Suburban leaders rally against bill on sex offenders

March 09, 2010 3:12 p.m. | Suburban Milwaukee leaders are mobilizing against a bill that would outlaw local ordinances that restrict where sex offenders can live.

A hearing on Assembly Bill 759 is set for Thursday before the state Assembly Committee on Corrections and the Courts.

Franklin Ald. Steve Olson said Tuesday that elected officials from Franklin, Greenfield, Cudahy and possibly other suburbs plan to attend the hearing.

Olson said he thinks the bill would result in Milwaukee sex offenders being released from prison and allowed to live in the suburbs.

"It's an effort by some Milwaukee legislators to again pass something quickly, when nobody sees it, and put their problems on to other communities," Olson said.

Cudahy gets grant to rehab Packard Hall apartments

March 02, 2010 2:12 p.m. | Cudahy — The city announced Tuesday it has received a $350,000 federal grant to acquire and rehabilitate Packard Hall, a subsidized housing apartment building that is in foreclosure.

The city says it expects to start work on the 18-unit building, 4932 S. Packard Ave., shortly after closing on the purchase in April.

Nine of the units will remain available for low-income tenants and the other nine will be for those with moderate incomes, the city says.

UWM to unveil County Grounds campus plans tonight

March 02, 2010 10:06 a.m. | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee officials will introduce plans tonight for its proposed Innovation Park, which will include an engineering and applied sciences campus, on the County Grounds off Watertown Plank Road in Wauwatosa.

The plans will be presented to the Wauwatosa Common Council during a Committee of the Whole meeting at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 7725 W. North Ave. The public is welcome to attend the meeting to learn about the proposed project, but there will be no opportunity for comments or questions during the meeting.

Residents who would like to speak to UWM officials can arrive at 6 p.m. and ask questions prior to the meeting.

The next opportunity for public input will occur during the Plan Commission meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall.

Swing into the 2010 Golf Show with free tickets

March 01, 2010 1:50 p.m. | The 2010 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Golf Show starts Friday, and you could win a pair of free tickets by entering our Twitter and Facebook contests.

On Twitter, simply follow MyCommunityNOW and tweet "I want to win free tickets to the #MKE Golf Show from @MyCommunityNOW. RT to win. Details: http://bit.ly/cPficZ"

A random drawing will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday for the three sets of free tickets, with each winner receiving four tickets. Winners must pick tickets up at NOW's Waukesha offices. Winners will be contacted through Twitter before noon on Thursday.

On Facebook, become a fan of the MyCommunityNOW fan page and respond or write on the wall about a story, photo or some other staff work you saw in one of our papers or on one of our Web sites and tell us what you liked or didn't like about that work. Two winners will be picked during a random drawing at 10 a.m. Thursday with each receiving four free tickets. Winners will be contacted through Facebook and must pick tickets up at NOW's Waukesha offices. Winners will be contacted through Twitter before noon on Thursday.

For more information on the golf show, visit the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Golf Show Web site.

Long-stalled Cobalt project in Cudahy moving forward

Feb. 23, 2010 11:43 a.m. | Plans to develop stores on a former City of Milwaukee landfill in Cudahy are moving forward.

Developer Cobalt Partners in 2006 first disclosed plans to buy the site from the city and develop commercial space. The land is between the Lake Parkway and S. Pennsylvania Ave., south of E. Layton Ave.

Cobalt initially agreed to pay $1.75 million for the vacant site. That price would be reduced to $1.25 million under an agreement recommended for approval this morning by the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee.

The price cut reflects the fact that a survey shows the land is around 20 acres, not 24 acres as originally believed, said Dan Casanova, of the Department of City Development. The price also is being reduced because the land will need an environmental cleanup, he said.

The revised agreement gives Cobalt until May 31 to complete its purchase of the land.

Retired banker tops Cudahy primary, will face mayor in April

Feb. 16, 2010 9:18 p.m. | Cudahy — Mayor Ryan McCue and Municipal Judge John Zodrow both advanced to the April 6 run-off election, although both finished in second place in Tuesday's primaries.

In the mayoral race, retired banker Tony Dayfinished first with 1,297 votes, more than the other two candidates combined, according to unofficial returns.

Day will face McCue, a first-term incumbent, in the April 6 election.

McCue had 903 votes and Kevin Fech, director of operations for a transportation company, finished third with 130 votes.

Both Day and Fech were making their first runs for public office. They had said Cudahy isn't keeping and attracting enough businesses.

Drive your way to auto show with free tickets

Feb. 16, 2010 10:16 a.m. | The Greater Milwaukee Auto Show starts Saturday, and you could win a pair of free tickets by entering our Twitter contest.

To win, simply follow MyCommunityNOW on Twitter and tweet "I want to win free tickets to the Greater Milwaukee Auto Show from @MyCommunityNOW. RT to win. Details: http://bit.ly/cdQMKE"

A drawing will be held at 10 a.m. Friday for the four pairs of free tickets. Winners must pick tickets up at NOW's Waukesha offices. Winners will be contacted through Twitter before noon on Friday.

For more information on the auto show, visit AutoShowMilwaukee.com.

Follow us on Twitter for chance to win Bucks tickets

Feb. 04, 2010 2:48 p.m. | Follow us on Twitter and you could win a pair of Bucks tickets to Tuesday night's game against the Detroit Pistons.

All you have do is visit twitter.com/MyCommunityNOW, click the "follow" button, and then post your own tweet mentioning @mycommunitynow and the words "Tweet this for a chance to win Bucks tickets." The deadline to win the tickets is 5 p.m. Friday.

If you're already following us on Twitter, just send us the Tweet - this contest is open to new and existing followers.

At 5 p.m. Friday, we'll randomly select two people from everyone who tweeted "Bucks Tickets" - and they'll each will win a pair to tickets to Tuesday's game.

If you're not already following us on Twitter, do so today. Not only will you get a chance to head to the game, but you'll also be able to stay on top of the latest news, sports, photos and more from the MyCommunityNOW.com Web sites.

Cudahy firefighters pact includes retroactive raises

Feb. 03, 2010 2:56 p.m. | Cudahy firefighters have a new contract that provides retroactive raises and requires them to start paying toward their health insurance premiums.

An arbitrator decided the terms of the contract, which was approved Tuesday by the Common Council.

The firefighters won raises of 2% for 2007, 3% for '08 and 3% for '09.

The 5% premium payments requirement took effect Dec. 31, 2009.

Oak Creek loosens alcohol license rules; Cudahy doesn't

Jan. 20, 2010 10:16 a.m. | Oak Creek has decided to allow stores that sell gasoline to also sell beer, while Cudahy apparently will not loosen restrictions on the number of stores that can sell alcohol.

The Oak Creek Common Council on Tuesday repealed a 12-year-old ordinance that prohibited retailers that sell gasoline from also selling beer and liquor.

The repeal was recommended in a city staff memo. According to the memo, the Kwik Trip convenience store chain is proposing to build a gas station/convenience store south of the intersection of S. 13th St. and W. Ryan Road that would include a beer section.

Kwik Trip has a number of stores in the state that sell beer, or beer and liquor, and have had no problems in any of the stores, the memo says.

In Cudahy, licenses for retailers to sell packaged beer, liquor or wine are limited to one for every 4,000 residents.

Cudahy, Shorewood OK aid to businesses

Jan. 20, 2010 9:52 a.m. | Cudahy has created a cash and loan program that would give up to $57,300 to businesses, and Shorewood has approved a loan and a grant to help a restaurant move into larger space.

Both actions, taken Tuesday by the Cudahy Common Council and the Shorewood Village Board, are aimed at boosting economic development.

will give up to $57,300 in cash and loans to each of five small businesses that open on Packard Ave. Among the incentives that would be offered to the retail businesses: loans of up to $25,000 at 2% interest; matching grants of up to $25,000 to build or improve a storefront façade; up to $10,000 in cash to buy out an existing business' current lease so that the business can move to Packard Ave. Shorewood approved loan of $102,500 at 2% and a $50,000 grant to help North Star American Bistro move across N. Oakland Ave.

Cudahy man killed in Fond du Lac Co. crash

Jan. 20, 2010 7:08 a.m. | A 56-year-old Cudahy man was killed in a Tuesday morning car/tractor accident in Fond du Lac County, according to the Fond du Lac Reporter.

Mark Heller was killed when a tractor pulling a feed wagon turned in front of him on County Highway AW.

Heller was the son of former Fond du Lac police chief and current Fond du Lac County supervisor Mel Heller, according to the Reporter.

Fog may have played a role in the crash, the paper said.

Cudahy considers incentives to boost Packard Ave. commerce

Jan. 19, 2010 4:40 p.m. | Cudahy — The Common Council tonight will consider creating a program that would provide up to $57,300 in cash and loans to each of five small businesses that open on Packard Ave. Among the incentives that would be offered to retail businesses: Loans of up to $25,000 at 2% interest. Matching grants of up to $25,000 to build or improve a storefront façade. Up to $10,000 in cash to buy out an existing business' current lease.

Overdose at Cudahy High School leads to arrest

Jan. 12, 2010 11:58 a.m. | Cudahy — A Cudahy High School student was arrested on a felony drug charge last month after admitting he gave Xanax to a student who suffered a nonfatal overdose during school, a Cudahy police report says.

The Cudahy superintendent said Tuesday that the incident was isolated but that the school district is stepping up efforts to alert students and parents about the dangers of prescription drugs.

The incident occurred Dec. 3, nine months after the death of Madison Kiefer, a Whitefish Bay High School freshman who overdosed on two prescription drugs at a friend's house.

Cudahy police said they withheld their report until this week because they were trying to determine whether the arrested student may have been involved in other incidents.

According to the report:

Cudahy acts to ease pension liability

Jan. 07, 2010 12:12 p.m. | Cudahy — The city has taken steps to eliminate its unfunded pension liability and save taxpayers an estimated $4.5 million over 20 years.

A pension liability is the estimated cost of future retirement payments that current employees will receive. Unfunded refers to the portion of that money that the city has not yet set aside.

Mayor Ryan McCue said Cudahy's unfunded pension liability was $3.7 million when he was elected in 2007. In 2008, said Ald. Mark Otto, chairman of the Common Council's Finance Committee, the city used $1.5 million in general fund reserves to pay down the debt.

That left about $2.2 million. On Tuesday, the council approved paying $700,000 more toward the unfunded liability.

For the remaining $1.5 million, the council approved taking out a 20-year loan, which will be used to pay off the unfunded pension liability within a week.