Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee County selects new DOT director to navigate bus system budget woes

Published

1 month ago

December 4, 2025

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Milwaukee County selects new DOT director to navigate bus system budget woes

Milwaukee County has appointed Joe Lamers as the new director of its Department of Transportation.
The appointment follows the resignation of the previous director amid a significant transit budget deficit.
Lamers previously served as the county’s director of the Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance.
The county’s transit system continues to face substantial budget shortfalls in the coming years.

Milwaukee County has chosen a new director to steer the county Department of Transportation five months after the previous director stepped down in the wake of a transit deficit that caught officials off guard.

Joe Lamers, who has spent the last eight years as director of the county’s Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance, will now head the transportation department, according to a Dec. 4 news release from the county executive’s office.

Lamers has been a pivotal player in the county’s efforts to become more fiscally sustainable as it faced a longstanding and ongoing structural deficit, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said in the release. He has managed and developed recent budgets and led efforts to improve operations, grant development, public policy, and internal communications. The county’s reserve fund increased by about $90 million under his watch.

Lamers has also helped coordinate legislative affairs efforts, including negotiations for the state legislation known as Act 12, which delivered nearly $100 million in additional annual revenue for the county and addressed long-term pension funding challenges.

“Lamers has served my administration with integrity and expertise,” Crowley said. “His leadership in creating County budgets and initiatives has closed structural deficits and enhanced essential services for the community, including in public transit and transportation infrastructure.”

In late June, the county’s bus system agency, which is overseen and managed by the county DOT, blindsided local officials with news of a $10.9 million budget deficit, which now stands at $9 million after some course correcting. The shortfall resulted in service cuts in an effort to balance the agency’s budget.

Emails obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in October showed that leaders of the bus system agency, known as Milwaukee County Transit System, had been scrambling behind closed doors for several months to address the looming deficit crisis while keeping top county leadership in the dark.

The transportation department’s executive director at the time, Donna Brown-Martin, resigned on July 1. She had held the position since 2018.

Since then, Deputy Director John Rodgers has served as the department’s interim director.

Despite service cuts in 2025 and 2026, the county’s transit system faces significant budget challenges ahead.

The transit agency faces a projected $14 million deficit in 2026, along with a 2027 deficit between $17 million and $20 million based on current service levels, MCTS President and CEO Steve Fuentes told the county’s transportation and transit committee on Dec. 3.

In the news release, Lamers said he’s grateful to Crowley for the opportunity to serve in the new role.

“I look forward to working with staff throughout the department and advancing the important mission to provide safe and reliable transportation options. I also look forward to working with all partners necessary to develop viable and fiscally sustainable funding options to provide transportation and transit services into the future,” Lamers said.

Lamers will begin serving as acting director next week. His appointment is subject to confirmation by the county Board of Supervisors. Milwaukee County Strategy Director Isaac Rowlett will serve as interim director for the Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance as the search for a new leader of the department begins.

Contact Claudia Levens at clevens@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @levensc13.

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Milwaukee, WI

Don Richards, the former Milwaukee District 9 alderman, dies at 89

Published

12 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

Don Richards, the former Milwaukee District 9 alderman, dies at 89

Former Milwaukee Common Council member Don Richards died on Dec. 26 at age 89.

Richards served on the Milwaukee Common Council between 1988 and 2004, representing District 9 on the city’s north and northwest sides until his retirement due to health reasons, according to his obituary.

During his tenure at the city, Richards was a member of the Judiciary and Legislation Committee, Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee, as well as the Housing Authority and City Records Committee.

Although the two had a brief overlap in city government, former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who was first elected in 2004, recalled Richards as “always smiling and always caring.”

“He was a wonderful man. A very Christian man who cared deeply about the community and the people who live here,” Barrett told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Before becoming a city alderman, Richards participated in the citywide marches protesting a lack of open housing legislation in the city in the 1960s and was a priest in the Milwaukee Archdiocese for almost two decades, starting in 1963. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the St. Francis Seminary and Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

Following his time on the Common Council, Richards began to teach local government classes at Alverno College. He also worked as an economic development specialist with the Northwest Side Community Development Corporation, his obituary said.

Richards is survived by his brother, Bob (Joanne), and was preceded in death by his wife, Doloros; his parents, Gregor and Rose Richards; and his brothers, Jim Richards and Ed Richards, according to his obit.

A visitation is planned at 10 a.m. Jan 8 until his funeral Mass at 11 a.m. at Alvina of Milwaukee Chapel, 9301 N. 76th Street.

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Milwaukee, WI

Teen passenger dies in fiery crash after fleeing driver crashes into Milwaukee roundabout

Published

1 day ago

January 5, 2026

Press Room

Teen passenger dies in fiery crash after fleeing driver crashes into Milwaukee roundabout

MILWAUKEE — A police chase that began in West Milwaukee on Sunday morning ended in a fiery crash on Milwaukee’s south side, killing 18-year-old Izack Zavala.

The Medical Examiner’s Office identified Zavala as the passenger who died in the one-car crash at 37th and Mitchell streets. His family said he was a 2025 Milwaukee Public Schools Alexander Hamilton High School graduate who loved soccer and would do anything to help his loved ones.

Provided by family

Izack Zavala

The West Milwaukee Police Department said officers attempted to pull over the driver for a traffic violation near Miller Park Way and Lincoln Avenue, but the driver fled and crossed into Milwaukee.

Roundabout at 37th and Mitchell.png — Roundabout at 37th and Mitchell

About a mile later, police say the fleeing driver hit a roundabout, lost control, and crashed into a tree, ejecting both the driver and passenger.

“If they were trying to avoid one of those, and with the weather being cold and slick, and you hit a patch of ice, and you’re gone. You’re done,” Barbie, who witnessed the aftermath, said.

The loud crash woke up neighbors like Barbie in the middle of the night.

Watch: Teen passenger dies in fiery crash after fleeing driver crashes into Milwaukee roundabout

Teen passenger dies in fiery crash after fleeing driver crashes into Milwaukee roundabout

“Like thunder struck the building. The entire building shook. It was insane,” Barbie said.

Looking out her kitchen window, Barbie saw the devastating scene unfold.

“The whole thing just lit up like a torch,” she said.

Car on fire.png — Car on fire after crash

A day after the flames were extinguished, crash debris still surrounded the tree and Barbie’s backyard.

“The car was right there in the center,” she said.

Zavala’s family said his cousin was driving the vehicle. The 19-year-old driver was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Barbie, who has witnessed crashes before, said seeing this one up close was different.

“I’ve seen plenty of crashes, had people that I care about die in crashes, but to see it up close is something different. I feel bad for the kid’s family,” she said.

The witness hopes the tragedy serves as a warning to others who might consider fleeing police.

“I feel for their family, and I wish to God that that wouldn’t have happened, obviously, but there comes a point, ‘what were you doing’, you know?” Barbie said. “I just think that people need to think before they do, and that’s just not a thing anymore.”

TMJ4 asked the West Milwaukee Police Department if it plans to refer charges for the 19-year-old driver who remains seriously injured at the hospital. The department declined to comment, saying it’s still an active investigation.

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Milwaukee, WI

These recently sold Milwaukee homes are more than 100 years old

Published

2 days ago

January 5, 2026

Press Room

These recently sold Milwaukee homes are more than 100 years old

Milwaukee’s real estate market likely ended 2025 in much the same place as 2024, real estate analysts say.

A report from the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors released in December estimated that total home sales in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties will remain flat from 2024.

In Milwaukee County, home sales were down 9.2% in November 2025 compared to November 2024, according to the report.

Still, year-to-date home prices in the four-county Milwaukee metropolitan area rose 7.7% to an average of just over $431,000, the report says.

Here are a few of the oldest homes recently sold in Milwaukee, according to Milwaukee Metropolitan Multiple Listing Services data:

1913 Milwaukee bungalow sells for $365,000

A 113-year-old bungalow on South Wentworth Avenue in Milwaukee sold for $365,000 on Dec. 22.

The 1,500-square-foot home has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, according to the listing from Tom Horigan with Realty Experts, and it sits on a 0.11-acre lot.

The home features hardwood floors, a built-in buffet and leaded glass windows but updated home and garage roofs, according to the listing. It also has an enclosed front porch.

19th-century Bay View home sells for $295,000

A 1,250-square-foot Milwaukee home built in 1890 sold for $295,000 on Dec. 22.

The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home is located on East Euclid Avenue in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood, according to the listing from Alexis Ruzell with Coldwell Banker Realty. It sits on a 3,050-square-foot lot.

The home features wood flooring and a second-story bedroom leading to an elevated porch, according to the listing.

Another century-old bungalow sells for $475,000

A bungalow on North 39th Street in Milwaukee’s Roosevelt Grove neighborhood sold for $475,000 on Dec. 23.

The home was built in 1922 on a 0.96-acre lot with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, according to the listing from Kendrick Taylor with Keller Williams Realty. It spans 2,250 square feet.

The home features a modern kitchen with quartz countertops and a dry bar in the living room, according to the listing. It also includes a finished lower level.

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