Bartolotta to open Mequon, Greendale restaurants
The Bartolotta restaurant group is charging into new suburban territory: It will open supper club-style restaurants in Mequon and Greendale this summer.
The Mequon restaurant is opening in the former Riversite space, at 11120 N. Cedarburg Road; the fine-dining Riversite closed in September.
The Greendale restaurant will take the place of Harmony Inn the Village, which still is open at 5601 Broad St.
Joe Bartolotta, the group's president and co-owner, said he expects Harmony Inn to close June 1, and the group would try to honor as many commitments for private parties already scheduled as possible.
The new ventures are the first Bartolotta restaurants in the north and south suburbs. To the west, the group operates Ristorante Bartolotta and Pizzeria Piccola in Wauwatosa and Mr. B's - A Bartolotta Steakhouse is in Brookfield.
» Read Full ArticleFire starts when woman lights cigarette near oxygen hose
A woman attempting to light a cigarette too close to her oxygen hose started her apartment on fire at the Lake Forest Apartments about 8 a.m. May 12, police said.
According to the Oak Creek police report:
Oak Creek police and firefighters responded to a 911 call reporting a fire in a resident's apartment in the 8500 block of South Chicago Road at 7:45 a.m. May 12.
The first officer on scene reported a 65-year-old woman sitting on the floor outside her apartment door. Due to heavy smoke and heat coming from inside the apartment, the officer carried the woman to safety.
Oak Creek firefighters doused the fire at 8:05 a.m., and residents were allowed to return to the building at 8:37 a.m.
» Read Full ArticleHales Corners library announces summer hours
The Hales Corners Public Library, 5885 S. 116th St., will be closed May 27 and May 28 in observance of Memorial Day.
Summer hours will begin May 29. During summer, the library will be open 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
The library will be closed on Sundays.
Thomas Rosandich named Oak Creek fire chief
The Oak Creek Police and Fire Commission has appointed Thomas Rosandich the city's fire chief.
Rosandich comes to the position with more than 33 years with the Oak Creek Fire Department. He began as a paid-on-call firefighter in 1979 and progressed in his career to the ranks of full-time firefighter, lieutenant, and assistant fire chief. Most recently, he served as acting fire chief upon the retirement of the former fire chief, Brian Satula.
Jim Ruetz named Oak Creek's District 3 alderman
The Oak Creek Common Council has appointed Jim Ruetz alderman of District 3.
Ruetz is no stranger to public service, as he has served on the city's Community Development Authority for nine years.
He holds a Master's of Business Administration from the University of Chicago and a bachelor's in geography-urban planning from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, as well as an associate's degree in ocean engineering from the University of Florida Institute of Technology.
Ruetz is the president and general manager of All Fasteners Inc./All Tool Sales Inc. in Racine.
He has lived in Oak Creek for 26 years and within District 3 for 14 years.
» Read Full ArticleWalker signs burned in Oak Creek, Fox Point
WTMJ-AM (620) and WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) are reporting that campaign signs supporting Gov. Scott Walker have been burned in Oak Creek and Fox Point, according to police departments in those communities.
Anyone with information on the vandalism in Oak Creek is asked to call police at (414) 762-8200. Anyone with information on the vandalism in Fox Point is asked to call police at (414) 351-8911.
Shoplifter left red-faced after intimate item revealed
A 23-year-old Milwaukee man who was shopping with his girlfriend was arrested for retail theft after trying to steal a box of a male enhancement product in St. Francis last week.
According to the police report:
The man shoplifted a box of maximum strength climax control male genital desensitizer gel from Pick ‘n Save, 4698 S. Whitnall Ave., about 6:35 p.m. May 10.
The man tried to conceal the theft from his girlfriend.
He also had .22 grams of marijuana in his possession, and was charged with possession of a controlled substance.
St. Francis plans Layton Ave. TIF district
St. Francis officials are considering a proposed tax incremental financing district that would help pay for retail space improvements along Layton Ave., and expansions at a business park north of that street.
The proposed 196-acre tax district would be north of E. Layton Ave. between S. Nicholson and S. Brust avenues, and also would include some former We Energies transmission lines right-of-way .
The plan calls for spending up to $7.5 million over 25 years, with an initial amount of $1 million to $2 million, said Tim Rhode, city administrator. That money would be repaid through property taxes from improvements within the district. Once that debt is repaid, the property taxes would then flow to the city, its school district and other local governments.
Some of the funds would help pay for facade improvements at Layton Ave. retail buildings, including the Layton Mart shopping center at Layton and Nicholson avenues that is anchored by Value Village, Rhode said.
Also, some smaller Layton Ave. residential rental properties could be purchased by the city and demolished, with the land redeveloped for commercial use, he said. City officials would not use eminent domain to force any land sales, Rhode said.
» Read Full ArticleRobed figure in 'Scream' mask not a welcome sight at 2 a.m.
A caller to the Oak Creek police last week reported seeing something out of a horror movie emerge from the fog in the wee hours of the morning.
According to the police report:
The caller reported that he and a friend were talking in a parked car in the 9100 block of South Chicago Road about 2 a.m. on May 2.
A tall, muscular man dressed in a black robe and wearing a white "Scream" mask walked out of the fog and up to his car and stood outside it for a moment.
The figure slowly backed away, then turned, crouched behind some bushes for a moment and eventually walked away in a northwest direction between two houses.
» Read Full ArticleNaked man cited after calling 911 to report stolen pants, underwear
A 54-year-old Oak Creek man was cited for lewd and lascivious behavior Sunday after calling 911 multiple times to report that his wife had stolen his underwear and pants.
According to the police report:
The officers found the man naked from the waist down after responding to his 911 call in the 2300 block of West Puetz Road at 9:50 p.m.
The man was intoxicated and called 911 multiple times, stating his wife had stolen his clothing.
He also was cited for misuse of emergency telephone numbers and was advised that his missing shorts were not a police matter.
» Read Full ArticleOak Creek man charged with pushing porn on son
An Oak Creek man faces criminal charges after his son told authorities that his father was graphic in sharing information about his sex life.
The 50-year-old man has been charged with 12 counts of exposing a child to harmful material.
The son is 18. He told Oak Creek police that starting at age 11 or 12, his father shared scores pornographic videos and prompted explicit conversations. The son told police he was worried he would anger his father if he didn't watch the movies or participate in the conversations, according to a criminal complaint.
The father later told police he knew it was illegal to give the videos to his son.
Oak Creek man to pay $20,000 to settle action over bogus charity
An Oak Creek man has agreed to pay $20,000 for conducting what state officials say was naked scam to solicit donations via candy donation cannisters designed to suggest the money would help groups find missing children.
Michael Todd Messmer denies the allegations, but signed a consent judgment that calls for him to make the payment, the state Departmen of Justice announced Wednesday. According to the agreement, the $20,000 covers fines, fees and surcharges. Messmer does not admit to any liability in the consent judgment.
The same enforcment action, filed in 2010 in Waukesha County, also names Marilyn L. Broerman, of North Carolina, as a defendant. She signed a similar consent judgment in December, and will also pay $20,000. According to the state, Broerman developed the scheme, and sold hundreds of the canisters to Messmer.
Messmer wound up placing more than 700 cannisters (see sample above. Photo courtesy of Department of Justice) at small businesses around southeast Wisconsin. They suggested a donation of $1 for five small pieces of candy. The complaint said he paid more than $30,000 for canisters, candy and other costs of the operation, in response to a newspaper ad that suggested he could earn $3,000 a week. It did not allege how much profit, if any, Messmer cleared.
» Read Full ArticleMeijer proposes large supermarket, discount store in Franklin
Meijer, a Michigan-based chain of combined supermarket-discount stores, hopes to enter southeastern Wisconsin with a large operation in Franklin, if the company can obtain city zoning approval.
Meijer is proposing a 192,000-square-foot store for 29 acres northeast of Highway 100, between Loomis and Puetz roads. The company hopes to have the store open by 2014.
The proposal got an initial conceptual review Monday night from the Common Council. Aldermen raised concerns about the store's preliminary design; its traffic impact on homes on Puetz Road, and its proposed 24-hour operation.
But Mayor Tom Taylor and council members also said the city needs the jobs -- roughly 200 to 250 -- and property tax revenue that the store would create.
"This is a plus to the community," said Ald. Ken Skowronski. "It's a needed asset."
» Read Full ArticleGreendale superintendent to take job with Milwaukee education nonprofit
William Hughes, the superintendent of the 2,300-student Greendale School District, has announced he will resign this summer to take a full-time job with the education nonprofit Schools That Can Milwaukee.
Hughes said in an email that he will resign June 30 to serve as director of leadership development for Schools That Can Milwaukee.
Schools that Can is a national nonprofit network headquartered in New York City that's had a presence locally under Abby Andrietsch and Kole Knueppel, who co-founded Schools That Can Milwaukee.
One of the local organization's goals is to get 20,000 Milwaukee children in high-performing schools by 2020. It works to improve school leadership at existing schools and has also undertaken efforts to encourage national charter-school networks to take a look at Milwaukee. That move has concerned some public-school supporters, who fear that more independent charter schools may negatively affect MPS enrollment.
Hughes said his new position will have him working as an advocate for Milwaukee Public Schools as well as public charter and private voucher schools in the city.
» Read Full ArticleHughes resigns as Greendale Schools superintendent
Greendale - William Hughes, superintendent of the Greendale School District, has announced his resignation, effective July 1.
"Serving as superintendent of the Greendale Schools has been a great honor and a defining part of my life," Hughes said. "I have been proud of my contributions to the long tradition of success in the Greendale Schools."
Hughes has served as superintendent since 1996 and is leaving the district to work as the director of leadership development with Schools That Can, Milwaukee.
"The timing was right," he said. "I am leaving to pursue work that I am passionate about, and I am confident that I leave the district in a strong position to move forward."
Schools That Can is a national not-for-profit organization that forms collaborative networks of high-performing inner-city schools to increase low-income families' access to quality schools.
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