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Race and equality: Michigan vs. Penn State | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Shawn Mitchell
April 23, 2018
Shawn Mitchell, an Ex Fabula fellow, will tell the harrowing story below at an Ex Fabula event on Wednesday, April 25, 6:30 p.m. at PEARLS for Teen Girls. A storytelling coach will lead attendees through small group activities to help them craft stories about race and equity.
“Race trumps equality and even proper reasoning in the mind of those who believe the stereotypes falsely supported by the mainstream.” ~ The Urban Citizen
That quote really sums up my “Race and Equality” story. The incident in this story is one of the most memorable moments in my life in more ways than one: a situation where my life was in danger due to others stereotypes about race. I am proud to say that it is also about the courage of a person of the opposite race to not only see me as a person, but also help my attacker see my humanity that gave me a veil of equality that I believe saved my life.
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I am an avid football fan. I played football throughout my youth and even in high school, so you can imagine my excitement when a family member contacted me about an opportunity to attend a historic matchup between two football teams: Michigan and Penn State, two of the most storied college football programs in the nation.
The relative who invited me is an avid Michigan football fan and had been fortunate enough to finagle tickets for the game from his boss, who didn’t want the seats to go to waste and thought enough of my relative to not only let him go but to also let him bring along a family member or friend.
Honored that I was invited, I went about the trek of getting on the train and riding to Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, where we met up and drove the four hours to Detroit, where we got a hotel room and settled in for the night.
Whenever you are really looking forward to something and it isn’t happening until tomorrow, it always feels as though tomorrow will never come. We passed the time as best we knew how: we drank beer and liquor and had a good time all night listening to hip hop classics and remembering our football days, making our wild predictions for the contest we were about to witness in just a matter of hours.
Finally, it was GAME DAY! And it was a glorious one. The sun was shining, it had to have been 60 or 70 degrees, a nice breeze and one of those great days to enjoy a football game live from great seats. I was looking forward to enjoying the traditions of a University of Michigan football game I had heard so much about the night before — the Wave and the Chants.
Approaching the stadium, you get the feeling of the history of the place. We walked at a steady pace toward the entrance, slowly passing other fans and taking in the atmosphere. In the distance, we spotted a young Caucasian gentleman running towards our direction. Naturally we didn’t know what was going on and soon after spotting the runner we spotted two Ann Arbor policemen in close pursuit.
Being Black in America we understood that this really didn’t have anything to do with us and if the police are chasing a white man we should really try to get the hell out of the way. I slid to the left and my relative slid to the right, however something strange happened in the moment of our retreat. The young white man raised his hand and pointed at me and my relative as if to say that we were with him or at worst included in whatever it was the police officers were chasing him for in the first place.
What the young man did next was perplexing, but we had no idea what we were in for. The young man slowed to a full stop and while panting heavily he stepped off to the side and pointed to my relative and I as if to say, “They are the ones, officers. There they go.” Now I told you we both played football, so we are 6-feet or better, and over 200 pounds, and we both fully understand that to some people of other races our sizes represents an instant threat.
The officers slowed to a stop one in front of me and one in front of my relative. They aggressively began to ask us for our tickets and identification. I know that many of you reading this are saying to yourselves, “They can’t do that!” but yes, yes, they can, and they did. I digress.
Living and growing up in urban areas our entire lives. me in Milwaukee and my relative in Beloit, we both realized immediately what was going on and put our hands HIGH in the air. While my relative began to calmly explain to the officer in front of him that we had tickets, a small crowd of game-goers had begun to gather, and I could feel the situation change. The officer in front of me was clearly nervous and agitated and continued to shout to me to show identification and tickets. In a moment of lapse, I hastily reached for my wallet with the tickets and my ID, and the officer became even more agitated and pulled his firearm from his holster.
I was stuck in mid-action with one hand on my wallet and another stretched way high in the air to ensure he didn’t mistake anything else for aggression. I was frozen; I knew that somehow, I needed to control the situation, so I spoke very slowly in my best Jedi voice: “Sir everything is going to be all right. Just going to give you my tickets and ID and we are going to the game, no need for any further escalation.”
When these things happen to you they always happen in slow motion as if everyone but you read a script and you’re subjected to watch it but have no control of the outcome. Seriously, that’s a nightmare for a black man.
As if perfectly scripted in that instance, a middle-aged, friendly and quite intoxicated white woman came to the rescue of what she saw as her privilege of not being shot on the sidewalk on the way to a football game. She walked right up to the officer holding the gun and yelled, “I work for the DA and you are violating his rights; put your gun away and let him show you his tickets!”
By the time the woman finished with the officer he had lowered his weapon and my relative and I were able to show the officers that we had ID and proper tickets. Turned out the young white man was trying to enter the game with fake tickets that he told the police he got from my relative and me on his way into the game. The police took him into custody. In my mind, they only believed him because we were black, and he knew they would, which is why he picked us out of the crowd to point to in the first place. The officer deeply apologized and my relative and I thanked the woman for her help.
In the end the seats were fantastic, along with the atmosphere, and while we did enjoy the game I must admit that I didn’t feel all that safe or comfortable with what had just happened. The idea that because of stereotypes about my race I could be “accidentally” seen as a suspect affected me to my core.
After the game we talked more about the incident than the football game we drove all that way to see. I have a profound respect for those who can look beyond race and see people like that woman saw me and like the officer did once he was brought back to his senses. If not for her courage and sense of equality, which even impressed me, I may not have survived, because in those moments anything can happen.
I will end my story with a poignant quote from my brilliant mother Ardelia Mitchell. “We will never be equal until we all can resist the temptation to disconnect ourselves with our race or separate ourselves with politics, divide ourselves with religion and classify ourselves by our wealth.”

author: Shawn Mitchell


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9/7/13 Aerial photos of Michigan vs. Notre Dame | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 23, 2018

source: news-milwaukeenns

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Adam Carr


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 23, 2018


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Race, health and housing dominate discussion at Ex Fabula event | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Talis Shelbourne
April 24, 2018
Lisa Williams smiles as she talks about going from homeless to homeowner. (Photo by Talis Shelbourne)
Homelessness and depression dominated many years of Lisa Williams’ life.
When Williams was 12, her grandmother died and she lived with aunts, uncles and her parents off and on until graduating high school.
After graduation, Williams couch-surfed, but never dealt with her depression. In the first apartment she was able to rent, she attempted suicide and landed in a mental health institution.
“That was the first time I ever felt at home,” she said of the institution.
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Williams’ story was one of three showcased at the “Housing in Milwaukee as a Public Health Issue” event, which was attended by 150 community members. The event was co-hosted by Ex Fabula, which focuses on building community connections through storytelling, and the Zilber School of Public Health at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Williams and other Ex Fabula fellows Sue Blaustein and Don Tolbert told their stories during the first half of the event and audience members participated in group discussions during the second half.
Blaustein, a poet and former food safety inspector, spoke about an incident she experienced in 1983 as a single, white female living at 41st and Hampton.
“I was a model tenant until I started dating a black man,” she said. “The landlord told me this was unacceptable. He said, ‘Sue, we have to be careful because we have a lot of valuable things in the house.’”
Dr. Thalia Williams pauses after making a point in the group discussion. (Photo by Talis Shelbourne)
Blaustein filed a discrimination complaint and prevailed. She and the African-American man in her story have been together for 35 years.
“My landlord could have known a good man,” she concluded, “but that was his loss.”
Don Tolbert, a paralegal at the Eviction Defense Project, recalled his experience helping a middle-aged black woman fight her eviction.
“She said, ‘He’s doing this to me because I’m black,’” Tolbert recounted. “In my head, I [was] saying, ‘No, he’s doing this to you because you didn’t pay your rent.’”
Lawyers helped the woman successfully fight her eviction, and her words made Tolbert think differently.
“When she said it a fourth time, it clicked a switch in my head because I had been looking at it analytically,” he said. “But I realized she was reacting to the 50 years leading up to her being evicted.”
Williams spoke about being homeless, and how the son she had at age 26 motivated her recovery.
“The [psychiatrist] prescribed me some medication and I had some stigma about taking it,” she said. “[But] as I started taking it, I was feeling better (and) I could see my son becoming happier as I was becoming more engaged with him.”
Williams works at The Guest House, helping homeless people get housing and reintegrate into society. Although she eventually obtained stable housing and bought a home in 2014, she has never forgotten her experience.
“In the back of my mind, I have to think, am I ever going to be homeless again?” she said.
During the group discussions, audience members reflected on what they had heard and what needs to change.
Azure De Williams, executive director of the Milwaukee Area Health Education Center, pointed out the importance of transportation for people in government housing.
“They move people out to these areas and then remove the bus lines — those people are trapped!” she said.
Natalie Hayden of Milwaukee Job Corps also noted the connection among housing, transportation and employment. “All the great-paying jobs are out there, but they can’t get out there,” she explained.
Brett Waterhouse, the curator of Grove Gallery in Walker’s Point, said the city could institute meaningful reforms, such as more urban farming, and most importantly, desegregation. “Integrating the neighborhoods is important because living in isolation isn’t going to bring anything good,” he said.
Ex Fabula’s Kennita Hickman, who organized the event, said these discussions help audience members appreciate how race affects housing in Milwaukee.
“We want people to look at housing as a public health issue and think about it more constructively instead of thinking, ‘This problem doesn’t affect me,’” added Carolina Mulvey-Videla, who is a community connector at Ex Fabula.
In her small group discussion, Dr. Thalia Williams, community engagement coordinator at the Zilber School of Public Health, commented, “If I work as hard as anyone who’s white, I should receive the same things.
“That’s why I teach people: ‘Know your options, exercise your options.’ I live life with an aggressive edge now — you can’t tell me no,” she said.

author: Talis Shelbourne


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Recap of 2018 SCORES CUP Indoor Tournament (fundraiser) | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
America SCORES Milwaukee
April 24, 2018
(Photo courtesy of America SCORES Milwaukee)
On Saturday, April 21st the 13th annual America SCORES Milwaukee SCORES CUP featured 20 adult teams that played in a fun and friendly indoor soccer tournament at Uihlein Soccer Park (7101 W. Good Hope Road) to support Milwaukee’s underserved children.
The unique tournament, that hosted 300 players and 150 spectators, raised $50,000 through team sponsorship, individual fundraising and in-kind donations. One hundred percent of the funds raised are being allocated to the program’s youth-based soccer, academic, service-learning and social-emotional learning initiatives.
“SCORES Cup is a wonderful opportunity for local businesses and corporations to come together as teams to support a youth development program that builds future community leaders,” said Kate Carpenter, America SCORES Milwaukee Executive Director. “The money raised at this event affords the organization opportunities for growth and sustainability, which allow us to meet the needs of hundreds of students each year throughout Milwaukee who need access to safe and engaging places to learn and play after school.”
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Corporate sponsored teams that played in the tournament included Baird, Briggs & Stratton, Crescendo Collective, Empower Retirement, Fiduciary Management Inc., Foley & Lardner LLP, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Johnson Controls, Meijer, MGS Mfg., Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Northwestern Mutual Foundation, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Quarles & Brady LLP, Sobelman’s Pub & Grill, Superior Die Set, ULINE, and WaterStone Bank. Additionally, two individually-funded teams from the Milwaukee chapter of the American Outlaws soccer group and Milwaukee Public Schools played.
To learn more about the program’s life-changing impact and volunteer opportunities, visit http://www.americascoresmke.org/.

author: America SCORES Milwaukee


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 24, 2018


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Recycled art exhibition promotes reuse for Earth Day | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity
April 24, 2018
Mark Winter and his “Ball-o-Junk” (Entry 80)
Just in time for Earth Day (4/22), Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity ReStore is showcasing an exhibition of 116 recycled and repurposed works in their 9 annual Recycled Art Contest. This one-of-a-kind gallery has been labeled one of Milwaukee’s “greenest” art exhibitions, as all of the artists had to use second hand materials purchased at Habitat ReStores as the primary materials for their works. The innovative entries (including Mark Winter’s 150 pound sphere of welded tools, toys, and home goods – Entry 80 – picture attached) are on display at ReStore East (420 S. 1st, Milwaukee) and will be featured in the Historic Third Ward’s Gallery Night & Day on April 20 and 21. The public can vote for their favorite in store and online, with the top five vote-getters receiving ReStore shopping sprees.
In 2017 alone, Milwaukee’s three ReStores prevented more than 6 million pounds of reusable materials from ending up in local landfills by reselling donated furniture, appliances, cabinetry and home goods. More than $2 million worth of product was sold last year, with all proceeds benefiting Habitat’s work to serve families in need of safe, affordable housing.
Recycled Art Contest Details:
Location:
Habitat for Humanity ReStore East – 420 S. 1, Milwaukee, WI
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Dates/Times:
Exhibit Open: Friday, April 13 – Saturday, April 21
Voting Ends: Thursday, April 19 – 6pm
Winners Announced: Friday, April 20 – 5pm (In store and LIVE on Facebook)
Gallery Night: Friday, April 20 – 5pm to 7:30pm
Gallery Day: Saturday, April 21 – 10am to 4pm
VIEW THE GALLERY
To arrange interviews with artists and/or the curator please contact:
Jake Brandt – jbrandt@milwaukeehabitat.org – 920-860-1136

author: Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity


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Vision unveiled for 40 acres of land in the Menomonee Valley | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Menomonee Valley Partners
April 24, 2018
(Photo courtesy of Zimmerman Architectural Studios)
Menomonee Valley Partners, the City of Milwaukee, and UWM’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning’s Community Design Solutions revealed a vision to transform more than 40 acres of land remaining in the heart of the Menomonee Valley during an event today at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. Design concepts are the culmination of the Menomonee Valley Design Charette and lay out a vision for sustainable development on five vacant or underutilized riverfront sites as well as streetscaping for the St. Paul Avenue corridor.Concepts highlight potential for the next phase of Menomonee Valley revitalization, including new businesses, an extension of the RiverWalk along the Menomonee River, and physical connections to adjacent neighborhoods.
“The two most important factors in the transformation of the Menomonee Valley have been vision and collaboration. That is why I have been enthusiastic about the forward-looking design work that so many stakeholders have contributed to,” said Mayor Barrett.
The Menomonee Valley Design Charette, held January 31, 2018, was a full day public planning session with six local architecture firms matched to each of the sites. Using the Valley 2.0 Plan, extensive research, and focus group discussions, the firms created innovative design concepts for high-quality, sustainable, job creating development.
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“These designs show the next generation of development in the Menomonee Valley, development that will bring jobs, activate the Menomonee River, and restore the environment,” said Rocky Marcoux, Commissioner of the Milwaukee Department of City Development. “What the Menomonee Valley has become, given its history, is nothing short of extraordinary. However, these design concepts suggest that the best days of the Valley are still ahead of it.”
“With the Menomonee Valley Industrial Center as our precedent, we believe the development of these sites could generate up to 800 jobs as well as transform the Menomonee River into a new front door to the Valley,” said Corey Zetts, Executive Director of Menomonee Valley Partners. “The firms who worked on the charette succeeded in demonstrating the potential of strong design to connect people to jobs, to nature, and to each other.”
The six key sites include:
(1) St. Paul Avenue Corridor, Architect: Quorum Architects
In the last two years, six businesses have opened on W St. Paul Ave between 11 and 25 streets. Quorum Architects proposes expanding the showroom, gallery, and food destination theme, along with sidewalks, lighting, and greening that welcomes pedestrians. Park space, outdoor recreation, and pedestrian connections to the16th Street Viaduct and Hank Aaron State Trail provide links to the broader community.
(2) City Lights, 1601-2001 W Mt. Vernon Ave, Architect: Zimmerman Architectural Studios
With the site’s four-block-long riverfront presence, Zimmerman Architectural Studios visualizes a riverwalk extension, new street access from 25th Street to Emmber Lane, and three mixed-use commercial buildings that engage the riverfront. Proposed development includes food production and sale, light industry, and office or other uses. The easternmost building could connect the 16th Street Viaduct to the riverwalk.
(3) Kneeland Properties, Architect: HGA
On the 9.8 acre vacant parcel adjacent to the downtown post office and Milwaukee Intermodal Station, HGA envisions a new street grid to reach destination food and beverage manufacturing and retail, mixed use office, and light manufacturing facing an active riverwalk with boat slips. Access to food grade steam is ideal for food and beverage manufacturing. To connect the site to the city grid, HGA innovatively suggests extending Mt. Vernon Avenue under the 6th Street Bridge, traveling on grade along the river and through the existing colonnade under the post office, to Plankinton Avenue. Wetland features with native vegetation provide a dual use amenity and stormwater management component, mirroring the Menomonee Valley Industrial Center on the Valley’s west end.
(4) St. Mary’s Cement, Architect: Engberg Anderson Architects
Engberg Anderson Architects proposes a catalytic gateway and entertainment hub for this highly visible riverfront site near the Harley-Davidson Museum. The existing silos would be repurposed as a focal point, embracing the site’s industrial nature. They propose a mix of food manufacturing, retail, office, hotel, and restaurant around a central space connected to a riverwalk extension.
(5) We Energies adjacent land, Architect: Korb and Associates
This 22-acre parcel wraps around We Energies and runs adjacent to the Menomonee Canal to the south. New construction on this 22-acre site can capitalize on adjacent food grade steam for facilities, manufacturing, and food and beverage production and retail. The size of the site and proximity to entertainment destinations, with frontage on both Canal Street and the Menomonee Canal, make it attractive for a manufacturer with a retail/tourism component.
(6) 199 N 25th St, Architect: Uihlein/Wilson – Ramlow/Stein Architects
With a prominent location on 25 and Canal Streets, this site sits between the Hank Aaron State Trail and the Menomonee River. The existing building has a steel structure which could be renovated for a single tenant or multiple smaller tenants, possibly a combination of food manufacturing and visitor’s center, retail outlet, or themed restaurant. A proposed addition provides opportunity for a highly visible vertical landmark and entrance point to the Valley. Key features of the proposed development include trails around existing ponds, vegetation, and trees, as well as a boat launch. A street-facing event pad could be a launching point for walk/runs, river events, or other activities tied to the Hank Aaron State Trail, the Valley, or Menomonee River.
The Menomonee Valley Design Charette was facilitated by UWM’s School of Architecture & Urban Planning’s Community Design Solutions, in partnership of Menomonee Valley Partners and the City of Milwaukee. The Fund for Lake Michigan, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and the Herzfeld Foundation provided funds to support efforts to envision the future of this land.
To view the full results from the Menomonee Valley Design Charette, visit RenewTheValley.org

author: Menomonee Valley Partners


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How to hit your stride | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dr. Michelle Graham, UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin
April 25, 2018
Studies have shown walking more and sitting less may help people maintain a healthier weight, ward off depression and prevent serious health issues such as heart disease. And a report from Harvard Medical School concluded that walking can help curb sweet cravings, boost the immune system and ease joint pain.
If you see runners while you’re out moving and wonder if walking is a cop-out, rest assured that studies say no. Maintaining a quick walking pace has been shown to be on par with running when it comes to lowering the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
With that in mind, here are tips to consider to help you get out and walk more during spring and year-round:
The American Heart Association encourage people to walk at least 30 minutes per day and take a step toward better health. Following these tips can help you do just that.
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Jovita Carranza, Treasurer of the United States, will speak at Alverno College commencement | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Kelly Fay
April 25, 2018
Treasurer of the United States Jovita Carranza will give the commencement address at Alverno College’s 157th graduation on May 19. Carranza was made an honorary alumna of the college in 2011, and served on Alverno’s Board of Trustees from 2013 to 2017.
Carranza was sworn in as the 44th Treasurer of the United States in June 2017, and is only the 16th woman to hold the position. As Treasurer, she oversees the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which produces the nation’s paper currency, and the United States Mint, which produces coins. Her signature, along with that of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, appears on U.S. currency.
Carranza had an extraordinary 20+ year career at United Parcel Service (UPS), where she was the highest-ranking Latina in the history of the company. She worked her way up from a part-time, night-shift box handler to President of Latin America and Caribbean operations. She also founded the supply-chain management company JCR Group, and served as the Deputy Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under President George W. Bush.
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About Alverno College
Alverno College promotes the academic, personal and professional development of its students in a collaborative and inclusive environment. Undergraduate programs for women are offered in more than 60 areas of study, and graduate programs in education, nursing, community psychology and business are open to women and men.
A leader in higher education innovation, Alverno has earned international accolades for its highly effective ability-based, assessment-as-learning approach to education, which emphasizes hands-on experience and develops in-demand skills. The College has consulted with three U.S. presidential administrations on accountability and outcomes in higher education and for the past eight years has been ranked one of the top five schools in the Midwest doing “the best job of educating undergrads” by U.S. News & World Report.
Based in Milwaukee, Wis., Alverno College is a four-year independent, Catholic, liberal arts college.

author: Kelly Fay


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
April 25, 2018

author: Name *


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Urban Ecology Center hosts Earth Day of Service | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Talis Shelbourne
April 25, 2018
Jordan, Mary and Holly Schmidt (from left) pick up trash in Washington Park. (Photo by Talis Shelbourne)
Volunteers of all ages swooped in to rid Washington Park of fast food bags, plastic and glass bottles, candy wrappers and other trash on Saturday morning as part of the Earth Day of Service at the Urban Ecology Center Earth Day.
The event, co-hosted by the Urban Ecology Center and Sierra Club-John Muir chapter, invited volunteers to spend time inside browsing educational tables and outside cleaning up the park.
For Erick Anderson, community program coordinator at the Urban Ecology Center, the Earth Day of Service represents the beginning of the organization’s land stewardship season.
For example, the center is focusing on eliminating buckthorn (an invasive plant species originally from Europe, which releases chemicals that inhibit native plant growth) and establishing an oak woodland along the lagoon near Lloyd Street.
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In addition, Anderson noted that the center will continue to focus on encouraging environmental awareness in youth.
“People are less likely to litter if they’re in a place they care about . . . especially kids,” Anderson said.
Martha Malik talks to a young volunteer and her mother at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management table. (Photo by Talis Shelbourne)
Passing down good environmental habits to the next generation is something Martha Malik, a public affairs specialist at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, learned as a young girl.
During the summer, Malik and her sisters traveled to Tennessee to stay with their aunt in the country.
“We would pick berries, make jelly and jam and it was fun!” Malik said. “To this day, I would rather be outside pulling weeds and picking up paper than in here,” she added. Malik was staffing the bureau’s information table at the event.
Although the Bureau of Land Management mainly focuses on subsurface concerns, such as mining, in Wisconsin, it also sponsors programs such as Every Kid in a Park and National Public Lands Day to motivate land stewardship.
“We try to introduce youth and families to the outdoors and how much fun it is, whether you are fishing, looking at butterflies, bird watching or [anything],” she said.
Malik admitted that there are many challenges in the Washington Park neighborhood, and inspiring interest in environmentalism can be difficult. However, Malik said consistently reminding people about the importance of environmentalism encourages them to care.
Sierra Club member and volunteer Janet Anderson agreed, adding that service outings such as these can be a template for addressing other challenges.
“It gives a good example to encourage people in the community to work together for a common goal,” she said.
For example, Malik’s son, Harold T. Carson Jr., and her grandson, Amillion Mills, came to support her by helping clean Washington Park’s lagoon. Carson, who lives on 41st and Hampton, wants to set a good example for those in his neighborhood.
“I don’t like littering at all — that’s a pet peeve of mine for real,” Carson said. “I like to sit and walk out here and listen to my music — and I like it to be clean.”
Littering was also described as a “pet peeve” for volunteers Mary Schmidt and her daughters Jordan and Holly.
“You see [trash] go out the car door and into the street; it’s bad,” Jordan said.
The Schmidts were volunteering as part of Mount Carmel Lutheran Church’s service program; they opted to participate in the Earth Day of Service when their original project fell through.
“It’s our future; you ruin the earth, you ruin the future,” Mary Schmidt said.
Her daughter Holly, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee graduate student in marketing, said the trash littering Washington Park isn’t just unsightly but also dangerous for animals.
“We don’t want the ducks to eat little pieces of plastic,” she said.
Erick Anderson is hoping that programs such as the center’s Young Scientist Club will encourage more children and parents to see the parks as a valuable resource.
“We’re an environmental center but we’re also a community center,” Anderson said. “By focusing on that positive experience, the environmentalism grows organically.”
“More than anything, we want people to make a connection with the parks and take ownership of the parks in their neighborhood,” he added.


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Legislation mandates lead water lines replacement at child care facilities | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ald. Milele A. Coggs
April 26, 2018
Legislation requiring the replacement of lead water service lines serving child care facilities was recommended for approval today by the Public Safety and Health Committee.
This mandate applies to both publicly-owned and privately-owned portions of lead service lines. The resolution further provides that the city shall pay the full cost of replacing the privately-owned portions of lead water service lines serving child care facilities.
“Because of the significant risks to public health and safety posed by the continued use of lead service lines at child care facilities we need to ensure all facilities, even those with privately- owned lead water service lines, get remediated,” said Alderwoman Coggs. “This is one step to ensure protection of our most vulnerable population, children.”
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Co-sponsors of the legislation are Aldermen Russell Stamper, José Pérez, Michael Murphy and Bob Donovan.
The legislation (file #171665) will now go before the full Common Council when it meets at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 8 in the Common Council Chamber (third floor) at City Hall, 200 E. Wells St.

author: Ald. Milele A. Coggs


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Messmer Saint Rose School undertakes $6.5 million renovation | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Rachel Kubik
April 26, 2018
Students work on drawings in the refurbished literacy center. (Photo by Rachel Kubik)
In early 2014, Jim Piatt, president of Messmer Catholic Schools, had an important conversation with the school board about whether to make a new commitment to Messmer Saint Rose School or close it down.
“If we can’t run a safe and effective school, we shouldn’t try to run a school. If we know that we’re not going to do an acceptable job of safe and effective schooling, we can’t pretend to do it,” Piatt said.
The board decided to commit to the school.
Messmer Saint Rose, one of three campuses of the Messmer Catholic School system, is undergoing renovations that will cost the school $6.5 million. The building is almost 110 years old and serves more than 400 students in grades K4 – 8.
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The renovations are intended to increase student safety and accessibility, and make year-round schooling possible.
Messmer Catholic Schools serve more than 1,600 students in grades K4 – 12 at three sites: Messmer Saint Rose at 514 North 31st St., Messmer High School at 742 W. Capitol Drive and Messmer St. Mary at 3027 North Fratney St. Piatt said there are projects that need to get done at the other schools, but Saint Rose was the priority.
Messmer St. Rose School is nearly 110 years old. (Photo by Rachel Kubik).
Some improvements were completed in October. “(Students) will walk in and it’s a warm, clean, friendly environment,” said Lisamarie Arnold, director of admissions and community relations at Messmer Catholic Schools. “Our hallways are big and bright.”
The front entrance sidewalk is now ground level and without stairs and an elevator was installed to increase accessibility.
A secure double entry doorway and a fence increase safety.
Air conditioning also was installed so students can keep cool when year-round schooling starts in August 2019. The goal is to ensure that children don’t lose skills during the summer.
Piatt said that a “funky cafeteria space, which was not the greatest layout,” was converted into a literacy center. A STEM classroom is now where the library used to be. Durable floors, a whiteboard and project tables occupy the room.
“We want kids making messes and doing hands-on things,” Piatt said.
New LED-efficient lighting and ceilings will be added when the heating and ventilation systems are improved, before the school year starts in the fall.
The school has raised $5.6 million of the $6.5 million needed for the renovations in a capital campaign. The balance of $900,000 is expected to be raised in the next several months.
“It was an unusual commitment for a board to say that we’re going to put over $6 million into an elementary school in a part of town that other people don’t want to invest in,” Piatt said.
Arnold said the school tries to be a neighborhood partner and a great place for kids.
For example, Merrill Park Neighborhood Association is holding a flower sale in Messmer Saint Rose’s parking lot, and the alderman hosts meetings in the second-floor auditorium. “We’re really about saying yes to the neighborhood and yes to the community,” Arnold said.
She added that community members are positive about the renovations: “the fact that (we) actually, physically put money into a building in their neighborhood and that much money really shows a commitment when other places are becoming vacant.”
Piatt said board members, teachers and staff agree that young people deserve the best possible schooling. “I want other kids to be able to experience the kind of quality, dedication and positive school experience that I wanted for my own kids … No child should have a negative school experience or be in an unsafe place.”
Tia Lee, a secretary who sits at the front desk at Messmer Saint Rose, said she’s heard positive feedback about the renovations. “Everybody likes it. They are ecstatic about the elevator,” Lee said.
Sanetran Johnson has been a Saint Rose parent since 1995. Two of her children already graduated, and another will be graduating next spring.
She initially decided to enroll her first child as a 3-year-old because it was close to Marquette University, where she was a student. However, she later fell in love with the school’s curriculum. “My daughter was learning so much,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the school was very worn down back then. She remembers that the auditorium had a rough stage and a ceiling with holes. She said safety was a concern for her before, but now it has improved.
Johnson recommends Messmer Catholic Schools to friends and she said she is proud to say her children have gone there.
Her son, Jeremiah Whitney, is a seventh-grader at Saint Rose. He said he likes the renovations and his favorite additions are the elevator and the air conditioning. “It’s nice to see something new,” Whitney said.
He said he feels safe because of the security guard staff and enjoys being at school.
Messmer Catholic Schools has partnered with community organizations such as Near West Side Partners, Marquette University,  Neighborhood House, Lake Valley Camp and others.
The school system’s motto is “Founded in faith, rooted in Milwaukee, building community.”
“I get to live that every day,” Arnold said. “We really have the opportunity to transform the lives of students who lived on the margins and are sometimes forgotten in the neighborhoods that are overlooked.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the amount of money Messmer Saint Rose has raised toward the renovations. We regret the error.

author: Rachel Kubik


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 25, 2018


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Ascension Wisconsin statement re: next steps at Ascension St. Joseph Hospital | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ascension Wisconsin
April 27, 2018
(Photo by Sue Vliet)
Ascension Wisconsin issued the following statement from Bernie Sherry, Senior Vice President, Ascension Healthcare, Ministry Market Executive, Ascension Wisconsin:
“In response to feedback we received from the mayor, Common Council, community leaders and others, we announced that we would “pause” our plans to reconfigure services at Ascension St. Joseph Hospital. To be clear, “pause” means we are stopping the plan to consolidate medical/surgical and ICU inpatient beds and surgery from St. Joe’s to Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Milwaukee.
We are not – and never were – closing St. Joe’s.
We will continue to work toward expanding primary care at St. Joe’s because we recognize how important having a medical home is to our patients. We also will continue to explore opportunities with organizations that offer compatible health and social services that are interested in leasing existing, available space at St. Joe’s. In addition, Ascension Wisconsin is committed to the future of Ascension St. Francis and there are no plans to close this access point for our community.
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Ascension Wisconsin’s three city hospitals play an essential role in Milwaukee’s safety net system, providing quality care for those who are poor and most vulnerable. For more than 170 years, that has been our Mission and our privilege. That has not changed and will not change.
Over the coming months, we will begin adopting the Ascension brand across all our Milwaukee hospitals. While our name and signs are changing, our commitment to providing personalized, compassionate care is not. Like all healthcare systems, Ascension Wisconsin must continue to respond to the changing healthcare landscape and adapt to how care is delivered. We will continue to stabilize and reshape our offerings to evolve as an integrated system of care that provides high-value, quality care and an outstanding patient experience.
There is much work to do and it will take all of us – health systems and other providers, federal, state and local elected and governmental officials together with community stakeholders – to tackle the public health challenges that face us. All of us have a role to play in developing broad-based, holistic solutions to transform our healthcare system from one that treats people when they’re sick to one that helps people stay well and live their best lives. Ascension Wisconsin looks forward to being a part of the solution.”

author: Ascension Wisconsin


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Local author writes book to help teens overcome abuse | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
April 27, 2018
Eileen Alvarado, author and youth advocate, stands next to a “Demin Day” display at the UMOS Latina Resource Center. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
The book began as a series of journal entries written in the middle of the night. Pieced together, a story of survival unfolded, said Eileen Alvarado, 47. Her book, “Hope Looks Like You: Surviving Abuse,” tells the fictional tale of Mara and Soledad, two girls from Milwaukee learning how to live with the abuse they suffered, and how to overcome it, Alvarado said.
“Life begins when you believe that there is hope,” said Alvarado, who’s worked for the past decade as a youth advocate at the  United Migrant Opportunity Services (UMOS) Latina Resource Center.
Alvarado said she knows survival well, having experienced trauma and abuse as a youth. She speaks at schools and other organizations to youth who could be or already have been victimized. Many are facing issues such as dating violence, sexual and emotional abuse, self harm and even human trafficking. Her own experiences as well as those of the youth she works with helped to inform her book, which follows the girls as they fall victim to traps that young people who’ve suffered from abuse often do.
“Mara deals with her trauma by jumping from abusive relationship to abusive relationship. Soledad tries to overcome her pain through self-harm,” said Alvarado, who is hosting a book release and book-signing event at Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, 839 S. 5th St., on Saturday, May 12, her birthday.
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She hopes that individuals who attend the event will purchase a book for themselves, and another that would be provided free of charge to youth she meets at her presentations.
“When young people read the book they can see that they can overcome their pain,” Alvarado said.
“Hope Looks Like You: Surviving Abuse” features the story of two fictional female characters from Milwaukee. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Physical and sexual violence and abuse among youth is widespread, according to experts. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 21 percent of females and 10 percent of males in high school experienced sexual and/or physical dating violence in the U.S. The National Center for Victims of Crime reports that one in five girls and one in 20 boys are victims of childhood sexual abuse. Self harm, which includes suicide or suicide attempts, drug overdoses, cutting and other types of self injury, has increased substantially among girls, according to a CDC study published in 2017. Children who are abused are more likely to be victims of physical abuse or sexual violence in the future, the CDC reports.
Damaris Becker, bilingual domestic violence advocate at UMOS, also works with victims of youth violence, helping teens access legal services and navigate the criminal justice system. She said confronting abuse in any family is difficult, but there are also cultural aspects that bring about even more complex challenges for Hispanic youth, which Alvarado touches upon in her book.
“Oftentimes families are ashamed or conflicted with who the perpetrator is. There are also families who are (undocumented immigrants) who are terrified of going to court and testifying, or maybe even that the perpetrator, who is usually someone they know, will be deported,” Becker said.
Those fears and the pressure to remain silent are significant issues facing young victims of abuse in Milwaukee and elsewhere, said Becker’s niece, Gabriella Avila, 18, a senior at University School of Milwaukee. Avila recently read Alvarado’s book, and said the approach she took in sharing the story of Mara and Soledad could help teens in Milwaukee confront those issues.
“It was important that she wrote about and helped bring awareness to these serious issues the youth are facing and also help them understand that there are resources available to help them,” said Avila, who will attend Loyola University Chicago in the fall.
Without help, Alvarado said, the teens often suffer from depression, which can turn into anger, anxiety and low self-esteem, and end up in abusive relationships. Many times, she said, they turn to drugs and alcohol.
A few months back Alvarado met a teenage girl who hadn’t recognized that she was caught in an abusive spiral, and was in danger. She gave her advice that she offers in her book, she said. Alvarado suggested she take time away from the relationship, write down the pros and cons of it and reflect on how he treated her.
“When I saw her again she said she used the tips I gave her and left the emotionally abusive relationship,” Alvarado said.
The book, available on Amazon, is Alvarado’s second. Her first, “Step Free From My Past,” an autobiography about her life growing up in an abusive home, was introduced to a nationwide audience on the Dr. Phil show. Writing that book, as well as her most recent, was part of her survival and recovery process, she said.
“I went through another round of healing when I wrote this book,” she said. Now she hopes the book will help many others heal as well.
“I want this book to end up in the hands of young girls, and for them to read it and know, ‘I can get through this; there is hope,’” Alvarado said.

author: Edgar Mendez


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 26, 2018


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The community needs to hear from the Mayor regarding his “different direction for Fire and Police Commission” | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Markasa Tucker, Director of African-American Roundtable
April 27, 2018
Markasa Tucker, Director of the African American Civic-Engagement Roundtable, addressed the following letter to Mayor Tom Barrett and members of the Common Council.
Dear Mayor Tom Barrett and Common Council Members,
The community is responding after the resignation announcement of former Fire and Police Commission (FPC) executive director MaryNell Regan over the weekend. Recently, under the direction of MaryNell Regan the FPC finally appeared to moving toward operating independently and appropriately using their power. After reading in the Journal Sentinel that Mayor Barrett’s new chief of staff Paul Vornholt said you wanted to “take the FPC in a different direction,” the community is curious about the direction.
We are concerned by the haste of this appointment. Although you have the authority to appoint the executive director and board members of the Fire and Police Commission, there was no opportunity for others to be considered. There has also not been any mention from the mayor’s office about a public hearing to allow the community an opportunity to meet the nominee, Mrs. La Keisha Butler.
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According to the “Mayoral Appointment” page on the city’s website, being appointed to a board or a commission is a public process and the community wants to ensure that remains true. It states during this public process there could be a public hearing to learn about potential nominees background and experience. We urge the Common Council to schedule public hearings with Mrs. Butler that are accessible and will allow the public enough time to plan, prepare and be present.
Over the last few months, we’ve seen the FPC create spaces for the community to hear from the chief of police candidates and want to see the same opportunity for this critical position.
Lastly, there are several Fire and Police Commissioners whose terms will be expiring soon and Milwaukee has waited long enough to get a community voices represented on the FPC. As efforts from our State capitol look to dismantle the independence of one of the oldest and most powerful oversight boards in the country, we urge you to appoint one or more commissioners backed by the community voices. Potential commissioners should have a strong commitment to eliminating racial profiling and other forms of bias in the departments.
With commissioners setting the overall policy and the work of the Milwaukee Collaborative Community Committee to ensure proposed policy from the community are uplifted from the Department of Justice’s draft report are prioritized, it’s essential a community voice is appointed. This has been a request of the community for years and most recently after Dontre Hamilton was killed in April 2014.
We see this as another new day in our city. We should not continue making the same errors again and again of years past. The community looks forward to continuing to be at the table and being heard and valued as we discuss the leadership and direction our city is moving in.
Sincerely,
Markasa Tucker
Director, African American Roundtable
Brenda Bell-White
Maria Hamilton
Minister William Muhammad
9to5 Wisconsin
ACLU
Centro Hispano MKE
Coalition for Justice
Leaders Igniting Transformation
Milwaukee Turners Confronting Mass Incarceration Initiative Mothers Against Gun Violence
NAACP Milwaukee Branch
Peace Garden Project MKE
Rid Racism
Sherman Park Community Association
UBLAC
Wisconsin Justice Initiative Inc.


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Vincent High shows off student agricultural work | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sharon McGowan
April 27, 2018
Vincent High School of Agricultural Sciences, 7501 N. Granville Road, hosted its second annual Agricultural Spring Showcase on Wednesday, April 25. The showcase spotlighted the work of students and staff throughout the 2017-2018 school year, in the hopes of exposing students to universities, businesses and other organizations in the community that can help them achieve begin their careers.
Students demonstrated their work in Horticulture Science, Animal Science, Food Science, Environmental Science, Culinary Arts, Agribusiness and General Science.
The event included an animal exhibit, food prepared and sold by culinary students, a spring plant sale, class project displays and science demonstrations.
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author: Sharon McGowan


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NNS wins two prestigious Edward R. Murrow awards | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
April 30, 2018
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service has won two regional Edward R. Murrow awards from the Radio Television and Digital News Association (RTDNA).
The Region 4 awards, for feature reporting and continuing coverage, are in the Small Digital News Organization category, defined as fewer than 5 million unique visitors per month. The region includes Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
NNS won the feature reporting award for “Last Call: Milwaukee’s South Side Taverns,” a two-part series by Edgar Mendez, detailing the closure of many old-time bars and the end of the blue-collar way of life they represented.
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NNS won the continuing coverage award for four stories about lead in Milwaukee’s drinking water by Jabril Faraj. The stories highlight the health risk — particularly to children — of lead service lines, which deliver water from city water mains to about 70,000 homes in Milwaukee.
“Each year RTDNA is proud to honor the very best in broadcast and digital journalism through the Edward R. Murrow Awards and, by extension, highlight to the public why outstanding responsible journalism is essential to their daily lives,” said Dan Shelley, RTDNA executive director, in a news release.
Last year, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award in the hard news category for “A Crime Hidden in Plain Sight: Human Trafficking in Milwaukee,” by Allison Dikanovic.

author: Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service


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lead-last-call | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
April 30, 2018

author: Dwayne Burtin


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Murrow-Logo-2018 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
April 30, 2018


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Students seek to dismantle Milwaukee’s school-to-prison pipeline | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dean Bibens
April 30, 2018
Protesters hold signs outside a recent Milwaukee Public School Board meeting. (Photo by Dean Bibens)
Frustration is the word that comes to CJ Robinson’s mind when he talks about Milwaukee Public Schools. “Things have got to change soon or else the tension between police officers in our schools and black students is only going to get worse,” Robinson said.
Robinson, a senior at Milwaukee High School of the Arts, is also a member of Leaders Igniting Transformation, a nonprofit organization led by youth of color. LIT recently released “From Failure to Freedom: Dismantling Milwaukee’s School-to-Prison Pipeline with the Youth Power Agenda,” which delves into suspension, expulsion and graduation rates, as well as discrimination against African-American students. The report was done in partnership with the Center for Popular Democracy, a progressive advocacy group.
MPS suspended 10,267 students in 2015-2016, four times the Wisconsin average, according to the report. One out of every three freshmen was suspended, and suspensions make students 15 percent more likely to drop out, it found.
Black students make up 53 percent of MPS students, but receive 80 percent of suspensions and 87 percent of expulsions. The MPS expulsion rate was twice the Wisconsin average. A federal investigation found 100 cases where black students were expelled unfairly, according to the report.
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“The report didn’t surprise me,” Robinson said. “This has been going on for so long and we experience this on a day-to-day basis; so I wasn’t shocked at all.”
According to Dakota Hall, executive director of LIT, “Students in Milwaukee have long known that turning schools into police states provides no benefit and only harms young people. Now, we have the data to prove it.
Students were invited to listening sessions hosted by MPS throughout April to discuss concerns about the district’s discipline policies. (Photo by Dean Bibens)
“The numbers in this report provide even more evidence that school discipline in Milwaukee needs a complete overhaul to let students feel truly safe and supported.”
The MPS graduation rate is 35 percent lower than surrounding counties, according to the report, which also noted that MPS spends at least $15.6 million a year on “criminalizing students.”
“These funds could be used to invest in smaller class sizes or trauma-informed social work to address underlying causes of behavior,” said Hall.
“Knowing the underlying intent is not to educate but set me up for a prison lifestyle is heartbreaking,” Joya Headley, a junior at Milwaukee School of Languages and a member of LIT, said in a news release. “Education has always been a priority of mine. I believe that the first step to liberate my community is through education. However, every day I walk into school understanding that my body is being criminalized and that we are all elements of the school-to-prison pipeline.”
The report detailed the cost to Milwaukee when students drop out of school. “Each arrest in a high school doubles a student’s chances of dropping out, and each dropout exacts a social and fiscal cost as high as $600,000 over the course of a student’s lifetime,” it stated.
Headley and Robinson agree that reforming the school system requires investing instead of divesting. “We are out to change this reality and present an alternative to criminalization,” said Hall.
LIT recently released a 14-point plan detailing what members believe needs to be done to fix discipline problems at Milwaukee Public Schools. The plan includes removing police officers and metal detectors from schools. LIT representatives said they do not expect MPS to adopt all 14 points, but expect the plan to spark a conversation.
MPS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the LIT report. According to an undated letter posted on its website, the district voluntarily entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education after an initial DOE report found disparities in discipline in a sampling of black and white students dating back to the 2014-15 school year.
“In reaching this agreement, the district acknowledges there is room for us to improve our current disciplinary practices,” the letter states. Among the agreement’s requirements is to provide “support to ensure that discipline is imposed equitably and fairly across the district regardless of race, gender, religion or national origin.”
MPS held six “community conversations” throughout April to discuss discipline in schools. The last session is scheduled to take place Monday, April 30, at Pulaski High School, 2500 W. Oklahoma Ave., at 5 p.m.

author: Dean Bibens


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 30, 2018


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(2) | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 30, 2018


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41658228572_69ba81895b_o | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 30, 2018


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Youth access to flavored tobacco varies by zip code, promotes lifelong addiction | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
City of Milwaukee Tobacco-Free Alliance
April 30, 2018
Nearly one in five tobacco retailers sold cheap flavored cigars and menthol cigarettes to minors in the City of Milwaukee, according to the latest Wisconsin Wins data from inspections conducted last year. During the Wisconsin Wins compliance checks, minors attempt to purchase cigars and menthol cigarettes, which is illegal. If they are successful, a Milwaukee police officer working with the minors writes a ticket on the spot or retailers can choose to sign up for the MARTS program (Milwaukee Achieving Responsible Tobacco Sales) to avoid citation.
While the 19% youth access rate is down from 23% in 2016, it’s still almost twice the 11% rate recorded in 2011.
Even more alarming, minors in some Milwaukee neighborhoods have even easier access to tobacco. Retailers in the Near North Side 53206 Zip code led the way with a whopping 55% youth access rate, followed by the 53208 Zip code (39%), the 53207 and 53233 Zip codes (tied at 33%), and the 53209 Zip code (24%). Youth in more affluent Zip codes have easier access to newer products like e-cigarettes, including the JUUL, but these products are not currently included in local Wins checks as the local youth access ordinance has not been updated since these products entered the market.
“We’re very concerned about the easy access that young, primarily African American Milwaukee residents have to flavored tobacco products,” said Lorraine Lathen of the Wisconsin African American Tobacco Prevention Network. “But that shouldn’t be a surprise. Tobacco companies specifically target young people and African Americans with flavored cigars through advertising and partnering with celebrities like Cardi B to promote their products.”
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The Wisconsin Wins youth found it easiest to purchase flavored Swisher cigarillos, which are typically sold as two-packs for 99 cents and packaged to look like a natural fit among candy and gum displays. Of the products illegally purchased by the youth, 70% were Swishers, 24% were Newport menthol cigarettes, and 6% other types of small cigars.
The City of Milwaukee Tobacco-Free Alliance, which coordinates the Milwaukee-area Wisconsin Wins compliance checks and analyzed the data, focuses on preventing youth tobacco use and reducing disparities in tobacco use. The Alliance has noted the popularity of fruit- and candy-flavored tobacco products intended to appeal to young people so that that they will become lifelong smokers. In partnership with the Wisconsin African American Tobacco Prevention Network they raise awareness of the tobacco industry’s history of targeting African Americans and the LGBTQ community with menthol cigarettes, which are more addictive, more dangerous, and harder to quit than regular cigarettes.
“The Milwaukee Police Department encourages retailers who sell tobacco products to learn more about the laws regarding sales to minors so that they don’t get fined,” said Sergeant Raden, who oversees the License Investigation Unit. “Even better, they won’t be encouraging young people to become addicted to tobacco.”
Retailers can complete a free online training to learn how to prevent sales to youth at www.witobaccocheck.org.
One bright spot in the data: Of the retailers inspected in Milwaukee, 76% place their tobacco products behind the counter so that buyers need to ask for their cigarettes or cigars. But 20% of retailers still make it easy for teens to purchase flavored tobacco because they place it at the cashier’s stand.
The Wisconsin Wins compliance checks were conducted through a partnership between City of Milwaukee Tobacco-Free Alliance at Community Advocates; Neu-Life Community Development; Wisconsin African American Tobacco Prevention Network, and the Milwaukee Police Department’s License Investigation Unit.
To learn more about the City of Milwaukee Tobacco-Free Alliance or the Wisconsin Wins compliance checks, contact Anneke Mohr atamohr@communityadvocates.net or 414-270-2948.

author: City of Milwaukee Tobacco-Free Alliance


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City of Milwaukee Health Department Laboratory to offer garden soil screening to the public for lead and nutrients | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
City of Milwaukee Health Department
May 1, 2018
The City of Milwaukee Health Department Laboratory (MHDL) is rolling out garden soil screening services to the public. Services include a nutrient analysis and lead screening of the soil.
Backyard gardening is a popular urban practice. Soil screening helps residents make better gardening decisions through determination of nutrient levels, fertilizer recommendations, and the presence of elevated lead levels in home garden soil, which may pose a hazard for gardeners and those who eat produce grown in lead-contaminated gardens.
MHDL can provide soil screening for lead, pH, conductivity and nutrients (phosphorus, potassium and organic matter) through the Growing Health Soil for Healthy Communities grant partnership with UW- Madison Soil Science, UW- Extension, Sixteenth Street Community Health Center, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Walnut Way.
“We hope that providing community access to soil screening will be a valuable resource to the residents of Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin, adding value to backyard gardening and going above and beyond standard practices,” said Laboratory Director Dr. Sanjib Bhattacharyya.
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Bagged soil samples can be dropped off in person at the City of Milwaukee Health Department on the 3rd floor of the Zeidler Municipal Building, located at 841 N. Broadway. To submit a sample, it is important to follow the collection procedure and fill out the sample form found at milwaukee.gov/testing-fees. Lead screening for soil is $10, nutrient analysis is $15, or $25 for both. Along with soil screening results, MHD will provide educational materials detailing actions to take with different lead levels and recommendations to optimize nutrients for ideal gardening.
Lead is naturally found in soil at very low levels and is not considered hazardous at those levels. However, if your home was built before 1978, it most likely has lead-based paint on its exterior, which can chip or peel resulting in increased lead levels in soil. Additionally, for people living near major roadways, soil analysis can help identify yard or garden areas with elevated lead levels and ways to minimize possible lead exposure.
To prevent lead exposure through soil, it is important to:
For more information on lead in soil screening, contact MHDL at 414-286-3526 or visit milwaukee.gov/testing-fees.

author: City of Milwaukee Health Department


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Proposed group home in Metcalfe Park stirs controversy | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
May 1, 2018
Metcalfe Park Community Bridges members gather at the vacant building being considered as a residential assessment center for youth taken from their homes for their protection. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
One day last summer two bullets came through Annie Travis’ living room wall. Fortunately, neither she nor her great grandson who was in the house with her on the northwest corner of 37th and Wright streets was hit. More than 40 shell casings were found outside by police.
Travis, who has lived there for 17 years, got involved in the neighborhood association, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges (MPCB), two years ago to try to help make the neighborhood safer, more connected and attractive.
Travis and other MPCB members became concerned last spring when they learned that a vacant building at 3628 W. Wright St. on the corner across from Travis’ home, was being considered for a temporary living facility for 12- to 17-year-olds taken from their homes by Milwaukee Child Protective Services, a division of the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF), because they were in immediate danger. The group home would serve as an assessment center, evaluating children’s needs and finding them the most appropriate permanent placements.
The building, which once housed the Alma Center, a nonprofit that works with male perpetrators of domestic violence, has been vacant since March 2013. Larina Hightower, who has owned a group home on the Northwest Side for eight years, is seeking to rent the building from landlord Harold Moore.
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With the resident group on one side and the building owner, prospective tenant and Ald. Russell Stamper II on the other, the controversy has simmered. It took a more acrimonious turn when residents voted against supporting the proposed facility at a community meeting on Nov. 20 and representatives from Metcalfe Park Community Bridges spoke in opposition to a request for a use variance before the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BOZA) at an April 5 hearing. Hightower and her company, Butterflyz LLC, must get the board’s approval before DCF will issue the license to operate a residential facility.
After hearing testimony from both sides, board chair Catherine Doyle postponed a decision on the use variance to its May meeting. The board is concerned about the increased number of such requests in residential neighborhoods — four or five each month — and about residents’ opposition to the requests around the city, Doyle said.
Doyle also noted that a recent report on sex trafficking published by the Medical College of Wisconsin found that youth in group living facilities are at high risk of being trafficked.
Board members are concerned that residential assessment centers such as Hightower’s, which will house up to 10 youth, appear to have no control over who will live there. They also are worried that children who have a wide array of challenges may be placed together, against their best interest, Doyle said.
Also problematic, she added, is that “the neighbors have a right to know who is going to be living in this facility in their neighborhood. According to what we’ve been seeing from DCF, it could vary,” and in a short-term facility such as Hightower’s, it will vary from week to week.
Larina Hightower (right) and Bobbi Tatum (left) at the grand opening of their shop, Rise & Grind Café. (Photo by Alhaji Camara)
Hightower said her application was for Children in Need of Protection (CHIP), and she has requested siblings. However, she acknowledged that she would likely accept any child in the age group she serves.
Joe Scialfa, a spokesman for DCF, said that the contracts that group homes enter into with DCF’s Division of Milwaukee Child Protective Services include the right to refuse children who may not fit with other residents. But assessment centers, such as that being considered in Metcalfe Park, must take all child welfare referrals, with only a few exceptions.
Many factors — historical ill will between the landlord and the resident group, miscommunication and mistrust between the parties, frustration with the lengthy zoning and licensing process, economic deprivation and resident trauma associated with gun violence, among others — have contributed to a challenging situation for everyone involved.
“The irony of this is that these women (Hightower and her facility director, Baboonie Tatum) have spent money, they followed the process set out by (DCF)” and after more than a year they have hit another delay and possible denial by the zoning appeals board, said Moore, who owns the building at the center of the controversy. Moore, who is not a Metcalfe Park resident, said he spends most of his time at Mercy Memorial Church, where he is the spiritual leader. The church is located across the street from his vacant building.
“I was taken aback by the board’s position. If they’ve got a problem with (DCF), they should take it up with (the department) rather than ‘taking it out on’ Hightower, who is following the process they put in place,” he said.
According to Moore, Hightower and two colleagues met with residents on two occasions.  He believes that most residents do not oppose the facility. “The alderman listened to the residents … and there wasn’t that kind of opposition, otherwise it wouldn’t have gone before the (zoning) board,“ Moore said.
Moore and Hightower noted that the need for safe places for children taken from their homes is critical and Moore asserted that these children are sleeping in (DCF) offices because there are not enough facilities available.
Scialfa disputed this. “There is a need for more assessment centers, … licensed foster parents, group homes and residential care options … to find the best possible placement” to serve each child’s unique needs, he said. However, “in the vast majority of cases a suitable placement for a child is found within a few hours.”
“Sometimes this process may run into the late evening hours. In a very, very rare instance finding a placement for a child who has been removed from their home for their own protection might cross over into the next day. If that were to occur, a child would stay with the after-hours team at the Division of Milwaukee Child Protective Services, Children’s Hospital or Saint A.” This has only happened once in 2018, Scialfa said.
He noted that the number of children being taken from their homes “has greatly increased over the last few years nationally and in Wisconsin.”
Hightower and Tatum were both special education teachers for 15 years and said they are motivated to help youth. They are dismayed by the process to open a facility in Metcalfe Park and the opposition of neighbors, who they argue expect troubled youth to get help but not in their backyard.
Hightower said she has invested more than $18,000 in repairs and repainting to bring the prospective group home up to code and pointed to the success of her original facility.
“At our current facility we keep our residents totally busy. Nothing that we do spills out into the neighborhood,” she said. Her staff transports youth to many off-campus activities, she said. “We have all different types of kids. It is in a nice neighborhood and we don’t cause any trouble there.”
Hightower noted that neighborhood opposition to her original group home has disappeared because she created a resident advisory board to stay in close touch with neighbors and because the lack of problems has allayed their fears.
She said that she would operate the new group home the same way, with 24-hour security and two staff members on every shift. In addition, she said she has arranged with the I Will Not Die Young Campaign, artist William Muhammad and the Nation of Islam to work with the residents.
Though youth in crisis can be challenging, Hightower said, she and her staff “are willing to do the work. I believe there is no such thing as a lost youth.”
Members of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges said they are concerned about traumatized children being placed in a neighborhood plagued with gunshots. And they fear the teens will further disrupt an already challenged part of the neighborhood.
They also distrust Hightower and her partners because they did not come to their organization initially, but approached Sherman Park community representatives first. In addition, Hightower and her colleagues were not prepared to fully answer residents’ questions, MPCB members said.  There were also mistakes — an incorrect address and group home business name — in meeting notices Stamper sent to residents.
Travis said Hightower and her staff lied about their intentions when she initially asked what they were doing at the vacant building. There also is disagreement about when that conversation took place.
Travis conducted a door-to-door survey of residents living near the proposed facility and reported that 60 out of 70 opposed it. Stamper also took a vote to gauge opposition at a community meeting he organized but when asked by a reporter, did not report the result. MPCB says Stamper counted everyone present, not just residents, and waited until after some attendees had left before taking a count.
“He said it was 18 for and 19 against but there were not 40 residents in the room said Danell Cross, MPCB staff coordinator. “We counted 13 against and 11 for.”
Cross started working as an organizer in Metcalfe Park in 2012, when she lived in the neighborhood. She said that the process of opposing the facility has set the neighborhood back in terms of progress residents had made toward working together to solve their problems and advocate for their interests.
”The April 5 zoning board hearing was “an example of people doing to a community instead of working with a community. I felt that the community’s voice was overshadowed by position and by power and by class,” Cross said.
The resident group is concerned that Stamper spoke in favor of the facility at the zoning board hearing because of his relationship with Moore.
Prioritizing Moore and Hightower over “constituents of a lower socio-economic class, (indicates that) he identifies more with business owners than with the people that he is supposed to serve,” Cross said.
In an email response, Stamper thanked Cross for her commitment to this issue and wrote, “While she has concerns, rightfully … about a building, as alderman I was elected to care about the wellbeing of the entire district.” That includes children in need of protection, who “deserve a loving environment to ensure their success, just like my kids or yours.”
Stamper added that the facility would not only offer “excellent services to kids in need,” but stabilize the neighborhood.
“I listened to both sides of the issue, held meetings, sifted through the material, delayed the (zoning board appeal) and finally asked for it be scheduled. Ultimately, after much deliberation, I felt comfortable not opposing the proposal.”
The Board of Zoning Appeals is expected to announce its decision on the use variance at its monthly meeting May 3.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct which of Annie Travis’ relatives was in the house when bullets came through the living room wall.

author: Andrea Waxman


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Common Ground campaign to focus on jobs and work in Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Robyn Di Giacinto
May 2, 2018
Community members gather for Common Ground’s 10th Anniversary Assembly. (Photo by Robyn Di Giacinto)
Common Ground of Southeastern Wisconsin will be stepping up its effort to expand access to living wage jobs in the Milwaukee area.
“We are advocating for more than just a job,” said Rev. Dr. Don Darius Butler of Milwaukee’s Tabernacle Community Baptist Church to a crowd of 1,265 community members at Common Ground’s 10th Anniversary Assembly on Sunday. “We want work!”
Common Ground will partner with local businesses and job training programs to expand access to living wage work in Milwaukee, especially for formerly incarcerated and chronically unemployed people. Additionally, Common Ground pledged to identify and hold accountable temp agencies that mistreat their workers.
Although the 3.2 percent unemployment rate in Milwaukee is below the national average (4.1 percent) and close to that of the state, this figure paints an incomplete picture. For example, 28.4 percent of Milwaukeeans live below the poverty line, compared to 11.8 percent of Wisconsinites overall, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
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Local manufacturers are also struggling to find enough skilled workers. In 2015, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce President Tim Sheehy predicted that the metro area would have 100,000 unfilled jobs over the next 10 years.
Meanwhile, some temp agencies have come under fire in recent years for cultivating a “perma-temp” model that cuts costs and sidesteps labor regulations and benefits by hiring low-wage temp workers for extended periods of time.
Community members listen to speakers at the Common Ground 10th Anniversary Assembly. (Photo by Robyn Di Giacinto)
The announcement of the new jobs campaign was met with enthusiastic support from event attendees.
“I think it’s a good idea with all the disparities in this city,” said Sharon Evans of Community Baptist Church, 2249 N. Sherman Blvd. “It’s encouraging … to know that there is going to be work done to make things a little better.”
“I think it’s sorely needed,” said Vicki Brostrom, who has lived in the metro Milwaukee area for the past 18 years. “I certainly hope that there will be industrialists and people with jobs to give who will see the value in creating a population of workers who will … not have to sacrifice their pride to bring home a paycheck,” she added.
“In our region, people are having trouble finding people [to fill jobs], and they don’t seem to know what to do,” said Dennis Briley of Unitarian Universalist Church West in Brookfield. “I think the opportunity here is for Common Ground, employers and job seekers to come together.”
Other attendees spoke of their personal connection to the goals of the jobs campaign.
Duwayne Johnson, who has lived in Milwaukee for almost 50 years, said that he has had bad experiences working with temp agencies in recent years.
He remembers one temp agency that bused him and some co-workers to a second shift job in Oconomowoc. The return driver didn’t arrive until about 2 a.m. — three hours after the shift ended. When Johnson later asked his supervisor why he didn’t get paid for that time, she responded, ‘Well you got back, didn’t you?’
“I left after that,” Johnson said. “I want to work, but I can’t deal with these temps.”
He added that he believes Common Ground’s new campaign is important because it might help neighbors who are still working for temp agencies.
The campaign could also be a second chance for people such as Rotiesha Nelson, who struggled to find work to support her family due to a criminal record.
“We need organizations like Common Ground that have power and a voice that allow people like me to have equal opportunity,” said Nelson, who spoke at the event. “We need to find businesses and CEOs who are willing to work with us, not against us.”
The Common Ground jobs campaign team will meet for the first time on May 14 at from 6 to 8 p.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 1100 N. Astor St. The event is open to Common Ground members and their guests.
The 10th Anniversary Assembly also honored Mayor Tom Barrett for his support of Common Ground. The program included a speech on gun safety efforts by District Attorney John Chisholm, special performances by Danza Guadalupana and Kaleidoscope and the presentation of Common Ground’s new theme song, composed by Donna Woodall.
Common Ground is a coalition of more than 40 congregations, neighborhood groups, nonprofits, schools and businesses from across southeast Wisconsin. The group was officially launched in 2008 with a successful campaign to increase funding for the city of Milwaukee’s summer youth jobs program. Since then, it has tackled issues including neighborhood development in Sherman Park, healthcare, firearm safety and Great Lakes water quality.

author: Robyn Di Giacinto


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
May 1, 2018

author: Adam Carr


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Watch out for Medicare scam | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Lisa Schiller, Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin
May 2, 2018
Beginning in June Medicare will begin mailing new cards to everyone who gets Medicare benefits. Instead of having your Social Security number on the card, the new cards will have a unique Medicare number. Cards will be mailed to the address you have on file with the Social Security Administration. This will happen automatically and you don’t need to do anything or pay anyone to get your new card.
While Medicare cards are undergoing this big change to make them more secure, scammers are (of course!) taking advantage of confusion around the launch.
How the Scam Works
You receive a call from a person claiming to work with Medicare. The scammer claims that there’s a problem with your new card. The con artist may say your new card was lost or someone tried to use your ID number. To resolve the situation, the scammer says she needs your Social Security number.
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In another version, the scammer claims you must pay money to receive your new Medicare card. He may ask you for payment information, so he can “complete the process” for you. He may even ask you to mail him your old card.
How to Avoid Medicare Scams
Read more about the new cards and their security benefits on .
If you’ve fallen victim to this type of scam, you can help others avoid being scammed by filing a report at .


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How to volunteer in May | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Martha Cannon, Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee
May 3, 2018
Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers sponsors the “Bike Day: Community Health in Motion” event. (Photo courtesy of Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers)
Now that spring is here, put a spring in your step by helping out others. Volunteer Milwaukee, a service of the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee, features a calendar of events for volunteers, both one-time and ongoing. Here are a few of the opportunities in May.
Assist seniors with shopping and household tasks, escort them to appointments and provide friendship; must be 55 or older to volunteer for this Social Development Commission program.
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Contact Ella Dunbar at edunbar@cr-sdc.org or 414-906-2700.
Direct students off buses, assist with performance prep, monitor stage and help with activities May 9-11 for this Milwaukee Public Schools event on Summerfest Grounds; 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m., various shifts. Sign up here.
Contact Sophia Smith at smith28@milwaukee.k12.wi.us or 414-773-9823.
Lead art projects for families and students for Artists Working in Education during the MPS All-City Arts Festival on Summerfest Grounds May 9-11; 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Contact Tatiana Diaz at tatiana@awe-inc.org or 414-933-3877.
Manage check–in table, welcome presenters and help to set up activities for Health and Wellness Fair at Sojourner Family Peace Center Thursday, May 10; 8 a.m.-noon or noon-4 p.m.
Contact Lilly Grant at lilyg@familypeacecenter.org or 414-810-1826.
Collect tickets and guide visitors at Historic Milwaukee’s tour of homes and buildings in Walker’s Point Neighborhood, Saturday, May 12; shifts are 8:30-11:30 a.m., 11:30-2:30pm, 2:30-5:30 p.m. Learn more and sign up here.
Contact Julia Griffith at julia@historicmilwaukee.org or 414-277-7795.
Greet and register attendees and serve refreshments at Memory Café for those affected by dementia and Alzheimer’s at Milwaukee Public Library-Villard Square Tuesday, May 15; noon-3:30 p.m. Fill out application.
Contact Danielle Wrobleski at DMWrobl@milwaukee.gov or (414) 286-3077.
Help with registration, bike helmet-fitting, setup and cleanup at Bike Day Saturday, May 19, at Kosciuszko Park for Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers; 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Contact Kate Jaeger at kate.jaeger@sschc.org or 414-897-5184.
Greet and direct audience members, escort students and cheer them on as they perform at this Danceworks competition Saturday, May 19 8am-1:30 p.m. at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Contact Maggie Seer at mseer@danceworksmke.org or 414-277-8480.
Help with decoration, set up, registration, auction, games and tear down to for an event to benefit the La Causa Crisis Nursery & Respite Center Saturday, May 19 at the Harley-Davidson Museum; 9 a.m.-11 p.m., various shifts.
Contact Bridget Hirthe at bridgeth@lacausa.org or 414-316-5503.
Help with registration, set up, course monitoring and water and food distribution at 5K family fun run/walk/roll benefitting IndependenceFirst Saturday May, 19, in Walker’s Point neighborhood; 7:30 a.m.to 12:30pm.
Contact Anna Feeley at afeeley@independencefirst.org or 414-226-8334.
Walk to rally the community against tobacco use and then help with games and serving foodSaturday, May 19, at the Neighborhood House Garden Park; 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Contact Tasha Parker at tparker@nh-milw.org or 414-933-6161.
Pull garlic mustard weeds at a nearby Milwaukee County Park Saturday mornings May-June. Learn more and see Park People Spring Weed-Out schedule.
Contact Volunteer Coordinator here or call 414-273-7275.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
May 2, 2018


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More than 100 people convened on ACTS Housing at 24th and Vliet for its first-ever open house | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
ACTS Housing
May 3, 2018
(Photo courtesy of ACTS Housing)
The open house, to raise awareness about ACTS services and connect with neighbors in the community, featured workshops on safety, home buying and selling a house with ACTS, small household repairs, and the hazards of lead in the home.
Attendees appreciated the learning opportunities.
“It was great,” Danita Bush said of the lead workshop presented by a community health nurse from the City of Milwaukee. “I learned a lot as far as a safety and lead.”
(Photo courtesy of ACTS Housing)
Others were able to pair their existing knowledge with new information like Dana Williamson who recently purchased a home and completed a construction course.
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“I saw drywall demo on the flyer and that drew my interest,” she said.
Attendees also had the opportunity to interact with ACTS Housing staff one-on-one through a guided “passport” tour with staff members stationed in different rooms where they could get their questions answered. The passport stations were: homebuyer counseling, real estate, home lending and rehab, and marketing.
A dinner was served and entertainment was provided by the mariachi band Los Plebes de La Sierra. The band is led by ACTS homeowner Taurino Cortez.
The Open House came on the heels of a Princeton Lab report that ranked eviction rates in southeastern Wisconsin the highest in the state.
ACTS Housing, which transitions renters to homeowners has demonstrated that homeownership is a viable alternative to renting.

author: ACTS Housing


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
May 3, 2018


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Rash of murders generates fear on South Side | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
May 3, 2018
A memorial for Angelica Fiebrink is set up next to an empty lot in the alley on the 1900 block of West Orchard Street. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
As he stood on the sidewalk next to a memorial consisting of a deflated red balloon and 15 tea light candles, Rigoberto Alicea struggled to shake a vision from his memory.
“I can still see the body of the lady,” said a solemn Alicea, who said he plans to move from the neighborhood soon.
Alicea lives on the 1900 block of South 11th Street, just a few doors down from the scene where a woman and man, Jessica Nelson, 33, and Jamie Johnson, 26, were shot and killed while sitting inside a car on April 14. Their unsolved deaths are among a spate of six murders that occurred within a 15 block-radius on the South Side in March and April. The murder of Angelica Fiebrink, a 24-year-old mother of two who was shot and killed on the 1900 block of West Orchard Street on April 16, and the March 5 shooting death of Jason Nuck, 33, are also unsolved, according to the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD).
“Regarding the murders … police continue to receive tips but anyone with information on any unsolved homicides can contact 414-935-7360,” wrote MPD in an email to Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.
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The double homicide, the murder of Fiebrink and the death of Jessica Rodriguez, 23, whose body was discovered wrapped in a blanket and deflated air mattress on the 1100 block of West Burnham Street, occurred within a three-day period and sparked rumors on social media and in the community that a killer was targeting women on the South Side.
The murder of Rodriguez has since been solved. Donte Harris, 40, was charged last week with killing the young mother of two, shooting her twice inside the kitchen of a home near where her body was found, according to the criminal complaint. MPD did not respond to questions regarding whether the arrest is connected to any of the other homicides, or whether a suspect or motive in any of the unsolved murders  has been identified.
A memorial for the victims of a double homicide that occurred on the 1900 block of South 11th Street on April 14. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Talk of a killer targeting women on the South Side reached Deanne Lawson, executive director of Inner Beauty Center, 1300 S. Layton Blvd., a drop-in center for sexually exploited women. She said women who frequent the center said word on the street is that several of the killings are connected and that they all involve drugs.
“The murders have the women very upset. They’re terrified,” Lawson said.
She hopes the murders, some of which she said involved prostitutes, will help convince women that the time to get out is now and that help is available. She also encouraged them to call police if they have any information.
“They’re living a dangerous lifestyle and they know that, but somebody has to stand up and say something so we can get whoever committed these murders off the street before there is another victim,” she said.
Residents also said they believe the murders are tied to an increase in drug activity and prostitution on the South Side. They said they’re concerned for their safety and tired of the violence.
“It’s getting worse. The drugs and the prostitution are ruining this neighborhood,” said Pablo Soto in Spanish. Soto owns two homes on West Orchard Street, and said he hears gunshots and witnesses arguments and violence regularly.
Matthew Norberg moved to the South Side in January but said his mother has lived on West Orchard Street for years. He said he heard the shots that killed Fiebrink. A memorial of flowers, candles and a prayer card with her picture remain in a vacant lot near where she was murdered. He said he too has noticed an increase in prostitution and drug activity.
“They (the police) had cracked down on prostitution and the drugs here before and things got quiet but now it seems like things are getting worse,” Norberg said.
Paul Grippe, a block watch captain on South 21st Street, said increases in violence, prostitution and drug activity tend to happen in spurts.  Grippe is hosting a block club meeting May 7 at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, 2235 W. Greenfield, in which the murders and other issues will be discussed. Grippe added that a representative of “Operation Impact,” a public-private partnership that utilizes strategies such as increased surveillance and police presence, will be there to discuss the program and strategies residents can use to help deter violence.
One of the key messages, Grippe said, will be to encourage people to report suspicious activity, including drug dealing and prostitution to police.
“Things go haywire when people don’t talk to police. We need the public’s help if we’re going to stop these murders from happening in our community,” Grippe said.
As for Alicea, he said he can’t help but think about the pair who was murdered, and also about the days when he felt safe near his home.
“This neighborhood wasn’t so bad at one time,” Alicea said. “Now I just don’t know,” he said, as he shrugged and walked away.


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Remembering Vel, Our Revolutionary | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Congresswoman Gwen Moore
May 4, 2018
Congresswoman Gwen Moore represents Wisconsin’s 4th Congressional District. In this piece she remembers Vel Phillips, who chaired her campaign for U.S. Congress.
Waking up in the middle of the night to three missed calls from Vel Phillips wasn’t an unusual occurrence. If she wanted to talk to you, the time of day sure wasn’t going to stop her.
Vel ran her life just like she did her 3 a.m. phone calls, without regard for tradition. When she wanted to get something done, she was going to get it done, barreling through every barrier that stood in her way.
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Her prolific list of firsts is testament to her tenacious attitude. Vel was the first black woman to graduate from the University of Wisconsin Law School. She was the first woman and the first black official elected to Milwaukee’s Common Council. And she was elected the first black member of the Democratic National Committee. The list goes on.
Vel not caving to custom is right where our fierce friendship began. I met Vel when she was judging a high school oratorical contest in which I was participating. When it was announced that I had won, it was the first time I didn’t feel overlooked for the ragtag state of my appearance. Vel saw me for the strength of my character, the quality of my work, and nothing else.
This was true for all of Milwaukee. Vel was from a middle class family, so you can bet her arrest while marching in the streets for civil rights did not sit at all well with her mother. But this didn’t faze her. Vel marched on.
The money you had in your pocket, the state of your hair, and the shoes on your feet didn’t matter to Vel. What mattered was that you envisioned a better future for our city.
Vel’s revolutionary spirit didn’t just change Milwaukee; it shook our nation’s norms to their very core. When serving as an alderwoman, Vel submitted open housing legislation five times. Five times the legislation met the same result, 18-1 rejection.
This didn’t intimate her. Milwaukee’s refusal to tear down legally sanctioned, racially discriminatory housing policies, was yet another barrier through which she’d smash with grit and determination. Father Groppi, the NAACP Youth Council, the Commandos and hundreds of Milwaukee activists rallied around Vel’s mission, marching for 200 days and turning the nation’s eyes to our city, the Selma of the North.
The movement she inspired influenced the congressional Fair Housing Act debates in 1968 and led to the enactment of the Fair Housing Act on April 11, 1968, which outlawed housing segregation. That year, Vel’s open housing legislation finally passed after its sixth submission.  This victory reverberated across the country, quickly influencing other municipal housing laws.
Vel was my shero, my champion and my friend. She reached into my world and guided me through every major victory of my life. Of late, in the face of near constant attacks on fundamental human rights coming from our nation’s capital, I hold Vel’s guidance close. I remind myself of the first words she said to me during a timely phone call after a seat opened up in the U.S. House of Representatives: “Gwen, we’re going to have so much fun!”
Fighting for what is good and what is right was the joy of Vel’s life. She spread that joy into my life and the lives of so many members of our community. Vel’s impact will be felt in Milwaukee every time we band together to demand a more equal and just society, and her legacy will forever live on in federal laws that work to protect the powerless.

author: Congresswoman Gwen Moore


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
May 4, 2018