Shorelines

If any of you have driven to or past Mequon Road on I43, you know what a mess the traffic is there. There is major construction at the intersection of Mequon Rd and Pt Washington Rd, which has virtually brought traffic there to a standstill.

Cars trying to exit on Mequon Road are often backed onto the freeway --- creating a real possibility of injuries or loss of life.

I read in the newspaper a quote from the Mequon chief that his department is too busy to control the Mequon Rd / Pt Washington Rd intersection. Having previously lived in Mequon, and driving through there quite frequently now, I find it hard to believe that one of their officers running a radar trap can't be temporarily assigned to the Mequon/Pt Wash intersection to direct traffic --- especially during the rush hours.

In contrast to their Mequon brethern, I was very impressed last night with SPD's handling of the power outage that took out the traffic signals at Oakland and Capitol.

In the pouring rain, an SPD officer was directing traffic to ensure safety of motorists and pedestrians, and avoiding the horrendous backup that would inevitably occured, had he not been there.

It's tough to get out of a nice and dry car, to stand in the rain, and deal with often irrational motorists.

But it is an aspect of the "Serve and Protect" part of the job, that the Shorewood Police Department obviously took seriously.

COMMENT FROM READER:


Dave,
I have to wholeheartedly agree with you re: the comparison of
Shorewood and Mequon's finest!

I must have followed the same path as
you that day and seen the same situations; it was a breath of fresh
air to see no lights working @ Capital and Oakland, yet traffic was
flowing smoothly through the intersection thanks to the officer
braving the downpour!

Granted, Shorewood & Mequon are vastly different
in size, but, properly staffed, it was unbelievable that the Mequon
chief would 'not have time' to provide traffic control for an
intersection that has the potential of causing massive accidents by
backing traffic onto a 65MPH interstate highway!

Cudos to Shorewood
Chief Dave Banaszynski and his staff!

Jim Genthe-Shorewood resident of 53 years

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Last week I heard a brief report on the news about 4 students who were Shot Execution Style somewhere in New Jersey. I recalled that the report said they were made to Kneel Down – and were then shot by their assailant(s).

(Police said the attackers shot one young woman, then forced her three companions down an alley, lined them up against a wall, made them kneel and shot each in the head)

I thought How Terrible --- I fully expected for this story to be very prominent in the news, as the investigation progressed and more was known.

(The four victims, friends aged 18 to 20, were shot while visiting in a school yard not far from their homes Saturday night. Authorities have said robbery appeared to be the motive)

In the interim, I heard a couple of more brief references to the tragedy on the news --- but the coverage was nothing compared to the news coverage of such newsworthy events as Paris Hilton’s brief visit to jail.

(All four victims were planning to attend Delaware State University this fall. Instead, three will be buried Saturday)

Last night my wife and I were watching one of the Cable News Network shows, which focused on this story. Interestingly, the focus of the story was that the assailant(s) involved illegal immigrants.

My wife wondered why she hadn’t heard of this story before – and I wondered why I hadn’t heard more. Four College Students Shot --- Execution Style --- Three Die --- THIS IS BIG NEWS !!

(NEWARK, N.J. — Three friends were forced to kneel against a wall behind an elementary school and were shot to death at close range, and a fourth was found about 30 feet away with gunshot and knife wounds to her head, police said)

I was getting a little confused on the lack of news coverage, after all, there was a huge story on Cate Blanchett who decided to stop washing her hair in support of helping to stop global warming --- although it appears she will still use limos and airplanes and is adding an addition to one of two mansions she owns.

(Terrance Aeriel, 18, Dashon Harvey, 20, and Iofemi Hightower, 20, were forced to kneel against a wall and were shot at close range. The fourth victim, 19-year-old Natasha Aeriel, Terrance Aeriel's sister, survived a wound to her head and is hospitalized)

Then I finally got my answer --- for the first time I saw pictures of the students who were shot. The three who were buried instead of picking up their books for the upcoming semester in college --- and the one who survived --- but who probably will be going to rehab to recover from her horrific wounds, rather than to college classes.

Those pictures told the whole story about why the media --- and the public ---- were not more incensed about this horrific crime.

ALL THE VICTIMS WERE BLACK.

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Are you interested in --- the Quality of Drinking Water in Shorewood ? The Cleanliness of Atwater Beach ? How our Sewer System Works ? Runoff into our River ? How all this Fits Together ???

Get insight into these questions and more about Water at the next meeting of Con Comm on Tuesday, August 14, 7:00 PM, in the Health Dept Room, Lower Level of the Library.

There will be a Special Presentation on WATER by Thomas Chapman, a member of Con Comm, who works for MMSD.

Other items on the agenda of Con Comm (which I am a member of) include a discussion of the various subcommittees and their focus on Environmental and Conservation Issues.

Current “working titles” of the Subcommittees are:

Recycling, Food Security, Water, Education, Green Village, Energy Conservation, Green Development, and Technical Expertise.

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Dear Dave,

I have to wonder, whose idea was the bike race in the first place, that the businesses went for it? Theirs, or the board's? It seems to me that either you want a unique event or an event that could tie it into something uniquely Shorewood...

"We're the place where everyone walks and bikes, where people bike to pick up groceries or to drop their kids off at school, and that's why we have bike races so come on down by bike, bus, or foot and enjoy it with us" or some such.

But it seems that for all the money they spent on a PR firm the public has no clear sense of what Shorewood is uniquely--hence we see this rush by some to make us yet another suburb with an overly pricey piece of uninspired infrastructure (D2D).

There was an article in the NY Times on this trend toward fancy stadiums and how many communities have experienced a lot of anger and resentment over them--does anyone bother to google or search the Times to do a little research to see if any other communities were in a similar boat and what we can learn from them?

Did anyone talk to the other criterium communities to see what their experience was before committing to the event to ensure that the expectations were realistic? Or is the standard procedure to just say "Hey, sounds great," invest the money, and potentially discover it was a costly mistake after the fact?

I wonder, too, does anyone in the government here take a look at what this Village has to offer that no other place in SE Wisconsin does, and figure out how to capitalize on it?

Walkable Shorewood is a great idea...walkability is a major reason I moved here. But where are all the many events that draw people to walk? I love this new garden walk--maybe just as Milwaukee is the city of festivals we could be the village of walks.

We could promote ourselves as a place where creative and eclectic people go when they grow up... a place where art, music, and drama thrive . . . there are so many possibilities for capitalizing on what we are but sometimes it seems that Shorewood's self-perception is rooted in low self-esteem.

There's so much that could be done PR wise here, and I'm not even a PR person, just a writer who has seen creative and aggressive PR campaigns and lazy and uninspired ones.

I feel like there's NO press effort whatsoever... I'm a media junkie. Why am I not hearing about how exciting, progressive, and innovative Shorewood is when I peruse local media?

What's that PR firm doing for our tax dollars? Where's the branding, and if it exists, why is no one using it?

I suspect the research you just did on the bike race is not at all the norm here. Maybe it is the norm and and it's just hidden from sight because the people in power here don't value clear communication or input from the community?

It's weird to me, because the people I know and have met here are wonderfully smart, creative, and communicative, full of clever ideas and eager to participate in spirited dialogue.

Anonymous

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