Tuesday, May 14, 2013
In its initial request to occupy church property, Phuoc Hau Buddhist Temple not only gets a kinder reception than it did in Greenfield, it's bolstered by a helpful Plan Commission.
A Buddhist congregation that found rejection elsewhere in the suburbs was quietly accepted with not a word of opposition in its first stop at Tosa City Hall, and in fact, the Plan Commission offered more than the group's leaders asked for, extending its recommended hours. Phuoc Hau Buddhist Temple would occupy what is now Unity West Church at 4750 N. Mayfair Rd., which has been trying to sell its property for nearly three years. Phuoc Hau was seeking a conditional use permit to occupy the building, for which it already has a purchase contract, contingent upon city approvals. Part of the request was to convert some office space in the church into living quarters for a priest. Not only did the Plan Commission agree to the request, it offered…
43.103877
-88.052781
Unity West Church
4750 N Mayfair Rd, Milwaukee, WI
Proposed site of Buddhist Temple
/articles/buddhist-temple-finds-a-warm-welcome-in-1st-review-f143a2cd
1579320
/locations/9390027
Questions about overlapping hours of alcohol sales with children's open swimming prompt Plan Commission to recommend a one-hour later opening.
A summer beer garden outside Tosa Pool in Hoyt Park got the approval of the Plan Commission on Monday night, but with slightly amended hours of operation. In a unanimous if somewhat hesitant vote, commissioners also recommended a review of the beer garden 90 days after its opening this summer, expected in July. The Tosa Pool board and administration, which would operate the beer garden, had asked to be open from 3 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Based on the hours of the pool – which has open swimming until 4:30 p.m. on weekdays – the commission recommended the opening of the beer garden be delayed until 4 p.m. The Hoyt Park beer garden is modeled on the success of the Milwaukee County Parks' first year of operation of the Estabrook …
43.05528
-88.027679
Tosa Pool at Hoyt Park
1800 N Swan Blvd, Wauwatosa, WI
Plan Commission approves but recommends later opening
/articles/tosa-beer-garden-gets-a-nod-but-for-shorter-hours
2122392
/locations/9385659
Monday, May 13, 2013
Panel approves two-part plan, giving Forest Exploration Center School time to raise funds to occupy historic buildings but pre-approving razing three of them if those funds don't materialize.
The Wauwatosa Historic Preservation Commission voted Monday for a plan that allows for a developer and a charter school to work together on preserving all of the historic Eschweiler Buildings – but also would permit demolishing three of the four buildings if the school plan fails to achieve its financing goals. Mandel Group, which would build new residential units surrounding the Eschweilers, and the Forest Exploration Center University School put together a plan that essentially gives the buildings to the school. But it's up to the school to find funding commitments to begin refurbishing and occupying the buildings within a timeline of about 20 months. If the charter school succeeds, it will gain a long-term lease "for a consideration…
Developers suspended plans for a 52-feet high apartment building on Underwood Avenue after failing to reach a negotiation for tax incremental financing with the city.
Apartments that were once planned for the former Wauwatosa Fire Station No. 1 site on Underwood Avenue have been suspended by the developer, reported the Business Journal. The proposal of a four story and 52-feet high apartment building adjacent to residential properties brought much outcry from residents who accused the developers, Sean Phelan of Phelan Development and Blair Williams of WiRED Properties, of trying to squeeze every dime of profit out of the project without regard to the character of the surroundings. The developer and the city were negotiating a potential tax incremental financing for the $7.5 million project but the city wasn't fond a TIF financing. The 36-apartment building would have been the tallest building in the …
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Some Wisconsin legislators are hoping to prevent any government restrictions on the size of your soda. What about your own restrictions? If any?
If the state Joint Finance Committee gets its way, the Big Gulp will have the freedom to remain, well, … Big. WISN 12 News reports the panel, which includes local representatives Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend), placed a provision in the budget bill that would prevent any city or county from limiting the size of a food or drink being sold. The infamous New York City ban on sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces is being challenged in court, but if successful it would dramatically slash the 7-11 Big Gulp (128 ounces) and the McDonald’s Supersize (40 ounces) among others, according to Mother Jones. Setting aside the notion for a moment of how much control government should exert over such a matter, how…
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Friday in Madison and Monday in Washington, Wauwatosa police chief will pay respects and honor to Jennifer Sebena and other officers who died in the performance of their duties.
Wauwatosa Police Chief Barry Weber will be the featured speaker at both the state's annual memorial ceremony for slain law officers and a national ceremony at which Officer Jennifer Lynn Sebena's inscribed name will be unveiled on a memorial wall. The state ceremony will be at noon Friday at the corner of Mifflin and Pinkney streets at the north corner of Capitol Square in Madison. It will be preceded by a procession of visiting law enforcement officers, including a large contingent from Wauwatosa. Jen Sebena will be honored there along with Milwaukee County Sheriff's Deputy Sergio Aleman and three Wisconsin officers killed on duty nearly 100 years ago. Weber will speak at that ceremony and then travel to Washington, DC, for another early …
The Republican Congressman is opposing a bill that would eventual give a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
U.S. Representative Jim Sensenbrenner opposes President Barack Obama’s immigration bill and called it amnesty, reported the Wisconsin Radio Network. The senators, known as the gang of eight, put out a bill earlier in April that would give legal status and an eventual path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, tied to border security measures, reported the Huffington Post. The bill calls for employment verification, creating a new guest-worker program, and move the legal immigration system toward merit-based visas. Sensenbrenner, of Menomonee Falls, said the bill would make the immigration problem worse and it would take a person who has been legally trying to become a citizen longer than a person who have been living in the U.S. …
Turning a blah '50s concrete-block box into a bright and bold Parisian-style bakery earns owners civic restoration award.
The homeowner who turns an old, gray Victorian manse back into a bright, filigreed "painted lady." The business owner who turns a tired, crumbling Cream City brick commercial building back into a tuck-pointed civic landmark. These are the folks we have come to expect to win awards for historic restoration. The Wauwatosa Historic Preservation Commission took a different tack Tuesday and presented its annual Preservation of Properties Award to Rocket Baby Bakery for turning a bland block building from 1958 into an eye-catching North Avenue storefront. "This used to be a relatively mundane office building," said commission chairman Charles Mitchell. "Now, it's a bright and cheery traditional storefront that fits with the neighborhood." "Not …
43.060753
-87.99802
Rocket Baby Bakery
6822 W North Ave, Wauwatosa, WI
Winner of civic award for restoration
/articles/rocket-baby-bakery-design-wins-historic-accolades
2077870
/locations/9368985
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Bold bike lanes, midstream pedestrian islands and more, on a smoothly resurfaced roadway with no chicanes, comes at a $1 million price tag.
North Avenue's new look in East Tosa will be as close as possible to what most neighborhood planners wanted to see – in fact, the option chosen Tuesday night by the city is called "the Vision Option" for its parallels to their imagined streetscape. It's also been known simply as "Option 2," "the no-left-turn-lanes plan," and, most popularly, the "no chicanes plan." Traffic lanes will be straightened and slightly narrowed and parking and bicycle lanes will be clearly and colorfully marked. New signals, mid-street pedestrian refuges and bolder crosswalks aim at a more pedestrian-friendly environment. All that will be atop new, smooth asphalt after the existing concrete pavement is ground down. The cost is not insignificant. The "Vision …
Controversies over the $648 million reserve fund and the $600,000 Palermo's Pizza deal are bedeviling University of Wisconsin leaders.
It’s hard not to feel a bit sorry for Rebecca Blank, incoming chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sure, the acting U.S. commerce secretary, set to start in July, will make $500,000 a year — plus benefits and perks, including a university residence and car, money for travel and entertainment, and an unpaid academic appointment for her husband. But she’ll be stepping into a host of controversies, drawing flak from all directions. As one UW-Madison student quipped, “Blank is not starting off with a blank slate.” There’ll be ongoing fallout from some legislators’ volcanic eruptions over revelations that the UW System has a $648 million reserve fund. Though this is in line with other state systems, Wisconsin politicians are “…
Readingrocks
2:29 pm on Sunday, May 19, 2013
This is why I like living here, Tosa is so much more forwarding thinking. more ›