Nov. 24, 2009 3:50 p.m. | Thanks to an Oak Creek resident, a fundraising drive for a "Playroom of Hope" at Children's Hospital got $10,000 closer to its goal .
Fay Flatow nominated the children's playroom for a grant as part of Northwestern Mutual's Days of Sharing program.
Northwestern Mutual is awarding money throughout November on behalf of employees, who nominate a local nonprofit organization to receive grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000.
A family is trying to raise $300,000 to build a 1,100-square-foot playroom so siblings of hospitalized children can have a space for entertainment and solace.
Flatow works for Northwestern Mutual as a web design specialist.
Feb. 04, 2010 2:48 p.m. | Follow us on Twitter and you could win a pair of Bucks tickets to Tuesday night's game against the Detroit Pistons.
All you have do is visit twitter.com/MyCommunityNOW, click the "follow" button, and then post your own tweet mentioning @mycommunitynow and the words "Tweet this for a chance to win Bucks tickets." The deadline to win the tickets is 5 p.m. Friday.
If you're already following us on Twitter, just send us the Tweet - this contest is open to new and existing followers.
At 5 p.m. Friday, we'll randomly select two people from everyone who tweeted "Bucks Tickets" - and they'll each will win a pair to tickets to Tuesday's game.
If you're not already following us on Twitter, do so today. Not only will you get a chance to head to the game, but you'll also be able to stay on top of the latest news, sports, photos and more from the MyCommunityNOW.com Web sites.
The Oak Creek girls basketball team's four-game conference winning streak came to an end with a 57-41 loss to visiting Racine Case on Friday.
Case’s Samantha Logic (22) and Jameeka Bouie (21) combined for 43 points as the Eagles remained tied for the Southeast Conference lead at 7-1, 10-3 overall.
Jan. 26, 2010 2:42 p.m. | Oak Creek — Pat DeGrave, the city administrator for the past four years, was fired Monday night following a closed-session discussion by the Common Council.
The council voted 6-0 after returning to an open session not to renew DeGrave's annual labor agreement, Mayor Dick Bolender said Tuesday.
Bolender, who did not have a vote, informed DeGrave, who was in his office.
"They basically felt that they wanted to go in a different direction and that's it," Bolender said of the aldermen. "It was shocking, but they did have some things that were brought up that were important to the council so that's the direction they took."
Bolender, who participated in the closed-session discussion, said aldermen "had a basis" for the decision, but he wouldn't be more specific. He said the city would begin advertising soon to fill the city administrator's position.
Jan. 20, 2010 10:16 a.m. | Oak Creek has decided to allow stores that sell gasoline to also sell beer, while Cudahy apparently will not loosen restrictions on the number of stores that can sell alcohol.
The Oak Creek Common Council on Tuesday repealed a 12-year-old ordinance that prohibited retailers that sell gasoline from also selling beer and liquor.
The repeal was recommended in a city staff memo. According to the memo, the Kwik Trip convenience store chain is proposing to build a gas station/convenience store south of the intersection of S. 13th St. and W. Ryan Road that would include a beer section.
Kwik Trip has a number of stores in the state that sell beer, or beer and liquor, and have had no problems in any of the stores, the memo says.
In Cudahy, licenses for retailers to sell packaged beer, liquor or wine are limited to one for every 4,000 residents.
Jan. 20, 2010 12:03 a.m. | Ashley Luke and Angela Rodriguez led a spirited charge that ended the Muskego girls basketball team's 25-game Southeast Conference winning streak.
Luke scored nine of her team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter as visiting Oak Creek rallied for a 47-43 win Tuesday.
Rodriguez, who missed the two previous games with an ankle injury, shook off a rough return to score seven of her 11 points in the fourth, all coming during the Knights' game-ending 16-4 run.
Oak Creek trailed, 39-31, after Muskego's Alyssa Colla hit a 3-pointer with about 5 minutes to go. But Rodriguez nailed a jumper and teammate Cydney Weisflog knocked down a 3 to trim the Warriors' lead to 39-36.
Muskego's Katie Ellerson, who had a game-high 17 points, put her team ahead, 41-36, with a tough turnaround jumper, but Luke answered with a drive through the lane and Rodriguez sandwiched consecutive shots, including a 3, around a layup by Colla in a 20-second span to tie the game at 43-43.
Jan. 19, 2010 5:02 p.m. | Oak Creek — The Common Council tonight will consider repealing a 12-year-old ordinance that prohibits retailers that sell gasoline from also selling beer and liquor.
According to a staff memo, the Kwik Trip convenience store chain is proposing to build a gas station/convenience store south of the intersection of S. 13th St. and W. Ryan Road that would include a beer section.
Kwik Trip has a number of stores in the state that sell beer, or beer and liquor, and have had no problems in any of the stores, the memo says.
Oak Creek limits so-called Class A licenses for the sale of packaged beer and liquor to one for every 2,000 residents, but has no quota for the number of retailers that sell packaged beer.
Jan. 19, 2010 1:58 p.m. | A 37-year-old Milwaukee woman was arrested for prostitution after police conducted a sting at a hotel in the 6300 block of South 13th Street about 8:25 p.m. Jan. 16.
The woman agreed to have sex with an undercover officer for $175. She admitted to working as a prostitute for the past six months.
Three Milwaukee women, ages 18, 21 and 23, a 23-year-old Waukesha woman, a 27-year-old Green Bay woman and a 52-year-old Greenfield man were arrested for not having escort service licenses in several incidents between 9:20 p.m. Jan. 16 and 1:25 a.m. Jan. 17.
Jan. 15, 2010 12:02 p.m. | The Oak Creek Health Department will be holding three swine flu vaccination clinics at its offices, 8640 S. Howell Ave., Oak Creek..
Vaccinations will be made by appointment from 2 to 4 p.m. on Jan. 25, from 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 10 and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb.15. Appointments can be made by calling (414) 768-6525.
Do not come to the clinic if you already have flu-like symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat.
Jan. 11, 2010 4:14 p.m. | Cudahy — A group representing the mayors and village presidents of Milwaukee County's 19 municipalities recommended Monday that each community hold trick-or-treat on the same day - usually a Sunday.
The resolution is aimed at keeping children safe and deterring groups of kids from collecting candy outside their own communities.
The recommendation is not binding on any city or village.
Under the resolution, trick-or-treat would be held from 1 to 4 p.m. the Sunday on or before Oct. 31. When Oct 31 falls on a Saturday, trick-or-treat would be held that day.
Jan. 08, 2010 2:14 p.m. | The Oak Creek High School chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) has received a $2,000 grant from the Erie Insurance Company.
The money will be used to promote the Lookin' Out program, which is geared toward helping students realize the importance of safe driving.
"With all the distractions on the road today, this is a very important program, which the students are very excited to promote," said Julie Shandley, the group's adviser.
Jan. 07, 2010 4:40 p.m. | There was nothing out of the ordinary for the Oak Creek Police Department during the snowfall that occurred throughout the day today.
Police have responded to a few accidents, but no more than on a typical day, a police dispatcher said.
Street Superintendent Mike Lampe said earlier in the day the city was bracing for the possibility of lake-effect snow that could start overnight. Plows began clearing snow off city streets at 12:30 p.m.
Jan. 07, 2010 11:40 a.m. | Twenty-two trucks will take to the roads in Oak Creek at 12:30 p.m. to plow the city.
Street Superintendent Mike Lampe said he expects it will take about four-and-a-half hours to cover Oak Creek. Around 5 p.m., officials will evaluate what the next steps will be.
"The biggest problem we're going to run into is that we do not know how long it will linger," Lampe said.
He has been told to expect about a half inch of snow to fall per hour, with lake-effect snow beginning overnight. The roads in city are mostly slush, Lampe said.
Jan. 06, 2010 7:34 a.m. | No member of the Common Council or Mayor Dick Bolender support the idea of another adult bookstore opening at the same place Cupid's Toys operated for years.
But when a new adult-entertainment business applied for a license to operate at that same corner of 27th and Rawson, Bolender and the majority of the council believed the U.S. Constitution and Oak Creek ordinances gave them little choice but to approve it.
The New Spice II will open on 27th Street - despite many residents' disapproval - after the council voted 3-2 to grant it an adult entertainment business license.
Aldermen Steve Scaffidi and Ken Gehl voted against the license. Alderman Michael Toman was not at the meeting.
Most of the council agreed with City Attorney Lawrence Haskin that, as much as they didn't like the idea, they did not have a constitutional right to deny the new business.
Jan. 05, 2010 5:52 p.m. | Two Oak Creek-Franklin School Board incumbents will face challengers in the April 6 election.
Incumbents Paul Mason and Frank Carini both filed for re-election. Robert Pelzek, 7720 S. Manitowoc Ave., Oak Creek, and Rosemarie Annonson, 3920 E. Ryan Road, Oak Creek, also completed the necessary paperwork for inclusion on the ballot.
Annonson has also filed paperwork for the Oak Creek Common Council.
Mason, 4036 W. Lakeview Drive, Franklin, currently serves as clerk on the board. Carini, 8620 S. Stone Creek Drive, Oak Creek, is president.
School board members are elected at-large, and serve three-year terms and receive $420 a month.
Jan. 05, 2010 5:45 p.m. | Two incumbents on the Oak Creek Common Council face election challengers - in one case, including a primary election Feb. 16.
In the primaries, Michael Toman, 3579 E. American Ave., will square off against Rosemarie E. Annonson, 3920 E. Ryan Road, and Yolanda C. Brossman, 4078 E. Barton Road, in the race for District 4 alderman. The top two vote-getters will advance to the April 6 general election.
Incumbent District 2 Alderman Daniel Bukiewicz, 8147 S. White Oak Drive, will face challenger Jim Wenzler, 8630 Ventana Drive in the April election.
District 6 Alderman Thomas Michalski, 8720 S. 13th St., will run unopposed.
Aldermen are elected to two-year terms with a salary of $7,200 per year. The Common Council president earns $8,400.
Marquette University and OakCreekNOW.com are proud to salute the outstanding students who have made the honor rolls at our local schools. Click on a student's name for a printable honor roll certificate. Go to the honor rolls page.
Students at Cedar Hills Elementary School donated shoes to help earthquake victims in Haiti and were rewarded with the chance to 'pie' their teachers, as seen in this photo gallery.
Photo Gallery: 
