Milwaukee, WI

Article prompts Milwaukee’s Seaway Terrace Apartments to repair tenant’s heat

Published

7 months ago

March 7, 2025

Article prompts Milwaukee’s Seaway Terrace Apartments to repair tenant’s heat

During Milwaukee’s frigid temperatures in early February, Steve Paradowski found himself facing a familiar problem in the apartment he moved into over 10 years ago — his heater wouldn’t turn on.

Paradowski, 68, told Public Investigator he couldn’t remember the last time both heaters in his Seaway Terrace apartment at 4601 S. First St. had worked. As soon as one was repaired, it didn’t take long before it broke again or the other one stopped working, he said.

Public Investigator called the phone number on the Seaway Terrace Apartments website, which is the same number for the Illinois-based property owners, Kinzie Realty, three times. Reporters also followed up with five emails over the next three weeks. Nobody responded.

But just three hours after Public Investigator published an article about Paradowski’s faulty thermostats and nonfunctioning heater, he said he got a call from the property manager.

“I just had a long talk with the manager,” Paradowski texted the morning of March 3. “Apparently, your article was read by the owners who contacted the manager. A maintenance man is on the way as we speak.”

That day, Paradowski said his living room heater was fixed. Two days later, maintenance fixed the thermostats that had been hanging from the wall since he moved in.

Even the closet door, which Paradowski said had been broken for nearly his entire time there, was repaired.

“It’s a little overwhelming,” Paradowski said. “I didn’t expect them to act so quickly.”

Paradowski said property manager Scott Snarski personally visited his apartment to check over the completed repairs.

Andrew Brown, a representative for Kinzie Realty, said the company never received any voicemails from Public Investigator at its Evanston offices, even though reporters used the contact information on Seaway’s website.

According to Brown, Paradowski didn’t formally request maintenance work. Tenants have to make these requests through email, phone, online, or in person before they’re logged in the company’s software, Brown said.

“There are no logged work order requests from this tenant from the past several years,” Brown wrote in an email.

Paradowski said he knows a filing a work order is required, but thought he could ask maintenance directly for help, which he’s done in the past.

But Brown said notifying maintenance staff isn’t sufficient for a request.

He said the other tenant in the story, Nailah Boyd, who also reported heating problems, has also been visited since the article’s publication, and her issues are being resolved “as rapidly as possible.”

Boyd’s thermostat had been “repaired promptly” after she submitted a maintenance request in December, Brown added.

“At the same time, it is possible that her heat was compromised, but we’re not certain,” Brown said.

Brown also pointed out that Kinzie Realty did not own the apartment building until 2018. The company owns or manages several apartment buildings in Wisconsin and the greater Chicago area.

“We’re regretful that this prior owner may not have focused on repairing property maintenance issues timely, but we can’t be responsible for their flaws,” Brown said.

Paradowski said the problems with his apartment go back farther than just the issue with his living room heater. He also took issue with Kinzie Realty taking away residents’ free storage units in 2018 and maintenance staff making a hole in his wall in 2019.

According to a notice viewed by Public Investigator, maintenance made the hole to install a sleeve for a standing air conditioning unit. Paradowski was given two choices: buy his own AC unit, or rent one from Seaway. He said he couldn’t afford either.

Though his heating issues are resolved, Paradowski said it shouldn’t have taken an article for Kinzie Realty to respond to Public Investigator. But sometimes, that’s what it takes, he said.

“It’s good,” he said. “Because I guarantee you, I’m not the only one.”

Quinn Clark is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be emailed at QClark@gannett.com.

Contact Public Investigator

Government corruption. Corporate wrongdoing. Consumer complaints. Medical scams. Public Investigator is a new initiative of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and its sister newsrooms across Wisconsin. Our team wants to hear your tips, chase the leads and uncover the truth. We’ll investigate anywhere in Wisconsin. Send your tips to publicinvestigator@jrn.com or call 414-319-9061. You can also submit tips at jsonline.com/tips.

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Milwaukee, WI

Spectators of street takeovers in Milwaukee will soon face fines up to $1,000

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2025

Press Room

Spectators of street takeovers in Milwaukee will soon face fines up to ,000

The Milwaukee Common Council on Sept. 23 unanimously passed new legislation addressing street takeovers, including fines for those who attend them.

The legislation states that no person should knowingly be present at a street takeover, which are gatherings in the public roadway as participating vehicles do burnouts and donuts. The events happen suddenly, with organizers turning to private messaging apps, and one event can be attended by hundreds.

Any person at a street takeover is now subject to a fine between $300 and $1,000, according to the legislation.

Spectators: $500 to $1,000 fine
Operators or organizers: $400 to $1,000 fine
Passengers: $300 to $1,000 fine

Those who attend more than one in the same year will receive a minimum $1,000 fine. And the municipal court can impose community service related to traffic safety and default of payment could result in jail time, the legislation states.

The legislation defines a “spectator” as someone knowingly present for the purpose of viewing, encouraging, recording or otherwise attending a street takeover. This includes people filming or livestreaming the event on social media.

In recent weeks, Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Common Council members signaled an intent to pass legislation as police reported responding to hundreds of takeovers this year. The mayor’s office said Sept. 23 that he plans to sign the legislation.

Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic said at the Common Council meeting that she wanted to be “careful” that this legislation will not result in enforcement for “pop-up, organic gatherings” that she sees in her district, which includes Bay View, sometimes surrounding political actions.

“We should be able to go in our streets and voice our support or discontent with anything. That is quite different than what (we) … seek to stop,” she said. “I feel we have a delicate balance here to stop this poor behavior but still allow … open free speech at any time.”

Street takeovers returned to the forefront over Labor Day weekend, when police received about 15 calls related to them. Those took place throughout the city, including downtown, and police arrested three people. The department also issued 26 citations and towed six vehicles.

Milwaukee police previously told the Common Council the police task force responsible for the takeovers was paused Labor Day weekend to deal with violent crime on Water Street.

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Milwaukee, WI

30th annual Milwaukee zoo bike ride offers families a wild start to Sunday

Published

2 weeks ago

September 15, 2025

Press Room

30th annual Milwaukee zoo bike ride

Nearly 700 cyclists rode through the Milwaukee County Zoo before opening hours for the Ride on the Wild Side fundraiser on Sunday, Sept. 14.

MILWAUKEE – Hundreds of riders pedaled through the Milwaukee County Zoo on Sunday morning, Sept. 14, for the Zoological Society of Milwaukee’s 30th annual Ride on the Wild Side.

What we know:

Organizers said nearly 700 cyclists participated, including some who took on a special 30-mile ride to mark the 30th year of the event. The big draw: a chance to ride bikes inside the zoo before it opened to the public.

“This is the one time a year you can come with your two wheels or four wheels, if you needed training wheels,” said Katie Krecklow with the Zoological Society of Milwaukee. “We have some brave souls today that decided to do a 30 mile ride today to celebrate 30 years.”

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Families described the early-morning ride as a unique experience, with animals just beginning to emerge into their exhibits.

“I think being early in the morning and you just see it from a different perspective – the animals are just coming out,” said Heather Anderson, who attended with her family.

In addition to the bike rides, participants enjoyed activities, like face painting, an obstacle course, and, of course, plenty of animal sightings.

Local perspective:

“Getting to see all the animals when they are coming out and the baby monkeys,” said Claire Anderson. “A lot of animals, like peacocks, like to walk around, and bears and elephants.”

These true stars of the show fuel the heart of the event.

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“We love supporting the zoo,” Heather Anderson said. “We live close and we come often through the year and we take part in their summer camps and family programs.”

Why you should care:

This year’s event raised more than $50,000, money that will go toward supporting zoo operations, conservation efforts, and the society’s mission of teaching children empathy for animals.

“The Zoological Society is the nonprofit partner of the Milwaukee County Zoo, so we take on a lot of the fundraising to try to help the zoo do what they do best, which is care for the animals,” Krecklow said.

The Source: The information in this post was collected and produced by FOX6 News.

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee prostitution crime ring; man pleads no contest, fined

Published

2 weeks ago

September 13, 2025

Press Room

Milwaukee prostitution crime ring; man pleads no contest, fined

article

MILWAUKEE – The last of six men charged in what Milwaukee County prosecutors described as a prostitution ring pleaded no contest and was fined on Friday.

Pleas and sentencings

In Court:

Court records show 56-year-old Christopher Riegg, an investment banker, pleaded no contest to three misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct. He was fined $1,500.

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Prosecutors initially charged all six men with misdemeanor pandering solicitation. One of the six, 55-year-old Travis Schwantes, was charged with additional crimes.

Schwantes, a former public defender who once ran for a judgeship, pleaded guilty to one felony and two misdemeanors in August. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail, two years of probation and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.

Court records show 60-year-old William Green, a former attorney, pleaded guilty to pandering solicitation and was sentenced to nine months of probation in June.

In July, 51-year-old Milwaukee firefighter David Ornstein pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and was fined $600. George Easton, a 77-year-old retired municipal judge, pleaded guilty to two such counts and was fined $1,000 in May.

Leroy Stewart, a funeral director in Oak Creek, pleaded no contest to three misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct. The 54-year-old was fined $1,200 in April.

The backstory:

Hundreds of pages of search warrants were unsealed last December, and FOX6 News learned the investigation into the prostitution ring began years earlier.

The scope of what investigators uncovered included accusations of extortion. It centered on an apartment building at 29th and Kilbourn in Milwaukee.

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Dig deeper:

A woman, Roya Sedghi, was charged in fall 2023 with keeping a place of prostitution. Court records said she billed herself as the “Iranian Princess.” Records show Sedghi registered “Iranian Princess Fetish Services LLC” with the state in March 2022.

Court records show it all began to unravel a month later when a woman came forward to investigators in Dodge County, detailing what happened, and with whom, in that apartment building.

Sedghi pleaded guilty in October 2024 to keeping a place of prostitution. She was sentenced to one year in prison and three years of extended supervision.

The Source: FOX6 News referenced documents filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, as well as Wisconsin Circuit Court records, for this story.

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