Survey gives officials a glimpse at problematic behaviors in schools
The results of the sixth West Allis-West Milwaukee Youth Risk Behavior Survey gave the School Board information Monday night on everything from how safe kids feel in school to their obesity rate.
Among the findings were that 28 percent of high school boys reported that someone tried to hit, punch or kick them on school property in the past 12 months. Correspondingly, 15 percent said they were threatened or actually injured by someone with a weapon such as a gun, knife or club at school in the past year.
Overall, 45 percent of both boys and girls in high and intermediate schools strongly agreed that harassment and bullying are a problem at school.
But the survey of students in grades 8 through 12 had some positive news, too. One bright ray of hope was that the percentage of students who have tried cigarettes plummeted from 44 percent in 2004, the first year of the survey, to 26 percent in 2011.
The survey had a response rate that varied between 15 and 21 percent of students in each grade.
Woman run over and killed in West Allis may have been hit first by another car
Arrests have been made and charges filed against two drivers in the deaths of a mother and her adult son in two separate crashes on the same morning in West Allis last month.
But the investigation is not over, according to WISN-TV (Channel 12).
Colleen Henry reports that a search warrant suggests why Mary Jane Moore, 45, was lying in the roadway outside a West Allis tavern before police say she was fatally run over early April 29 by a driver who didn't stop.
Patrons at Capt'n Nicks said Moore had been drinking and arguing with her ex-boyfriend and that surveillance video shows his car passing by less than two minutes before the car police say killed Moore, Henry reports.
Police have found fibers and hair in the damaged rear area of the ex-boyfriend's car, Henry reported. He had not been arrested as of Tuesday.
» Read Full ArticleBail reduced for driver in West Allis fatality
A judge on Monday reduced the bail from $50,000 to $25,000 for a man charged with a drunken driving crash in West Allis that killed his close friend, hours after the friend's mother had been struck and killed by another driver.
The attorney for Xavier Hughes, 21, argued that the bail seemed excessive given the driver in the other crash fled the scene and had a far lower bail. The attorney, Paul Ksicinski, suggested Circuit Judge Rebecca Dallet follow the county's new evidence-based pre-trial release program, called Praxis, that suggested a bail range of $2,500 to $10,000.
But Assistant District Attorney Mark Williams cited Hughes' prior record of robbery and possessing a short-barrelled shotgun, along with his 12-page traffic court record over repeated suspensions, and two outstanding municipal court warrants at the time of the crash.
"He's a risk to the community," Williams said.
Dallet said she doesn't often look closely at defendants' driving records, but that in Hughes' case it was relevant.
» Read Full ArticleMilwaukee man charged with homicide in fatal West Allis crash
Homicide charges were filed Wednesday in the death of Thomas Olson, the West Allis man killed in a crash just hours after his mother was hit and killed by a car.
Xavier Dustin Hughes, 21, of Milwaukee is charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle; homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle - prohibited alcohol concentration; injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle, great bodily harm; injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle, great bodily harm - prohibited alcohol concentration.
If convicted of all charges, he faces up to 75 years in prison.
Olson's mother, Mary Jane Moore, 45, was struck and killed by a car about 1 a.m. Sunday apparently while lying in the 1500 block of S. 81st St. The suspected driver of the car was later arrested for leaving the scene of an accident.
Olson, 22, was a passenger in a Jeep Grand Cherokee when he received a phone call informing him that his mother had been injured.
» Read Full ArticleHighway 100 widening would plow businesses under
A state Department of Transportation plan to widen Highway 100 would result in dozens of businesses being lost in West Allis and tonight the Common Council decided to protest the plan.
Alderman Gary Barczak, chairman of the Public Works Committee, estimated the city would lose 50 businesses if the widening went through. At the very least $10 million in real estate would be gone and $500,000 in taxbase, estimated Peter Daniels, principal engineer.
"I think we're going to have a real fight," Daniels said, as the state Department of Transportation is determined to at least add 10 feet to the road for bike lanes.
The Common Council decided to send a strong protest to state transportation authorities. The city also will express its opposition to any widening to the city's state representatives and to the governor.
Falls' Festge cools hot-hitting Hale in GMC softball showdown, 4-0
Menomonee Falls' senior softball pitcher Nikki Festge is a patient woman.
She's been on varsity for three years, but has been used primarily in reserve situations and last year, she was behind NOW All-Suburban selection Nicole Zywiec.
But Festge is now making the most of her opportunity in the spotlight, as she gave up just three hits with seven strikeouts as she led the Indians to a 4-0 victory over previously unbeaten West Allis Hale Friday night in a showdown for first place in the Greater Metro Conference.
"I'm feeling good about things," she said, after the Indians improved to 6-1 overall. "I felt confident going into this season because I knew I would have a good team behind me. We're very good at communicating to one another and everyone does a nice job doing their part."
Her coach Wendy Wolff, a former top-flight collegiate pitcher herself, agreed that Festge is indeed ready to help the Indians defend their GMC title.
» Read Full ArticleWest Allis plan commission approves Shooters Shop expansion
The West Allis Plan Commission has approved an expansion plan for The Shooters Shop that will include a new shooting range.
The expansion plan fits the current zoning for the property, said Steve Schaer, manager of zoning and planning for West Allis.
The Shooters Shop is planning a 4,400-square foot expansion that includes an additional handgun range at the business.
The expansion and new gun range are being planned to meet growing demand for shooting practice time among gun owners, Shooters Shop owner Kevin Nugent said this week.
Schaer said Plan Commission members had questions about sound deadening technology that will be used as part of the plan. Once those questions were addressed the plan was approved, Schaer said.
» Read Full ArticleShooters Shop in West Allis plans to expand
The Shooters Shop in West Allis is planning a 4,400-square foot expansion that includes an additional handgun range at the business, city planning documents and the store's owner said Wednesday.
The expansion and new gun range are being planned to meet growing demand for shooting practice time among gun owners, Shooters Shop owner Kevin Nugent said.
"Range traffic has been very busy," Nugent said.
Wisconsin on Friday issued its 100,000th concealed carry permit, hitting that milestone in less than six months. The state continues to receive hundreds of concealed carry permit applications each day, according to the attorney general's office.
The Shooters Shop will add the range as part of a project to build a retail space for MGS Group LLC, a concealed carry and personal defense training business, Nugent said.
» Read Full ArticleOrange Leaf Frozen Yogurt coming to West Allis
Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt plans to open an outlet in West Allis.
The restaurant, to be located at 10922 W. National Ave., would be the second in the Milwaukee area for the Oklahoma City-based franchise chain. Orange Leaf also has a store in Waukesha.
The West Allis location would be in a building that formerly housed an Enterprise car rental and, before that, a Taco Bell.
Parent desires conflict with Whitnall plan, survey indicates
The results of a parent survey show that their desires apparently conflict with the Whitnall School District's new plan for letting elementary children out of school early some days and having secondary students start late some days so that teachers have time to collaborate.
The results, presented Monday night to the Whitnall School Board, indicated that parents heavily favor having half days off of school for all children occasionally. The current plan is to let elementary children out early once a week and have secondary students come to school later twice a month.
But because of parents' objections to that plan which the School Board approved in January, the board last month decided to take a survey. The board will take the matter up at a future meeting. The plan as approved, however, is slated to go into effect this fall.
Wrong-way freeway driver pleads guilty
A Greenfield woman arrested for driving the wrong way on a freeway pleaded guilty Monday to two charges related to the offense.
Paula O'Leary, 28, entered the pleas to amended charges of endangering safety with a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct, misdemeanors. She is expected to also plead to a civil ticket for first offense drunken driving at her sentencing May 30.
According to a criminal complaint, a sheriff's deputy spotted O'Leary's red Nissan - with no headlights on - traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes of I-794 near James Lovell St. just before 2 a.m. on Dec. 27.
After blocking the Nissan, the deputy informed O'Leary she was driving in the wrong direction.
"I know," she replied, according to the complaint. "As soon as I got on here, I felt, like, so bad."
» Read Full ArticleWest Allis man denied refund of concealed carry permit fee
A West Allis man asked the state to reimburse him $60 he spent getting a concealed weapons permit, claiming it was unconstitutional to require such payment for the right to carry his gun.
James Pawlak sought the refund from the State of Wisconsin Claims Board, which held a hearing on the request last month but later denied it.
"The Board concludes there has been an insufficient showing of negligence on the part of the state, its officers, agents or employees and this claim is neither one for which the state is legally liable nor one which the state should assume and pay based on equitable principles," the board wrote.
Pawlak, 73, who blogs as Crusader Knight and writes many letters to the editor at the Journal Sentinel, claimed the $50 fee plus an estimated $10 for postage and other costs related to seeking the permit for the refund.
"They gave me a hearing, so I guess I can't complain," he said, though he called the proceeding "perfunctory."
» Read Full ArticleMetropolitan Cadillac in West Allis closes today
Metropolitan Cadillac in West Allis will close today, owner Max Stephenson said.
The Boucher automotive group has bought Metropolitan's inventory and parts and hired most of its staff, including Stephenson, Boucher president Frank Boucher said. He said Stephenson will be general manager for Cadillac at Boucher Cadillac, Buick and GMC in Waukesha.
Most of the Metropolitan employees will work at that shop as well, with some going to other Boucher locations.
Boucher said he is not buying Metropolitan's real estate, 10221 W. Arthur Ave. Metropolitan, which dates to the 1950s, has been at the West Allis location since the early '80s.
Boucher said Stephenson "was the largest Cadillac dealer in Wisconsin for the last 10 years and one of the most successful Cadillac guys in the Chicago region, and we just felt that teaming up was a good opportunity for both of us."
Banquet hall denied - again
Several neighbors of the Parkside Wedding Chapel, 9008 W. Forest Home Ave., Greenfield, attended Tuesday'sGreenfield Common Council meeting to make sure that "no" stayed "no" to the chapel's request to open a banquet room to serve its wedding clients.
The council had decided 4-1 against the request in February mainly because wedding parking already overflows onto the street. Allowing those cars to remain longer would just aggravate the situation in the neighborhood where there is a home on one side of the chapel and apartments on another.
So, the council voted 4-1 again Tuesday in its reconsideration.
Working against chapel owner Jeff Kohl was the council's expectation that he would meet with neighbors to try to make the proposal work. But several neighbors not only attended Tuesday's meeting but spoke against the request.
Pietrowski becomes Greenfield Common Council's president
Alderman Tom Pietrowski was voted the new Greenfield Common Council president Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, the three aldermen who ran unopposed in the April 3 election were sworn in for another three-year term. They were Karl Kastner in District 3, Pam Akers in District 4 and Shirley Saryan in District 5.
New Berlin ousts Wauwatosa to win Battle of the Burbs
The voters in MyCommunityNOW's Battle of the Burbs contest have spoken and New Berlin has been tabbed the best place to live in the suburban Milwaukee area.
The second-seeded Waukesha-county suburb cruised past No. 1 Wauwatosa with 65 percent of the vote to 35 percent.
Congratulations to Mark Klug of Greendale, who was randomly chosen from all voters to receive a $100 gift card. Kudos are also in order for William Smith of Waukesha, who will receive a $50 gift card and Jennifer Phelps of New Berlin, who will receive a $25 gift card.
Thanks to all of our voters for taking part in the contest.
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