Friday, May 18, 2012
Fire fighters were still investigating the cause but warned residents to use extension cords for temporary wiring only and not place cords under carpets or furniture.
A fire caused $100,000 in damage to a deck and home on Tower Hills Drive, but the occupant and a pet dog and monkey escaped without harm. A neighbor called 911 at 3:48 p.m. Thursday and a worker at the neighbor's home notified the occupant there was a fire, Brookfield Fire Chief Charlie Myers said. A Brookfield firefighter suffered and was evaluated for heat exhaustion fighting the blaze in the 1000 block of Tower Hills Drive. The cause was under investigation but believed to be accidential. Myers reminded residents of two things: make sure they have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors on all levels of a residence. He added: "Extension cords should only be used for temporary wiring only and should not be placed under carpets or …
Thursday, May 17, 2012
A day after Gov. Scott Walker called recent jobs numbers inaccurate and sped up the release of federal statistics, the state Department of Workforce Development reported the state lost private sector jobs for the second consecutive month.
Employment has become central to the decisive recall battle for the state's top office, and Gov. Scott Walker experienced yet another setback Thursday as state labor officials reported the state lost 5,900 jobs in April. The new monthly data, which the state Department of Workforce Development stresses is preliminary and subject to revision, shows the state lost 6,200 private sector jobs, but added 300 government jobs, netting out at a loss of 5,900 non-farm jobs. The data was gathered through a survey of 3.5 to 5 percent of Wisconsin employers. Since December 2010, the month before Walker took office, the state has added a total of 400 jobs. It's the second consecutive month of private sector job losses in the state. The state's …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Now that the recall primary is behind us and messages from both sides are more targeted, Wisconsin voters are starting to get more decisive.
Gov. Scott Walker is up by six points against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, according to a new Marquette University Law School poll of likely voters. The results of the poll were released Wednesday during a segment of the on-going "On the Issues" series with Mike Gousha and Professor Charles Franklin. Polling of 704 registered voters took place between May 9-12, and the poll results include responses from 600 likely voters in the pool with a 3.8 percent margin of error. Only 3 percent of those surveyed said they are undecided. The voting sample was split at about 52 percent women, 48 percent men and 89 percent white and about five percent each for African Americans and Hispanics. Before the primary, registered voters had Barrett leading by…
Facing a recall election, the governor says new jobs numbers released Wednesday are a more accurate reflection of how the state is doing. Tom Barrett calls announcement a political stunt.
Gov. Scott Walker released a new set of job numbers Wednesday morning that showed the state gained 23,300 public and private jobs during 2011, up from a previously-reported drop of 33,900. The new numbers come from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, part of a national report due to be issued on June 28, according to an Associated Press report. With Walker pushing up the announcement so that it comes three weeks ahead of the June 5 recall election, reaction has been predictably and wildly mixed. Walker's campaign said the numbers more accurately reflect what is happening in the state. The data is comprised of reports issued to 96 percent of Wisconsin employers and makes the numbers "much more reliable," according to a news …
To be truly free, we need law enforcement, Mayor Steve Ponto said at a National Police Week ceremony. Ponto and his wife recently visited the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Mayor Steve Ponto's remarks for the city's National Police Week Ceremony: In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a Presidential Proclamation that set aside May 15th as National Police Officers Memorial Day and the week which includes May 15th as National Police Week. It is a time of honoring, remembering and healing. There is liberty in law. However, if we are to be truly free, there must be law enforcement. Today, we thank those who protect us through law enforcement, and we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in that effort, and the families that they left behind. There are more than 19,000 U.S. law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty throughout the history of this country. Their names are carved into the…
In their bond rating report, Fitch Ratings highlighted Waukesha County’s policy of putting down 20 percent on all capital plans and paying off the projects within 10 years as a sign of strong fiscal management.
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Wednesday, May 16
Editor's Note: The following information was provided to Patch via a news release from Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas. Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas announced Wednesday that both Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings awarded Waukesha County triple-A bond ratings, the highest ratings possible. The ratings evaluate the County’s debt obligations and maintaining a triple-A bond rating helps lower borrowing costs and the tax rate in Waukesha County. In their bond rating report, Fitch Ratings highlighted Waukesha County’s policy of putting down 20 percent on all capital plans and paying off the projects within 10 years as a sign of strong fiscal management. “The county benefits from a strong, proactive financial management …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Over objections of some residents who sought to table the project, the Common Council unanimously approved a mosque on Pheasant Drive intended to serve a growing Waukesha County Muslim community.
Brookfield aldermen unanimously approved plans for a nearly 13,000-square-foot mosque, to the joy of Waukesha County Muslims and chagrin of opponents who sought to table the project Tuesday. The Common Council voted 14-0 Tuesday to grant a conditional use permit, with aldermen assuring residents the city had "thoroughly vetted" traffic and other site issues before green-lighting construction. "We're elated," said Mushir Hassan, a Brookfield resident, physician and project leader for the mosque. "We live in a very sophisticated, educated community that understands that they’ve worked with, lived with, and dealt with Muslims and people of all different faiths and cultures on a regular basis," Hassan said after the meeting. The mosque will be…
The Brookfield Common Council may vote Tuesday night on preliminary and final approvals for a mosque.
With Brookfield aldermen poised to vote Tuesday on a proposed mosque, one concern raised by critics has been Sharia law. At a public information session held at Gethsemane Evangelical Lutheran Church, leaders of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee explained how Muslims use Sharia law, that they do not apply it to non-Muslims and they obey the U.S. Constitution. Some residents were not convinced. Mushir Hassan, a Brookfield resident, physician and a project leader for the mosque, also addressed Sharia law among other concerns in a Q&A interview with Patch. City officials say they can not consider religious concerns when they vote on the mosque request and must stick to site, traffic and zoning issues. The city Plan Commission last week …
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Monday, May 14, 2012
The 28-day residency requirement in the Voter ID law and the unique summer election cycle could cause a low college student turnout, so Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett met with students Monday afternoon to energize young voters.
In a normal election year, college students are encouraged to go out and vote at their nearest polling location, but the new Voter ID law and the unique summer election schedule will completely change how political parties get out the college vote. Milwaukee Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett met with UW-Milwaukee students and faculty Monday afternoon to remind them not only to get out and vote in the June 5 election, but to vote using the same address they used in the May 8 primary election. Because of the new 28-day residency requirement included in the Voter ID bill, students that voted from their campus location in May will have to request an absentee ballot to vote from that same address when they go home for the…
He was at Jensen Metal Products in Caledonia Monday afternoon to announce the addition of 39 jobs. He earlier announced 350 new jobs at a plant in Neenah.
It will take baby steps for the state of Wisconsin to get the 250,000 new jobs Gov. Scott Walker promised on the campaign trail in 2010 and recommitted to over the weekend, he said Monday. Walker made the statement while speaking to about 50 employees of Jensen Metal Products, when he stopped in Caledonia while campaigning for the June 5 recall election. Walker announced Monday that Jensen Metal Products will expand its manufacturing operation, creating 39 new jobs, thanks to $2 million in tax credits through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation over the next several years. The announcement came just a few hours after Walker was in Neenah to announce Plexus Corp., another manufacturing company, is planning to create up to 350 …
Bob McBride
1:03 am on Saturday, May 19, 2012
Yeah we're backwater because we don't have a high (well, sorta high) speed passenger train blowing through the state on its way to Minneapolis. Randy, it's a high speed train. The whole idea is that you don't have to spend the night or choke down a Subway sandwich at the terminal while people board and get off. If anything, assuming any significant number of people would ride it, it would have an… more ›