- selected communitywatch item -
June 30, 2009 3:26 p.m. | The owners of StoneFire Pizza are facing a foreclosure suit over its New Berlin building, but the popular party-theme restaurant remains in business.
StoneFire's owners could see the building, at 5320 S. Moorland Road, sold to satisfy a foreclosure judgment, said David Church, a StoneFire owner. But, if that happens, StoneFire will be renting the building instead of owning it, he said.
"Our business is good, and we will be here," Church said Tuesday.
A foreclosure suit, filed by Madison-based AnchorBank in Waukesha County Circuit Court, names several defendants, including StoneFire Pizza Co.; Big P Enterprises LLC, which owns the New Berlin property; Church; and fellow StoneFire investor John Wlodarski, a New Berlin doctor.
The suit said Anchor made several loans connected to the defendants that are now in default. The amounts due include $6.96 million owed by Big P Enterprises, and $3.14 million owed by StoneFire Pizza, the suit said.
» Read Full Article
March 12, 2010 7:42 a.m. | The New Berlin Eisenhower girls basketball team earned a 77-28 victory at home last night over Milwaukee School of Languages in a regional semifinal and we've just posted a photo gallery with images from the game.
With the victory, the Lions advance to a regional-final contest against Milwaukee Lutheran at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Greenfield High School.
See NOW photojournalist C.T. Kruger's photo gallery.
After taking a look at the photos, you can help us choose our All-Suburban girls and boys basketball teams and Players of the Year by voting online. One lucky voter will earn a pair of lower-level Milwaukee Bucks tickets.
Vote for the girls team | Vote for the boys team
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
» Read Full Article
By Jane Ford
March 09, 2010 12:14 a.m. | New Berlin Superintendent Paul Kreutzer will take a voluntary pay and benefit freeze next year.
The School Board on Monday approved that his pay/benefit package be frozen at $201,000 for the 2010-11 school year. Kreutzer actually will take somewhat of a cut in pay next year because his state mandated retirement contributions will go up.
Kreutzer said he reported pay of $163,000 on his 2009 taxes.
Times are hard for taxpayers so he volunteered for the freeze, he said.
"This was voluntary on my part," Kreutzer said. "I understand these are hard economic times, and we need to lead from the front."
» Read Full Article
By Jane Ford
March 08, 2010 5:50 p.m. | The New Berlin Rotary Club will hold a candidates forum in the New Berlin West High School library, 18695 W. Cleveland Ave., from 1 to 3 p.m. March 27.
All eight aldermanic candidates running in the April 6 general election have been invited. They are: District 1 candidates Alderman John Hopkins and Dennis Friedrich; District 3 Alderman Ronald Seidl and David Jeske; District 5, Jake Krueger and Deena Liska; and District 7, Alderman David Ament and Kevin Zokan.
A half hour will be allotted for each district, in numerical order.
March 06, 2010 5:25 p.m. | New Berlin Eisenhower’s sensational season came to a disappointing end Saturday in a 71-55 loss to Wisconsin Lutheran in a WIAA Division 2 regional final at Marquette High School.
The Vikings jumped out of the gates with intense defense and a blistering offense as the Lions struggled to get any offensive attack going in the first eight minutes.
"They came out with a lot of ball pressure," Eisenhower senior Mitch Sperka said. "I don’t want to say we weren't ready, but we just weren't as strong and physical in that first quarter as we needed to be. We weren't protecting the ball and we weren't playing good team defense."
March 05, 2010 10:28 a.m. | We've just posted a photo gallery featuring images from the New Berlin Eisenhower boys basketball team's 62-49 victory over visiting Milwaukee Lutheran last night in a WIAA regional semifinal game.
With the victory, the second-seeded Lions advance to take on first-seeded Wisconsin Lutheran at 1 p.m. Saturday.
See NOW photojournalist Peter Zuzga's photo gallery.
By David Cotey
March 04, 2010 8:37 p.m. | A disastrous second quarter gave the visiting New Berlin West Vikings no chance against the defending WIAA Division 2 champion Wisconsin Lutheran Vikings in a D2 regional semifinal boys basketball game Thursday.
Loyola University - Chicago recruit Flavien Davis was limited to 10 points, about half his season average, but Tim Rotruck had a game-high 16 and Terry Nash added 11 as Wisconsin Lutheran cruised to a 65-42 victory.
Wisconsin Lutheran (20-3) went on an 18-0 run from the end of the first quarter until late in the second to turn an 11-11 game into a 29-11 advantage. From there, the reigning champs never led by fewer than 14.
New Berlin West (17-7) struggled mightily in the second quarter. West missed its first five shots - four of which were 3-pointer attempts - and turned the ball over six times. They did not score in the period until Kyle Rampone made one of two free throws with 1 minute, 45 seconds remaining.
Some of those struggles were a result of Chad Mathwig's foul trouble. The junior post player picked up his second foul with 35 seconds left in the first. He went to the bench and did not return until 6:11 remained in the second; during that stretch Wisconsin Lutheran went on a 7-0 run and West turned the ball over twice.
» Read Full Article
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.
By
Dan Polley
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.
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.
By
Laurel Walker of the Journal Sentinel
Feb. 24, 2010 6:17 p.m. | Waukesha - Anthony Stancl, who used the social networking site Facebook to deceive and coerce fellow New Berlin Eisenhower High School students into sexual acts with him in 2008, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison and another 13 years of extended supervision.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge J. Mac Davis imposed the sentence because he said Stancl had proven he was manipulative, excessively self-centered and could still be dangerous.
"I am afraid of what he can and might do," Davis said.
In a case that attracted national media attention, Stancl, 19, of New Berlin, posed as a female on Facebook and persuaded at least 31 boys to send him naked pictures of themselves. He then used the pictures - and the threat of releasing them to the rest of the high school - to blackmail at least seven boys, ages 15 to 17, into performing sex acts.
Before the sentence was imposed, Stancl apologized to the victims and their families, the New Berlin School District and his own family, especially a brother and sister who continued to attend New Berlin schools and faced what Stancl called a hostile environment.
» Read Full Article
Feb. 24, 2010 5:48 p.m. | If you're thinking about avoiding the freeway this evening and taking some alternative routes to get to your destination, you're still likely find yourself struck in traffic.
We've just received a call from a motorist traveling near Greenfield Avenue and Moorland Road in New Berlin that the street packed with traffic in both directions.
There also is wall-to-wall traffic headed north and south on Moorland Road, we're told.
However, the side streets still may beat the freeway system, where some commutes take be up to an hour.
By
Don Behm of the Journal Sentinel
Feb. 24, 2010 12:42 p.m. | New Berlin will pay a $45,000 fine for failing to provide radium-safe drinking water to all municipal customers by a December 2006 federal deadline, Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said Wednesday.
Though the city provided radium-free Lake Michigan water to its customers on the eastern slope of the subcontinental divide by the deadline, it did not begin pumping lake water to customers in central New Berlin until July 2009.
New Berlin buys lake water from the City of Milwaukee. State approval to extend the service to central New Berlin, which is located outside of the Great Lakes drainage basin, allowed the city to stop using radium-tainted municipal wells.
Last year, the state Department of Natural Resources asked the Justice Department to sue the city for non-compliance. New Berlin's penalty could have amounted to several million dollars.
The city faced fines of up to $5,000 a day for the 2 1/2 years it did not comply with the deadline, officials said.
» Read Full Article
By
Laurel Walker of the Journal Sentinel
Feb. 24, 2010 9:58 a.m. | Waukesha - Waukesha County Circuit Judge J. Mac Davis has denied a last-minute request to delay Wednesday's sentencing of Anthony Stancl, the New Berlin teen who coerced sex from schoolmates by blackmailing them with naked pictures they sent him after he posed as a girl on Facebook.
Stancl's attorney, Craig M. Kuhary, asked for a delay until at least next week, saying Stancl's paternal grandmother died unexpectedly Tuesday and his family would be making arrangements today for a Saturday funeral.
Davis noted that he had no good opening on the court schedule for weeks, and that there were so many people to notify if the sentencing hearing was adjourned.
In previous letters to the court, Kuhary had asked permission for Stancl to attend his grandfather's funeral in October and to visit a cousin with terminal brain cancer. Both requests were approved.
Stancl, 19, was initially charged with a dozen felonies but entered a plea of no contest to two - repeated sexual assault of the same child and third-degree sexual assault. In exchange, the 10 other felony counts were dismissed but can be considered in sentencing. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m.
By
Ryan Haggerty of the Journal Sentinel
Feb. 23, 2010 5:28 p.m. | A 38-year-old New Berlin woman charged with embezzling more than $46,000 from her employer over three years is scheduled to make her initial court appearance next month, according to online court records.
Barbara E. Olson was charged last week with stealing the money from Decker Properties Inc., the Brookfield-based company where she worked as a bookkeeper, according to a criminal complaint.
The thefts occurred between March 2005 and June 2008, the complaint says.
Olson told a Brookfield police detective she stole the money because she was in debt and living beyond her means, the complaint says.
She is charged with one count of theft of more than $10,000 from a business setting and three counts of identity theft - financial gain, according to the complaint. Her initial appearance in Waukesha County Circuit Court is scheduled for March 17.
The Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Clinics-New Berlin blog offers health and safety guidelines, as well as tips on injury prevention, seasonal health, parenting and resources for families. 
