Archive for September, 2009
Artful Bowls fund-raiser at Oct. 3 art crawl
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Artful Bowls 2009, a fundraiser supporting downtown Waukesha organizations, ArtLinks333 and The Potter’s Shop, will for a fourth year fill bowls with fresh soup, popcorn and ice cream donated by Waukesha area restaurants.
Visitors will be able to purchase a handcrafted bowl created by artists from The Potter’s Shop, area schools and community organizations for $12 during the Oct. 3 Art Crawl.
At 2 p.m. on the day of the crawl, the purchased Artful Bowls will be filled with popcorn donated by Pop It On Broadway. From 4 to 10p.m. the bowls will be filled with soups donated by area restaurants, which include The Steaming Cup, Bravo and Rochester Deli.
Artful Bowls continues to be the only fundraiser for each organization and proceeds from the events will benefit ArtLinks333, a performance and expressive art studio for people with disabilities, and The Potter’s Shop scholarship program, awarding a local art student’s continuing education funds.
Enrollment rises at UWW
Posted by: | CommentsNearly 2,100 students are officially enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha for the fall semester according to state figures released today
This represents an increase of about 4% from a year ago for the campus. UWW has the largest enrollment of the state’s 13 two-year colleges.
Patrick Schmitt, UW-Waukesha dean and campus executive officer, said the increase is good news for the community.
“UW-Waukesha is a gateway to the world-famous University of Wisconsin System located right here in Waukesha,” he said. “UW-Waukesha offers a great alternative for students who have jobs or families, or who want to start their college careers close to home either to save money or for other reasons.”
The increased enrollment at UWW is part of a statewide trend. The 13 freshman-sophomore campuses of the University of Wisconsin Colleges enrolled a record 13,807 students as of Sept. 16, the 10th day of the fall semester.
That total enrollment is an increase of 4.6% over the fall semester of 2008, and the fifth consecutive year of growth.
The two-year UW colleges have the lowest tuition in the UW system, $4,268, and offer a guaranteed transfer program to four-year UW system schools.
For information about programs, admission or financial aid, contact the Student Services Office at 888-289-9258 or visit the Web at www.waukesha.uwc.edu.
Local atty. sues state over bar exam
Posted by: | CommentsThe Marquette Tribune reports that local lawyer Christopher Wiesmueller is suing to strike down the policy of allowing Wisconsin school law grads to practice without having to take the bar. A trial date is set.
Carroll gets large biz grant
Posted by: | CommentsThe Business Journal reported that Carroll University has received a two-year grant for nearly $200,000 to enhance its International Business Initiative.
DNR hearing on deer season at WCTC
Posted by: | CommentsA Madison TV station is reporting that a public hearing will be held at Waukesha County Technical College next month to discuss lengthening the regular gun deer season.
I’ve had five of them run in front of me while driving this summer. One on W. Greenfield Ave. actually jumped backwards and high enough at the same time to barely avoid being hit by my truck.
Temporary homeless shelter approved
Posted by: | CommentsThe Waukesha Plan Commission Wednesday night approved a temporary homeless shelter at St. Matthias Episcopal Church, 111 E. Main St., for a second consecutive year.
The shelter’s return to the near-downtown church reinvigorated debate about whether the city, which is the county seat, tolerates too many social welfare activities.
Another concern was how the concentration of non-taxpaying welfare agencies in the downtown affect other fragile downtown inhabitants - such as business and property owners.
The only choice presented to the commission was to either approve the church’s permit or vote it down and send charitable groups scrambling to find another suitable site before winter sets in.
The commission approved it 5-1. Only commissioner Curt Otto voted against it after he expressed disappointment that a study group assembled by Mayor Larry Nelson to find an alternative site, failed to do so.
Nelson was unapologetic in his choice of group members and argued he was honest and open when asked about the group’s progress and findings.
Ald. Randy Radish who represents the area had raised questions about the makeup of the group, professionals in the fields of mental health and homelessness along with city and county government officials and staff.
“I will not apologize for doing my job…,” Nelson said.
“If anyone knows of another viable location, I’d like to hear about it,” Nelson said.
He added that if re-elected this spring, he would launch another examination into Waukesha being the main caregiver in Waukesha County for the homeless.
The shelter operator, the Hebron House of Hospitality, got a conditional use permit to run the shelter from Nov. 15 of this year through April 30, 2010. Its hours will be 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. with a maximum capacity of 35 men.
The Common Council chambers where the commission met was packed, mostly with church and charity groups that wanted to show their support for the shelter.
No one expressed opposition to the shelter or disputed its need during these hard times.
The specific complaints centered on the shelter’s location and the makeup of Nelson’s study committee, which did not include anyone from the downtown.
The lone audience member to question the wisdom of the location was downtown resident Vicky Hekkers.
Hekkers insisted that if downtown people would have been invited by Nelson to be on the relocation group , a solution might have been found.
“Help us grow our businesses,” Hekkers told Nelson, who is chairman of the commission. ” This is about a zoning issue, not about caring for the poor. The group only looked at churches and Northview.”
Ald. Joan Francoeur, a commissioner, echoed Hekkers comments.
“Putting the two populations with different realities together is very difficult,” she said of the situation.
Bernie Juno, director of Hebron House, was told by city officials that the Fire Department would not allow the church to be used on a temporary basis after the newly approved permit expires. If it returned for a third year, the site would be considered a permanent shelter and subjected to expensive fire prevention upgrades, such as installing sprinklers in the ceiling.
Public Waukesha water meeting set
Posted by: | CommentsThe Common Council and interested public are about to hear what’s been in the planning stages for years – Waukesha’s plans to acquire Lake Michigan water.
The Journal Sentinel’s Don Behm reports on the upcoming event.
Waukesha wants Haertel used as holding pond
Posted by: | CommentsOfficials with the Waukesha Youth Football League - an organization that runs popular tackle football programs for pre-high school athletes – are awaiting a meeting with Waukesha officials to discuss the future of one of its main facilities – Haertel Field, near Newhall Ave. and the Canadian National railroad tracks.
Fred Abadi, city director of public works, says the city wants to turn the northern part of Haertel Field into a detention pond to hold storm water that floods basements of nearby homes in the spring.
Last spring, one home suffered $150,000 in damage, Abadi said.
The city also wants to convert the existing football field into a spill-over basin for storm water that the detention pond could not hold.
To accomplish that, the bottom of large, six-foot-deep basin would become the new playing field, Abadi said.
Since the storm water problem happens in the spring, the field should be dry and available for the fall sport, he said.
The storm water issue is caused by the topography of the area. Storm sewers cannot handle the rush of water from the high grounds of Catholic Memorial and Waukesha South high school neighborhoods.
Storm water runs down College Ave. and collects at the rise at the Canadian National tracks that cross College at Maple Ave, forcing the water into the homes of adjacent basements, a perennial problem, Abadi said.
Storm water would be funneled away from the congestion point and sent into the basin, where it would evaporate or filter into the ground.
Ted Schneider, president of the YFL, said his group has used the Waukesha School District field for almost 20 years. The YFL recently spent $125,000 to build a second floor press box onto its equipment building, he said.
“We’re definitely concerned about what’s going on there,” he said of the proposal.
The concerned parties heard about the city’s proposal at a School Board committee meeting last week. The city was reminded that the property has a deed restriction that restricts its use to athletic activities.
Several years ago, plans to build affordable housing units there were killed because of the deed restrictions.
“What’s going to happen to the field?” Schneider asked during an interview.
The committee suggested that the city consider purchasing Haertel Field from the district. It also directed the city and YFL to conduct a meeting.
Abadi said a purchase was not in the plans.
Abadi said that using the field during the off season to hold stormwater does not alter, but simply modifies its use, he said.
The slope to get down to the field, which the city will rebuild with better drainage beneath it, will be gentle, he said.
Abadi called the city plan “a win-win” situation.
Firefighters knock down house blaze
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to Battalion Chief Joe Hoffman, Waukesha fire fighting personnel put out a blaze at a west-side home late Friday. Here’s his report:
“The City of Waukesha Fire Department was dispatched to 623 Crestwood Drive for a report of a structure fire with flames reported in the basement of the structure,” he wrote ” The dispatch was (shortly before 6 p.m.)
“Fire crews made entry and located a small fire in the basement storage area. They quickly extinguished the fire and ventilated the basement.
“The resident (Anne Abere) had just returned home from shopping to discover the smell of smoke. She investigated and located a small fire in the basement.” Ladder 1575 found heavy smoke to the floor, with zero visibility they utilized their thermal imaging camera and located and extinguished the fire. The crew began salvage and overhaul operations to limit the damage to the house.
“Police and Fire Investigators have determined the area of origin to be in the basement near where combustible materials were stored, but an exact cause for origin was (currently) unavailable. Damage estimates are still being determined. There were no firefighter or civilian injuries.”
Repairs to State Bank’s Fox River wall
City officials said yesterday that the sandbags stacked in the Fox River beneath the Bank St. bridge are there to divert flowing water away from the foundation of the downtown headquarters of Waukesha State Bank while repairs are being done to the crumbling wall.
Prevention of elderly falls to be talked about at Carroll
Posted by: | CommentsEvery year, more than 231,500 Wisconsin citizens over the age of 65 experience a fall, which is twice the national average, according to Bob Best, executive director of Oak Hill Terrace Retirement Community.
A variety of practices have proven effective in preventing falls among older adults. But, only a small number of people take advantage of these programs, because they do not understand the extent of the problem or the potential solutions, Best says.
A public forum for health professionals and members of the community will be held in the Stackner Ballroom at Carroll University at 3 p.m. Friday. The program will include two brief presentations highlighting the problem as well as local efforts to prevent falls.
These falls frequently result in significant injuries leading to emergency room visits, hospital admissions, disability and even premature death, he says.
Fall-related hospitalizations and emergency room care costs Wisconsin more than $350 million per year, 90% of which is paid by Medicare. This does not include out-of-pocket and private insurance costs for physician services, nursing home stays, medications and assistive devices, such as wheelchairs, walkers and canes.
Moreover, the financial costs pale in comparison to the potential pain and suffering that older people experience and the potential loss of functional independence, self-esteem and quality of life, he says.
Mayor Larry Nelson will proclaim Friday as Falls Prevention Awareness Day. Nelson will make the proclamation at the forum.
