Milwaukee, WI

Outside the RNC, small Milwaukee businesses and their regulars tried to salvage a sluggish week

Published

1 year ago

July 20, 2024

Outside the RNC, small Milwaukee businesses and their regulars tried to salvage a sluggish week

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jay Nelson was standing outside the convenience store he manages in downtown Milwaukee when one of his regular customers walked by on her daily stroll around the neighborhood.

“I’ve been telling people to come and buy even just a bottle of wine,” she said, stretching out her arms. “I hope it helps.”

Pulling her in for a hug, Nelson said they needed all the help they could get.

The store he has managed for nearly a decade, Downtown Market & Smoke Shop, was among the many businesses sealed off by tall metal fencing for the 2024 Republican National Convention, a sprawling footprint that shut down portions of the city’s downtown for more than a week.

For small businesses like Downtown Market, the RNC didn’t deliver a decisive victory, instead hindering sales despite earlier promises that it would bring an economic boost.

“I want you to take all your money to Milwaukee, spend it that week, and leave it in Milwaukee,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson said two years ago at the RNC’s summer meeting where it was announced that the city would host the GOP’s national convention.

But Samir Saddique, owner of Downtown Market and the neighboring Avenue Liquor, said the convention brought “a lot of nothing.” Traffic and sales took a nose dive soon after the fencing went up in front of the stores. By Thursday, the RNC’s final day, the liquor store had made just 10% of its usual sales, he said.

“We’re barricaded away from the rest of the world,” Saddique said.

Claire Koenig, a spokesperson for Visit Milwaukee, which promotes the city as a tourism destination, said economic impact reports will likely take three months to compile.

Across the Milwaukee River, which marked the eastern edge of the RNC secure zone, just one seat was taken at the bar inside Elwood’s Liquor & Tap during their Wednesday happy hour, which is usually a reliably busy night for the red-booth bar near Fiserv Forum where the convention’s main stage was housed.

“Everybody was promised that this was going to be a giant moneymaker for businesses,” bar manager Sam Chung, 30, said. “So it’s strange seeing how much it’s actually killed business for a lot of people outside the perimeter.”

Even their most loyal customers hadn’t stopped by this week, Chung said.

“They don’t even want to come down here because it’s obviously a mess to get here,” she said, adding that she thought “a big part of it is that a lot of our regulars are Democrats.”

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Milwaukee is the deepest blue city in Wisconsin, a key swing state.

Adam Buker, a 21-year-old barista at a coffee shop near one of the convention’s exits, which leads attendees onto a wide-open street, said that all week he had been playing music by queer artists as his own protest.

Yet the door kept swinging open at Canary Coffee Bar.

“It 100% has to do with our location,” Buker said Thursday as he packed espresso grounds for a cortado, with a Frank Ocean track playing in the background.

Though it was outside the secure zone, the cafe’s glass storefront and buttery yellow sidewalk seating weren’t obstructed by the fencing like Saddique’s liquor and convenience stores were. RNC attendees also didn’t have to cross the river to get to the coffee shop, unlike Elwood’s.

After closing this week, Buker said he had been spending his cash tips at some of the struggling bars around the convention’s perimeter.

“From one service worker to another,” he said. “Spread the love.”

As Buker’s final shift during RNC week was coming to an end Thursday evening, a last-minute party outside Saddique’s convenience store was just underway. Saddique and Nelson, the manager, hoped catered tacos and ice-cold green tea flowing from orange coolers would bring customers into the stores that have been open for 20-plus years, surviving a recession and a global pandemic.

Debra Lampe-Revolinski, who has lived in the building adjacent to Saddique’s businesses for 15 of those years, said she pitched the idea for the party earlier in the week, when she realized the expected boost in business would not materialize for her friends.

She knew Saddique and Nelson went to great lengths preparing for the RNC, having seen them hard at work for weeks while they remodeled parts of the stores, she said.

“And then there was just this deflation because the stores were blocked out by those tall metal fences,” she said. “It was so uninviting.”

By the time Trump took center stage Thursday to formally accept the GOP nomination, Lampe-Revolinski said the party, originally aimed at bringing in business, instead had turned into a celebration of surviving the week.

“If anything, this week strengthened our little community on this block to support its local businesses,” she said.

___

Associated Press writer Todd Richmond contributed from Madison, Wisconsin.

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee police chase, 15-year-old driver arrested

Published

12 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Milwaukee police chase, 15-year-old driver arrested

article

Milwaukee Police Department (MPD)

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee police arrested a 15-year-old boy after a pursuit across the city’s north side Wednesday night.

What they’re saying:

The chase started around 9:20 p.m. MPD said officers saw a vehicle that was wanted in an armed robbery and tried to stop it near 33rd and Locust, but the driver took off.

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The chase ended roughly two miles away near 29th and Roosevelt, where the driver got out and ran. MPD said the suspect’s vehicle continued to roll and collided with another vehicle. Officers ultimately caught the 15-year-old and took him into custody.

What’s next:

Criminal charges will be referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.

The Source: FOX6 News requested information from the Milwaukee Police Department.

Police ChasesNewsMilwaukee

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee stabbing near 40th and McKinley; 1 wounded, 1 arrested

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Milwaukee stabbing near 40th and McKinley; 1 wounded, 1 arrested

article

Milwaukee Police Department

MILWAUKEE – One person was taken to the hospital after a stabbing in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, Jan. 7.

What we know:

According to Milwaukee police, a 26-year-old was stabbed around 7 p.m. near 40th and McKinley.

Milwaukee police arrested a suspect on the scene.

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What you can do:

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Milwaukee police at 414-935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-Tips or P3 Tips.

The Source: The information in this post was provided by the Milwaukee Police Department.

Crime and Public SafetyNewsMilwaukee

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee man charged; officer trapped in defendant’s getaway car

Published

2 days ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

Milwaukee man charged; officer trapped in defendant’s getaway car

article

MILWAUKEE – A 26-year-old Milwaukee man is accused of fleeing police during an arrest attempt. An officer who was present to make the arrest ended up being trapped in the backseat of the defendant’s vehicle during an attempt to flee law enforcement. The accused is Kewane Daniels – and he faces the following criminal counts:

First-degree recklessly endangering safety
False imprisonment
Operating a motor vehicle to flee or in an attempt to elude an officer
Second-degree recklessly endangering safety

Property taken, arrest attempt

What we know:

According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police reported to the Comfort Suites near 118th and Silver Spring after a caller indicated that “property had been taken from her by the defendant,” the complaint says. The caller indicated location data alerted her that the property was in the hotel parking lot. Daniels also had two warrants for his arrest.

The caller reached out to Daniels to come outside and meet her. Law enforcement were going to assist with arresting Daniels and getting the property back.

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The complaint indicates Daniels approached his car, and an officer followed and positioned himself behind an open rear door. He “drew his service weapon knowing that Daniels was reported to frequently be armed,” the complaint says. The officer ordered Daniels not to place the car in drive, but the complaint says Daniels ignored the orders and “accelerated in reverse in an attempt to flee (the officer).”

Arresting officer trapped in defendant’s vehicle

Dig deeper:

The officer, who was now being forced to back pedal, “realized he could not keep up with the quickly reversing vehicle, and feared he may be overtaken and crushed beneath the auto. (The officer) stated that he had to jump into the open rear passenger’s seat in order to escape the possibility of being knocked down beneath the oncoming vehicle’s door and tires,” the complaint says.

The defendant quickly accelerated out of the hotel parking lot with the officer in the rear seat. The officer “continually ordered him to stop the car,” the complaint says. The officer stated, “Daniels fled at a high rate of speed near 90 mph east on W. Silver Spring Drive while losing control and mounting the curb several times,” the complaint says. During this entire incident, the officer said he “kept his service weapon aimed at Daniels while in the back seat. Due to the speeds and reckless driving, (the officer) could not exit the vehicle,” the complaint says.

The court filing says the officer having his firearm pointed had no effect on Daniels pulling over the vehicle. Later, he put his weapon away to try and convince Daniels that he was not in danger and to pull over the vehicle. Instead, the defendant continued fleeing and driving recklessly, the complaint says.

Defendant bails, car crashes

What we know:

Near 92nd and Birch Avenue in Milwaukee, the complaint says, “Daniels opened the driver’s door and abandoned the vehicle which was still moving at approximately 35 mph.” The officer remained trapped in the rear passenger seat of the driverless vehicle which “came to a stop when it mounted the curb, continued into a front yard, and eventually crashed into a tree,” the complaint says. It is noted that Daniels’ vehicle had the child locks engaged, so the officer was unable to exit the vehicle on his own.

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Officers in other squads quickly located Daniels. The complaint indicates the defendant was “missing footwear in extremely frigid temperatures.” His footwear was recovered in a grassy area near where he was taken into custody.

What’s next:

Online court records indicate Daniels is scheduled to make his initial appearance in Milwaukee County court on Thursday, Jan. 8.

The Source: Information in this post was provided by Wisconsin Circuit Court Access and the criminal complaint associated with this case.

Crime and Public SafetyMilwaukeeNews

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