Dear Readers,

I am putting Waukeshanewsonline on hiatus.

As most of you know, I am running for mayor of Waukesha, a city that is facing many challenges and needs focused leadership. I have covered this community for many years through the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Waukesha FYI and this blog.

I deeply appreciate that you turned to me as a source of news, inside information and an occasional light-hearted tale. All were meant to capture the pulse of this community.

I must now devote all of my efforts to win the Mayor’s office. In doing so, I cannot continue to provide the coverage that you the readers have come to expect. Please stay in touch by visiting my campaign site and please vote in the Feb. 16 primary election.

Darryl Enriquez

The Waukesha Water Utility will present a draft application for a new Lake Michigan water supply to the Common Council and the public at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28, city officials said Tuesday.

The meeting will be held at City Hall, 201 Delafield St., in the Common Council Chambers.

The utility is pursuing Lake Michigan as a new source of drinking water for the city as water drawn from its deep aquifers contain radium concentrations that exceed federal safety standards, which have been unsuccessfully disputed by the city.

The utility wants to purchase water from Milwaukee Water Works, but also will consider getting  lake water from Racine or Oak Creek if a deal cannot be struck with Milwaukee.

The council must grant final approval to a proposal that now calls for building a large pipeline that connects Waukesha to Milwaukee water pipes and to build another pipeline that returns an equal amount of treated water back to the lake through the Underwood Creek tributary in Wauwatosa.

Here’s a source for  more information about the Waukesha Water Utility’s plans.

The Plan Commission will consider a proposal to open an affordable housing site with 10-units above a potential homeless shelter.

The commission meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall. Here’s the Journal Sentinel report

The 24-year-old Waukesha man who suffered a head wound at Fletcher’s Arms gun range on E. Main St. has died from his injury, police reported today.

Police Capt. Mark Stigler said that an investigation into the late Friday shooting continues, although foul play and accidental causes have been ruled out.

Police are not officially calling it a suicide but are awaiting a ruling from the county medical examiner on the cause of death.

This in from Waukesha Police Capt. Mark Stigler:

At 6:44 p.m. Friday, Waukesha police responded to the report of a shooting  on the range at Fletcher Arms, 1441 E. Main St., Waukesha.

Police found a 24-year-old man inside the premise with a gun shot wound.  Waukesha Fire responded, rendered aid and transported him to the hospital in critical condition.

Stigler said the man remained in critical condition this morning.

Detectives were called in to assist in the investigation.  The incident does not appear to be criminal in nature and therefore there were no arrests.

Waukesha Clerk/Treasurer Tom Neill reports that five candidates have filed the necessary amount of petition signatures to be on the ballot for the spring mayoral race. The filing deadline was end of business today.

They are:

Bill Beglinger

Darryl Enriquez

Larry Nelson

Randy Radish

Jeff Scrima

The primary race among the five will be Feb. 16. The general election between the remaining two will be April 6.

This from Mike Johnson of Journal Sentinel

Waukesha - A 50-year-old Waukesha man charged in the June 16 stabbing death of his girlfriend was found incompetent to stand trial and was committed Thursday to the state Department of Health Services for mental health treatment.

Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge James R. Kieffer determined during a hearing that Daniel K. Christesen requires the involuntary administration of psychotropic medications and treatment, according to online court records.

Christesen’s attorney, Donna Kuchler, said that Christesen will be sent to a secure state mental health institution, either Mendota or Winnebago.

It is expected that with treatment, Christesen could be competent to stand trial within 12 months, Deputy District Attorney Stephen J. Centinario Jr. said.

Kieffer scheduled a June 11 hearing on the case to review then whether Christesen is fit to stand trial.

But Centinario said Christesen will be re-evaluated after three months and the hearing date could be moved up from June.

Christesen is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the death of Carol Fisher, 55. He is accused of repeatedly stabbing her with a 10-inch butcher knife in his Waukesha apartment.

Fisher, 55, and Christesen lived in separate flats in a duplex in the 900 block of Arcadian Ave. in Waukesha.

Police say Christesen contacted them the evening of June 16, saying he fatally stabbed Fisher in his flat.

Christesen peacefully surrendered to police, a Bible in one hand, a phone in the other, the complaint says. He asked emergency medical personnel: “Do you think I will go to hell for this?”

According to the criminal complaint, Christesen said he stabbed Fisher because he had grown tired of her constant arguing.

She had written him a note days earlier, saying she was leaving him, the document says. He admitted he had not taken all his psychiatric medications that day, the complaint says.

The City of Waukesha has mailed 21,387 tax bills to residents.

The tax rate is $20.1130 per thousand of assessed valuation, which is an increase of 2.08% from 2008, according city clerk/treasuser Tom Neill.

The two baseball diamonds in Grandview Park will remain and serve the secondary purpose of becoming detention ponds for storm water that sewers cannot handle during heavy rains.

The Parks, Recreation and Forestry Board Monday night approved letting the city’s Department of Public Works  use a practice field in the southwest corner of the park  as a detention pond that could temporarily hold up to eight-feet deep water about three to five times a year.

Public Works Director Fred Abadi told the park board that the collected storm water would quickly drain into city storm sewers, probably within a six-to-24 hour period.

Bill Oliver, a park neighbor, opposed the city’s original plan to relocate the two ball diamonds to another park on another side of town.

Oliver echoed a city-wide concern about the lack of baseball diamonds, especially for youth leagues.

Oliver called the new plan to keep the diamonds at Grandview and use the ball fields as a temporary detention pond a “compromise” that he could accept. The city also agreed to install an improved parking area.

“This will achieve what’s best for the kids and what’s best for the city,” Oliver said.

Ald. Carrol Waldenberger said he was concerned about the runoff remaining too long on the diamonds and that the soil would remain damp even after the water funneled into the storm sewer.

Abadi assured Waldenberger that the situation would be watched closely so storm water collection does not prevent the use of the diamonds. Select baseball teams use the diamond in the northeast section of the park. The southwest diamond, where most of the water will be collected, is basically for practice and pickup games.

The northeast diamond will remain level.  A 2% decline to the southwest diamond will allow it to collect mostly on the southern diamond.

The placement of safety fencing being placed around the temporary pond was mentioned but details were not discussed.

Commission Chairwoman Rebecca Roeker indicated she does not want to see parkland used to correct the problems of other city departments,  but the flooding issue needed to be resolved and the park will be improved with better parking.

The board’s approval does not have to be reviewed by Common Council, officials said.

A Waukesha woman on Eales Ave. avoided falling victim to a common scam by quick thinking, according to police reports.

A man posing as her grandson called a Waukesha woman and asked
for a large amount of money. He gave her instructions to drop it off
near a large retail store.

The mom callled family members and discovered the call was
a scam and the grandson was not asking for money, the report says.

The suspect continued to call to see if the money was ready to be delivered.

The woman contacted police.

The suspect called again and wanted the money wired to a location in Boston, Mass. No money was transfered, the report says.

Waukesha police received a call Wednesday morning that a 9-year-old’s tongue was stuck to a pole at Madison and Grandview.

The youngster was unstuck by the time police arrived, the daily blotter says.

I wonder if he was triple-dog dared to do it?

Laurel Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports on the upcoming spring election political battles.

The Journal Sentinel reports on a prison term handed to Scott E. Ziegler on criminal charges of using his downtown shop as a sex base.

Christmas is over, but the holiday charitable work of Interfaith Senior Programs will resonate into the coming year.

The Waukesha-based agency has fulfilled its goal of giving self-sufficiency items to low income and isolated seniors and adults with disabilities, says Interfaith Executive Director Kathy Gale.

Agency volunteers, 71 in all, distributed 351 bags of much-needed goods earlier this month to the needy in Big Bend, Brookfield, Butler/Elm Grove, Delafield/Dousman/Nashotah, Eagle, Hartland, Lannon/Menomonee Falls/Sussex, Muskego/Mukwonago, New Berlin, North Prairie/Wales, Oconomowoc, Pewaukee and Waukesha.

Interfaith volunteer presents gift basket

Volunteers not only brought holiday cheer to the recipients, but some casually asked about the health and living conditions to see if assistance was needed from other agencies, such as transportation and medical checkups.

Waukesha contained the lion’s share the needy with 178 bags distributed here.

Each bag contained merchandise and gift cards with a total value of $137, Gale said.

Some of the large donors  included Roundy’s, which contributed $5,000 in Pick ‘n Save grocery cards; Kwik Trip, which donated loaves of bread and bottles of water; UPS, which prepared routes and maps to those who received bags; GE Healthcare for energy-efficient light bulbs; the Forest County Potawatomi Foundation, which provided a $5,000 grant.

The present-day Interfaith is an agency that merged in 2007 with RSVP to form an efficient, single agency where volunteer seniors can lend a hand to the needy throughout Waukesha County.

Gale said the merger showed to donors that charitable groups are willing to combine resources, including staff, to provide improved services.

“It gave us credibility in the donor community,” Gale said of the merger.

A suspected chimney fire heavily damaged a single-family home in the 100 block of  Hyde Park Ave. early this morning.

No dollar amount for damages had been set as of this afternoon.

When firefighters arrived shortly after 3 a.m., heavy smoke and flames were billowing from the windows, a police report says.

All building occupants were outside when firefighters arrived, the report says.

Bobanna’s Pizza Place, 1403 Summit Ave., was robbed of its cash by a hooded gunman Saturday night, according to Waukesha police.

Police were told that shortly before 7 p.m. a man with a black handgun took cash from the register and fled on foot east of Summit Ave, toward Moreland Blvd., police say. None of the employees were injured, police say.

The suspect was wearing a dark hoodie, was 5’8” tall, medium build and had a buzz haircut. He carried a dark duffle bag.

Police suspect a get-away car – a bronze Chevy sedan with several passengers – may have been involved. The gunman was still at large this morning, police say.