The redwing blackbird’s fun is over!

Dear Editor,

Since May, “the bird” had been on guard duty on the S. Shore Drive walkway overlooking Lake Michigan.

That cocky male informed hundreds of folks walking along the lake that this territory belongs to him and his mate and their nest of babies. So he perched on the highest lookout branch to protect his family. Many unsuspecting folk felt pain when he nose-dived into the back of their head. And it hurt!

One fellow across the street called, “What hit me?” Now he is a bird-watcher!

My wife, who had observed this natural cocky behavior many times from our porch, forgot about the “watchdog” bird and had to admit, “It got me too! And it hurt.”

But it was time again to trim the growth along the pathway and open up the grand view of Lake Michigan. Bye-bye, blackbird.

Dick Truitt
Bay View

Proud students help historical society

Dear Editor,

Here is a story that shows the good learning that is going on at Bay View High School and the ways in which the school and its students are supporting the Bay View community.

A group of Bay View High School students have created an art installation featured on the lawn of the Beulah Brinton House, 2590 S. Superior St. (see page 5). The students have been working with Discovery World and community professionals to learn research and interviewing skills, design principles, and how to use technology to distill what they have learned into an art installation.

First, the students explored their own archeology and created large banners that depicted their own personal histories. Then they researched the history of Bay View and designed and built a large circular compass that tells that history, and where points of interest are located.

On two Saturdays, Aug. 14 and 21 from 10am to 2pm, students welcomed community residents at the site. They interviewed people and recorded their memories and stories about Bay View. They scanned in documents and photographs that people brought, and recorded and photographed artifacts that were shared. All of the information the students gathered will be digitized and given to the archives of the Bay View Historical Society.

It is wonderful to see what the students have learned. But for me, the best thing is how proud the students are of what they have accomplished. The Bay View Historical Society hopes to involve the students in an ongoing project to computerize our archives and make them more accessible to the public.

Kathy Mulvey
President, Bay View Historical Society

Applause for Bay View High School (Letter to Editor)

To the Editor:

Here is a story that shows the good learning that is going on at Bay View High School, and the ways in which the school and its students are supporting the Bay View community.

A group of Bay View High School students have created an art installation that is currently featured on the lawn of the Beulah Brinton House, 2590 S. Superior St.  The students have been working with Discovery World and community professionals, learning research and interviewing skills, design principles and how to use technology to distill what they have learned into an art installation.

First, the students explored their own archeology, and created large banners that depicted their own personal histories.  Then they researched the history of Bay View and designed and built a large circular compass that tells that history, and where points of interest are located.

On Saturday, August 14 and 21, from 10am to 2pm students welcome community residents.  They interview people and record their memories and stories about Bay View.  They scan in documents and photographs that people bring, and record and photograph artifacts that are shared.  All of the information the students gather will be digitized and given to the archives of the Bay View Historical Society.

It is wonderful to see what the students have learned.  But for me, the best thing is how proud the students are of what they have accomplished.  The Bay View Historical Society hopes to involve the students in an ongoing project to computerize our archives and make them more accessible to the public.

All interested people are urged to come on August 14 or 21 to share their memories, learn about Bay View’s history, or simply take in a wonderful example of what students can add to the community.

Kathy Mulvey, President

Bay View Historical Society

Bay View

Flower theft harms quality of life, business strip

Dear Editor,

There has been an ongoing rampant problem in the Bay View neighborhood that most residents are probably unaware of.

Every summer residents and business owners along the main KK Avenue drag plant lovely flowers in the large cement planters provided by the city. And every summer, without fail, these flowers get vandalized. Be it drunken bar goers, flower haters, or just plain boredom, at least once a week (usually on Sundays) we awaken to find our planters destroyed and vandalized with flowers ripped out and usually thrown in the street.

We meticulously retrieve them and replant them, only to have it happen again days later.

But really, how low can Bay View go?

One morning I awoke, not to the normal vandalism of my planter, but to the outright theft of half of the flowers I had planted! Someone actually planned this, came along with a spade and bucket, cleanly dug out the plants they wanted, and took them! They even were kind enough to rearrange and smooth out the dirt in the empty spaces, maybe in the hopes no one would notice?

It just makes you wonder how desperate people really are. We take the time and spend our hard-earned money to buy flowers to help beautify the neighborhood, and this is the appreciation we get. I guess the bright side is that if flower theft is the most serious crime Bay View has to worry about, we should consider ourselves lucky. Still, it is theft. It amazes me that someone can come along and have enough time to do that without one person seeing or noticing anything suspicious. Where are all of the police who are supposed to be on patrol around here, especially at night and in the wee hours of the morning when the cars are getting broken into and the planters are being vandalized?

And when is our BID tax going to kick in and actually install some cameras and remove the graffiti that it is supposed to be paying for? I, for one, would love to know.

Christine Wakeam
Vintageous Boutique
2210 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.

P.S. We could also use a city trash can at the Ward/KK corner as the planters are constantly being used as trash cans as well.

Supervisor Dimitrijevic, how does boycotting Arizona benefit me?

Dear Editor,

I am a resident of Milwaukee County District 4. On June 23, I contacted my local County Board supervisor, Marina Dimitrijevic, to inquire why she coauthored the resolution to boycott Arizona. I asked her specifically how this would positively impact her constituents. Since then I have been in communication with her through a chain of emails. I have requested that she simply answer my question or explain why she feels no obligation to do so. A read through the exchange will demonstrate how I have asked her to answer my questions and how she has repeatedly dodged and avoided them.

I am a taxpaying resident of her district who is simply trying to get my representative to answer what I consider to be fair and legitimate questions. If she feels they are inappropriate, I have invited her to tell me so. If she feels that she is under no obligation to me as a constituent to explain her position, I have asked her to go on record and state as much. I have also asked these questions politely at her Facebook site where she has simply ignored them and blocked my ability to see her posts on two separate occasions. I can only conclude that she is unwilling or unable to justify her position. I see this as a remarkable abuse of power as she is making a political statement under the auspices of her elected position without having surveyed her constituents. I ask your help in having this issue heard. I am only asking for an opportunity to hear her state her position logically and with a focus on the benefits and potential risk to the constituents regarding the resolution she coauthored in my name. I have no interest in the merits or lack thereof of Arizona Senate Bill 1070 as my contention is that it is a non-issue for the Milwaukee County Board.

Supervisor Dimitrijevic, I again, with all respect and courtesy, ask you as a constituent to please give me the courtesy of hearing the merits of your resolution as it impacts on the lives and well-being of the residents of District 4. I will meet you in person, via telephone, through email, or in the public or private forum of your choosing, provided I am given the opportunity to ask the questions I have already asked you and that you will give me the courtesy of an answer. If your position truly is that you have no obligation to support your position to me, I would welcome the opportunity to debate that position publicly. I have no political or government experience, but am confident in my ability to produce a persuasive argument that you do indeed have this responsibility as an elected official. I also have an open mind and am prepared to listen to you. As I have stated to you already via email, you speak of active, honest representation. I am asking you to demonstrate it.

Best regards to all,
Mark Cunningham
Bay View

Thanks for your help

Dear Editor,

I wish to thank everyone who participated in our centennial celebration of Independence Day with the Humboldt Park Fourth of July Association. Thanks to some kind sponsors, we were able to have the talent show back for one more time. They also provided funding for extra fireworks and new activities.

Our volunteers, many of whom have served for several decades, helped provide an extra special celebration of Independence Day.

Some people came to the Humboldt Park on Sunday, expecting to see our activities, but all of our publicity explained that the city of Milwaukee does not celebrate Independence Day on Sundays. I believe that this is due to the old “blue laws” that we used to honor. At one time we could not shop on Sundays.

Thank you to everyone who helped us with the planning and serving on this special day. I hope that everyone was able to participate in a full day of activities with their family members. This concludes our centennial year of service to the community.

John Manke
South Milwaukee

Parents should teach respect to kids

Dear Editor,

I wanted to write about the situation that happened at U.S. Cellular Arena during Bay View High School Class of 2010’s graduation ceremony. I’m sure you heard Charlie Sykes’ take on what happened and here is what I have to say.

I was fortunate to attend Bay View’s Honors Day on June 7 to award two students our scholarship. The recipients of our scholarship are just wonderful students and actually the entire senior class acted like young ladies and gentlemen. Please do not let the rudeness of a few students at their graduation ceremony paint an ugly picture of the rest of the kids or the school.

Charlie Sykes asked me what I thought the problem was-I stated it was the parents but he did not totally agree with me. It is the parents’ fault because they did not teach their kids how and when to behave properly! The school staff can only do so much and should not take the heat for this outrageous behavior.

Who was throwing things when the principal stopped the ceremony-the parents, the audience! All because the students could not dance across the stage! What happened to respect and dignity? I also think that only the parents and grandparents should be allowed to go to the graduation ceremony. If you open it up to friends you take the risk of exactly what happened-the flashing of gang signs.

Everything begins at home! Parents, start teaching your kids respect for others and themselves. Teach them the proper behavior in school and out of school-don’t teach them to act like animals. There is a time and a place for everything and when it comes to graduation ceremonies that is the time to act like adults!

To Ms. Kitzrow, the principal of Bay View, Hats off to You! You did the right thing.

Sincerely,

Sonia Hass

President, Bay View Alumni Association

Walker’s dog park scam

Dear Editor,

The current county executive, Scott Walker (now running for governor), regularly brags about his “brown-bag” frugality.

Now, after our long legacy of park acreage and facilities has gained national recognition as a gold-medal park system, in spite of years of cutbacks by Scott Walker for park building maintenance and facility closings, We the People of Milwaukee County find that Scott Walker has found $58,000 of taxpayers’ money to cut down wildlife habitat and put up a fence for a brand-spanking new “dog park” in Warnimont Park.

Lifelong users of our marvelous county parks have always seen people exercising with their dogs in the parks, and they will continue to do so, even with a purpose-built canine enclosure. What dog owner wouldn’t, especially if it costs $5 for the “privilege” of monitoring your dog so it doesn’t get into fights with other dogs in a muddy pit?

Remember that dog park when you try to get into a park building that’s padlocked because Mr. Tightwad Walker hasn’t found that kind of money to maintain what we already have. And think of him again when you read his name on the bronze monuments commemorating the park system’s centennial for which he found money to put in each park.

That tells a lot about where his priorities are, without going into the essential social services he’s mismanaged by proudly tagging his name onto downright cruel cuts affecting those who are the weakest among us and who are nameless until we may read, or hear of, news of a tragedy that falls on them due to Walker’s neglect. May Walker’s opponents bring him a comeuppance for his years of self-aggrandizements.

Gregory Francis Bird

Bay View

100-year history of Humboldt Park Fourth of July Association

Dear Editor,

Before 1910, the people of the community were getting very upset. During the Independence Day celebration at home, many people were getting injured. Some people lost their eyesight, some their fingers or hands, and some were actually killed. It seems that fireworks consist of the same ingredients as dynamite. When the gunpowder in dynamite or fireworks sweats, it turns to nitroglycerin, which is very unstable. As children and adults started setting off their fireworks, some of the pieces that turned into nitroglycerin exploded. This is when many people got hurt. Something had to be done about this situation.

The community of Bay View got together in Humboldt Park and decided to set up a whole day of activities that ended with a professional fireworks display to end the evening. These people called themselves the Safe and Sane Fourth Association. A few years later, the name was changed to Humboldt Park Fourth of July Association. This first day of celebration at Humboldt Park was in 1910. The day turned out to be a complete success and nobody got injured that day.

The city of Milwaukee liked what they saw at Humboldt Park and decided to form the Milwaukee Fourth of July Commission in 1911 to spread these safe activities to other parks. Today, the celebrations on Independence Day in our various parks owe their existence to the Humboldt Park Fourth of July Association.

As the years went on, many activities at Humboldt Park changed with the times. Handicraft shows existed once. Talent performances by local schools were done on stage in the park. At one time teen dances were set at a separate stage in the park. Various things were attempted to maintain a full day of activities for the entire family to enjoy. Sponsors and volunteers made it possible for this event to continue. The city of Milwaukee provided some money to help with the costs, but every year that amount was reduced. Last year, due to budget cuts, we had to cancel our talent show in the park.

Even as we enter our centennial year in 2010, more sponsors and volunteers are still needed. They are the lifeblood of our organization.

Even though we are 100 years old, we still need the help and input of a younger generation to carry this tradition into the future for children and families to enjoy. Please consider becoming a volunteer or sponsor for our group.

This year, we will be celebrating Independence Day on Monday, July 5. This, I believe, is a carryover from the old blue laws of the past. As long as I can remember, Independence Day was never celebrated on a Sunday in the city of Milwaukee.

John Manke

South Milwaukee

Protecting children from internet predators

Our kids are our most precious resource. Families work very hard to raise them, pass along values and traditions, educate them, and give them every opportunity to achieve their dreams. At the Wisconsin Department of Justice, we also work very hard to protect them. Nowhere is this commitment greater than in our efforts to fight internet predators.

While the internet has opened many doors for our children, from education to communication to entertainment, it has also become an active crime scene. Online sex predators use technology to connect with kids, using all the tools they use: instant messaging, picture and video trading, chat rooms, web cameras, web microphones, social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, and even online gaming networks like Xbox LIVE.

Child pornographers have invaded the internet in many forms. Commercial pornography websites, often located abroad, find an endless supply of customers in the United States, including in Wisconsin. Others use chat rooms to obtain and trade images and movies, while some simply use their own digital cameras, camcorders, or cell phones to manufacture images.

As for cell phones, have you heard the term “sexting?” It refers to sexually explicit chat and photos through cellular telephones. Often, predators use cell phones after meeting children online.

Predators also use file sharing programs like LimeWire, which many parents believe are just used for music. Over a 10-month period, there are 22,000 unique IP addresses collecting and sharing child pornography images and videos.

Statistics kept by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) illustrate the scope of the problem.

Since 1992, for example, NCMEC’s Child Recognition and Identification System (CRIS) has reviewed more than 23 million child pornography images and movies seized by law enforcement. Since 1998, NCMEC’s Cyber Tipline has received well over 700,000 reports of suspected online child exploitation taking place around the country, including some 1,000 tips referred to our state’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC).

To make matters more disturbing, surveys have shown a correlation between child pornographers and child molesters. In 2005, sobering results were released from a study at the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, N.C. Researchers indicated that of about 200 federal inmates convicted of internet child pornography crimes, some 85 percent admitted to molesting children as well.

The ICAC Task Force of my office’s Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is dedicated to identifying and arresting those predators. In the past decade, the ICAC Task Force has arrested more than 728 offenders and executed more than 1,017 search warrants. To help prevent kids from becoming victims, and to help parents, teachers, and child welfare advocates better protect kids, we have educated more than 160,000 citizens of all ages across Wisconsin. Parents are the first line of defense in protecting their children from online predators.

At my request, in its last budget, the state Legislature funded two additional special agent positions for our ICAC Task Force, as well as three new forensic computer analyst positions. Those specialists perform the critical task of finding and analyzing digital evidence, sometimes right after agents seize it. This teamwork often allows us to take the predator into custody literally within an hour of the time a search warrant is executed.

Our DCI professionals partner with a growing list of local law enforcement agencies throughout the state. We now have 151 ICAC affiliates throughout the state, more than quadrupling our partnerships since 2006. Additionally, we work hand-in-hand with our federal counterparts to investigate crimes against children that result in a wide range of federal charges.

Internet predators: we know you are out there. You cannot hide. Every day we add more partners to our task force, whose sole purpose is to identify you and bring you to justice. Law enforcement and the people of Wisconsin have no tolerance for your actions. Your time is running out.

J.B. Van Hollen is Wisconsin’s attorney general. June is National Internet Safety Month.

Restore firefighter funding

Dear Editor,

As you know, we are forced into having brownouts for the Milwaukee Fire Department due to funding cuts by Milwaukee City Hall. When we had a major fire at the Pizza Man Restaurant earlier this year, we had to go to our suburbs to get fire protection for empty firehouses, whose personnel were fighting at the fire. This was the only way to protect the rest of Milwaukee. What would happen if two major fires occurred on the same day? Who would provide protection for the rest of Milwaukee? All of our reserves would be used at the two fires with nobody left to protect the rest of the city. Do you want this to happen? Contact your local politician to get the needed funding to restore our fire department to be able to protect us in time of need. The firefighters that we have now are doing a great job, but we need more of them. It is up to you the voter as to what happens here. Your life could be in jeopardy if nothing is done.

John Manke

Park vandalism is wrong, pointless, and stupid

Dear Editor,

Saturday morning on April 24, I went to the Humboldt Park Cleanup Day. When I was there, I was told that between 11:30pm and 5:30am, Grant Park had some major vandalism. Five park vehicles had their windows broken and as a result had to be towed away for repairs. Whitnall Park had many picnic tables overturned during the night. The Humboldt Park Chalet had graffiti on it.

What is happening to our parks? Do people realize that vandalism results in severe financial fines and a criminal record for the people who do these crimes? If a person is caught doing vandalism, he will have a criminal record and be unable to get a decent job to earn money for a living. If it is a younger person, he might be blocked from attending many colleges due to a criminal record. What does a person gain by doing these things?

If I were the guilty party, I would turn myself in to law enforcement officers. When Milwaukee County develops their camera films, you will be caught. If you do not turn yourself in, a law enforcement officer will knock on your door to haul you away for a date in court.

Please help us preserve our parks for future generations to be able to enjoy. If you are caught by the police, you will be invited to attend many lineups in the future, even if you are innocent of any current crimes. The parks belong to the people of Milwaukee County and are for all of the families to be able to enjoy and relax in.

John Manke

South Milwaukee

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