A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Spring Green

$20 Vehicle Registration Fee or $2500 Assessment?

Call it what you want, a new tax, a pothole fee, or a wheel tax but the intention is to rebuild our streets in a timely manner. Of course there are cries of "tax hell", that property taxes are too high, and that this will cause people and business to leave the City of Milwaukee.

MHC Member Makes History as First American Selected for All-Ireland “Poc Fada”

A Milwaukee athlete is on the verge of an historic first: Dan McAuliffe, a member of the Milwaukee Hurling Club, has been selected to participate in one of Ireland’s most popular and prestigious sporting events – the “Poc Fada” (“long puck [hit]” in Irish) on August 2, 2008. This marks the first time that an American-born player will be competing in this cross-country version of Ireland’s signature sport. In its usual form, hurling is a team sport played on a field or “pitch” slightly larger than a soccer field. Grouped in teams of 15, the players use a curved stick made of ash (a hurley) to move a baseball-sized sliothar (pronounced “slitter”) down the field. The Poc Fada takes the sport to an individual level. Beginning in the town of Annaverna, Ireland, twelve invited competitors must “puck” a sliotar with a hurley along a course that runs a little more than five kilometers over the Cooley Mountains. An Corn Cuailgne (“The Cooley Cup”) is awarded to the player who takes the lowest number of hits. Featuring a field of hurling’s “All Stars” from the best teams in Ireland, the competition garners a great deal of television and press coverage every year. The event, which has taken place annually since 1961, is currently sponsored by M Donnelly & Co. Ltd., Ireland’s leading distributor of Milwaukee Power Tools. M Donnelly has also been a strong supporter of the MHC, and will once again be a sponsor of the club’s Youth League trip to Ireland in spring of 2009. “As far as being the first American to compete, I’m thrilled and honored to represent Milwaukee,” McAuliffe says. “I believe being invited reflects that Milwaukee has made a name for itself in the hurling world, not only for its introduction of the sport to a broad American audience but also its level of skill.” Training has presented a bit of a challenge for Dan, as Wisconsin is a little short on mountains. However, he has been improvising by running up the larger hills in our area, and is being assisted by an ad hoc training “team” of proud colleagues from the Milwaukee Hurling Club. About the Milwaukee Hurling Club Founded in 1996 by a group of locals who were inspired by a friend who had seen the game in Ireland, the MHC has since attracted attention and respect throughout the world for its growth and support of the sport. In the last two years alone, the club has been honored with founding member Dave Olson wining the Gaelic Athletic Association’s Presidents Award in Ireland, NAGAA championships for Junior B Hurling and Junior Camoige teams, the youth league’s first trip to Ireland, and GAA President Nicky Brennan’s visit to Milwaukee. A unique mix of aggression, speed, grace, and skill, hurling is a team sport played on a field or “pitch” slightly larger than a soccer field. Grouped in teams of 15, the players use a curved stick made of ash (a hurley) to move a […]

Public Works Committee Approves Vehicle Registration Fee

The meeting began with public hearings regarding assessable road improvements and lead into Alderman Robert Bauman‘s opening discussion of resolution 080034, the proposed municipal vehicle registration fee.  This resolution would change the assessable portion of road improvement costs from 60%, which on average is an assessment of $2500 to the abutting property owner, to 0% being assessed to the property owner by shifting these costs onto a $20 municipal vehicle registration fee.  Additionally assessment rates for alley improvements would drop from 90% to 60% and for sidewalks it would drop from 70% to 50%.  This proposed resolution came about in response to property owners regularly voting to delete road projects due to high assessment costs.  The postponing or deletion of road repair projects has lead to crumbling streets, a proliferation of potholes and higher reconstruction costs in the future.  The Committee voted to approve this resolution with Alderman Joe Dudzik opposing the measure and it will move forward to the Finance and Personnel Committee.Resolution 080304 is an agreement between the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Discovery World and Summerfest with the intention of improving access to Discovery World and Summerfest.  The plan includes the widening of North Harbor Dr., new sidewalks, new landscaping and various pedestrian improvements.  This resolution passed with little discussion and will now go before the full Common Council.Alderman Bauman continued his efforts of improving the pedestrian experience in the City of Milwaukee by bring resolution 050096 forward.  The resolution would repaint West State St. and West Wells St. reducing traffic lanes down to one in each direction which would help to slow traffic, improve the streets walkability, and make driving conditions less of a hazard during winter months.  At the Department of Public Works request he had held off on this resolution until the near completion of the Marquette Interchange project.  This resolution passed and will now go before the full Common Council.

City Plan Commission Approves 52-unit Residential Care Complex

Resolution 080422 would advance the development known as Kilbourn Square. This project is proposing the development of a 52-unit residential care complex to be located at 2195 W. State St. that would house adults 55 and older.  This resolution stood out primarily because it showed the difficulties of developing property in the City of Milwaukee.  Although the developer presented a project that respected the historical nature of the site and had worked with the City of Milwaukee to put together a logical infill development it still faced a hurdle.  This hurdle wasn’t due to zoning or regulations but a neighboring citizen wishing to maintain the status quo.  This resident complained about, the loss of two trees and green space, and the potential of more traffic.  The commission heard these issues but voted to approve the resolution despite the concerns.  This resolution will now go before the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee.Another item of note was resolution 080262 which vacated land along South Alexander St. and West Nicholas St. between South 5th St. and South 6th St. to the neighboring property owner.   This was done to allow for construction of a retaining wall to built on the property in support of The Iron Horse Hotel project.  This resolution was approved and will now go before the Public Works Committee.

Public Works Committee

City Hall 200 East Wells Street Room 301-B Milwaukee, WI 53202 Agenda

Shorewood Movie Love For The Kiddies

FREE OUTDOOR MOVIE NITE THIS SATURDAY! 7/19 Chill out with a fun summer movie this Saturday night on the lawn of Shorewood High School. The “BEE MOVIE” will be shown at dusk, but make sure you arrive early (7 p.m.) and enjoy special pre-movie entertainment, including a magician and balloon twisting. Bring your lawn chairs or blanket – and maybe even a picnic basket! Snacks and beverages will be for sale to benefit the Shorewood High School Art Department. Special glow bracelets will be given away by the Shorewood Foundation to kids! This FREE family movie night is presented by the Village of Shorewood, the Shorewood Foundation and Sue Ewens. See the movie rain or shine! (In case of rain, “BEE MOVIE” will be shown in the high school auditorium. ) Please note: The Shorewood High School grounds are tobacco-free and alcohol-free. Many thanks to Shorewood High School for making this summer event possible.

Great Architecture

In 2005, the eight-story 1927 Ambassador Hotel at 2308 W. Wisconsin Avenue had a twelve-million dollar fix, a “lift” inside and out. The Art Deco building certainly deserved help. In fact, prior to the sensitive re-do, it had become infamous as a hangout for serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who allegedly murdered one of his victims there. That’s in the past, as are the nearby Oxford Apartments where Dahmer lived. They’ve been demolished. Today, the Ambassador, and the area surrounding it, speak about an era when making whoopee didn’t signal total chaos, unless of course you were in a gin mill toting a sidearm. In 1925 Paris, the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Moderns was unveiled. WWI was over and people were ready to embrace an architectural movement whose primary thrust was to meld industrial technology with the “primitive” arts of Africa, Egypt, and/or Aztec Mexico. Aluminum, stainless steel, lacquer, exotic woods and in some cases, exotic animal skins (such as zebra), were bonded in a muscular mix suggesting “deluxe, first class, and forward thinking.” All of these lush elements were firmly in place long before the term “Art Deco” really caught fire back in the 1960’s. If you’ve thrilled to the films of New York artist Matthew Barney, you know he wasn’t exactly high on the idea of architecture which seemed, because of its monumental scale, to crush and demean Homo-sapiens. In his 2002 “Cremaster 3” film, he blasted architect William Van Alen’s 1928-1930 Chrysler Building, which he considered the most excessive Art Deco architecture on our shores. To Barney’s mind, it is a hideous, stainless steel icon dripping with the corrupt power of politics and big money, a kind of mausoleum of madness, built on the backs of immigrant labor. Some critics thought the Crysler was an omen signaling the 1928 stock market plunge. Comparing The Ambassador Hotel with the Chrysler Building is rather like comparing a rowboat with the Titanic, but it is fair to say that Milwaukee’s Deco jewel shelters, rather than diminishes, persons entering its doors. Six steps up from the canopied and glassy east entrance and you’re in the intimate lobby, where no splashing fountains, jungles of potted plants, relentless music, and/or way too much art, confuse rather than soothe. The lobby chairs, upholstered in fabrics replicating “nature’s forms abstracted,” a popular Art Deco motif, are so discrete as to be barely there. The tables near the seating are small and utilitarian. The décor is refreshingly uncomplicated, even with the deco details inviting you to linger awhile: sconces of frosted glass embellished with metal ferns unfolding, pillars rising to meet a ceiling punctuated with Deco chandeliers, and sunburst motifs proclaiming a “new day is coming.” Gentle curves (less fussy than those of Art Nouveau) harmonize with chevrons, diamond shapes and triangles. Peachy beige, muted browns and grays, enliven the marble and terrazzo floors winding through the area, some leading to the modest Envoy dining room, where tuned-down jazz and rosy-dawn pink walls signal […]

Celebrate Your Independents Prize Drawing

The prize drawing entry form is available online here: http://www.vitalsourcemag.com/index.php/events/celebrate/

The Technologies

It's absolutely critical to understand the different transit technologies available if one is to understand and evaluate the merits of the various transit proposals for Milwaukee. Technologies include Bus-Rapid Transit (BRT), Express Bus Transit, Electric-Guided Bus, Standard Bus, Street Car, Light Rail and Heavy Rail. This article examines the technologies, largely with regard to how they would be implemented here in Milwaukee.

Senator Kohl Earmarks $1.5 Million for the Milwaukee Intermodal Station

The second phase of the Milwaukee Intermodal Station's re-development received a boost recently, when Senator Kohl included $1.5 million for the Milwaukee Intermodal Station in an appropriations bill funding the Department of Transportation in 2009.

Weekly Bookmarks – Monday, 14. July 2008

JS Online: Renewable synergy JS Online: Support for water innovation rated tepid Federal grant to help fund upgrade to Intermodal Station’s train shed – Small Business Times JS Online: Harley-Davidson museum draws attention to Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley JS Online: Milwaukee lags behind on parks spending Green Roofs Get a Little Easier in the Big Apple | Building Green TV Report: MillerCoors narrows search to Chicago and Dallas – Small Business Times Harley museum opens this weekend – Small Business Times Improvement project approved for Mitchell – The Business Journal of Milwaukee: