Terry Hackbarth’s love of music and the scene in Milwaukee started an exciting new chapter when he took over the East Side storefront now known as Irving Place Records. This week, he added a couple lines to the story by releasing the first two songs from an upcoming all-Milwaukee compilation album.

Irving Place Records partnered with Label 51 Recordings on the project, which is exclusive to the record store and is the first in the label’s series of city-based compilations. Titled Notes from the Underground Vol. 1: Milwaukee, the track listing is as follows:

Side A

• Trolley, “Record Store”
• Diet Lite, “Stuck Again”
• Certain Stars, “I Don’t Drink Much (About That)”
• Operations, “Fog Museum”
• The Quiet Canon, “My Love Will Shine on You (Radio Edit)”
• Apollo Vermouth, “After School”

Side B

• Testa Rosa, “Alice Anything”
• Elephonic, “Wonderin’”
• Immortal Girlfriend, “Hourglass”
• Laurel Sulfate & Her Ladies of Leisure, “Laguna”
• Nick Maas, “House For Two”
• Dead Horses, “Brady Street”

The liner notes are quite the literary work and outline the “rock nuggets,” “gorgeous whisper” and “soothing medicine of melancholy” you’ll find on the album. The capper to those eloquent descriptions invites you to:

… take a long walk (or a short spin) with your twelve new best friends on this Brew City “best of.” If this is your first visit, you will understand why there’s a lot to love about Milwaukee, a city whose vinyl grooves and avenues are haunted by the rugged, the ragged, the wistful, and the romantic. When you’re done listening, why don’t you send your own transmission from the underground? Plot your own escape from a place that most dreams call home.

Two 88Nine favorites — Diet Lite and Immortal Girlfriend — get the honor of serving as the lead singles, both of which are out now. The album in its entirety will be available as a digital edition Dec. 6, with physical versions on vinyl and compact disc coming to Irving Place Records a week later on Dec. 13. You can pre-order both of those physical options now on the store’s website.

Home sales in the four-county metro Milwaukee rose fell 1.3%, year-over-year, while at the same time sale prices rose 11.9%, according to the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors.

Median home sale prices in the four-county metro Milwaukee area were $400,028 in October, up from $357,529 for October of 2023.

“Prices are going up because the market simply does not have enough homes to meet demand, resulting in prices being pushed up as buyers bid up prices,” the GMAR report states. “Demand for homes continues to remain strong.”

October home sales dipped in Milwaukee and Ozaukee counties, year-over-year, but rose in every other southeastern Wisconsin county. Here’s the count-by-county home sale breakdown for October:

• Racine: 216, +20.0%
• Washington: 148, +18.4%
• Kenosha: 176, +17.3%
• Walworth: 131, +12.9%
• Waukesha: 443, +11.0%
• Ozaukee: 97, -4.0%
• Milwaukee: 837, -9.0%

Milwaukee police are poised to be at former President Donald Trump’s inauguration in two months.

The inauguration is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. On Thursday, the city’s Public Safety and Health Committee moved forward a proposal where some officers would assist in traffic control for the parade, pending further approvals.

“Historically, for inaugurations, they seek assistance from other jurisdictions for the lift of public safety,” Milwaukee Police Chief of Staff Heather Hough told the council’s Public Safety and Health Committee.

More: When will Donald Trump take office? Here’s what to know about the inauguration in January

Participating officers would not be “taken off the street of Milwaukee” but asked to use their personal time, whether vacation or other off time, to participate, she said. The U.S. Department of Justice would cover expenses associated with sending officers to the inauguration.

Officers would not be involved in activities like crowd control or handling civil disturbances, said James Lewis, risk manager for Milwaukee police.

Final approval for police participation in the inauguration awaits approval by the full Common Council. The department also needs approval from the Wisconsin Attorney General, according to Lewis who spoke at the Thursday meeting.

David Clarey is a reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@gannett.com.