$500,000 bail set in alleged sex assault of Falls teen

March 11, 2010 4:36 p.m. | Bail was set at $500,000 Thursday for a 48-year-old Brookfield man charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl he met at a Menomonee Falls gas station last weekend.

According to a criminal complaint, Sunil K. Singh talked the Menomonee Falls girl into getting into a car Saturday before getting her drunk, groping her and driving to an apartment building in the 11000 block of W. Meinecke Ave. in Wauwatosa.

According to the complaint, Singh threatened to kill the girl before dragging her by the wrist into the basement of the building, where he beat her and forced her into sex.

The girl managed to escape to a nearby apartment, where a resident called police.

Singh admitted to police that he provided the girl with alcohol, had sex with her and slapped her several times to keep her from crying.

Dates set for speaker on drug abuse

March 11, 2010 4:30 p.m. | Dates and times have been set for three public appearances by Milton Creagh, a nationally known motivational speaker who is being brought to the Milwaukee area for the second time in six weeks to talk about drug abuse.

The sessions are sponsored by Bay United, a parents group that formed after the prescription drug overdose death last year of 15-year-old Madison Kiefer of Whitefish Bay.

The public appearances, each at 7 p.m., are Tuesday at Whitefish Bay High School; and Wednesday and Thursday at Nicolet High School.

Creagh also is speaking to students at schools in Whitefish Bay, Glendale, Bayside and Fox Point from Tuesday through Friday.

A Journal Sentinel investigation of Kiefer's death, and of the pervasiveness of prescription drugs in overdose deaths throughout the area, is available at www.JSOnline.com/prescription.

Help us choose the All-Suburban teams and you could win Bucks tickets

March 11, 2010 7:21 a.m. | Want to weigh in on who you think are the best boys and girls basketball players in the suburban area?

Now's your chance, as we're asking high school hoops fans to help us select the annual NOW Newspapers All-Suburban boys and girls basketball teams, and the Players of the Year.

We've nominated the top players in the area to fill 10 spots on each honors team and we're asking you to pick the players that you think are the best in the NOW Newspapers coverage area.

When the fan voting is over, your votes - along with the votes of our sports staff - will determine the makeup of our All-Suburban Teams. And one lucky person will win a pair of lower-level tickets to a Milwaukee Bucks game just for voting!

Vote for the boys team

Whitefish Bay hires agency for business marketing

March 09, 2010 12:02 p.m. | Whitefish Bay — The Whitefish Bay Business Improvement District has recommended hiring an agency, rather than an individual, to be the district's executive director.

Freight Train of Milwaukee will take over if the Village Board approves a contract with the agency on Monday, Assistant Village Manager Matt Schuenke said Tuesday.

The 2-year-old district initially was run by a marketing director, Jennifer Heise, who resigned last fall, Schuenke said.

Freight Train's representatives for the district would be Lisa Liljegren and Julia Evans.

Freight Train works with the East Side Business Improvement District and the East Side Association, both in Milwaukee, Liljegren said.

Potent duo leads Bay past Brown Deer

March 05, 2010 10:14 a.m. | Whitefish Bay — Brown Deer boys basketball coach Andy Bauschelt said he told his players before the game that Whitefish Bay's Jamie Schneck and John Johnston were the two to stop in order to advance.

That's easier said than done.

The potent post-guard duo combined to score 36 points (23 in the second half) as the Blue Dukes escaped another close call at home, winning 51-48 in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal Thursday.

"Whitefish Bay is a great team," Bauschelt said. "They don't turn the ball over. They don't beat themselves.

"That was kind of our game plan all around. They're not going to beat themselves so we can't beat ourselves, and we have to take every possession for what it's worth. I thought we did that for about two and a half quarters, and then for a quarter and a half we were kind of loose cannons out there, throwing the ball away and having them get three, four cracks at a bucket and that was pretty much the game."

Vote for the All-Suburban Basketball Team and you could win Bucks tickets

March 04, 2010 7:43 a.m. | Want to weigh in on who you think are the best boys basketball players in the suburban area?

Now's your chance, as we're asking high school hoops fans to help us select the annual NOW Newspapers All-Suburban Boys Basketball Team, and the Player of the Year.

We've nominated 14 players to fill 10 spots on the honors team and we're asking you to pick the player that you think is the top basketball player in the NOW Newspapers coverage area.

When the fan voting is over, your votes - along with the votes of our sport staff - will determine the makeup of our All-Suburban Team. And one lucky person will win a pair of lower-level tickets to a Milwaukee Bucks game just for voting!

Vote here.

Investment bank sues school districts back

March 02, 2010 5:50 p.m. | An investment bank sued by five Wisconsin school districts that allege they were misled into making risky investments has filed its own claim in the case, saying the districts should pay the bank back any winnings they might receive from bank in the lawsuit.

Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc., filed its counterclaims Monday against the trustees for trusts run by the five districts -- Kenosha, Kimberly, Waukesha, West Allis-West Milwaukee and Whitefish Bay -- as part of its response to a new complaint in the case. The districts sued Stifel and Royal Bank of Canada in Milwaukee County Circuit Court in 2008, alleging that the banks had misled them into making $200 million of risky investments that now are nearly worthless.

Proceeds from the investments, which were funded mostly by money borrowed from DEPFA Bank, were intended to help pay for district employees' retirement benefits.

The St. Louis-based bank's counterclaims assert that school district officials, acting in their capacity as trustees for district-run trusts, signed letters and other documents that indemnifed the bank against "any and all losses, claims, damages, or liabilities claims that arise out of or are based upon any action, suit, or proceeding" from the transactions.

"I think this establishes that Stifel believes that the districts and the trustees bear the financial responsibility for these trusts, as stated in these letters and agreements," said Dan Callahan, a spokesman for Stifel.

UWM to unveil County Grounds campus plans tonight

March 02, 2010 10:06 a.m. | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee officials will introduce plans tonight for its proposed Innovation Park, which will include an engineering and applied sciences campus, on the County Grounds off Watertown Plank Road in Wauwatosa.

The plans will be presented to the Wauwatosa Common Council during a Committee of the Whole meeting at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 7725 W. North Ave. The public is welcome to attend the meeting to learn about the proposed project, but there will be no opportunity for comments or questions during the meeting.

Residents who would like to speak to UWM officials can arrive at 6 p.m. and ask questions prior to the meeting.

The next opportunity for public input will occur during the Plan Commission meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall.

Whitefish Bay High School, Dominican honor rolls now online

March 01, 2010 2:18 p.m. | We've just posted the latest honor roll lists for Whitefish Bay-area high schools.

The honor rolls that are online are: Whitefish Bay High School, second quarter, and Dominican High School, first semester.

Not only you will find the complete list of hundreds of outstanding area students, but when you click on a student's name, you'll see a printable honor roll certificate. WhitefishBayNOW.com and Marquette University, which sponsors the honor rolls, would like to congratulate the local students for their outstanding achievements.

We also welcome honor rolls for local elementary and middle schools - both public and private. If you don't see your child's school on this list, ask your school to e-mail its honor roll to honors@mycommunitynow.com.

Swing into the 2010 Golf Show with free tickets

March 01, 2010 1:50 p.m. | The 2010 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Golf Show starts Friday, and you could win a pair of free tickets by entering our Twitter and Facebook contests.

On Twitter, simply follow MyCommunityNOW and tweet "I want to win free tickets to the #MKE Golf Show from @MyCommunityNOW. RT to win. Details: http://bit.ly/cPficZ"

A random drawing will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday for the three sets of free tickets, with each winner receiving four tickets. Winners must pick tickets up at NOW's Waukesha offices. Winners will be contacted through Twitter before noon on Thursday.

On Facebook, become a fan of the MyCommunityNOW fan page and respond or write on the wall about a story, photo or some other staff work you saw in one of our papers or on one of our Web sites and tell us what you liked or didn't like about that work. Two winners will be picked during a random drawing at 10 a.m. Thursday with each receiving four free tickets. Winners will be contacted through Facebook and must pick tickets up at NOW's Waukesha offices. Winners will be contacted through Twitter before noon on Thursday.

For more information on the golf show, visit the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Golf Show Web site.

Group formed after Kiefer death sponsoring motivational speaker

March 01, 2010 12:08 p.m. | Bay United, a parents group formed after the overdose death of Madison Kiefer, is bringing back a nationally known motivational speaker to meet with area students and parents.

Kiefer, 15, was a freshman at Whitefish Bay High School when she died from two prescription drugs one year ago today.

June Rubner, one of Bay United's founders, said Monday that Milton Creagh will speak to Whitefish Bay high school and middle school students March 16 and to students at Maple Dale, Bayside and Glen Hills middle schools in the North Shore on March 18.

Creagh will also speak on the evening of March 18 at Nicolet High School to parents of the Maple Dale, Bayside and Glen Hills students.

And he is available to speak to other area schools or groups on March 15, 17 and 19, Rubner said.

Preserving Our Past updated with historic Whitefish Bay home

March 01, 2010 10:15 a.m. | We've just updated the Whitefish Bay Historic Preservation Commission's Preserving our Past column with a historic Whitefish Bay home.

This month's entry is The Gordon F. and Doris D. Daggett Residence on East Briarwood. The home, built in 1929 by the John Edwards Co., features many of the artful design touches typical of the English Tudor revival style.

You can read histories and see photos of more than 40 historic Bay homes in the Preservation Commission archives.

State wrestling photos now online

Feb. 26, 2010 10:15 a.m. | We've just posted a photo gallery featuring more than 20 images from yesterday's opening round of the WIAA Division 1 individual state wrestling tournament.

Competitors from Brookfield, Franklin, Germantown, New Berlin, Nicolet, Muskego, Oak Creek, West Allis, Whitnall and Whitefish Bay are featured.

See NOW photojournalist Peter Zuzga's photo gallery.

Sales center for proposed Whitefish Bay condos is shuttered

Feb. 22, 2010 11:41 a.m. | The sales center for The Bay, an 18-unit condominium development proposed in Whitefish Bay by New Land Enterprises, has closed.

Listing agent Jack Smith, of Shorewest Realtors, told me this morning that the sales center was closed last week after the project was put on hold. He referred further questions to New Land, but Tim Gokhman, the firm's marketing director, couldn't be reached for comment this morning.

The sales center was located in the Fox Bay Building, on E Silver Spring Drive. New Land bought the property in 2005 for $10 million, and a year later proposed a four-story building with 93 luxury condos for the Fox Bay parking lot and an adjacent publicly owned parking lot.

Those plans drew opposition from nearby homeowners, who said it was too big, business operators who feared a loss of customer parking, and community officials, who questioned New Land's request for $12.5 million in public financing for the $60 million project.

New Land proposed the smaller project, which would be built just on the Fox Bay Building parking lot, in September 2008. It won village approval last year, but demand has dropped for higher end condos.

Prep basketball sectional tickets now on sale

Feb. 16, 2010 3:51 p.m. | Tickets are now sale at for the WIAA boys basketball "Super Sectionals" to be played at Marquette University's Al McGuire Center at 12th and Wells Streets in Milwaukee, March 11-13.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Germantown will be co-hosting the event.

Teams from three sectionals will determine state tournament berths at the events. From division I sectional eight, area teams that could be involved include Nicolet, Oak Creek, South Milwaukee and Wauwatosa East and West.

From division I sectional five, potential sectional participants include Germantown, Homestead, and Menomonee Falls.

In addition, the division 2 sectional final will be held at the McGuire Center at 4:15 p.m. Saturday, March 13. This loaded event features many of the state's top-ranked teams including New Berlin Eisenhower, Port Washington, defending state D2 champ Wisconsin Lutheran and Catholic Memorial, along with Brown Deer, Shorewood, Whitefish Bay and New Berlin West.