And once again I ask the question: Where is Mayor Tom Barrett?
The brutal, senseless, cold-blooded murder of Miller executive Vic Milford prompts me to ask.
Before continuing, I want to make it clear that I'm mindful of the grieving family and friends of Mr. Milford. They are mourning the sudden loss of their loved one. For them, a discussion of crime in Milwaukee isn't an abstraction. They are suffering the reality of the out of control situation in the city very personally. In no way do I want to diminish the enormity of their loss and the intensity of their pain.
Mr. Milford's family and friends aren't mourning the state of the city today. They are living a nightmare.
They're reading the press and listening to reports that his death was a rare case and an isolated event. That's no comfort to them.
It should be of no comfort to anyone in the greater Milwaukee area.
Back to my first question: WHERE IS BARRETT?
He usually trots out to give a news conference whenever a child is murdered. He gets angry, calls out the thugs, and eventually his outrage degenerates into a whining rant about guns.
NO GUN EVER KILLED ANYONE. PEOPLE USE GUNS TO KILL.
In the murder of Vic Milford, I sense an effort on the part of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and local news broadcasts to spin it as an aberration. It's no public service to give an inaccurate picture.
Is there pressure to downplay the violence with the location of the headquarters of Miller and Coors still up in the air?
TMJ4 provides a description of the suspects in Mr. Milford's murder but then concludes its report with an idiotic statement.
The suspects are described as two Hispanic males in their late 20’s to early 30’s. They are 5’4” to 5’7”, weighing anywhere from 140 to 160.
This is Milwaukee's seventh homicide of the year compared to eight last year on this date.
That's accentuating the positive. This was only the seventh homicide in Milwaukee compared to eight on that date last year. There's some good news!
While factually true, it's a ridiculous way to end the report.
It's disingenuous to say that the Walker's Point neighborhood is not a violent area. How does one define the "area"? Where are the boundaries?
In reality, the near and not so near south side have been the scenes of many shootings and armed robberies in this first month of 2008. Only ten days ago, there were two murders.
Let's stop pretending. The city is a mess.
Look at this overview. It points out just a few of Milwaukee's violent incidents in 2008.
This weekend alone was bloody.
In addition to the murder of Vic Milford, there was other violence. A 7-year-old girl was shot.
A man walking through Kosciuszko Park was shot on Saturday at 6:45 PM. Three men tried to rob him. That ended with the 38-year-old victim having surgery for torso wounds.
Around 2:00 AM on Sunday, a "36-year-old Milwaukee man who was trying to help clear an accident scene was shot."
There's more:
A 73-year-old Milwaukee woman was shot about 11:20 Sunday night while watching television in her living room and her 42-year-old son was wounded moments later while confronting a man he suspected of firing the initial shots.
The 21-year-old suspect is still on the loose, and his two victims are recuperating in a local hospital, Milwaukee police reported today.
The first shots crashed through the front of the house in the 3600 block of N. 14th St. The second shooting occurred on the street, after the 42-year-old confronted and punched the suspect, police said.
The fact is the status quo in Tom Barrett's Milwaukee is violent and bloody.
Nonetheless, he's running unopposed for a second term. That's mind-boggling. It doesn't bode well for the city's future.
God knows Milwaukee needs a change of leadership. Let me rephrase that: Milwaukee needs leadership.
There are a handful of officials struggling to make a difference, but they are outnumbered by the "What, me worry?" crowd.
The Journal Sentinel reports:
Denver, with a population of 568,465, reported 1,748 violent crimes, including 19 homicides, during the first six months of 2007, according to FBI data released this month. Milwaukee, with a population of 581,005, reported 3,984 violent crimes, including 50 homicides.
London-based SABMiller Plc and Molson Coors Brewing Co., which splits its headquarters between Montreal and Denver, in December signed a definitive agreement to combine their U.S. operations. The proposed joint venture needs antitrust approval, and the transaction isn't expected to be final until midyear.
Until MillerCoors officially becomes a company, executives from Miller Brewing and from Coors Brewing, based in Golden, Colo., will not be commenting on where the joint venture's headquarters might be located.
Where would you locate the headquarters?
It seems like a very easy choice to make.
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