Author: Correspondent

The Wisconsin Veterans Chamber of Commerce recently announced the five winners of the organization’s first Veteran Business Awards at the Wisconsin Veterans Business Conference. The Veteran Business Awards recognize leading veteran owned and veteran friendly businesses and organizations, and their contributions to Wisconsin’s veteran business community. The Wisconsin Veterans Business Conference combined a business expo featuring veteran owned and veteran friendly businesses from across Wisconsin; workshops featuring experts and leaders in entrepreneurship, business development, hiring and retention, and community engagement; and an awards luncheon. Founded in 2015, the Wisconsin Veterans Chamber of Commerce is Wisconsin’s only membership based veteran...

With no growth in funding revenue and rising healthcare costs for educators, difficult decisions were required for this year’s plan. The Milwaukee Board of School Directors approved a 2017-18 budget of $1.17 billion for Milwaukee Public Schools that is down 1.8 percent or $21 million compared to the current school year on May 25 . “I would like to recognize the Board for their collaborative work in what was a very difficult budget. This budget was not able to provide much in additional funding but still responds to the growing needs of our students and staff.” said Dr. Darienne...

José A. Olivieri has been selected to receive the 2017 Robert H. Friebert Social Justice Award. The award was established in 2014 by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. Previous honorees are attorney James H. Hall and Danae Davis. “We are so pleased to honor Jose for his relentless pursuit of equal access to opportunity,” said JCRC Chair Michael Pollack. “In his nomination, Jose was described as having ‘an impressive combination of courage, compassion and conviction.’ Those qualities make him an exemplar of the values of the Friebert Award.” Olivieri, who will receive the award...

Optimist Theatre, presenter of Milwaukee’s Shakespeare in the Park (SitP), announced details of this July’s schedule for LIVE @ Peck Pavilion. The three-weekend run will feature Kelley Faulkner* and Todd Denning* as Beatrice and Benedick, Michael Stebbins* as Don Pedro, Jonathan Wainwright* as Don John and Jim Pickering* as Dogberry. The cast for “Much Ado About Nothing” is: Bob Balderson as Antonio, Todd Denning* as Benedick, Mohammed ElBsat as Conrade, Kelley Faulkner* as Beatrice, David Flores as Leonato, Jennifer Glueckstein as Ursula, Alejandra Gonzales as Watch/Ensemble, Di’Monte Henning as Claudio, Logan Milway as Balthasar/Watch, Emmit Morgans as Borachio/Friar, Bividiana...

BMO Harris Bank announced that it is donating over $4 million to neighborhood programs throughout Wisconsin in 2017 to mark BMO’s 200th year in business, including over $2.8 million in the Milwaukee area. Almost 200 community organizations in the Milwaukee area have or will receive donations from BMO Harris Bank in 2017, including: The United Way of Greater Milwaukee, which supports programming to increase healthy birth outcomes and reduce the city’s high infant mortality rate United Performing Arts Fund, which includes support for arts education outreach Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, which provides programming support to help...

The historic AAA Four-Diamond Pfister Hotel, owned and managed by Marcus Hotels & Resorts, announced Nicole Mattke as its tenth “Pfister Narrator.” In this role, Mattke will spend time in the hotel’s lobby and public spaces interacting with visitors and guests and sharing their stories on The Pfister’s award-winning blog. As narrator-in-residence, Mattke will share her experiences at the hotel through blog entries at least twice each week over the course of a year. She also plans to host events and book clubs to bring the literary community together. “I am so honored to be named the next Pfister...