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Archive for January, 2010

The Business Journal reports that Milwaukee to Madison high-speed rail line with stops in Brookfield and Oconomowoc is moving quickly through the planning stages.

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This press release just arrived from Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas:

Many Waukesha County top elected officials announced this week that they will make monetary donations to the Waukesha County general fund equal to two days of their pay in support of the County’s 2010 furlough days.

As part of the County’s 2010 budget, all hourly and salaried Waukesha County employees are required to take two unpaid furlough days.  The donations by the elected officials are a gesture of unity with county employees.

“Donating this pay is the right thing to do,” said County Executive Dan Vrakas.  “During tough budget times, such as those we are currently faced with, it is important to be a cohesive team and do what we can as individuals to support our hard working employees and support Waukesha County.”

The state of the current and forecasted economy necessitates the need for the County furlough program.  Due to the current economic recession and the increasing demand for County services tied to rising unemployment, the furlough days are needed to balance the County budget without compromising service delivery.

The Wisconsin Constitution prohibits elected officials pay from being raised or lowered between elections, so furlough funds could not be withheld from their checks.

“I am glad to be making this donation to Waukesha County,” said Clerk of Circuit Courts, Kathleen Madden.  “We cannot ask our employees to give up pay without doing the same.”

Confirmation of this commitment also has been made by: Register of Deeds Jim Behrend, County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus, Treasurer Pamela Reeves and Sheriff Dan Trawicki. the release said.

The Waukesha County Courthouse and Administration Center will be closed on Monday, Jan. 18, due to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the furlough day.  Both buildings will reopen Tuesday at 8 a.m.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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Carroll University students, staff and faculty pledged a total of $11,596 to the 2009 United Way in Waukesha County campaign, an increase of 36 percent over the amount raised in 2008. The number of donors to the 2009 campaign increased nearly 6 percent, and the amount of the average gift increased by just over 10 percent.

Ryan T. Corcoran, a systems administrator in Carroll’s Information Technology Services Department and a Waukesha resident, organized and ran the on-campus fund-raising campaign. Ashley Frazier, a senior from Rockford, Ill., and president of the Student Senate, and Christine Gravelle, student affairs coordinator, organized the students’ campaign.

The total amount raised includes $2,325 donated by students who gave the value of hundreds of meals included in their yearly meal plans. Chartwells, Carroll’s on-campus food service provider, then converted the value of those meals to cash and included that amount in the total.

Carroll’s campaign also included a United Way Day on Nov. 16, when United Way staff and members of Carroll’s Student Senate staff distributed United Way information, and collection points for loose change and cash were designated at various places around campus.

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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.

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The L..A. Times is reporting that Bennett Bradley, a graduate of the Waukesha university, was  remembered Monday for contributing to nearly all of the arts, largely as a producer and director at Hollywood’s Fountain Theatre.

Bradley, 59, was found Saturday stabbed to death at his Mid-Wilshire apartment. The death is being investigated as a robbery and murder.

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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.

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