Badger Blogger

This should be entertaining to watch play out. Even after all of the violence we had in MPS schools last week, we see that the people that think that out of control students should never be restrained, are still pounding away. Now a group has taken out recall papers against School Board member Jennifer Morales, who voted in support of the preliminary steps that could eventually authorize trained MPS security to use plastic handcuffs in extreme cases of out of control students.

Notice that no decision on the recall will be made until after the next school board meeting, pretty subtle, huh?

I don’t think that they have to worry about anything, even after the violent week that MPS went through, I suspect that the vote will be unanimous to end the program. They don’t have the guts to do the right thing.

Recall Jennifer Morales?
Lamont Harris, leader of an organization called Reality Plus One, says members of the group went to City Hall on Monday to get information on how to launch a recall campaign against Milwaukee School Board member Jennifer Morales.

Morales voted two weeks ago in favor of allowing MPS to begin training safety aides in the use of flexible handcuffs. Although the resolution would require further action by the board before anyone could use the plastic cuffs, it has drawn strong reaction from many people. The school board is scheduled to have a special meeting Tuesday night to reconsider the matter.

Harris said Morales’ district includes many minority people and she should listen to their opposition to the idea. “We’re tired of electing people . . who don’t carry our water,” he said. He said the people involved in the effort probably wouldn’t decide until after Tuesday night’s meeting whether to actually begin a recall effort.

It is a real shame that it has taken several years and a few shootings to get Chief Hegerty to act, but as we see, when our coppers are allowed to combat crime, they can really get the job done. Let us hope that the next chief will be more responsive to the citizens that are the victims of these Quality of Life crimes.

The police crackdown meant to break up cruising in Milwaukee continued this weekend with police reporting 490 traffic citations issued, 97 arrests, 30 vehicles towed and six guns confiscated.

Among those arrested were two felons wanted on state warrants, according to police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz.

The 97 people were arrested on a total of 110 state charges. About 135 city charges included 27 for loud music, four for marijuana possession and 50 parking citations, she said.

In addition to the 490 traffic citations, 181 people were cited for vehicle registration violations.

Police responded en masse to the Amistad Bar, 2342 W. North Ave., when it closed because of the 300 cars that were congregating in the parking lot, Schwartz said. Police also broke up complaints of loud music and blocking traffic at the Embassy Lounge, 3043 N. 35th St., she said.

Schwartz said police believe that the stepped up enforcement and the media campaign in which police have warned that they will issue citations for any infraction has cut down on cruising.

I have been listening to local urban radio stations over the past week, and there is a LOT of support from the community for these actions. So don’t let anyone tell you that the people in the areas that the crackdown is occurring, is against it, the majority of callers on WNOV and WMCS afternoon radio shows support the police. As more than one caller pointed out, if you are not doing anything wrong, and don’t have anything you shouldn’t have, you don’t have anything to worry about. WNOV host Homer Blow made the point that he would rather be stopped by the police than by these young people with guns. He made this comment as he was reading from many of the police reports generated over the past several days. And a few days ago, his comment was to the effect of “We need to turn the hood, back into our neighborhood”.

Do you think alcohol was involved?

Town of Waukesha - A local resident woke up about 2:30 a.m. to find a man going through his refrigerator, Waukesha County Sheriff’s Capt. Karen Ruff said today, and the suspected intruder later led police on a chase and was caught.

Ruff gave the following account:

When the homeowner found the man in his kitchen early Sunday he asked what he was doing. The intruder replied, “Getting something to eat.”

The homeowner told the man to get out of the home on Whitehall St. and the suspect responded, “I didn’t think you were home,” and left. The suspect went outside and sat inside a car belonging to the homeowner’s daughter.

He fled on foot when an officer arrived.

I wonder if this guy realizes how lucky he was that he didn’t do this in the house of a gun owner. I would have personally seen to it that he left my house with a load of buckshot… where the sun don’t shine, so to speak.

Yikes, I have to go back out to work now, just as the really nasty weather rolls in… This should help me get rid of my cold, huh?

It comes as no surprise, but violence continued this weekend as anti-social thugs with no impulse control deal with conflict in the only way they know how, by shooting someone.

A pregnant woman was gunned down on 7th & Maple.

A shooting at a birthday party leads to a 19 year old running away from the shooting, being run over by a 15 year old in a car. I noticed that in the papers coverage, nowhere do they mention that 15 year old boys can have a car. At best, he could have a learners permit if he is within a few months of his 16th birthday, but even with that, he could not legally drive at night. But I guess breaking the law is hardly noticed these days in Milwaukee.

On Friday night, two guys were walking near Oakland & Locust and they were confronted by a group of 8 and were beaten and robbed.

On Sunday afternoon, a 23 year old man and a 16 year old boy were shot in separate shootings.

And the list goes on and on and…

Somehow, while changing my alarm over the weekend, I must have accidentally moved the clock ahead one hour… So I was up and ready to leave, when I glanced down at the clock on my computer and said, WHAT?

It turns out that I am awake and ready to leave, an hour early… Oh well, I guess this is better than being an hour late

No wonder why I was wishing for an extra hour of sleep…

I, and many other bloggers will be here tomorrow this morning, hopefully my NyQuil will work tonight, if not, I won’t be able to talk, but I will still be there.

Update
I’ll still be there this morning, but this cold is kicking my butt, so I will probably be the one passed out in the corner.

BTW, I will not be bringing the Mobile Blogging Unit, even though they will have WiFi. With my head plugged up the way it is, I would probably forget that I even brought it and would probably wander off and leave it

Update: Since WTMJ has picked up on this story, I have moved this post back to the top of the Blog. The original post was made on 4/23/07

Alderman Michael McGee/Jackson Jr. and his father have been talking for a while now about getting people to slow down when driving through busy neighborhoods, something that I support, I see people all day long speeding through the narrow inner-city streets with kids all over the place, it really is scarry. And this past week, with the young girl that was killed by a hit and run driver on 16th & Locust underscored this point… But, with McGee, there is always a “But”.

This morning, on WNOV radio, Alderman McGee said that he wants to organize young people to throw rocks at speeding cars.

Download audio (1:38 - 1.5Mb)

He did back off on it a bit when someone called him on one of the (many) unintended consequences, by pointing out that the driver may have a child in the back and the rock could hurt them. While backing off, he went on to say that we need to do something drastic like this to fight the problem, but shouldn’t an elected official have thought this through before calling for people to throw bricks at cars that they think are speeding?

There are many other unintended consequences, and NONE of them are good. You could scare the driver and cause them to run off the road or into other cars, or, in the times we are in now, some of these drivers would get out with a gun and start shooting!

I agree that speeding is a problem, but throwing rocks, or “bricking” as McGee calls it, is NOT THE SOLUTION.

Update: Money Quote:

I really want to organize some of these young guys in the community. When they see people speeding recklessly and swerving down the hood man, just start brickin’ em, for real… And start bricking these cars, man, guerrilla style… And they are going to learn that you can’t drive down certain blocks and feel that they can be reckless.

Two days after a series of fights at Hamilton High School that involved several parents and students being arrested and the school being put in lock-down… and a day after a student at Bradley Tech is found with a loaded pistol and a large amount of drugs in school, the Milwaukee School Board decides that the plan to allow security to use plastic handcuffs against out of control students, is a horrible idea… Hours later, two students (both girls) at Vincent High School were fighting, even after being taken into the office, were so out of control, that an assistant principal was injured when one of these out of control students threw a vase, shattered a mirror and cut his arm… Thank God this out of control student didn’t have her hands cuffed so she could be controlled.

Update: It has gotten worse

All reports from this afternoon.

A seventh grader at Nova School in Milwaukee was caught with an unloaded gun and ammunition today after another student tipped administrators.

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Gun worry prompts Pulaski High lockdown

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And another case of a fight drawing in family members:

A staff member at a Milwaukee middle school was knocked unconscious today when he was struck in the head while trying to break up a fight between students and an outside family member.

A local hero called into Jessica McBride’s radio show last night and told it like it is. Please take a few moments to listen to the whole thing. Thank God for young people like this!

What a sucky day in Milwaukee, huh? I hope all of you that had the pleasure of being wet and cold all day will join me in warming up with the hot beverage of your choice. I plan on copious amounts of cappuccino with a hot meal, after a long hot shower to thaw.

I doubt that this is going to help me get rid of this annoying cough that I have had for the past two weeks

Well, we all knew this was coming.

Coalition backs complaints against Mayfair
A coalition of community groups, including the Milwaukee NAACP and the African American Chamber of Commerce, is expected to deliver several complaints beginning today to the Equal Rights Division of the state Department of Workforce Development alleging discriminatory practices at Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa.

It only took a few hours, but the jury is back with a jury in the Dassy case. It will likely be a while, at least an hour, before they announce, so you will have to get the news from the MSM, I’m going to bed

This slime is guilty as sin!

UPDATE: Guilty on all counts

Good, they dropped the hammer on the SOB!

Now I am REALLY going to bed… well, actually I am in bed, but now I will turn off the laptop

Good news, there is another blogger in the Sexual Predator fight, The Crocodile Cage treads where few of us dare to go… Unfortunately, getting bloggers to talk about about the issue is like pulling (crocodile) teeth. So welcome to a pretty exclusive club.

Hat tip to Andy at Citizens For A Safe Wisconsin.

Another fight in an MPS school, this time, Hamilton High School, has been escilated by the arrival of thugs adults.

Fights prompt arrests at Hamilton High

Hamilton High School in Milwaukee was placed on lockdown this afternoon following a series of fights involving students and adults that drew police and ended with several arrests.

No one was injured in the string of fights and disturbances, which began around 1 p.m. when an irate parent showed up at the school, at 6215 W. Warnimont Ave., demanding to see a specific student to “settle the score,” said Roseann St. Aubin, Milwaukee Public Schools’ spokeswoman.

Police were called to the scene to deal with the parent, and about the time they arrived two male students began fighting in an unrelated matter that St. Aubin said may have been gang-related.

A dozen or more students joined in the fight, which school safety aides and police were able to break up quickly, St. Aubin said.

As police were dealing with this fight, writing tickets etc., a car load of thugs adults pulled up and…

At the same time a carload of adults pulled up at Hamilton school and started fighting with students involved in the earlier fight. They may have been summoned by a student using a cell phone, St. Aubin said.

Police, still on scene from the initial incident, called for backup but were able to diffuse that fight before most other squadcars showed up, said Anne E. Schwartz, a Milwaukee Police Department spokeswoman.

6 to 8 students and 2 or 3 adults have been arrested so far.