- selected communitywatch item -
By MARY BUCKLEY
Feb. 02, 2010 10:20 a.m. | Shorewood Boulevard residents continued to lobby the village Monday night, asking a village committee to consider re-routing bus traffic anywhere but on their street during the reconstruction of Capitol Drive this spring and summer. Village Manager Chris Swartz contacted the Milwaukee Country Transit System asking for more information on ridership and bus stops for route 62, the route in question.
MCTS says 22 people get on the bus as it goes west, while 118 people exit the bus. The company did not provide eastbound numbers since the eastbound route would not be changed, only the west.
Residents on Shorewood Boulevard say the street is busy with pedestrian, bike and vehicle traffic as it is and moving buses from Capitol Drive will compound the problem and increase the possibility of a pedestrian or bike accident, particularly since many children use the street to access the recreation programs at Shorewood High School and the Shorewood Library. They asked the village to consider moving the bus route to Beverly Road. The village plans to notify residents along Beverly Road of the discussion before making a decision.
By
Doris Hajewski of the Journal Sentinel
March 19, 2010 11:35 a.m. | Open Book, the bookstore co-op that opened in Shorewood last fall, will close by April 30, the store's directors said Friday.
The shop opened in November in the N. Oakland Ave. space previously occupied by the Harry W. Schwartz Bookstore. The organizers raised money from local residents and also secured a low-interest $35,000 loan from the village.
Organizers cited "a confluence of events" for the closing, including the economy, a change in the public's book-buying habits and strong competition from online booksellers.
Update at 1:43 p.m.: Keith Schmitz of Open Book says the loan from Shorewood will be repaid in full. I'll have a full story in Saturday's paper.
By CNI staff
March 19, 2010 9:54 a.m. | Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Menomonee Falls) has cancelled his Town Hall meeting in Shorewood scheduled for Saturday.
In a news release, Sensenbrenner said that due to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's scheduling of votes this weekend, he was forced to cancel the Shorewood, Cedarburg and Slinger meetings Saturday.
The release did not say if the Town Hall meetings would be rescheduled.
By MARY BUCKLEY
March 16, 2010 4:20 p.m. | The Village Board has hired Bonestroo Engineering to develop a hydraulic model and a water supply feasibility report.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in September ordered Shorewood Water Works to correct deficiencies, including a problem with water pressure in one area of the village.
The report would allow the village to consider the feasibility of buying water from the North Shore Water Utility instead of Milwaukee Water Works.
The cost of the study is $24,700 plus expenses not to exceed $1,000.
By MARY BUCKLEY
March 16, 2010 4:10 p.m. | The Village Board has adopted resolutions totaling $4.7 million allowing the sale of bonds to finance projects in its tax-incremental finance districts and to refinance a State Trust Fund Loan.
The bond sale is scheduled for April 19.
By MARY BUCKLEY
March 16, 2010 11:02 a.m. | A master plan for Atwater Park will be implemented over a number of years, but first up under the plan will be decisions on the location and base for a sculpture and a boardwalk.
An anonymous donor is making a gift to the village of the sculpture by internationally known artist Jaume Plensa.
The Village Board approved the park plan Monday night, directing the Park Commission to work on the boardwalk and sculpture issues, and to come up with a list of prioritized projects for the park, based on the new master plan.
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
» Read Full Article
By MARY BUCKLEY
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.
» Read Full Article
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.
By Steven L. Tietz
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.
» Read Full Article
By MARY BUCKLEY
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.
» Read Full Article
By MARY BUCKLEY
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.
By
STEFANIE SCOTT
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.
By
Dan Polley
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.
By Steven L. Tietz
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."
» Read Full Article
By MARY BUCKLEY
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.