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

Fatal beating in Milwaukee; 47-year-old struck multiple times, killed

Published

6 hours ago

November 23, 2025

Press Room

Fatal beating in Milwaukee; 47-year-old struck multiple times, killed

article

Milwaukee Police Department (MPD)

MILWAUKEE – A person was beaten to death in Milwaukee overnight on Sunday, Nov. 23.

Incident details

What we know:

According to the Milwaukee Police Department, at about midnight, the 47-year-old victim got into a physical altercation with other people and was struck multiple times on the front and back of the head.

The altercation happened near 11th and Locust.

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The victim was taken to a local hospital by an associate of theirs, but suffered fatal head injuries and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

MPD tips

What you can do:

Police are looking for those responsible.

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 use the P3 Tips app.

The Source: The Milwaukee Police Department sent FOX6 the information.

Crime and Public SafetyNewsMilwaukee

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Milwaukee, WI

4 Bucks Ruled Out Ahead of Pistons Game Saturday

Published

1 day ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

4 Bucks Ruled Out Ahead of Pistons Game Saturday

The Milwaukee Bucks will be without some key cogs against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday.

More news: Doc Rivers Credits NBA All-Star-Turned-Bucks Assistant with Big Impact

Per the Bucks’ official X account, the club will still be missing nine-time All-NBA power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, starting point guard (for now) Kevin Porter Jr., and reserve 3-and-D forward Taurean Prince due to injury. Giannis’ little brother, Alex, will be putting in reps with the Bucks’ NBAGL affiliate in Oshkosh, the Wisconsin Herd.

Injury Update: Kyle Kuzma (Illness) is questionable for tonight’s game vs. Detroit.
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 22, 2025

Giannis Antetokounmpo is set to miss the next one-to-two weeks of action, at least, with a low-grade left groin strain. The two-time league MVP had previously been shelved because of nagging knee tendinitis, which cost him two games prior to this latest ailment.

When he has been available this year (in 13 games so far), the 2021 Finals MVP has been averaging 31.2 points on .629/.500/.636 shooting splits, 10.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.2 blocks and 0.9 steals a night.

Obviously, missing the Bucks’ best player will prove costly against the hottest team in the league. Detroit is in the midst of an 11-game win streak, and doesn’t seem likely to drop even a road matchup in Milwaukee, at least without the threat of Antetokounmpo.

Other Milwaukee Absences, Explained

Prince, meanwhile, underwent neck surgery to treat a herniated disc, and could be unavailable for multiple months as he recuperates.

Porter, anointed to be nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard’s positional successor at the starting point guard spot heading into the year, has missed all but one game for Milwaukee. The 6-foot-4 USC product first sprained his ankle during the Bucks’ season opener, and then tore his meniscus in his rehab ramp-up. Without Porter, Ryan Rollins has stepped up.

Rollins’ development likely signifies the end of Porter’s tenure as his club’s starting point guard, especially the longer his recovery drags on. Through 16 games, the 23-year-old University of Toledo alum has been averaging 18.3 points on .511/.443/.800 shooting splits, 5.9 dimes, 3.9 boards and 1.6 swipes per bout.

Per the team, newly-minted starting small forward Kyle Kuzma has seen his status demoted to questionable ahead of the Pistons clash, as he may be struck down by a new, unspecified illness.

According to the league’s latest injury report, Pistons power forward Tobias Harris (right ankle sprain) and shooting guard Jaden Ivey (return to competition reconditioning) are questionable to play. Combo forward Bobi Klintman (left ankle sprain), power forward Isaac Jones (G League assignment), guard Marcus Sasser (right hip impingement), and two-way players Wendell Moore Jr. and Tolu Smith (on assignment to Detroit’s G League squad) are all out.

Latest Bucks News

For more news and notes on the Milwaukee Bucks, visit Milwaukee Bucks on SI.

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee lights 112th annual Christmas tree in historic Deer District celebration

Published

2 days ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

Milwaukee lights 112th annual Christmas tree in historic Deer District celebration

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee celebrated the lighting of its 112th annual Christmas tree Thursday evening in the Deer District, marking the second-longest-running Christmas tree lighting tradition in the United States behind only New York City.

The 42-foot Colorado blue spruce, donated by Kaitlyn Schmidt Thabet and Amgad Thabet, was transformed with vibrant jewel tones, large reflective metallic ornaments, oversized snowflakes and lighted stars inspired by the theme “Shining Together.”

“This tree stands as a celebration of Milwaukee’s incredible spirit during the winter season,” said David Caruso, designer of the Christmas tree and local event planner and TV host. “My hope is that it fills your evening and your holidays with light, joy and pride.”

Watch the full tree lighting ceremony:

Milwaukee lights 112th annual Christmas tree in historic Deer District celebration

Mayor Cavalier Johnson emphasized the historic significance of the event during his remarks to the crowd gathered in the Deer District.

“Tonight is special, not just because the holiday brings people together, but because this is a historic night for Milwaukee,” Johnson said. “Our Christmas tree lighting in the City of Milwaukee is the second-longest-running Christmas tree lighting in the United States of America, only behind New York City.”

The celebration featured performances by the Reagan High School varsity Drumline and entertainment by Guyton Entertainment and DJ YC.

Santa Claus made a special appearance, accompanied by his reindeer. Another famous deer — Bucks mascot Bango, also took part in the celebration.

Peter Feigin, president of the Milwaukee Bucks and Fiserv Forum, expressed pride in hosting the tree lighting in the Deer District.

“This is what we dreamed about when we built the Deer District,” Feigin said. “This is one of the greatest things.”

The celebration concluded with the mayor’s family and other children helping to officially light the tree, continuing Milwaukee’s 112-year tradition of bringing the community together for the holidays.

The event also launched the new Deer District Holiday Market, which runs through November 30 in the beer garden area. The market features local makers, food and drinks.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist 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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