What is Wrong in America!!!

Antonio Torres beats up his girlfriend and drives off with his daughter. An Amber alert is issued.

Torres has a criminal record. An incident remarkably similar to the above listed events. His estranged wife Deanna Torres says she feared for her life when Torres beat her and forced her and her two children into his car.

“He told the kids that he was going to kill me, that they would never see me again," Deanna told TODAYS TMJ4 reporter Lauren Leamanczyk.

Torres served prison time in 1998 for beating Deanna and threatening her two children. A kidnapping charge was later dropped.

His family says that police where not justified in shooting and killing Torres. “Maybe if they would have told us what was going on, maybe we would have had a different outcome," Torres sister, Rachel Abarran, said.

The problem is - Our court systems don't hold criminals accountable and lock them up for near long enough. The Families know there are problems, but tend to turn a blind eye to them. Lastly, the victims, particularly in domestic cases, always seem to think it will just be ok. It is a tragic shame that these things happen. It seems it has become a part of our culture.

Michael McGee Guilty!!!

It took the jury just a little over 5 1/2 hours to convict former Alderman Michael McGee Jr. on all nine (9) counts. One Juror stated afterwards that the evidence was so overwhelming against him.

The former Alderman was heard in his own voice, via taped wire taps, calling himself Thug Mike and The Gatekeeper. Now he can be called something more fitting by his cell mates in Prison. The Circus is far from over though, the former Alderman will hear his fate in October on this set of Convictions, yet he still has a State Trial forthcoming.

Justice way late, yet still served!!!!

Craziness for Food Assistance

Some 2500 Residents show up for free food only to find out it is for registering to get assistance for floods.

Milwaukee County was prepared to deal with some 1000 residents who needed to apply for federal assistance with replacing food lost in the flooding. What they didn't expect was the extra 1500+ people who showed up. Some thought that they were eligible for free food just because they live in Milwaukee County.

There in lies the problem. People taking advantage of the system.
The Program is set up to assist people who truly lost Food in the flooding and the power outages that took place during the recent Weather. Yet there appears to be a part of the population who feel they are just entitled. Taking advantage of the program and quite frankly of OUR TAX Dollars.

McGee Trial Moves on

Former Alderman Michael McGee Jr. is getting exactly what he and all of his supporters wanted, His day in court. So far it is not looking so good for the former Alderman. Video surveillance, audio surveillance, and eyewitness evidence is showing the dark side of the man. The man that many people thought he was is coming out in living color, live in a Federal Courtroom. Follow the trial on www.todaystmj4.com

For those of us here in the Milwaukee area, not much of what is being said in the courtroom is a big surprise. The true test will be to see how many of those supporters will continue to back a man who was a leader in the community, city and county. A man who allegedly took bribes for people to run their businesses, who threatened his girlfriend, who's moral compass is thoroughly on the fritz.

Wisconsin Dells loses lake in less than a morning

The weekend of June 7th and 8th will go down in Southern Wisconsin history as the weekend from Hell. Friday Night storms brought High Winds, Hail, Tornadoes and rain. Saturday brought on more storms with High Winds, Hail, Tornadoes, Wind and more Rain. Torrential Rains. Dumping 5-6" on Saturday alone. The Flooding was overwhelming. Sunday brought more rain. And more flooding. Then as sandbagging was going on throughout Southern Wisconsin on Monday and Flood Waters continued to rise the unthinkable. Lake Delton, in Wisconsin Dells was gone. What happened? How when there is more water than we can handle is a lake gone? The flood waters rose and rose. The Ski show at Lake Delton was cancelled Saturday and Sunday due to high waters. The water rose to 6' above their stage. Residents were busy sandbagging to keep the water out of their homes and businesses. The flood waters over took a roadway on the side of the Dam. It eroded the roadway and finally the earth that contained it. The lake drained within an hour into the Wisconsin River. Lake Delton is gone!!!! Well it is empty!!! More Pictures available from WxWatch-1.com courtesy of JSOnline.

Festival Trouble in Milwaukee

Milwaukee Festival in Downtown Milwaukee erupted with fighting and gun fire, injuring one and resulting in several arrests. Why is it that it always seems to end up with some idiots ruining the fun for everyone. You can't blame the Police for cracking down on the festivals to insure that they are a safe place to be. The bigger question is what do we do to solve this? Our esteemed Mayor says that they will be working closely with or against the festival organizers. That would be a great move, Mayor!! Work against the organizers? Why not work with the Police, Organizers, and local community leaders to create a safer environment for everyone. We, and I mean the Mayor, needs to remember that this a relative few ruining it for everyone. If the Mayor wants to wave his big stick, get the DA and the Justices in our court system to bring down the big hammer on these thugs. Not just the one with the gun, but all involved in the mayhem. The ones who where fighting, the ones who threw stuff at the police, the idiots. Don't penalize all of us!!

Milwaukee County Bus Drivers $100,000+ Salaries

Milwaukee's local TV Station, WTMJ TV-4, brought to light what we as citizens are paying for public transportation. They did their job and found out that several County Bus Drivers were making six figures plus. Now that did count overtime, which we will cover more later. A bus driver making six figures!!!!????

WTMJ Reported - Right now, the average MCTS operator makes a little more than $21/hr and takes home around $50,000/yr. However, our investigation found a struggling system where many drivers make a whole lot more than that. In 2006, 113 drivers earned more than $70,000, 45 took home more than $80,000, 10 made at least $90,000, while four drivers were in the six figures. The top earner made nearly $106,000. That's $37,000 more than the Milwaukee County Executive, and only $15,000 less than the Sheriff.

Still, the numbers for 2007 were even higher: 136 drivers earned at least $70,000, 54 made at least $80,000, 18 operators made more than $90,000, and the number of six-figure operators doubled to eight. The same driver topped the 2007 list, earning more than $117,000.

WTMJ reported in a follow up report, that if you thought that the bus drivers pay was ridiculous the reason why is even more ridiculous. The bus company has laid off drivers to meet budgets, yet they are very top heavy in Management making more than the bus drivers. Hello!!! I wonder what kind of idiot runs a business like this?

Whitnall School Has a Problem?

After hearing about the problems with Drugs and Alcohol at the Whitnall High School, I decided to attend the School Board Meeting to hear more about it. The news told me about breathalysers to be used at the school prom and the School Administrators taking aim at this problem.

After attending the Board meeting I have to tell you, I left with little to no comfort that this problem was being addressed by the administrators. It seemed the Coaches and some Teachers were more involved in solving this issue than the administrators. Currently there is no Liason Officer from the Greenfield Police Department at the school. The Greenfield Police claim to not have one available, Yet the Greenfield High School has one? Can't we share this officer? The board approved the use of Dogs to randomly search the school a month ago, yet the administrators have yet to get this done. Once again the finger was pointed at the Greenfield Police, they somehow could not fit it in their schedule. In all fairness to the Greenfield Police, they were not there to answer these questions, these were Dr. Karen Petric the Superintendent answers to the questions. School Board members inquired as to why if the Greenfield Police couldn't get it done, why hadn't she inquired with the Sheriffs Department? No answer.

Although I believe there is a problem, we as a community in whole, with the School Board, School Administrators, Staff, and Parents need to attack the problem. I saw several parents in the audience ready and willing to get involved to be of any assistance in the solution. It has to start with the Administration taking a lead role in solving the problem!

Suspension for Girl with Rocks, Hammer, Screwdriver!!!

Hartford, Wisconsin School officials seem to be out of touch. They have decided to suspend a 9 year old girl for bringing rocks, a hammer, and a screwdriver to school. Sounds like a terrorist is on the loose in the schools of Hartford!!! Actually they called the police and the police found- the girl wasn't intending on hurting anyone. In fact this young girl had used her imagination and brain and found out that if you take a rock and break it up, there are neat shiny little rocks within the big ones. She wanted to share this with her friends. Sounds Frightening, I know!!!

The school did it's due diligence and suspended the girl for three days. How dare you children use your minds for anything!!! Actually the school said that even though the girl did not intend on harming anyone they were concerned that someone else might use the dastardly tools for harm. Now, I am sure that within the entire school there is no hammer, no screwdriver, and absolutely no rocks. As a matter of fact I am sure you will find no baseball bats, hard balls, letter openers, razor knives to open boxes, or anything that can be used to cause harm.

Things that make you go hmmmmmmm.

Drunk Drivers

It seems like every night there is another story of a Drunk Driver. There has been the one in Oconomowoc that killed a Woman, Daughter, and unborn child. Then the man who took out several vehicles before crashing into an apartment.

In all of these cases the Driver has had multiple Drunk Driving arrests. When is the legislature and Judges going to get tough and put their foot down?

I was listening to a local talk show and in the latter case the Drunk actually entered a bar and was refused service and asked to leave. The question was, "Should the local tavern have some responsibility for sending the driver back out?" The blame lies wholly on the individual that chooses to drink and drive. Quit blaming everyone else and put the blame where it lays.

Until this state gets serious and makes drunk driving a felony, and takes some serious action this is a trend that will continue and many more innocent people will die.