Flood severely damages Jewish Community Pantry

July 26, 2010 4:22 p.m. | The Jewish Community Pantry building was severely damaged by more than four feet of water as a result of last week's storm and is closed for an undetermined period of time. The Pantry is located at 3033 W. Burleigh St., Milwaukee, one of the lowest lying streets in the area.

All contents of the pantry were lost and all services have ceased at this time. The pantry is actively searching for an alternative site in the 53210 zip code or surrounding area. The pantry serves over 1,500 people every month.

The Jewish Community Pantry is part of the Emergency Pantry Network of the Hunger Task Force and co-sponsored by the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center and Women's Division of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. The Pantry has been serving the needs of the community since 1976.

Individuals in need are advised to call "211" (IMPACT) for alternative sites and services.

Donations and inquiries including alternative business site for the Pantry should be directed to:

One home, two floods

July 26, 2010 1:04 p.m. | Whitefish Bay - On July 14, rains flooded the basement of the Tudor-style home of Holly von Estorff and Molly MacDonald.

About 3:30 p.m. last Thursday, eight days later, a crew from Universal Restoration Service finished repairing the damage.

A few hours after that, the crew was called back to the home, designated historic by Whitefish Bay, on N. Wilshire Road.

What they found was worse than anything they have seen at more than 50 homes that were damaged by Thursday's abounding rains.

At least 10 feet of water filled the basement and spilled onto the first floor of the home, according to von Estorff and MacDonald, as well as Kevin Sobotka and Brett Altendorf of Universal Restoration.

North shore lawyers consider lawsuits over flooding

July 26, 2010 12:42 p.m. | Two lawyers who live in the north shore said Monday they are exploring with other residents possible legal action in connection with last week's flooding.

The lawyers are Lake Drive residents Bob Menard of Whitefish Bay and Jay Urban of Shorewood. Both lawyers emphasized that their inquiries are preliminary, but that they want to determine whether local governments are responsible for damage caused by what has been described as unprecedented rainfall last Thursday.

"We're very much in the looking-into phase," Urban said.

Said Menard: "We're exploring all possibilities at this point. There need to be answers to a lot of questions."

10 municipalities plus MMSD report sewer overflows

July 23, 2010 4:18 p.m. | Ten municipalities in Milwaukee, Waukesha and Ozaukee counties, in addition to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, have reported separate sanitary sewer overflows of untreated wastewater to local waterways after Thursday's intense rains, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.

The Milwaukee County communities reporting overflows Thursday include Brown Deer, Fox Point, Milwaukee, Shorewood and Whitefish Bay. Mequon was the only community in Ozaukee County to report an overflow as of Friday.

Waukesha County communities with overflow problems Thursday include Menomonee Falls, Muskego, Brookfield and the Lake Pewaukee Sanitary District, the DNR said in a water systems report Friday.

The metropolitan sewerage district's deep tunnels remained nearly full Friday afternoon so any of the district's regional sanitary sewers with high flows were continuing to spill untreated wastewater into local creeks, rivers and Lake Michigan for a second consecutive evening, district officials said. Combined sanitary and storm sewers in central Milwaukee and eastern Shorewood also were continuing to spill some of their volume as flows remained high Friday.

The mix of sewage and wastewater in the tunnels was being pumped out as quickly as possible and the district's two sewage treatment plants were operating at capacity Friday afternoon, MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer said Friday.

For many in Shorewood, a second week of cleaning out

July 23, 2010 1:14 p.m. | In Shorewood, where at least 160 homes flooded last week, residents spent another day digging themselves out of waterlogged and muck-mired basements and garages.

"This is what we could salvage from last week," Tina Holan said of the tools and antique furniture, sporting equipment and miscellaneous belongings strewn across her backyard.

"We cleaned it and disinfected it and stored it in the garage, thinking it would be safe," she said. "I'm throwing it out. I can't do this all again."

The Holans' street, N. Frederick Ave. just north of Edgewood, turned into a raging river Thursday, sending water over porches and fence lines. Some neighbors, including the Holans, whose basement floor erupted last week, took water to the basement rafters. Others who never flooded last week saw their first. And some, who'd already replaced washers and dryers after last week's deluge, found them floating again Thursday.

Telltale signs of flooding were seen all over the village - soaked and soiled household items on curbs; hoses snaking from homes to the streets; restoration and cleaning service vans lining the boulevards like New York taxis.

Flood kits, tetanus shots available for North Shore residents

July 23, 2010 1:02 p.m. | Flood clean-up kits and tetanus shots will be available for all Brown Deer, Glendale, River Hills, Fox Point and Bayside residents from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow at Brown Deer Village Hall, 4800 W. Green Brook Drive.

Atwater Beach, Hubbard Park hit with major damage

July 23, 2010 12:00 p.m. | Several areas in Shorewood suffered major damage in last night's storms, including Atwater Beach and Hubbard Park, according to a news release from the village.

Erosion has damaged the bluff at Atwater Beach as well as the ground under the stairs leading to the beach. Village officials plan to call in an engineer to assess the damage.

The lower turnaround at Hubbard Park on the Milwaukee River has severe erosion damage. The area has been blocked off, and residents are asked to stay away.

The Milwaukee County bicycle path from Capitol Drive to Edgewood also was damaged and is closed until the extent of the damage can be determined.

Numerous homes and municipal buildings suffered substantial water damage, as did several vehicles, according to the news release. However, no injuries were reported.

Help us select our All-Suburban Baseball Team and you could win Brewers tickets

July 23, 2010 8:23 a.m. | Voting has just begun for this season's NOW All-Suburban Baseball team, now in its 21st season, and we're asking fans to help us select the area's most outstanding baseball players, including the player and coach of the year.

One lucky fan who votes for this season's team will win a pair of Brewers tickets. Go online and check out our nominees and their stats, and then vote for the players you think are most deserving. You can vote once a day, and everyone who votes will be entered in a random drawing for a pair of box seats to a Milwaukee Brewers game.

Vote now

See last season's team

Shorewood rain gauge: 11.6 inches of rain

July 23, 2010 8:18 a.m. | A Shorewood man who maintains a weather station at his home said his rain gauge recorded 11.6 inches of rain.

Andrew Pottinger, of the 1800 block of E. Elmdale Court, in Shorewood, said his rain gauge is connected to his personal computer.

Early in the storm, the gauge recorded that 8 inches had rain had fallen in a two-hour period. Just before midnight, the rain gauge had recorded 11.6 inches of rain.

An undetermined number of homes in Shorewood reported flooded basements. Streets in the village also were flooded at the height of the storm.

Theft charge dropped over chicken nugget meal

July 19, 2010 3:40 p.m. | Shorewood - The Police Department has withdrawn a theft ticket issued to a Shorewood High School student who was handcuffed, photographed and fingerprinted after being accused of stealing a chicken nugget meal from the school cafeteria, Police Chief David Banaszynski said Monday.

Police and the school principal agreed the matter should be dropped, he said.

The ticket, given in March to Adam Hernandez, was to be the subject of a Municipal Court trial Tuesday.

"It shouldn't have gone this far. There are other means and methods to handle this kind of situation," Banaszynski said.

The arrest of the 15-year-old freshman was reported Sunday by Journal Sentinel columnist Eugene Kane.

Storms left 160 Shorewood basements damaged

July 17, 2010 6:28 p.m. | Shorewood - Scott Holan is on his knees, peering into the volcano-like crater that used to be his rec-room floor.

Like dozens of his neighbors, the Holans have spent the last few days purging their basements of the mud-caked (or sometimes sewage-caked) refuse left by torrential rains that hammered the region Wednesday night.

At least 160 homes were flooded in this mile-square suburb, and a few - all within three blocks - suffered significant damage, including buckled floors and a collapsed basement wall.

Veterans of past flooding, some of them believed their problems had been fixed by sewer upgrades in 1998. Now the latest storms have rekindled their angst.

"You live in fear that every time you get a rain, you'll be devastated," said Holan, who won't know until an engineer arrives Tuesday whether the basement damage has affected the structural integrity of the $100,000-plus addition that rests on it.

Ninja suspect to stand trial in August for alleged assault

July 15, 2010 3:50 p.m. | River Hills — What happened in April in the woods behind Nicolet High School that led to the assault of a 14-year-old Bayside boy may finally come to light in a trial set for Aug. 6 in Milwaukee County Children's Court.

A 16-year-old River Hills boy, who allegedly dressed like a ninja and struck the victim over the right eye with a machete, has entered a not guilty plea to the charge.

The Bayside boy, along with three friends, entered the woods after school on April 27. The boys were looking for a person dressed like a ninja after hearing that two high school girls had been confronted by a boy the previous day. The Bayside boy, who was separated briefly from his companions, was assaulted by the River Hills boy, police say.

Because the case is in juvenile court, police reports and witness statements have not been made public, and what little is known about the has come out in pretrial hearings, mainly from statements made by the father of the suspect. The father said his son had a job clearing brush on a neighbor's property and was working there when the incident took place.

River Hills police recovered a machete, a bow and sword from the suspect's home at the time of his arrest.

8 communities plus MMSD report sewer overflows

July 15, 2010 1:26 p.m. | Milwaukee, Mequon, Wauwatosa, Cudahy, Shorewood, Brown Deer, Fox Point and Elm Grove - in addition to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District - reported sanitary sewer overflows to local waterways Thursday morning after overnight thunderstorms poured up to 5 inches of rain on the metropolitan area, a state environmental official said.

Sanitary sewer overflows generally prevent sewage backups into basements and reduce property damage, MMSD officials said.

Even so, overflows of separate sanitary sewers are prohibited by the federal Clean Water Act, said James Fratrick, watershed specialist with the Department of Natural Resources in Milwaukee.

But the DNR is not likely to take enforcement actions against MMSD and the eight municipalities, Fratrick said. The primary reason is that MMSD is under a court-ordered stipulation to complete an estimated $1 billion in sewer and treatment plant improvements by the end of this year, he said. The goal of making those improvements is to reduce the incidents of sanitary sewer overflows.

Communities served by the district are under a separate court order to decrease leaks of storm water into their sanitary sewers.

Shorewood Independence Day photo gallery now online

July 05, 2010 2:47 p.m. | Shorewood was awash in red, white and blue as the Village turned out to celebrate Independence Day with the annual gala parade, and we've just posted a photo gallery from the festivities.

The parade moved south on Oakland to Shorewood Boulevard and ended at Shorewood High School where parade-goers enjoyed games, ice cream, music and more.

Go to photo gallery.

Shorewood's Atwater Beach gets lifeguards

July 05, 2010 12:02 p.m. | Shorewood - Through an agreement between the village and Milwaukee County, Atwater Beach is now being served by lifeguards seven days a week.

Up to four lifeguards will be on duty from noon to 4 p.m. through at least Aug. 20, according to an announcement from the village.

Friends of Atwater Beach, which will hold its an annual fund-raiser beach party next month, has been working since 2007 to improve the quality of the beach.