MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee’s own Palermo’s Pizza is expanding. The company will start building a new 200,000 square-foot facility this summer in West Milwaukee. 

It will allow Palermo’s to grow its production capacity and add 50 new jobs. This comes as the family-owned business is celebrating 60 years in operation. 

Founded by Italian immigrants in the 1950s, Palermo’s Pizza has deep roots in Milwaukee, family and tradition.

“My grandparents came over from Italy with nothing in their pocket,” said Nick Falluca, chief product and innovation officer at Palermo’s.

He said they worked hard and eventually turned some of their favorite Italian recipes into a business.

In 1964, the Falluca family opened a bakery out of a house on Milwaukee’s East Side. Four years later, they transitioned that bakery into an Italian restaurant. That’s where the family began offering their signature frozen pizzas for customers to buy and make at home. From there, they started selling those frozen pizzas at local grocery stores and bars.

Decades later, Palermo’s Pizza has grown into a national and international brand, selling millions of pizzas each year at major retailers, like Costco. Despite its growth, Palermo’s remains committed to its roots and values.

Still, every one of its frozen pizzas ties back to grandma and grandpa.

“We’d be at the dinner table, and everybody would be like, ‘Why is he screaming?’ And we would be like, ‘No, that’s just how grandpa talks,’” Falluca said. “He was loud and vibrant. That’s how the name ‘Screaming Sicilian’ came about.” 

Dax Schaefer is the corporate chef for Palermo’s, and Brianna Fyock is a manager and senior food scientist for the company. They both said while they are not related to the Falluca family by blood, anyone who works for Palermo’s is treated like family.

“The Falluca family has been nothing but generous to their employees,” Schaefer said.

“It really does feel like family here,” Fyock added. “To actually see the start to finish, from the idea of a pizza to creation, and then be able to buy it for your family in a grocery store, is such a great experience.”

Falluca said prioritizing the customer, employees and a quality product also comes from grandpa.

“That’s how he ran the restaurant, putting the customer first, really great food, and focusing on your employees,” Falluca said. “That’s how to create a great business, product and customer service.”

UW-Milwaukee’s chancellor is apologizing for weighing in on geopolitical issues but isn’t withdrawing the controversial agreement that weighed in on geopolitical issues.

UW-Milwaukee’s Chancellor Mark Mone has apologized for the university’s decision to weigh in on “deeply complex geopolitical and historical issues.”

“It is clear to me that UWM should not have weighed in on deeply complex geopolitical and historical issues. And for that, I apologize,” Mone wrote in a public statement on May 21.

However, Mone’s statement does not say anything about withdrawing or negating the university’s controversial agreement with pro-Palestinian activists, which calls for a ceasefire, uses Hamas propaganda to accuse Israel of plausible genocide, and labels Israeli detainees (who include militants and terrorists) “hostages,” while demanding their release.

In other words, by not withdrawing the agreement, Mone is apologizing that the university weighed in on “deeply complex geopolitical and historical issues,” while allowing the document that does just that to stand. Furthermore, Mone is not the only person who signed the agreement; it was also signed by Provost Andrew Daire, Vice Chancellor for DEI Chia Vang, and Dean of Students Adam Jussel. The latest statement is in Mone’s name only.

“UWM said the terms of the deal remained intact,” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, quoting a university spokesperson as saying, “We are focused on moving forward. We are acknowledging the pain this caused for our Jewish community and that we should have been more explicit in our support for this community.”

“In recent days, I have heard from some on our campus and in our Jewish community that our response over the last few months to global events, local protests and the recent encampment left them feeling vulnerable, unsafe and unseen,” Mone wrote in the May 21 statement. “As a leader, educator and friend, this feedback has impacted me greatly.”

Mone’s apology comes after UWM’s decision to allow an anti-Israel encampment to remain on campus for two weeks draw sharp criticism, as did the university’s agreement ending that encampment. The encampment, encircled by a makeshift fence, contained examples of pro Oct. 7 and anti Israel propaganda. It’s not legal to camp on university property.

Three major Jewish organizations called on the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System “to immediately negate this (UWM) agreement and take the aggressive steps necessary to ensure Jewish – and all – students are able to attend UWM and all UW campuses without the threats of harassment, intimidation and hate just because of their identity.”

Wisconsin President Jay Rothman released his own statement, criticizing the UWM agreement and saying he was disappointed in it.

After Mone’s apology on May 21, Rothman wrote, “I appreciate that the chancellor reassessed his approach at UW-Milwaukee regarding the illegal encampments and issued a statement reflecting his apology. Chancellor Mone has dedicated his career to UWM, and I know he is committed to ensuring that all students feel equally welcome, safe, and supported as members of one UWM campus community.”

Wisconsin Right Now published a column by UWM Professor Shale Horowitz, who wrote, “UWM’s leadership supports an effort that can only succeed by killing and expelling Israel’s Jews.” WRN’s co-editor Jessica McBride, a UWM instructor, also penned a column in which she wrote, “The university should not pick a side… Because we all fund the state’s public university, they are essentially using their taxpayer-funded positions of state authority to argue for controversial foreign policy positions that many of us abhor. That’s wrong.”

In his May 21 statement, Mone wrote that, in recent days, “I have heard from some on our campus and in our Jewish community that our response over the last few months to global events, local protests and the recent encampment left them feeling vulnerable, unsafe and unseen. As a leader, educator and friend, this feedback has impacted me greatly.”

“It is clear to me that UWM should not have weighed in on deeply complex geopolitical and historical issues. And for that, I apologize. I acknowledge that it is an increasingly difficult time for many Jewish students at UWM and across America,” he wrote. “I’ve also heard that some students have not felt comfortable reporting their concerns or experiences. This distresses me. The expressions of grief and frustration over the conflict in the Middle East must not destabilize our shared sense of humanity or be twisted into a platform to spread hatred.”

Mone’s statement continued: “Let me be clear: UWM resolutely condemns antisemitism, just as we do Islamophobia and all other forms of hatred. Our campus must be a place that welcomes all students and the full expression of their history, culture, identity and ethnicity. But words alone cannot create the culture of inclusion we desire, which is why we must transform our words into commitment and action. This work will take time, as all hard work does, and it will also take the openness of our entire community.”

The statement concluded, “As we move forward, I am dedicated to continued listening, conversation and engagement with all our students. I recognize that students must first trust that we can better support them before they can feel comfortable sharing their concerns.”

He added, “The path ahead will be grounded in our guiding values. I reaffirm my personal commitment, and that of my leadership team, to advancing an inclusive campus where every student can succeed. I hope you will join me in this work.”

The Journal Sentinel reported that “pro Palestinian groups” slammed the criticism of the agreement as a “new McCarthyism on campus,” saying critics are using “false allegations of antisemitism to shut down the legitimate claims and gains of Palestine solidarity activism on campus.”

MILWAUKEE – The man accused in a Milwaukee hit-and-run that killed two brothers pleaded not guilty and was bound over for trial on Tuesday, May 21.

Luis Perez Garcia, 33, is charged with four felonies in the case. The crash left Ausberto and Michael Gutierrez Ponce dead on May 5.

Case details

It happened near 19th and Lincoln around 2:45 a.m. that morning. A witness told police that she gave her neighbor, Ausberto, a ride home that night and double-parked in the bike lane, so he could get out, according to a criminal complaint. She said Ausberto had already gotten out, and Michael met them out on the street to talk. That’s when a speeding vehicle hit her SUV and the brothers, she said, and drove off.

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Police found debris from the striking vehicle at the scene, which included pieces of plastic with “distinctive markings” on them, per the complaint. That debris was determined to be from a 2013-17 Chevrolet Traverse.

Surveillance video did not show the impact, but did show what appeared to be a 2013-2017 Chevrolet Traverse just west of the scene at the time. The complaint states no other vehicles drove past during that time frame leading up to and after the crash. The same SUV was later seen eastbound on Lincoln Avenue with damage to its passengers’ side headlights – “consistent with having struck another object.”

Later that day, police found a Chevrolet Traverse with heavy damage to its front passenger side near 5th and Arthur – a little more than a mile from the crash scene. Neighbors told police who the SUV belonged to, the complaint states, and an officer went to knock on that door. Perez Garcia answered and was taken into custody.

The next day, detectives interviewed Perez-Garcia. Per the complaint, he admitted to causing the crash and leaving the scene. He said he had left a bar after he drank eight beers, but he “was not drunk” – rather, “buzzed.” He also admitted he does not have a driver’s license, and a review of Wisconsin Department of Transportation records found he had never been issued one.

Perez Garcia is charged with two counts of hit-and-run resulting in death and two counts of knowingly operating a motor vehicle without a valid license causing death. If convicted of all charges, he could face more than 70 years in prison.