Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee neighbors finally see massive leaf pile cleanup after months
MILWAUKEE — Christine LaMarre is finally getting used to a view she hasn’t seen clearly in months.
“I haven’t seen my street for forever… for months,” LaMarre said.
Outside her home on North 89th Street in the Cooper Park neighborhood sat a 150-foot-long leaf pile — frozen under snow and stretching down much of her block.
TMJ4
The massive pile posed safety concerns for elderly neighbors and made it tough for fire trucks and other vehicles to navigate what had essentially become a one-way street.
“It needed to be cleared for them… and my neighbors wanted it cleared also, because it was in front of three, four houses and they couldn’t get into park or anything,” LaMarre said.
Mike Beiermeister
TMJ4 first spoke to Christine last week after a viewer had reached out, sharing their frustration about the lack of cleanup. By Monday, Milwaukee Department of Public Works crews were out clearing that pile and others in the neighborhood.
Previous Coverage: https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-county/it-looks-terrible-milwaukee-residents-frustrated-as-massive-leaf-piles-block-streets-for-over-a-month
Previous Coverage: https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-county/milwaukee-residents-frustrated-as-leaf-piles-remain-buried-under-snow-dpw-has-plan-to-address-the-leaves
It was a welcome sight for Andy Butula, who also lives on 89th Street.
“It’ll be nice to be able to park in front of my house and just go in,” Butula said.
Mike Beiermeister
The city says a snowstorm in late November slowed leaf collection — and that both operations use the same crews and equipment. That’s why some piles sat for weeks, even months.
“It just seemed like it would have been easier if it would have been taken care of right away before the snow came,” Butula said.
Mike Beiermeister
Crews weren’t able to get to every leaf pile in Cooper Park and around the city on Monday. They plan to clean up remaining piles and are getting help from Mother Nature as warmer conditions are expected to carry on the rest of this week.
Related Coverage: https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-county/milwaukee-neighbors-frustrated-as-uncollected-leaves-create-hazardous-conditions-after-storm
As crews take advantage of the warmer weather, some neighbors on Milwaukee’s west side are thankful to have things back to normal before the holidays.
“I’m very pleased… mostly for my neighbors, because it was a front of their homes, but it was bothering all of us,” LaMarre said.
The city says about 90% of city-created piles have been cleared. Next, they’ll focus on large resident-created piles.
Mike Beiermeister
According to a spokesperson with Milwaukee DPW, the deadline for residents to rake leaves to the curb was Sunday, November 30. After that date, crews begin collecting leaves citywide, a process that typically takes two to three weeks. This year, however, a significant early winter snowstorm on November 29 interrupted operations. As a result, crews expect to continue collecting larger leaf piles into the new year. Smaller piles will be addressed in the spring.
“We are thankful to residents for being patient with us as we navigating snow operations and leaf collection at the same time as both operations use same staff and equipment. We are currently lucky to have better weather conditions that our staff is taking advantage of for leaf collection,” the spokesperson said.
Approximately 90% of city-created piles have been collected. Once that work is completed, crews will shift their focus to large resident-created piles. Some of those resident piles have already been collected as part of the city-pile cleanup process.
Residents may report large leaf piles by submitting a request at milwaukee.gov/Click4Action, through the MKE Mobile app, or by calling 414-286-CITY (2489).
This story was reported on-air by Mike Beiermeister and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Milwaukee, WI
Monarchs Pile On a Dozen, Clinch Series With Milwaukee – Kansas City Monarchs
Milwaukee, WI — Kansas City scored seven runs in the final two frames and cruised to a 12-6 win over the Milwaukee Milkmen behind a 15-hit night.
This game worked quickly as only 28 minutes had gone by and it was the bottom of the third. The Monarchs started to settle in and found the breakthrough in the fourth inning when Saul Garza hit a solo smash to jump into the lead. The league leader in triples, Hudson Head, recorded his ninth triple and then was brought home on an RBI double from JD Davis. Shortly after, Tyler Gentry registered his first RBI as a Monarch when he sent a ground ball into right that scored Davis. Kansas City would not slow down as Austin Callahan ended the frame with a two-run blast. KC put up a five spot and would not surrender the lead the rest of the way.
The Milkmen found an immediate response in the bottom half of the fourth as Andy Blake crushed a two-run homer to cut the lead back down to three.
It was an exceptional pitching performance from former World Series champion, Michael Mariot. He went 6.1 innings while shoving in a season-high nine K’s, despite giving up three runs. Jack Walker, Jeff Hakanson, and Wyatt Wendell also stepped on the bump as they combined for two strikeouts with three runs allowed.
Milwaukee would not go down so easily as they cut the lead down to just one in the bottom of the seventh inning. There were three-straight base hits by Wendell Marrero, Alec Olund, and Chase Weddell to load up the bases with only one away. Charlie Marion drove in a pair of runs as he reached base via fielders choice with a ground ball up the middle. The Monarchs were fortunate to close out the inning with a one-run lead, but had work to do.
This group quickly answered by putting up their second five-spot of the night. In the top of the eighth, Head walked and then JD Davis drove in another run with a knock up the middle. Brady Lindsly immediately followed it up with a single and then Gentry ripped a ball into center field that scored Davis and Lindsly. Callahan finished the inning with the last run as he got home on a wild pitch from Milkmen pitcher, Justin Kelly. Just like that, the Monarchs had their largest lead at 10-4.
Davis was on a tear tonight as he added the last two Monarch runs in the ninth. Garza walked and then Head singled while Davis delivered a fly ball into center to score both runners. Davis, Gentry, and Callahan all collected three RBI’s each and were a huge part of the Kansas City offense tonight.
The Milkmen added two consolation runs in the bottom half of the ninth, but it was too little too late.
This was a much needed series win over the East Division leaders. Kansas City has now reestablished a 1.5 game lead over Winnipeg and will look to build on that tomorrow afternoon. It will be a 1 o’clock first pitch at Franklin Field to round out the six-game roadtrip.
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee County Sheriff conducting death investigation following water rescue at Bay View Park
MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office is conducting a death investigation after receiving a report of a body seen in the water near Bay View Park on Saturday morning.
First responders were dispatched to the area at around 9:40 a.m. after a passerby on the Oak Leaf Trail saw a body about 30ft off the shore in the water.
TMJ4
A man was recovered following a water rescue and life-saving measures were taken. He was pronounced dead at 10:15 a.m.
A security perimeter has been set up at the scene and park visitors are being asked to respect the boundaries as the investigation continues.
The identity of the man has not been identified yet.
Let’s talk:
Hey there! At TMJ4 News, we’re all about listening to our audience and tackling the stuff that really matters to you. Got a story idea, tip, or just want to chat about this piece? Hit us up using the form below. For more ways to get in touch, head over to tmj4.com/tips.
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Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Election Commission begins review, plans procedure updates after ballot delay
Milwaukee’s election commissioner addressed a human error that caused about 28,000 absentee ballots to be delayed late in the evening of the primary election, saying the process and procedure is under review.
“Since 2024, we’ve conducted after-action reviews every election, and we our review for this partisan primary is underway. It’s an entire department-wide effort,” said Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Paulina Gutierrez.
At a Friday meeting, Gutierrez said the commission plans to update its procedure.
“The failure of the to download the correct files it was a human error, and we are obviously accountable to that mistake. We have plans to update our written procedure to include images of each screen,” Gutierrez said. “We want to make that written procedure available to observers at central count.”
Watch: Milwaukee Election Commission begins review, plans procedure updates after ballot delay
Milwaukee election process under review
Milwaukee election officials say workers accidentally uploaded audit logs instead of actual vote totals onto five out of nine flash drives used during ballot processing. When TMJ4 spoke with Gutierrez late Tuesday night, she described the issue as a:
“We had a human error, that’s what it was. It was a mistake that the wrong report— the button on the machine was the wrong one that was pressed,” Gutierrez said.
Earlier this week, TMJ4’s Mike Beiermiester spoke with Wisconsin Election Commission Vice Chair Bob Spindell, who criticized the matter and called for an investigation.
“There were problems in 2024. There’s problems last night, and the explanation that I heard did not satisfy,” Spindell said.
Election officials say the ballots themselves were never compromised.
“We operate with only 11 full-time staff, which is exceptionally lean for a city of our size. But overall, you know, the partisan primary was administered without major issues impacting voters or the accuracy of elections,” Gutierrez said.
Let’s talk:
Hey there! At TMJ4 News, we’re all about listening to our audience and tackling the stuff that really matters to you. Got a story idea, tip, or just want to chat about this piece? Hit us up using the form below. For more ways to get in touch, head over to tmj4.com/tips.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
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