Help us choose the All-Suburban teams and you could win Bucks tickets

March 11, 2010 7:21 a.m. | Want to weigh in on who you think are the best boys and girls basketball players in the suburban area?

Now's your chance, as we're asking high school hoops fans to help us select the annual NOW Newspapers All-Suburban boys and girls basketball teams, and the Players of the Year.

We've nominated the top players in the area to fill 10 spots on each honors team and we're asking you to pick the players that you think are the best in the NOW Newspapers coverage area.

When the fan voting is over, your votes - along with the votes of our sports staff - will determine the makeup of our All-Suburban Teams. And one lucky person will win a pair of lower-level tickets to a Milwaukee Bucks game just for voting!

Vote for the boys team

Proposed parking plan leaves more questions than answers

March 09, 2010 12:44 p.m. | Shorewood's police chief and trustees will likely revise a proposed parking plan presented at a public meeting Monday night.

Part of the plan dealt specifically with the southeast quadrant of the village, an area bordered by Edgewood Avenue on the south, Capitol Drive on the north, the lake on the east and Oakland Avenue on the west.

About 60 residents turned out to listen to the proposal, which, among its provisions, would limit all on-street parking in that quadrant to two-hours between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and offer two on-street permits to every household at a fee of $5 per car per year.

Apartment dwellers would not be eligible for the permits but would continue to be able to purchase permits specifically established for apartments.

A hardship program for houses or duplexes that have no garages, driveways or parking slabs is also under consideration. Under that proposal, residents would be allowed to purchase one on-street overnight permit for $45 a month.

Vote for the All-Suburban Basketball Team and you could win Bucks tickets

March 04, 2010 7:43 a.m. | Want to weigh in on who you think are the best boys basketball players in the suburban area?

Now's your chance, as we're asking high school hoops fans to help us select the annual NOW Newspapers All-Suburban Boys Basketball Team, and the Player of the Year.

We've nominated 14 players to fill 10 spots on the honors team and we're asking you to pick the player that you think is the top basketball player in the NOW Newspapers coverage area.

When the fan voting is over, your votes - along with the votes of our sport staff - will determine the makeup of our All-Suburban Team. And one lucky person will win a pair of lower-level tickets to a Milwaukee Bucks game just for voting!

Vote here.

BD girls overpower game Shorewood squad, 73-38

March 03, 2010 9:38 p.m. | For the 0-21 Shorewood girls basketball team, good moments have been few and far between this winter.

But the Greyhounds have improved.

Just listen to Brown Deer coach Mark Busalacchi after his Falcons didn't put Shorewood down until a 28-6 fourth quarter outburst led to a 73-38 victory Wednesday night.

"Oh they're so much better than they were the first time we played," he said. "They didn't get a basket in the first half that time. They deserved to be in this game, because they played harder and better than we did for about three quarters. We got away with just our athleticism for awhile."

The win improved Brown Deer to 8-14 as the Falcons closed their regular season. The two teams will meet at Brown Deer next Tuesday in a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal.

Board chooses to re-route bus at the halfway point of construction

March 02, 2010 12:24 p.m. | Convinced that sharing the noise and exhaust from Milwaukee Country Transit System Route 62 over two routes rather than one would be the fair thing, the Village Board last night decided to again approve a route for the first six weeks of construction on Capitol Drive and a second route for the remaining six weeks.

Capitol Drive will be closed to west bound traffic from May to August while it is rebuilt.

Route 62 will travel on Shorewood Boulevard from Downer to Oakland from May 1 to June 16. From June 17 to Aug. 1, the bus would follow Downer to Beverly to Maryland and to Shorewood Boulevard the last block before moving to Oakland.

Trustee Margaret Hickey said the committee studying the issue wanted the bus to enter Oakland at a stop light, which led to the decision to have both routes enter at Shorewood Boulevard.

The first route was originally approved for the entire length of the construction project. But residents along Shorewood Boulevard raised concerns about having the bus on their street, citing safety for children and a desire to have others in the village share in the inconveniences they said would result from bus traffic.

Last Drop gets OK to add a little kick to its coffee

March 02, 2010 11:18 a.m. | Last Drop will now be able to serve a dash of liquor in its coffee. The Village Board granted a Class B license to the coffee house at 3801 N. Oakland Ave. Owner David Harling plans to add drinks like Irish coffee to the menu and serve them after 4 p.m., according to a plan shown to the board.

The coffee house also has outdoor seating in warmer months, and the punched-up coffees will also be served there.

Although the license would allow other alcoholic beverages to be served, Harling told the Judiciary Personnel & Licensing Committee that he did not intend to offer a full bar service.

UWM to unveil County Grounds campus plans tonight

March 02, 2010 10:06 a.m. | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee officials will introduce plans tonight for its proposed Innovation Park, which will include an engineering and applied sciences campus, on the County Grounds off Watertown Plank Road in Wauwatosa.

The plans will be presented to the Wauwatosa Common Council during a Committee of the Whole meeting at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 7725 W. North Ave. The public is welcome to attend the meeting to learn about the proposed project, but there will be no opportunity for comments or questions during the meeting.

Residents who would like to speak to UWM officials can arrive at 6 p.m. and ask questions prior to the meeting.

The next opportunity for public input will occur during the Plan Commission meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall.

Swing into the 2010 Golf Show with free tickets

March 01, 2010 1:50 p.m. | The 2010 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Golf Show starts Friday, and you could win a pair of free tickets by entering our Twitter and Facebook contests.

On Twitter, simply follow MyCommunityNOW and tweet "I want to win free tickets to the #MKE Golf Show from @MyCommunityNOW. RT to win. Details: http://bit.ly/cPficZ"

A random drawing will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday for the three sets of free tickets, with each winner receiving four tickets. Winners must pick tickets up at NOW's Waukesha offices. Winners will be contacted through Twitter before noon on Thursday.

On Facebook, become a fan of the MyCommunityNOW fan page and respond or write on the wall about a story, photo or some other staff work you saw in one of our papers or on one of our Web sites and tell us what you liked or didn't like about that work. Two winners will be picked during a random drawing at 10 a.m. Thursday with each receiving four free tickets. Winners will be contacted through Facebook and must pick tickets up at NOW's Waukesha offices. Winners will be contacted through Twitter before noon on Thursday.

For more information on the golf show, visit the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Golf Show Web site.

Big effort at the line allows Shorewood boys to win on senior night, 60-53

Feb. 24, 2010 9:53 p.m. | With the numbers of upperclassmen Erik Berg, Chase Miller and Cameron Hood suspended over the Shorewood bench on senior and parents' night, the Greyhounds' boys basketball team relied on the foul line and freshmen Austin Mitchell-Malone (16 points), Alex Najieb (14) and Donovan Freeman to pull out a tense 60-53 win over St. Francis on Wednesday.

Shorewood hit its first 18 free throws of the game and its last seven in going 25 of 29 from the charity stripe on a night that the two teams both wore orange warm-ups to commemorate Wauwatosa West coach Mike Landisch, who is battling cancer.

Through a 50/50 raffle and other endeavors, about $500 was raised for the Landsich Fund said a Shorewood school official.

Greyhound coach John Hoch was happy on all fronts.

"It's funny," Hoch said. "This is my fifth year of coaching and by far my youngest team, but it's also my best foul shooting team. We're second in the Woodland (Conference) at 67 percent. Not bad for a team with four freshmen and a sophomore playing prominent roles."

School Board candidate drops out of race

Feb. 23, 2010 2:42 p.m. | School Board candidate Linda Jacobi announced Tuesday she is withdrawing as a candidate for one of two open seats on the Shorewood School Board. Jacobi's name, however, will appear on the ballot, along with candidates Colin Plese and Rob Reinhoffer and incumbent John Carlton.

Member Nancy Bornstein is not seeking re-election.

Prep basketball sectional tickets now on sale

Feb. 16, 2010 3:51 p.m. | Tickets are now sale at for the WIAA boys basketball "Super Sectionals" to be played at Marquette University's Al McGuire Center at 12th and Wells Streets in Milwaukee, March 11-13.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Germantown will be co-hosting the event.

Teams from three sectionals will determine state tournament berths at the events. From division I sectional eight, area teams that could be involved include Nicolet, Oak Creek, South Milwaukee and Wauwatosa East and West.

From division I sectional five, potential sectional participants include Germantown, Homestead, and Menomonee Falls.

In addition, the division 2 sectional final will be held at the McGuire Center at 4:15 p.m. Saturday, March 13. This loaded event features many of the state's top-ranked teams including New Berlin Eisenhower, Port Washington, defending state D2 champ Wisconsin Lutheran and Catholic Memorial, along with Brown Deer, Shorewood, Whitefish Bay and New Berlin West.

Drive your way to auto show with free tickets

Feb. 16, 2010 10:16 a.m. | The Greater Milwaukee Auto Show starts Saturday, and you could win a pair of free tickets by entering our Twitter contest.

To win, simply follow MyCommunityNOW on Twitter and tweet "I want to win free tickets to the Greater Milwaukee Auto Show from @MyCommunityNOW. RT to win. Details: http://bit.ly/cdQMKE"

A drawing will be held at 10 a.m. Friday for the four pairs of free tickets. Winners must pick tickets up at NOW's Waukesha offices. Winners will be contacted through Twitter before noon on Friday.

For more information on the auto show, visit AutoShowMilwaukee.com.

Pair from Shorewood indicted on fraud charges

Feb. 15, 2010 1:46 p.m. | A pair from Shorewood has been indicted on charges they "busted out" 28 credit cards - maxing them out for more than $120,000 over six days this summer, buying luxury vehicles they planned to send to Russia, pricey jewelry and other items, according to federal court documents.

Sergey Mikayelyan, 49, and Rita Grigoryan, 47, each are charged with seven counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy, according to an indictment handed down by a grand jury in Milwaukee last week.

Records indicate Mikayelyan and Grigoryan live in the same apartment in Shorewood, but there is no information in court records about their marital status. Attorneys for the defendants did not return calls for comment.

The defendants were arrested and charged last fall, but the case was dropped. Court records do not say why.

According to the indictment filed last week, the pair applied for and received 18 credits cards between November 2004 and July 27 of last year. In all but four, they used inflated incomes. Then, during the last six days of July, they received 10 more credit cards, using phony income.

Landisch Fundraiser set for Feb. 28

Feb. 12, 2010 10:09 a.m. | A fundraiser for Wauwatosa West boys basketball coach Mike Landisch has been set for Feb. 28 from 5-9 p.m. at the Crowe Plaza Hotel, 10437 Innovation Drive in Wauwatosa.

Wauwatosa parents, friends and the family of Landisch are raising funds to help defray the medical costs as he fights his battle with kidney cancer.

There will be hors d'oerves, a silent auction and a raffle. The cost is $20 for adults and $10 for children, 12 and under. Tickets are available at home basketball games for both Wauwatosa High Schools or by calling Scott Landisch (414) 793-4374, Barb Krause (414) 536-6039, Dave Krenzien (414) 403-2827, Erin Orlowski (414) 828-0913 and Don Soderberg (414) 771-1288.

School Board meeting canceled

Feb. 09, 2010 11:50 a.m. | The Shorewood School Board has canceled its Tuesday night meeting.

An e-mail from the district said that school is not being dismissed early however, after school and evening activities are canceled.

The Recreation Department has canceled after school and evening classes, and the Fitness Center is closing at 4 p.m. today.