A Milwaukee Common Council committee, this week, supported legislative action aimed at addressing the city’s food desert crisis on the city’s north side.

At the April 8 Steering and Rules Committee meeting, leaders discussed at length the growing frustration with sudden closures of grocery stores and the minimal notice they said residents received before the businesses shut down.

District 1 Alderwoman Andrea Pratt referenced the sudden January closure by owners of the Aldi near North Sherman Boulevard and West Custer Avenue.

“They left me a voicemail on January 9 to tell me they were closing on January 11, which means that all those people in that neighborhood were left without a grocery store in two days. They found out on the news,” she said.

The committee approved adopting a city ordinance to require licensed food establishments to provide the city written notice of their intent to close a business at least 60 days before the planned closure.

The measure will go up for a vote by the full council.

“They are there, not only to conduct business, but are very much a part of our neighborhoods and very much a part of our community; they have a responsibility, and they have to be accountable,” Pratt said of food businesses.

The planned opening of a grocery store to replace the now-departed Sentry Foods at 64th and Silver Spring Drive in Ald. Mark Chambers Jr.’s district hit a snag.

“The Sentry is going to be re-imaged and repurposed into a grocery called One City Supermarket that will be opening up soon, this month,” he said, “There are still some kinks that are coming out as far as accepting SNAP and things for the federal government, so that’s what’s holding up the grand opening on that one.

A sign posted on the door said the grand opening was scheduled for April 26. It is unclear if the issue Chambers revealed would push the date.

Chambers supported the 60-day notice ordinance along with the resolution to declare food apartheid a public health emergency in the city.

A 2023 article published by Jo Walker for the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability cited Karen Washington, a food justice advocate, for coining the term as drawing attention.

Karen Washington, food justice advocate, organizer, and author, first coined the term food apartheid to draw attention to the “root causes of inequity in our food system based on race, class, and geography.” The article went on to say Washington emphasized “healthy, fresh food is accessible in wealthy neighborhoods while unhealthy food abounds in poor neighborhoods.”

“This [resolution] is necessary because we, as alders on the Northside [of Milwaukee] are severely impacted compared to our counterparts on the south side,” Chambers, who represents District 1 said.

“You shouldn’t wake up in a food desert,” Ald. Pratt added.

Have you ever been to the 4th Base Bar and Grill in Milwaukee, Wisconsin? I just learned about this place today, and it’s definitely a place I need to experience this summer!

Milwaukee’s Mullet Bar

As a lifelong Illinois girl who comes from a family of Chicago Cubs fans, I feel legally obligated to side-eye anything related to Milwaukee and baseball. However, for 4th Base Bar and Grill, I am willing to make an exception.

From the outside, the 4th Base Bar and Grill may look like your average sports/dive bar, but a truly unique dining experience awaits you inside.

4th Base Bar and Grill is often referred to as Milwaukee’s mullet bar, because it’s the best way to describe it: Sports bar in the front, fancy steakhouse in the back.

Please allow me to explain.

What Makes 4th Base Bar and Grill Unique

At 4th Base Bar and Grill, there is no menu.

Instead, there is a full deli case in the back where you walk up and choose what you want to eat, and then the chef whips up a fabulous meal with it.

We’re talking filet mignon, king crab, scallops… the kind of dinner you’d expect somewhere with white tablecloths and waiters wearing bowties… not next to a guy in a Brewers jersey yelling at the TV.

Fun Fact About 4th Base Bar and Grill

Another thing that makes 4th Base stand out is this:

Not only has it been around since the late 1970s, but the bar also had a cameo in the baseball movie Major League released in 1989!

Does this look familiar?

The next time you venture north to Milwaukee, be sure to give 4th Base a try… and maybe leave your Cubs jersey at home.

25 Places You Need to See Next Time You’re In Wisconsin

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A two-alarm fire ripped through a U-Haul storage facility in Milwaukee’s South Side on Monday night, just months after a previous five-alarm fire caused significant damage to the same complex. The latest incident damaged 25 storage units on the first floor, while many others may have suffered water, smoke, or soot damage. Renters are now in a state of limbo, waiting to hear from U-Haul about the status of their belongings as the company works to restore power and allow access to the building.

Why it matters

This is the second major fire to hit the U-Haul storage facility in just three months, raising concerns about the safety and security of the complex. The repeated incidents have left many renters anxious about the fate of their personal belongings, which in some cases represent significant financial and sentimental value. The fires also highlight the challenges faced by the storage industry in maintaining reliable facilities and protecting customer property.

The details

The latest fire broke out on Monday night at the U-Haul storage facility located at the intersection of 1st Street and Lapham Avenue. Milwaukee firefighters responded to the two-alarm blaze, which caused damage to 25 storage units on the first floor. According to U-Haul, other units on the first floor as well as some on the upper floors may have also suffered water, smoke, or soot damage. This comes just 75 days after a previous five-alarm fire tore through a different part of the same storage complex, damaging around 400 of the 1,200 total units. The cause of the January fire was determined to be electrical, while the cause of the latest incident is still under investigation.

• The previous five-alarm fire at the U-Haul storage facility occurred on January 21, 2026.
• The latest two-alarm fire broke out on the evening of April 7, 2026.
• A demolition crew is scheduled to begin demolishing the part of the building damaged in the January fire next week.

What they’re saying

What’s next

Once power is restored to the U-Haul storage facility, the company says it will begin contacting affected customers on Thursday to schedule inspections of their belongings and coordinate any necessary cleaning, drying, or re-boxing services.