MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee residents are expressing frustration as leaf piles remain buried under snow and ice more than a week after a post-Thanksgiving snowstorm, with some areas still waiting for city cleanup crews to address the mess.

The issue has become one of the main complaints brought to Alderman Lamont Westmoreland’s office, discussed during this month’s town hall meeting focused on the city’s leaf collection problems.

“In our area, they have done a terrible job as well,” Rose Lane said.

The Department of Public Works had not finished its leaf collection before the snowstorm hit shortly after Thanksgiving. When snow plows made their way through the streets, they avoided large leaf piles and pushed smaller ones back up into the curb, creating additional problems for residents.

“Pretty soon, the entire street was occupied by leaves, and nobody could park,” said Randy Crawford, a resident of the fifth district.

Watch: Milwaukee residents frustrated as leaf piles remain buried under snow

Leaf cleanup delays frustrate Milwaukee residents after snowstorm

Not everyone blames the city entirely for the situation.

“But I don’t think it was entirely the city’s fault, like I said, it’s just Mother Nature,” Crawford said.

In a release on Monday, DPW said many large piles of leaves around the city are marked and will be addressed in the coming weeks. Residents can report large piles for the department’s consideration.

However, the city says leaves pushed to the curb or into driveways by snow plows generally won’t be addressed, meaning some areas might not see cleanup until spring.

DPW says it’s not feasible to resume rake-out and leaf consolidation until warmer weather returns.

Some residents hope for earlier action if conditions improve.

“I think if we do get a break in the weather in January, we should address that,” Crawford said.

Others are already planning for spring cleanup.

“I’ll have to do whatever I have to do to get rid of the leaves I don’t want my grass to die, so we’ll see what we do,” Joe Schorse said.

Brendyn Jones/TMJ4

For now, many leaves will remain stuck to the curb throughout the winter months.

This story was reported on-air by Brendyn Jones and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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(ABC 6 News) – Federal agents have increased their presence in Minnesota, focusing on the Twin Cities.

Augsburg University confirmed that a student was detained by immigration officers on campus over the weekend. This development comes as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported making 17 arrests in Minneapolis last week.

ICE said they are specifically targeting undocumented immigrants who have previously been convicted of a crime in the United States.

INDIANAPOLIS — Big changes are coming to the near south side of Indianapolis in the new year.

The Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi) expansion is set to open May 1, 2026.

WATCH FULL STORY BELOW

Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis expansion set to open Spring 2026

The cultural campus, located in the Garfield Park and Bean Creek neighborhoods, consists of the CAMi main building, the Tube Gallery (formerly Tube Factory art space), and a public green space and art park.

“We’re looking at CAMi as art in a really broad sense. You get culinary arts, performing arts, you can a concert or a play. It’s also a space where you can have conferences,” Executive Director of Big Car Collaborative Jim Walker said.

This $7 million renovation transforms a 125-year-old former dairy barn and industrial space into a 40,000 square foot hub for art, performance, food, sound and creative enterprise.

“When we came here in 2015, before we bought this property, half the houses were vacant. These two factories were vacant,” Walker said. “It went from this sort of forgotten, somewhat falling-down houses that were boarded up to this totally different place that’s really vibrant and definitely an anchor for the south side.”

The five-acre campus also includes 18 homes for long-term and visiting resident artists.

One of those artists, Rob Funkhouser, says Big Car has been fundamentally life-changing.

“When they started this affordable housing program, I was able to buy into a situation where, as long as I care to keep working, I know that my housing costs won’t go up,” Funkhouser said. “Being able to keep cost of living low and keep costs down allow artists to focus on their medium more often.”

Funkhouser says the CAMi expansion will further enrich the neighborhood he calls home.

“This feels like we’re settling in and growing up a bit,” he said.

Garfield Park Neighbors Association President Rich Whitney agrees.

He’s excited for what the expansion will bring in 2026.

“The first ten years for GPNA has been about getting our footing, getting our neighbors involved, having events, connecting with the neighbors. This second phase is really gonna be about economic development, trying to pull people from Bean Creek and Garfield Park together,” Whitney said.

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Nico Pennisi is the In Your Community reporter for Downtown Indy. He joined WRTV in October 2022. His passion has always been telling the stories of people who often get overlooked. Share your story ideas and important issues with Nico by emailing him at nico.pennisi@wrtv.com.