Monthly Archives: January 2010

In the neighborhood: the shuttles are not the problem at Story and Bluemound

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It looks like the Milwaukee Brewers are sticking shuttle operators for costs related to having traffic cops at W. Bluemound Rd. and N. Story Pkwy. on game days.

The shuttles, though, have nothing to do with the traffic problems there on game days.

Traffic control there has been sporadic since the Police Department took over stadium duties from the Sheriff’s Department a few years ago. On some game days, when there is no traffic cop there, cars are jammed bumper to bumper for a half-mile at least in each direction on Bluemound and are jammed on Story as well. (There are, on occasion,  traffic cops working the intersection on game days and, on occasion, there are traffic cops sitting on their motorcycles at the intersection observing traffic jams).

The big traffic jams are a pain. They prevent residents from getting into or out of the neighborhood and, for drivers caught in them, they certainly add to road rage. If there is an emergency in the neigbhorhood, too bad so sad. Ambulance or fire trucks aren’t getting through.

The lack of traffic control, Ald. Michael Murphy has said, stems from a dispute over who should pay for the traffic cops — the city or the Brewers.

And now, the Brewers are foisting on shuttle operators both costs of staffing both the intersection with cops and shuttle drop-off points with other personnel, according to the Journal Sentinel:

Brewers’ spokesman Tyler Barnes said the $300 fee was imposed because of safety concerns related to the intersection of W. Blue Mound Road and N. Story Parkway and the drop-off point near the home plate area. Those concerns include pedestrian traffic and shuttle activity.

“The best solution in our eyes was to staff the intersection with Milwaukee police officers, as well as add staffing to the drop-off locations,” Barnes said. “The fee will help, but not completely cover the expenses related to staffing.”

The shuttles, though, are not and never were the issue at Story and Bluemound. Look at the pictures here and here.  See any shuttles or shuttle-related problems?

Smooth move, Brewers, the way you shifted the cost to businesses that have absolutely nothing to do with the problem. If you could make trades that slick, the team would be World Series champs.

Explain the health care bill before the final vote

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Maybe it really is time for a third party.

Truly, truly showing that the Dems don’t get what’s going on, White House adviser David Axelrod went on ABC’s “This Week” and came up with this one about the health care bill:

As a political matter, the foolish thing to do would be for anybody else who supported this to walk away from it,” he said. He added, “The underlying elements of it are popular and important, and people will never know what’s in that bill until we pass it, the president signs it and they have a whole new range of protections they never had before.

Is it asking too much to be clued in before the bill is passed? Isn’t that how it is supposed to work?

Did Content get the joke?

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It’s hard to tell. Maybe JS reporter Thomas Content did get how ludicrous some of the positive spin We Energies was trying to put on its greenhouse-gas spewing coal plant.

This is my one of my favorite humor points from yesterday’s story:

“We have been very fortunate that we had managed to obtain the permits for this project when we did,” (Project Director Tom) Metcalfe said. “The environmental concerns and issues with greenhouse gases and what have you have made it much more difficult for projects of this type to move forward.”

How wonderful for We that there were no limits on its carbon footprint! Too bad for the rest of us!

Here’s another hidden gem:

Of the project’s total price tag – which is equivalent to, take your pick, three Marquette Interchanges or six Miller Parks – one-third is paying for the environmental controls.

Wow! That kind of social / environmental commitment must really hit We’s bottom line!

Not. Much further down in the story, we get this:

The project will help boost profit for Wisconsin Energy, We Energies’ parent company. That’s because regulators, seeking to help the utility with its big investment, authorized a 12.7% return on equity for the project.

Wisconsin Energy told securities regulators last month that the opening of the plant and resolution of its recent rate case would help its earnings grow 15% to 20% in 2010.

The best part is that the plant is not really needed to meet energy demand, according to the story.

So We Energies will make lots of money with an unneeded coal-fired plant that has a huge carbon footprint. Kind of makes it hard to resent that 7% rate increase, doesn’t it?

In the neighborhood: Story Hill burglary suspect in court this week

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Antonio Z. Andrews, who allegedly broke into several neighborhood homes and garages in September will be in court this week on a felony burglary charge related to the breaking-and-entering spree.

The complaint states that Andrews was in possession of stolen property from six different neighborhoods residences or garages when he was arrested Sept. 13 on the west side of the Wisconsin Humane Society.

Andrews, who celebrated his 54th birthday on Thursday, has been in custody since his arrest on the morning of the burglaries. At the time, he was out of jail on bail on an unrelated misdemeanor theft charge. He was charged in October with a misdemeanor count of receiving or concealing stolen property.

His final pre-trial appearance on the felony charge is scheduled for Tuesday before Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Richard Sankovitz. He is scheduled to enter a plea on the misdemeanor charges on Wednesday before Circuit Judge Mary Triggiano.

Andrews is familiar to police, according to a misdemeanor complaint. When a Wauwatosa police officer was dispatched to investigate a suspicious person complaint in June, the officer stopped Andrews.

“Officer (Michael) Nelson stated that he recognized Andrews as Andrews has had numerous contacts with the police department in the past,” the stolen property complaint said.

Andrews maintained that the silver ipod he was carrying was his, but “when the I-pod was powered on a check of the menu revealed that the words ‘Brad and Cort’s IPOD’ comes up on the display screen.”

The iPod was allegedly stolen from a car parked in a garage in the 4600 block of N. 103rd St., according to the complaint.

Andrews is facing another misdemeanor charge of theft in connection with a May car break-in on Milwaukee’s  northwest side. Andrews allegedly stole about $2 in that case, according to the complaint.

Andrews was arrested “and found to have a screwdriver in his left pants pocket and a flashlight in his right pants pocket,” the complaint said. “The defendant also had on his person a large amount of coins — totaling $40.77 and 3 different brand opened cigarett packages, a pink cell phone the he didn’t know the number for and a silver colored ring. Andrews states that he carries the screwdriver for protection and the flashlight is used by him to look into yards.”