Correspondent, Author at Milwaukee Independent

Community leaders reject WEDC’s jobs claim for Sherman Park area

Posted by Correspondent | Aug 24, 2016 |

Neighborhoods in economic distress need job creation strategies at the scale of the problem. At a news event in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park Neighborhood on August 23, elected officials and community leaders spoke out about revelations that the jobs agency created by Governor Walker, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), misrepresented its impact on jobs in the area. Speakers at the event included elected officials such as State Representative LaTonya Johnson, State Representative Evan Goyke, State Representative David Bowen, and Alderman Chevy Johnson. The event also included community leaders such as Reverend Willie Brisco, President of WISDOM, and Martha De La...

Video: Farms and Fermentation

Posted by Correspondent | Jul 17, 2016 |

As research for best practices for creative placemaking in Milwaukee, the Greater Milwaukee Committee sponsored a group trip of discovery to Fermentation Fest’s Farm/Art DTour in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, last October to explore some of the leading work in the field.

Bucks break ground on new downtown Arena

Posted by Correspondent | Jun 20, 2016 |

The new multi-purpose facility is scheduled to open in time for the 2018-19 NBA season, the 714,000-square-foot arena is the centerpiece of a new sports and entertainment district in Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Bucks joined with an estimated 20,000 fans, elected officials and community leaders to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center in the heart of downtown Milwaukee on June 18. The day-long celebration marked the culmination of a multi-year effort to build this historic public-private partnership between the state, county, city and the Milwaukee Bucks. Scheduled to open in time for the 2018-19 NBA...

Shorewood Ghost Train: Art, history, and technology converge in new sensory experience

Posted by Correspondent | Apr 20, 2016 |

Art, history and technology to converge in a first-of-its-kind sensory experience as the Shorewood Ghost Train Public Art installation moves forward. The Village Board has unanimously accepted the Shorewood Public Art Committee’s plans for a new installation called ‘The Ghost Train’, an artistic sensory experience which will enable visitors to travel back in history, imagining the round-trip journey of the ‘Twin Cities 400’ which was operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway from 1935-1963 and crossed Capitol Drive at the Oak Leaf Trail Bridge. The Ghost Train designer is Marty Peck, principal of Creative Lighting Design & Engineering,...

Home improvement grants offered for three neighborhoods

Posted by Correspondent | Apr 2, 2016 |

Exterior home improvement grants are available to residents of three Milwaukee neighborhoods through a partnership among the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Wells Fargo and the City of Milwaukee. Qualified homeowners in Capitol Heights, Havenwoods and Lincoln Village neighborhoods can apply for matching grants up to $3,000 through the Healthy Neighborhoods Minor Home Improvement Pilot Program. The minimum allowable project is $800, and homeowners are required to contribute at least 25 percent of the total project cost. The three eligible neighborhoods are part of the Foundation’s Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative, a public-private partnership with the City of Milwaukee investing in the physical...

Vigil held for Wisconsin burial mounds

Posted by Correspondent | Jan 15, 2016 |

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee researchers participated in a vigil on Tuesday, Jan. 12, to help educate the public about Native American burial and effigy mounds in Wisconsin. The vigil was held at a prehistoric burial mound in Lake Park near the UW-Milwaukee campus. Burial and effigy mounds are critical to understanding the cultures that built them. Some are gargantuan maps, while others, like the Mayan pyramids, are calendar and astronomical devices. Wisconsin has 90 percent of the effigy mounds in the world. These earthen forms were constructed by prehistoric American Indians. The Ho-Chunk people are believed to be descendants of the...