that she had spoken again to Zielinski about the bar. Kitzrow claimed Zielinski said, “If they open with live music, I will shut them down.”
Zielinski said he does not recall talking to Kitzrow April 2, the day before the spring election. He said he talked to so many people that day that he may have spoken to her but could not be sure. He did verify that he spoke with Kitzrows April 3 at his election party but he disagrees with her rendition of their conversation, denying he told them he’d call the police if Brodersen opened with live music. “She’s wrong! Why would I tell her that!” he said.
The sting
Having established his legal right to operate the bar, Brodersen opened for business Friday, April 6. Brodersen was unprepared for the drama that ensued. The police, at Alderman Zielinski’s bidding, showed up and closed him down. “I was really angry when the police showed up,” Brodersen said, “because I had been trying to do all the right things.”
Zielinski said he called the cops because he thought the bar was operating without a license. Brodersen, who said that he’s mended fences with Zielinski since the April 6 shutdown, observed that Zielinski should have been aware of the intended purchase. “About two weeks before the closing was planned (on March 30),” Brodersen said, “I called Zielinski’s office to introduce myself and tell him my plans.” Because Zielinski was not available, Brodersen said he left a message with the alderman’s staffer. He attempted to contact Zielinski again by email on April 4, Brodersen said. “I didn’t hear anything from Zielinski, Brodersen said, “so I opened April 6th.”
That night, neighbors Joanie and Terry Kitzrow, whose home is directly west of the bar, alerted Zielinski that the bar had opened and music was blaring from within. Zielinski responded by calling the police and instructing them to shut Brodersen down.
April 24 meeting
Those who voiced their opposition to Brodersen, an animated group of about ten who were most vexed, all spoke of their distrust of Brodersen based on their experience with Fix and the Brew Haus disturbances. One spoke of vomit on his car, others of car alarms, loud voices at closing time, urination on their property, and littering. It was blaring music that caused the most distress and those who were affected by it were especially grieved because they said Fix promised that he would only book acoustic bands, a promise he didn’t keep.
“The Fixes (Steve and his father Matt) lied. We’ve been duped one too many times,” Terry Kitzrow said. “You can’t insulate bass. We can feel it in our house. The music on April 6th rattled our windows. We don’t want the Brady Street Circus in our neighborhood.”
Brodersen, sometimes appearing like the proverbial deer in the headlights, took pains to address his detractors. He pointed out the investment he’s made in the main room’s acoustics: he relined the walls with wallboard, filled in at least six of the room’s windows and attached hinged shutters to the windows that remain. Underneath the 5/8” drywall, he’s painted a special acoustic compound to deaden the sound generated within. He said he’s going to add soundproofed doors to the main entry (from Kinnickinnic) and was probably going to invest in special soundproofing paint for the exit door on the west wall. He also pointed to a new Bose speaker system that would help keep the sound inside, and said that he’s been taking readings of the decibel levels from within and without, as work progressed.
Brodersen appealed to his opponents, asking them to give him a chance and indicating that he hoped he might begin to win their trust and confidence based on the acoustical remediation he’d invested in. Later he said that if necessary, he would hire a second security person to patrol and control patrons on the exterior of the building because he wanted to avoid the problems his neighbors on Kinnickinnic and Otjen said they’d had with the Brew Haus.
Chris Lehman, who said he does the sound for Chill On The Hill, the summer concert series in Humboldt Park, defended Brodersen and the acoustical modifications he had made, pointing to the window shutters and then the Bose speakers. “This is the highest technology out here. This is the top of the line technology made for a room this size,” he said. By contrast, he said that Fix’s sound system was made for a room many, many times larger.
Brodersen said he plans to book live music Fridays and Saturdays, karaoke Mondays, open mic for musicians Wednesdays, and Swing Dance Thursdays.
Terry Kitzrow, unconvinced and again citing the previous owners, who booked bands that played loud music late into the night said, “I have an Ambien habit from the Fixes.”
The number of those in the audience who spoke in support of Brodersen was greater than those who spoke in opposition. They attested to his character, their experience with his bar on Brady Street, either as musicians, or in some cases, some who live or lived near the bar.
Zielinski brought the meeting to a close with a reminder that Brodersen’s hearing before the License Committee is May 7. He distributed notecards that he advised people to complete with their name, address, and their disposition, for or against, Brodersen’s liquor license. He said those who could not attend the hearing could have their voice heard via their written testimony on the notecards.
Audience member Patty Pritchard Thompson questioned the validity of the cards. She asked Zielinski if they would be admitted at the committee hearing. Zielinski said that it was not the norm, but that he would ask the committee chair to allow them.
Ironically, two days later, Common Council President Willie Hines appointed Zielinski as the new chair of the License Committee.
