Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee auto shop owner speaks out against illegal tire dumping as Wisconsin DNR cracks down on hazards
MILWAUKEE — Illegal tire dumping has become a significant environmental concern in Milwaukee, with hundreds of tires being improperly disposed of across the city.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Milwaukee man speaks out against persistent illegal dumping
Emad Elkhalifa has owned Brother’s Auto for 19 years, and has witnessed firsthand how some customers and businesses choose to dump old tires in incorrect places to save money.
“I’ve been here for 19 years and I know that you can’t just go around and throw tires in a neighborhood,” Elkhalifa said.
According to Elkhalifa, some people take shortcuts when disposing of used tires.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Milwaukee enforces $5,000 fine for illegal dumping, sparking mixed reactions
“Sometimes they put it on the top of the car, the back of the car, and they throw it around the corner,” Elkhalifa said.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is concerned about the environmental risks posed by improper tire disposal.
“Proper tire management has been an issue in Wisconsin for a long time,” said Casey Krausensky, Solid Waste Coordinator for the Wisconsin DNR.
Just last week, Dennis Bowen, who claims to own “Dennis Tire Recycling LLC,” was cited 66 times in one day for allegedly dumping hundreds of tires across Milwaukee over several months; however, no business with that name is registered with the state.
The DNR sent Bowen a notice of noncompliance in March for leaving tires in several locations throughout the city, including dumping thousands in a vacant lot on Teutonia Avenue.
Elkhalifa explains that illegitimate businesses often offer to pick up tires from auto shops for less than established companies charge.
“If you’re telling me, ‘I’m gonna charge you a dollar,’ and the other company charge me $4 — I’m gonna go with you. Cause after 400 tires, it makes a difference,” Elkhalifa said.
Many shops only discover they weren’t working with licensed recycling companies after the deal is completed.
“It happened to me myself, I’ve been a victim of that,” Elkhalifa said.
As of Monday, piles of tires still remain inside the empty Teutonia lot. In an agreement with the lot owner, the DNR has mandated that all tires must be completely removed within the next two years and must be properly covered to protect against fire and other hazards until then.
Meanwhile, Bowen faces thousands of dollars in fines for the illegal dumping.
Elkhalifa believes addressing the issue will require cooperation from the city, consumers, and business owners.
“We have to work together, we have to be responsible,” Elkhalifa said.
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Drone video shows dug‑up yard at former Michael Lock home
Drone video shows a dug‑up yard at a Milwaukee home once owned by Michael Lock, following a police search for possible homicide victims.
Milwaukee police on Monday, April 20, began digging up a home once owned by notorious Milwaukee drug dealer Michael Lock.
The dig marks another chapter in Lock’s long criminal history in Milwaukee, which has included convictions for homicide, drug dealing, kidnapping, torture and running a prostitution ring.
As of 6 p.m., April 20, police had partially dug up the concrete driveway and yard in Lock’s former home. Lock has been convicted of murders of other drug dealers whose bodies were found under concrete slabs at a different home he owned.
As the dig continues, here’s what to know about Lock:
Who is Michael Lock?
Lock was the head of a murderous criminal organization known as the “Body Snatchers” and one of the leading criminal operators in Milwaukee until his 2007 arrest.
Over the course of a decade, Lock’s organization sold large volumes of cocaine, tortured and killed other dealers, prostituted women across the Midwest and ran a mortgage fraud scheme.
A jury convicted Lock in July 2008 in the homicides of two drug dealers in 1999 and 2000, whose remains were found in 2005 under concrete slabs in the backyard of a home once owned by Lock at 4900 W. Fiebrantz Ave. He has also been found guilty of running a prostitution ring, various kidnapping and drug dealing charges and mortgage fraud.
Where is Michael Lock now?
Lock is is serving multiple terms of life in prison at Waupun Correctional Institution without the chance of parole.
Where are Milwaukee police digging on April 20?
Milwaukee police confirmed they are executing a search warrant at the home on 4343 N. 15th St. in Milwaukee’s north side. City tax records show the property is owned by Shalanda Roberts, formerly Shalanda Lock, Michael Lock’s former wife.
Why are police digging up the yard of Lock’s former home?
There has long been suspicion on the part of law enforcement that there are additional bodies buried under the yard. In 2011, police dug another Milwaukee yard looking for remains.
In that warrant 15 years ago, investigators said at least four victims are buried somewhere in Milwaukee. Before that, police had dug a half-dozen other yards. Police have found no remains in the other digs.
Who lives at the property now?
It is unclear if anyone currently lives at the North 15th Street property. Shalanda Roberts told the Journal Sentinel she owns the property where police are digging, but it is a rental and she lives out of state now.
She said she has no information on the dig and has not spoken to her former husband in years.
Read the Journal Sentinel’s past coverage on Michael Lock
The Journal Sentinel documented the case against Lock in a five-part investigative series, “The Preacher’s Mob,” published in 2009.
You can read the series below:
Marvin Bynum, adjunct professor at Marquette University Law School, was named to BizTimes Milwaukee’s list of Notable Leaders in Law.
Bynum, shareholder and real estate attorney with Milwaukee-based Godfrey & Kahn, teaches a course on real estate transactions at Marquette. He has experience with a range of property types, from sports facilities to manufacturing plants and office spaces, and works to help clients navigate transactions including development, financing, leasing, acquisitions, dispositions and low-income housing tax credit-financed projects.
Notable Leaders in Law is part of BizTimes Milwaukee’s Notable series, which recognizes leaders in the southeastern Wisconsin business community.
Six alumni were also named to the list:
- Jim Brzezinski, managing partner and CEO of Tabak Law
- Adam R. Finkel, partner at Husch Blackwell
- Jeremy Guth, shareholder and attorney at O’Leary-Guth Law Office S.C.
- Keith Kopplin, shareholder at the Milwaukee office of Ogletree Deakins
- Isioma Nwabuzor, associate general counsel and assistant corporate secretary at Modine Manufacturing Co.
- Joe Pickart, partner at Husch Blackwell
Milwaukee Wave coach Marcio Leite 2025-26 team’s evolution in MASL
See first-year Milwaukee Wave head coach Marcio Leite discuss the roles of younger players and veterans as the 2025-26 MASL season begins.
The Milwaukee Wave had been in the awkward position of trying to sell tickets to the MASL championship series without knowing when it would actually host a game.
The questions were answered late April 19, when the San Diego Sockers beat the St. Louis Ambush in the other semifinal in overtime. Their series didn’t even start until four days after the Wave eliminated the Baltimore Blast with victories in a regulation Game 2 and knockout Game 3 at the UWM Panther Arena.
Now the finals are set for two of the most decorated teams in arena soccer.
The Wave will host Game 1 at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday, April 22 and then the series will finish at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California, with Game 2 at 9:30 p.m. April 24 and a potential Game 3 at 9 p.m. April 27.
Three versions of the Sockers have totaled 16 championships in various indoor league with the latest iteration founded in 2009 owning six of those. The Wave has seven.
First-year Wave head coach Marcio Leite has won titles with both franchises.
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