Last week, multiple human bones were again found during construction at Maryland Avenue Montessori School in Milwaukee’s east-side Murray Hill neighborhood.

The grade school stands at what was once the site of the East Side Potter’s Field, a known and recorded uncatalogued burial site, said Wisconsin Historical Society assistant director of strategic communications Colleen Lies. Lies explained that the field was Milwaukee’s first potter’s field ― a cemetery for poor, unclaimed and unknown people ― and was in use through the mid-1800s.

Milwaukee County Historical Society president Ben Barbera said Milwaukee police notified his organization after the remains were found on Oct. 2. Barbera referred the police to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s office. According to a report from the Medical Examiner’s office, an investigator climbed down a ladder into the 3-foot-deep excavation site and observed multiple bones sticking out of the dirt on one of the side walls. More dirt to the sides of the bones was removed; ultimately, a “large amount” of bones were found.

The Wisconsin Historical Society was notified of the burial site disturbance and took possession of the bones from the scene. WHS took on the matter because MCHS does not have any input on human remains, Barbera said, while WHS oversees cemeteries and other burials.

“(We) confirmed that all construction was stopped for further coordination with everyone involved,” Lies said. “UW-Milwaukee Cultural Resource Management has temporary care of the remains and will be completing archaeology and analysis work for the burials uncovered during construction.” Construction has since resumed.

This isn’t the first time human bones were found at the site at 2418 N. Maryland Ave.

Many East Side Potter’s Field remains were uncovered and removed during the initial construction of the Maryland Avenue school in 1887.

According to a 1951 Milwaukee Journal article, the potter’s field was the burial site of many victims of the city’s 1849-1850 cholera epidemic, which was estimated to have killed as many as 700 of the city’s then-20,000 residents. During an excavation for an addition to the school in 1951, cholera epidemic-era bones and bone fragments were found, some buried “haphazardly” just 18 inches below the surface, the Journal reported.

Then, in 2021, OnMilwaukee reported that four bones were discovered during a small excavation to fix some basement seepage at the school.

MILWAUKEE – Expectations will be high for the Milwaukee Bucks this season.

Before the regular season begins, FOX6’s Lily Zhao went one-on-one with Bucks co-owner Jamie Dinan to get a preview of the upcoming year.

FOX6’s Lily Zhao: “I’m here with Mr. Jamie Dinan ahead of a very fun Bucks media day and Jamie, when you’re looking at this team coming into the season, there’s obviously a big veteran group. You also bring in some free agents as well. Along with your rookie class, what gets you the most excited about this upcoming Bucks season?”

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“You know Lily, what I’m really excited about is the team is healthy,” said Jamie Dinan, Bucks co-owner. “I think we heard Doc talk about how in great shape Khris is, for example. Giannis is recovered, Dame is recovered. We’ve got a couple of new people on the team, Gary Trent Jr, played almost the whole season last year in Toronto. Got Taurean Prince, same thing, played almost every game with the Lakers last year. I think we’ve got some really good additions; we’ve got the core back together healthy. We got a really good team.”

FOX6’s Lily Zhao: “It’s been a busy 16 months with the coaching changes and all that, so how important is continuity for this team, to have Doc for a full offseason and have him here for the year?”

“You know, Doc is someone whom I’ve known forever by reputation,” said Dinan. “I only got to meet him for the first time last winter when he joined us. He’s obviously a terrific coach. He’s totally committed to this team and the organization and to winning. I think it’s going to be a big difference. I think this idea that Doc has come up with, which is really a first for this team. Offsite training camp, really team bonding, chemistry dynamics, he gets it. He has a formula and there are not too many coaches with Doc Rivers’ resume out there.”

FOX6’s Lily Zhao: “When you look at how this team has ended the last two postseasons, obviously it’s been tough, as Khris walks by, what gives you confidence that this is the year that you guys can make it back to where you want to be at the end of this thing?”

“In addition to some of these additions that I think we’ve picked up are strong at the two and the three positions,” said Dinan. “If you look at last year, our Big 3, Khris, Dame and Giannis only played like half the season, and yet we won twice as many games when they were on the court. None of these guys were necessarily at 100 percent, so we’ve got a core. I think we’re going to have a healthy core. The chemistry, if it’s there, the talent’s there, and maybe get a little lucky on the health side.”

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FOX6’s Lily Zhao: “We see guys walking down the hallway, obviously saying hi to you, what’s the energy, what’s the vibe you’re getting from the team so far before training camp?”

“I was here last week,” said Dinan. “I came here to see Jon Horst and Doc Rivers. I watched a full practice session. I would say it’s the most energetic practice session. I remember pre-training season in my 10 years here, and I was told that it was by far the best turned out preseason practice period that we’ve had. I think they’re energized, I’m energized, and I think the city of Milwaukee will be energized very shortly.”

Once the Bucks wrap up preseason play, they’ll tipoff the regular season on Oct. 23 in Philadelphia against the 76ers.

EL SEGUNDO — Before the Lakers embarked on their 1,700-plus mile flight to Milwaukee for Thursday’s preseason matchup against the Bucks at Fiserv Forum, star forward LeBron James questioned why the game was scheduled in the first place.

“Can someone please explain to me why we’re getting on a [plane emoji] and heading to Milwaukee for [one] pre-season game!?!?” James posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.

The Thursday matchup will be the Lakers’ third of six preseason games, with all their exhibitions being played away from their home arena of Crypto.com Arena.

The downtown L.A. venue is going through the final phase of a three-year renovation plan, affecting more than just the Lakers’ preseason schedule.

The NHL’s Kings will play their first seven regular-season games on the road before their home opener on Oct. 24 – two days after the Lakers’ regular-season home opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 22.

The Lakers are coming off losses to the Timberwolves on Friday night and the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night, with the Lakers hosting both games at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert – about a two-hour bus ride from the team’s El Segundo practice facility.

After Thursday’s matchup, the Lakers will get a couple of days off before playing their final three preseason games in four days:

• vs. the Golden State Warriors at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Tuesday;

• at the Phoenix Suns at the Footprint Center on Oct. 17;

• at the Warriors at Chase Center on Oct. 18.

“Not an ideal preseason for us,” Lakers coach JJ Redick responded after Tuesday’s practice when asked about the preseason travel schedule.

The Lakers would typically play a couple of exhibitions at their home arena in addition to a couple of road games against Western Conference opponents and hosting matchups at a neutral site in the Southern California area  – such as Palm Desert or Anaheim – or even Las Vegas.

Unlike the regular season, teams are mostly responsible for creating their preseason schedules.

ESPN reported that the Lakers’ preseason trip to Milwaukee is part of a prearranged deal of a home-and-home series.

The Bucks traveled to Los Angeles last fall for an exhibition as part of a three-game trip that included matchups against the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder, but they scheduled the matchups in a way that allowed them to be in Southern California for nearly a week.

The Lakers’ trip will be much quicker.

LAKERS AT BUCKS

When: Thursday, 5 p.m. PT

Where: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee

TV/radio: Spectrum SportsNet, 710 AM