Milwaukee

From the article:

The city of Milwaukee finished installing advisory bike lanes on an East Side street this weekend.

The bike lanes are on East Edgewood Avenue between Oakland Avenue and Lake Drive, the first advisory bike lanes ever installed in the Milwaukee area, according to the Milwaukee Department of Public Works. The new street layout leaves one center lane meant for traffic going both ways, causing confusion and concern for some neighbors.

"I'm definitely concerned because I bike this all the time," said cyclist Jeff Knitter. "But it was terrible before. So in a way it can't be any worse because the road is smooth."

He is concerned drivers will not understand the new traffic pattern.

The street used to have two lanes for parking and two lanes for traffic. Now, the street has two lanes for parking, two bike lanes with dotted lines, and one lane for traffic.

According to DPW, if a driver sees oncoming traffic, they are supposed to briefly merge into the bike lane to avoid the vehicle, and then merge back into the center lane.

"Every 15 minutes there's the bus. Plus the bikes, plus the parked cars. It's just a lot of traffic on one street," said Dana Grennier, who lives nearby.

From the article:

Back in February, the longtime owners of Lisa’s Pizza, Gary and Teresa Bongiorno, decided to put the restaurant up for sale.

The choice wasn’t an easy one for the couple, who have been involved in the business, 2961 N. Oakland Ave., since its 196o opening. Not just that, they also met while working there, and have celebrated many an anniversary while tossing pizzas for dinner service.

“It’s just so hard,” Gary told Urban Milwaukee in March. “Neither one of us really want to retire.”

But nine months later, the couple, who co-own the restaurant with Gary’s brother, Scott, are going forward with the sale, as evidenced by an online listing for the business and its building.

The restaurant, which faces Oakland Avenue, is being sold as a package deal along with a three-bedroom apartment located above the business. The sale would also include Lisa’s furniture, fixtures and equipment — including a Blodgett pizza oven — along with the Bongiorno family’s recipes for pizza, pasta, Italian sausage and other specialty items.

The latter is sure to be key for future owners, who will also inherit the restaurant’s title and — with any luck — a long list of regular customers.

A cold-case group believes it has evidence that Jimmy Hoffa's body was moved to Milwaukee County Stadium, the area of what is now Helfaer Field.

From the article:

Though it’s rarely ideal to do so, sometimes it’s just necessary to eat in your car. Maybe you’re scarfing down fast food between errands. Perhaps you’re famished partway through a long commute and need to shove something into your face. You might be brown bagging it at your job and want to get away from your workplace for a little while. Whether the result of sheer necessity under ever-intensifying capitalist constraints or plain old impatience, many Americans tend to squeeze in meals on the go.

Well, if you’re among the countless who consume in their car…and you happen to be driving near Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport when hunger strikes, we have just the place for you. Out on Layton Avenue—very close to south side stalwarts like Nite Owl and The Packing House, and in the vicinity of an abundance of fast food chains—is an unassuming parcel of pavement that’s bordered by barbwire fencing.

Though it doesn’t look like much from the road, this little lot grants motorists a front row view of takeoffs, landings, and other aviation-based happenings taking place at the airport. This otherwise average parking lot faces the airport’s runway, which sure beats trying not to make eye contact with a stranger parked beside you at Taco Bell.

From the article:

The Milwaukee Winter Farmers Market will return this weekend, kicking off its 15th season with a full slate of new and returning vendors, plus an expanded space featuring hot food, seating and community activities.

The MWFM will occur each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. beginning Nov. 4 and continuing through April 13. That includes the weekends after Thanksgiving, before Christmas and before New Year’s Eve.

The market’s launch will also coincide with the opening of Milwaukee Food Journeys, a collaborative art exhibit that explores themes of food access, food justice and the ways in which Milwaukeeans engage with Wisconsin’s food system.

The exhibit, featuring artists from Latinas Unidas en las Artes (LUNA) and TRUE Skool, will remain through the end of the MWFM season.

Like last year, the market will be held at 5305 W. Capitol Dr. The building previously served as a church, but transitioned in 2022 into The Table, a ministry with “a strong focus on regenerative farming, food as spiritual nourishment, healthy food access, and entrepreneurship,” according to a news release.

Venice Williams leads The Table and is executive director of Fondy Food Center, which operates the MWFM. Glenna Holstein serves as board president of The Table.

From the article:

The popular downtown Starbucks at Red Arrow Park will end its long-term lease with Milwaukee County and close on Nov. 30, Starbucks corporate officials confirmed on Thursday.

Sam Jefferies, a spokesperson for the Seattle-based Starbucks company, said, “As a standard course of business, we continually evaluate our business to ensure a healthy store portfolio. After careful consideration, we have deemed it necessary to close our store at 920 N. Water Street in Milwaukee. We’ve enjoyed serving the community at this location and are committed to continuing to do so at our other stores in the area.”

Jefferies said that employees at the Starbucks Red Arrow Park location are being offered transfers to other stores.

It is the second Starbucks location the company has closed in downtown Milwaukee in recent years. Starbucks permanently closed its café in Milwaukee’s 3rd Ward neighborhood in April 2021.

The county opened up requests for proposals for the Red Arrow Park space on Thursday and “is open to a variety of options,” said Joe Mrozinski, assistant director of Recreation and Business Services for Milwaukee County Parks.

Starbucks originally leased the location in 2002 from Milwaukee County with a yearly rent of $30,000 until 2007, when it increased to $33,000. Under an extension established in 2014 with the county, Starbucks would pay the county $27,132 in annual rent payments until November 2018, when payments increased to $29,845 until 2023, Mrozinski confirmed.

"This is a prime downtown location, and we are looking forward to a new vendor moving into this space in spring 2024," Mrozinski said.

For the upcoming ice-skating season at the park, Mrozinski said the county plans to offer hot chocolate, coffee and bottled beverages for skaters to purchase.

Red Arrow Park attracts more than 45,000 skaters each season during its Slice of Ice activities in the winter, according to the county, and is open for other activities year-round. The county noted in a press release that the space is directly across from the Marcus Center for Performing Arts and the Saint Kate - The Arts Hotel. County officials added the park is “at the center of activity” with local events by Milwaukee Downtown BID 21 that include Jack-O-Lantern Jubilee, Downtown Ice-CAPE-ade and Summer Spinz.

It looks like the following changes will be made:

• Add L-Line on Sundays as a preview
• Monday through Thursday, 8 PM to 10 PM will now be every 20 minutes instead of every 15 minutes
• Saturday, 11 AM to 7 PM will now be every 15 minutes instead of every 20 minutes

I am okay with this. Saturday has desperately needed 15 minute headways.

Much like the county at large, the transit system has a structural deficit: the annual cost of MCTS is more than the annual revenue it receives. The majority of the transit system’s operating revenue comes from the state’s annual allocation of “mass transit operating assistance.” This funding assistance from the state has remained stagnant for more than a decade while operating costs increase annually with inflation.

This funding, called “mass transit operating assistance,” is the largest single source of funding for MCTS each year and covers approximately 50% of the cost of operating the system.

From the article:

As Wisconsin and Milwaukee officials keep alive the concept of commercial development around American Family Field, a rail advocacy group suggests a new Amtrak passenger station should be built there, as well.

That could be studied in more detail if the Wisconsin Department of Transportation this year successfully secures federal grants to plan for Amtrak service to Madison and Green Bay from Milwaukee. Either of those new routes would likely run passenger trains on existing Canadian Pacific Kansas City freight track right past Selig Drive and the Yount parking lot of American Family Field.

Adding a passenger station there is possible from a technical standpoint and has been floated by the nonprofit NEWRails, or Northeastern Wisconsin Rail Advocacy Group, which is supporting new Amtrak service between Milwaukee and Green Bay.

“We believe that what’s good for Milwaukee, for Madison, whatever is good for promoting passenger rail, is good for the whole state,” said Larry Rueff, municipal and legislative liaison for NEWRails, which has about 400 people on its current membership mailing list.

At this point, the station is a concept only without active government planning effort behind it. There’s a long process of public hearings, planning, engineering and budgeting ahead, and that’s even if federal money is secured for the proposed new Amtrak service to Madison or Green Bay.

Agreements would need to be worked out with Canadian Pacific Kansas City, which owns the track itself. A specific site would also have to be identified, which could be tricky since the railroad track curves north right next to American Family Field, and stations are best located on a straightaway.

But the general idea is that Amtrak trains running west from the downtown Milwaukee Intermodal Station could stop at a station outside American Family Field before the track turns north toward Green Bay or splits off west for a new Madison service.

Real estate firms, especially those with a national scope, see value in those transit connections. A train station could complement the idea of new commercial development in the parking lots the Brewers lease around AmFam Field. The state proposal to provide public money for maintenance of American Family Field sets a two-year deadline for a development study to be completed by the public-private district that maintains the stadium, with input from Milwaukee County and the city of Milwaukee.

The stadium funding bill awaits a vote by the Wisconsin Senate next week after gaining Assembly approval on Oct. 17.

Collaboration over the stadium package at the state level is helping the Amtrak station concept resurface, Rueff said, but it’s been around already. He said he submitted the idea to the DOT as it collected public input this year on the statewide 2050 rail plan. He said that was “long before this great resolution of the funding” for American Family Field.

“It’s been going on for a little while, and one reason it is surfacing again is because of that cooperation,” he said.

That 2050 long-range rail plan includes the concept of new Amtrak passenger service linking Milwaukee to Madison and Green Bay. Those represent separate projects. Both were included in the Wisconsin DOT’s March application to the Federal Railroad Administration’s nationwide Corridor Identification and Development Program. Announcements of selected projects are expected this year.

If Wisconsin is selected, that would kick off a more detailed planning process for the new service that would include selecting sites for stations. While the Milwaukee Intermodal Station located downtown is the likely starting point, the possibilities beyond that are open, with the DOT at most recommending cities, not properties, along the route for possible stops.

Wisconsin DOT chief of railroads and harbors Lisa Stern said the “options are still open and will be considered through the Corridor ID program.”

The NEWRails organization has supported the Corridor ID application and is part of the statewide Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passengers, which is planning a meeting in West Allis on Oct. 28 with presentations by Amtrak and DOT’s Stern.

From the article:

Enjoy Wisconsin's peaking fall colors and backyard bonfires while you can because, as ever, winter is coming.

The encroaching chill also means the annual arrival of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's U.S winter outlook report courtesy of the agency's Climate Prediction Center.

NOAA said the winter of 2023-24 will probably be dominated by the effects of what could be a powerful El Niño. That means a mild, dry winter is likely on tap for much of the northern tier of the U.S., while the southeastern U.S. should see a wetter-than-average winter.

The center's forecast covers meteorological winter, which is defined as the months of December, January and February.

Here's what Wisconsinites should expect, according to a NOAA.

What's the forecast for winter?

Wisconsin could see warmer-than-average temperatures and average or below-average levels of precipitation, according to NOAA. However, the greatest odds for warmer-than-average conditions are in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and northern New England.

Below-average precipitation is most likely in northern and eastern Idaho, Montana, northwestern North Dakota and Michigan, NOAA predicts. Portions of eastern Wisconsin, including the Milwaukee area, have some probability of receiving less precipitation than usual.

Vehicle manufacturer KIA will be at the Mayfair Mall Friday (tomorrow), Saturday, and Sunday (October 20-22) from 8 am to 6 pm installing FREE anti-theft software in KIA vehicles to help prevent car thefts and to combat reckless driving.

No appointments are necessary, and the software installation should take about 30 minutes.

KIA will also provide steering wheel locks for KIA vehicles that are not eligible for the software upgrades. The link below can be used to check your cars availability for a software upgrade or a steering wheel lock.

The software upgrades include longer-sounding alarm, and a slight change to the ignition to make these KIA model vehicles harder to steal. KIA vehicles that are eligible for this upgrade are models made before 2021.

From the article:

Milwaukee Film‘s $10 million campaign to restore the Oriental Theatre is reaching a key point.

On Nov. 8, the organization will unveil a new Wurlitzer organ. Although “new” isn’t quite accurate. The organ was actually constructed in 1925.

A red carpet fundraiser, “Coming Home Again: A 1925 Wurlitzer Pipe Organ’s Grand Debut”, will mark the occasion. Silent comedy Safety Last, a 1923 film starring Harold Lloyd, will be accompanied by a live score played by acclaimed organist Ron Rhode. Tickets to the event start at $200.

“When considering how best to celebrate and unveil the newly installed Wurlitzer at the Oriental Theatre we wanted to honor the overlapping histories of cinema and the theatre organ,” said organization artistic director Cara Ogburn in a statement. “So Lloyd’s classic, always a crowd-pleaser and celebrating a major anniversary this year, was an easy, natural and perhaps obvious choice. We are thrilled to be working with the Harold Lloyd Estate to present this film in such a reverent way with Ron Rhode’s masterful performance of the Wurlitzer as exactly the right coda to conclude this phase of our historic restoration work at the Oriental Theatre!”

The theater, 2230 N. Farwell Ave., lost its previous organ, a 1931 Kimball, because the nonprofit group that owned it had it removed and transferred to a new owner prior to Milwaukee Film acquiring the lease for the theater in 2018. It was originally from the Warner Grand Theatre was since redeveloped by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra into the Bradley Symphony Center. The Kimball organ was installed in the Oriental in 1991 and for years organists delighted Milwaukee Film members in advance of special screenings. The theater’s original organ was removed in 1959.

The latest organ is being provided by pipe organ restoration specialist Jeff Weiler, president of JL Weiler, Inc. From the thousands that were produced, it is believed to be one of approximately a dozen Wurlitzer organs that remain in an unaltered state. It was originally installed at the Paramount Theater in Atlanta, where it remained until the 1950s. It was originally expected to be available at the Oriental by the end of 2020.

From the article:

A Republican-controlled committee approved 6% wage increases for all state employees on Tuesday morning except for the University of Wisconsin’s over 36,000 full-time employees.

State employees, except for those in the University System, will receive a 4% pay raise in 2024 and 2% for 2025. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield), who co-chair the Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JCOER), have refused to schedule a vote on the UW System raises.

The decision is a continuation of Republicans’ targeting of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across the state. Republicans lawmakers cut the UW System budget by $32 million during the budget writing process, and would have cut 188 DEI positions if not for a line-item veto by Gov. Tony Evers. Vos has since threatened to cut the raises for UW employees until universities eliminate DEI programs.

The lack of action on Tuesday brought criticism from Democratic lawmakers and one Republican on the committee.

Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green), who co-chairs the budget writing committee and has UW-Platteville in his district, said he was disappointed the raises for University of Wisconsin employees were not scheduled for a vote.

“The local employees on our campuses should not be penalized for policy decisions made by leaders of the university system,” Marklein said. “The custodians, executive assistants, food service providers and local faculty at UW Platteville have very little to do with the politics of the university system.”

Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard (D-Madison) said the committee was only doing half of its job on Tuesday. She noted at the committee meeting that university employees make up around half of the state’s public employees.

Agard said lawmakers were denying pay raises to those employees because of “one person’s resistance to initiatives to increase inclusion on our campuses.”

“This is a sad moment for our state when the majority party of our state is actively holding our workers hostage because they cannot fathom the ability to focus on equity and diversity in the state of Wisconsin,” Agard said.

Vos said during the committee executive session that taxpayers “do not want an ideological agenda even more on the campus than it already is.”

Vos said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon that he has met with UW leaders over half a dozen times to discuss possible ways forward.

“I have tried very hard to say, perhaps it’s not possible — because they are so dug in — to eliminate all of the DEI positions that are on campus,” Vos said. “That’s what I think should happen.”

Vos said he proposed a “middle ground,” allowing the Legislature future oversight of UW’s hiring. He said that he couldn’t imagine lawmakers ever approving a DEI position, but would approve other potential faculty positions. He said UW leaders seem to have rejected that offer, but that he plans to meet with leaders again soon.

The University of Wisconsin decided to end in-person instruction at their UW-Milwaukee at Washington County and UW Oshkosh at Fond du Lac campuses.