The Milwaukee Post

State pays out $104M in transportation aid MILWAUKEE — The state of Wisconsin announced that payments totaling more than $104 million for general transporta- tion aids, connecting highway aids and expressway policing aids have been deliv- ered to Wisconsin local governments. Payments to the state's 1,923 local units of gover nment from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation include: $100,879,996 in general transportation aids; $3,015,876 to municipalities entitled to receive connecting highway aids; and $255,975 to Milwaukee County for express- way policing aids. For calendar year 2014, local governments will share an estimated $416.6 million from the state transportation fund to build and maintain local roads and bridges, which includes expressway policing aids to the Milwaukee County Sheriff Office for patrol of Milwaukee County expressways. Quarterly payments for cities, towns and villages are sent the first Monday in January, April, July and October. County payments are made in three installments, with 25 percent of the total annual payment on the first Monday in January, 50 percent on the first Monday in July and 25 percent on the first Monday in October. Communities also receive state transportation fund revenues for public transit, eld- erly and disabled transportation, and airport and harbor development. In addition, state and federal funds are allocated for specific highway and bridge construction proj- ects. 4 • Milwaukee County Post • October 17, 2014 WEEK IN REVIEW STATE AND LOCAL STORIES OF INTEREST Port of Milwaukee receives grant toward project MILWAUKEE — The Port of Milwaukee was awarded a $1.4 million Freight Railroad Preservation Program grant to cover 80 percent of the costs of a $1.8 million reconstruction of the Lake Classification Rail Yard at the Port of Milwaukee facilities on Jones Island. The funds will be used to improve deteriorated tracks. Presently, there are a number of companies wishing to ship products that are unable to do so because of the condition of the tracks. The Lake Classification Yard and Port of Milwaukee are served by the Soo Line Railroad Co. and Union Pacific Railroad Co. The grant was part of $20.3 million in grants through the program distributed by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. More charges filed against alleged utility scammer MILWAUKEE — A West Palm Beach, Fla., man charged in June with theft for his alleged role in a utility scam was charged again last week after allegedly running a similar scam against a Waukesha woman. Samuel Petit Frere, 35, was charged Oct. 8 with one felony count of unauthorized use of one's identity and one count of misdemeanor theft. The charges stem from an April 9 incident in which he allegedly contacted a Waukesha business on The Strand, representing himself as a We Energies employee, and threatened to cut power to the business unless the owners paid $1,898 in allegedly outstanding funds, but paid on a prepaid card. That same day, Frere allegedly ran a similar scam on an Elm Grove business, Jilly's, seeking $2,927, according to a criminal complaint in a separate case that also alleged a We Energies connection and a demand to pay the funds with prepaid cards. We Energies spokeswoman Cathy Schulze told The Post in June similar scams have hit utilities all across the country, and that We Energies typically sends out multiple notices before disconnecting service. And, Schulze said, the utility would never insist on using a prepaid card. Records in the earlier case showed the phone in that case was used to contact victims in Elm Grove, Washington County, Walworth County, Twin Lakes, Baraboo, Menomonee, Franklin, Waukesha, the Town of Oconomowoc and Keene, N.H., the complaint said. Records also indicated the phone was used to contact small businesses in several other states. Online Wisconsin court records indicate Frere faces charges in Waukesha, Washington, Milwaukee and Dunn counties. In the complaint filed this week, Frere said he was helping his brother in the Dominican Republic for $100 or $200 per transaction, sending the rest of the money to his brother. He told police even though he knew it was illegal, "he was helping his brother because his brother is family and that is what family does," the complaint said. Finance Committee changes location of public hearing MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee County Board Finance, Personnel and Audit Committee budget hearing has been moved to the Milwaukee Public Schools Central Services Building, 5225 W. Vliet St. The hearing begins at 10 a.m. Monday, Committee Co-chairs David Cullen and Willie Johnson, Jr. announced. The hearing was originally scheduled to be held at the Milwaukee School of Languages rather than the County Courthouse. No reason was given for the change in a release. "At this critical juncture for the county, we want to make sure we get as much input on this budget as possible," Johnson said. "Holding a hearing outside the courthouse in a cen- tral location provides more access to the budget process." The county's proposed budget of more than $1.3 billion is usually considered during the weeks of October by the committee after introduction by County Executive Chris Abele, and Johnson said public input is essential to ensure that the budget represents the needs of county residents. The County Board will also hold its annual public budget hearing at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 3 at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Team to study diabetes prevention MILWAUKEE — A collaborative team of researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee School of Engineering has received a one-year, $50,000 grant from the Clinical and Translational Science Institute of Southeast Wisconsin to study pos- sible interventions to prevent the development of Type 1 diabetes. Dr. Yi-Guang Chen, assistant professor of pediatrics in the division of endocrinology at MCW, is the primary investigator for the grant. Collaborators include Katarina Midelfort, assistant professor of bimolecular engineering at Milwaukee School of Engineering; and Michael Kron, professor of medicine at the MCW, director of the International Health Program, and a member of the MCW's Biotechnology and Bioengineering Center. Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong disease in which the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells are largely destroyed, disabling patients' ability to regulate blood sugar. The study is one of 13 pilot projects being funded in 2014 through the CTSI. FBI moving to St. Francis in 2016 MILWAUKEE — The Federal Bureau of Investigation has signed a new lease to move its Milwaukee division offices from downtown Milwaukee to St. Francis. The federal agency presently leases space in the Plaza East office buildings at 330 E. Kilbourn Ave. in downtown Milwaukee. By early 2016, the FBI will relocate to 3600 S. Lake Drive, St. Francis, the former Milwaukee headquarters of Stark Investments. The office features more than 82,000 square feet, slightly smaller than its current location. Poll:Walker, Burke back to even; AG race close MILWAUKEE — The race between Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Democrat Mary Burke is tied once again, according to the latest Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday. The candidates would each have 47.3 percent of the vote if the election were held today, the poll found. The previous poll, taken at the end of September, found Walker with a roughly 5 percentage point lead. It was the first time since March either candidate had a lead that was outside the poll's margin of error. The race for attorney general also remained tied. Republican Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel and Jefferson County DA Susan Happ, a Democrat, each received 41.5 percent support among likely voters. The two candidates have struggled to have voters form opinions about them. Among those polled 14.8 percent had a favorable view of Schimel, compared with 10 percent unfa- vorable. For Happ, 13.8 percent had a favorable view and 14 percent had an unfavorable view. The remaining percentage for both either hadn't heard enough or didn't know what they thought. The poll also asked respondents how enthusiastic they were about voting in the elec- tion, which will be held Nov. 4. Overall, 75.9 percent of likely voters said they were very enthusiastic. Those numbers held true across party lines with 79.9 percent of Republicans and 77.3 percent of Democrats saying they were very enthusiastic.

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