Sullivan won't take part in candidate forum

Sept. 02, 2010 2:40 p.m. | State Sen. Jim Sullivan, D-Wauwatosa, will not take part in a local candidates forum being hosted by NOW, the Greater Brookfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Brookfield Rehabilitation and Specialty Care, a spokeswoman from his campaign told NOW today.

Sullivan, who is squaring off against Republican Leah Vukmir for the District 5 seat, will take part in other forums, but cannot fit the 8 a.m. Wednesday event at City Hall into his calendar, the spokeswoman said.

Vukmir and Sullivan will appear on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Republican candidates in the District 33 race, Tim Dietrich and Rich Zipperer, also were invited to the forum. They will face off in a primary Sept. 14.

Questions about the forum can be directed to the Greater Brookfield Area Chamber of Commerce at (262) 786-1886.

Central season opener photo gallery now online

Aug. 28, 2010 3:38 p.m. | We've just posted shots from the Brookfield Central football team's season-opening victory over Racine Case.

NOW photographer Peter Zuzga has some nice shots from the game -- and the sidelines in this photo gallery.

Swittel wins debut as Spartans crush Grafton

Aug. 28, 2010 12:19 a.m. | Brookfield East coach Tom Swittel took to his team to Grafton for its season opener and came home with his first win as the Spartans' head man, easily defeating the Black Hawks, 42-7.

East trailed, 7-0, and then scored 42 unanswered points as everyone got in on the scoring. Quarterback Jon Lehman scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter to tie the game. In the second quarter he hit wide receiver CJ Gregg with a 16-yard TD pass to take the lead for good.

Zach Schober then intercepted a pass and scored from four yards out for a 21-7 lead at halftime.

In the second half Lehman and Gregg hooked up again for a 7-yard score and a 23-yard score in the third period, sandwiched around a 49-yard run by Tedrick Boone.

Lancers beat Case, 28-13, in season opener

Aug. 27, 2010 10:25 p.m. | A sluggish Brookfield Central defeated Racine Case, 28-13, Friday night at home in the season opener for both schools.

The Lancers had to play without five players who were suspended for the opener, but first-year coach Jamie Meulemans had people step up on both sides of the ball as he earned his first win as a head coach.

Two junior running backs stepped up on offense. Craig Jordan scored two touchdowns, and Charlie O'Dwyer, added one, while defensive back Jack Lawton, a senior, and sophomore defensive lineman Chike Obasih led defensive coordinator Sal Logue's defense.

Jordan scored with 3:10 left in the first quarter on a 1-yard run to finish off a 13-play, 62-yard drive engineered by junior quarterback Jason Meichtry.

The Eagles then scored after a nine-play, 65-yard drive, as quarterback sophomore Zach Brenner hit Channing Schultz with a nine-yard pass in the left corner of the end zone to tie the game at 7-7 with 11:48 left in the half.

Meet the NOW staff at Grasch Foods and come home with some free brats

Aug. 27, 2010 6:45 a.m. | Editor in Chief Mark Maley, photographer C.T. Kruger and other staffers from Brookfield-Elm Grove NOW will be at Grasch Foods this afternoon to meet with readers and talk about the revamped newspaper that debuted this week.

We'll be giving away several goodies, including "mini" newspapers and kitchen magnets. And, if you clip out a coupon that appeared on Page 13 of Thursday's Brookfield-Elm Grove NOW, you can also get a free pound of Grasch's famous brats!

We hope to see you at Grasch's, 13950 W. North Ave., from 2 to 4 p.m. today.

Read more about the changes in Brookfield-Elm Grove NOW.

Special football preview section now online

Aug. 26, 2010 12:18 p.m. | We're just hours away from the first official games of the 2010 high school football season and there is no better way to find out the latest news on your favorite team then to check out NOW's comprehensive football preview page.

The page is packed with videos on area teams, a roundtable discussion from our sportswriters previewing the top teams to watch, position by position breakdowns, an interactive poll, photo gallery and more.

Go to NOW's 2010 football preview section.

Call reversed: East stadium lights are staying up

Aug. 26, 2010 10:56 a.m. | Brookfield — There will be Friday night lights at Brookfield East after all.

The School Board Thursday morning unanimously voted to keep the light poles at the football field, with inspections to occur every month and after any major storm or wind event.

The fixtures were part of a nationwide recall, but two engineering firms inspected the poles at East and found no cracks or defects. After more than an hour of community comment and discussion on Tuesday, members said they wanted to reconsider an Aug. 11 vote to take down the poles and scheduled a special meeting for Thursday.

More than 20 residents attended the 50-minute meeting and broke out into applause after the vote was taken.

"I've been in public office for 5½ years, and if I've learned one lesson, it's that reasonable people can look at the same information and reach different conclusions," board President Tom Gehl said.

Lights will stay up at Brookfield East stadium

Aug. 26, 2010 9:56 a.m. | There will be Friday night lights at Brookfield East after all.

The School Board this morning unanimously voted to keep the light poles at the football field, with inspections to occur every month and after any major storm or wind event.

The fixtures were part of a nationwide recall, but two engineering firms inspected the poles at East and found no cracks or defects. After more than an hour of community comment and discussion on Tuesday, members said they wanted to reconsider their vote in a special meeting today.

More than 20 residents attended today's meeting and broke out into applause after the vote was taken.

"I've been in public office for 5½ years, and if I've learned one lesson, it's that reasonable people can look at the same information and reach different conclusions," board President Tom Gehl said.

Elmbrook to reconsider removing light poles at East

Aug. 25, 2010 7:08 a.m. | In a surprising move, Elmbrook School Board members on Tuesday said they would reconsider a decision they made earlier this month to remove the light poles at Brookfield East's football field.

The board voted, 5-2, to reconsider its Aug. 11 decision. Board members Gary Jones and Kathryn Wilson voted in opposition.

The board will meet Thursday morning to vote on whether to reverse its decision on removing the poles, which are part of a national recall. The meeting is scheduled for 7 a.m. at the district's Central Administration Office, 13780 Hope St.

After more than an hour of discussion and community comment Tuesday, some board members said they wanted to reconsider the decision they made to remove the lights. But since the agenda did not include language allowing a vote on that motion, the special meeting was scheduled.

The lights were originally scheduled to be taken down Tuesday, and the board was to vote that night on whether to pay half the costs of temporary lights - estimated at $26,000 for a two-month rental - so East could still play Friday night football games. Another option would be to play home games earlier or play some games at another location, most likely Brookfield Central.

$100K in jewelry stolen...or was it?

Aug. 23, 2010 3:32 p.m. | A Brookfield man either had $100,000 in jewelry stolen from his home - or he just misplaced it, city of Brookfield police said.

On Aug. 16, the man's ex-wife reported the jewelry had been in a house in the 2800 block of North Brookfield Road. She told police her ex-husband had asked her to buy a safe to keep the jewelry in, and she had. But her ex went to Kentucky on business, and the jewelry now cannot be found, according to the police report.

Capt. Jim Adlam said officers are investigating the case as a theft, but "it's possible that the subject hid it and doesn't remember where it is. Apparently, he hides it."

Adlam said there are no suspects.

Bulldogs crush West Bend, force sudden-death playoff on Sunday

Aug. 21, 2010 3:37 p.m. | Josh Eidt pitched a 5-hitter and Kris Franzen had four hits to spark the second-seeded Brookfield Bulldogs to a 9-2 win over top-seeded West Bend Saturday afternoon at McCoy Field and forced a winner-take-all game on Sunday in West Bend.

The 7-UP earned double-elimination honors in the playoffs because they finished the regular season in first place in the Land O' Lakes Western Division. The other five playoff teams were all single elimination.

The winner of the Bulldogs-7-UP game on Sunday will represent the Western Division in the Grand Championship Playoffs. The game is set for 1 p.m. at Carl Cuss Field in Regner Park in West Bend.

Andy Heteburg homered in the first inning to give West Bend a 1-0 lead. But Brookfield tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Franzen tripled with one out and scored on Scott Booth's ground out to second.

Brookfield then exploded for four runs with two outs in the third, keyed by Booth's two-run homer and Eric Sobczak's two-run double. Two errors gave the SEven-Up a run in the fourth to cut the lead to 5-2, but then it was all Bulldogs the rest of the day as Eidt slammed the door, finishing with five shutout innings.

Official recommends Elmbrook pay half the cost of temporary lights at East field

Aug. 20, 2010 12:26 p.m. | An Elmbrook School District official is recommending the district pay half the costs to set up temporary stadium lights at Brookfield East's football field this fall and wait until next summer to replace the four existing light poles, which are part of a nationwide recall.

The board voted earlier this month to remove the light poles but did not take any action on possible replacement. Two engineering firms found no major defects in the poles, which are scheduled to be taken down in the coming weeks.

A memo to School Board members from Keith Brightman, assistant superintendent for finance and operations, suggests the district pay $13,000 to set up temporary lights for East's home football games this fall. The other $13,000 will come from a variety of sources, such as East's parent-teacher organization and the school's booster club.

The other possible short-term solution would be a combination of earlier game times and moving some games to Brookfield Central.

Waiting until next summer to replaces the poles will allow the district to include funding for the project in its 2011-12 maintenance budget, the memo says. The total cost of removal and replacement is estimated at $200,000.

Win free tickets to a la Carte at the Zoo

Aug. 20, 2010 6:56 a.m. | Want to "feast with the beasts" this weekend?

We have some free tickets to the Journal Sentinel's a la Carte at the Zoo - and they're yours if you visit our Facebook page and tell us what you like most about the Milwaukee County Zoo.

The first 10 people who post a comment on the page will earn the pair of tickets. There is one catch, though. It's too late to mail them out, so you have to stop by our Waukesha newsroom sometime before 6 today to pick them up.

For details, check us out on Facebook.

Endicott Park revamp getting into swing

Aug. 18, 2010 12:32 a.m. | Brookfield tennis buffs will have a new place to swing their rackets by next spring - a million-dollar Endicott Park facelift is set to begin in the coming weeks.

The Common Council on Tuesday gave the green light to a $685,000 bid from Willkomm Excavating and Grading of Union Grove to complete the project.

The two-year initiative to add tennis courts, playgrounds, open spaces, shelters and access to Greenway Corridor Trails is set to begin on the 37-acre site along Calhoun Road, near Interstate 94, by the end of the month. If plans stay on schedule, the project will be completed by June 2011.

The east side of the 37-acre park on Calhoun Road will have an open play field, playgrounds, an open-air shelter and new parking space.

To the west, two new tennis courts will be added, adjacent to an existing soccer field. There will be new play equipment for children and additional open space.

Crowd packs Brookfield City Hall for high-speed rail meeting

Aug. 17, 2010 9:55 p.m. | Brookfield residents packed the Common Council chambers Tuesday to listen to city and state Department of Transportation officials discuss a proposed high-speed rail passenger stop in the city.

Donna Brown, passenger rail planning manager for the state Department of Transportation, told city officials the state has $5 million for the station. Recent cost projections, however, have been closer to $18 million.

Director of Community Development Dan Ertl said city staff would work with the DOT to get that figure down.

Eleven people spoke during a public comment session, and three supported the proposed station.

The Common Council concluded the question-and-answer session after about two hours but took no action. DOT officials have asked that the city take a vote by Sept. 21 on whether it should move forward with a vote on the station.