The Milwaukee Post

Unemployment numbers drop across county According to information released by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, unemployment in Milwaukee County fell from 7.7 to 7.0 percent from March to April this year. Despite the drop, the county fell to 27th from 30th out of 72 counties; the higher the ranking, the higher the unemploy- ment rate. Numbers for the city of Milwaukee improved from 9.2 percent to 8.4 percent over the same period, but the city still has the third highest unemployment rate among 32 major cities in Wisconsin. At this point in 2013, the county's unemployment rate stood at 8.1 percent while the city of Milwaukee was at 9.7 percent. Other county municipalities saw decreases in unemployment. Franklin dropped from 5.3 percent to 4.6; Greenfield dropped from 6.3 percent to 5.4; Oak Creek dropped from 5.6 percent to 4.9; Wauwatosa dropped from 5.2 percent to 4.6; and West Allis dropped from 7.2 percent to 6.2. According to the data, unemployment dropped in each of the state's 32 largest cities between March and April. Menominee and Iron were the only counties to see an increase in unemployment. Dane County has the lowest unemployment rate at 3.8 percent. Racine maintained the highest unemployment rate of any major city in the state at 10.2 percent. It was followed by Beloit at 9.2 percent. Those two had the highest rates in April 2013. The state's overall seasonally adjusted rate is 5.8 percent, the lowest it has been since October 2008. Report: Milwaukee metro 41st in pedestrian safety The Milwaukee metro area is the 41st most dangerous in pedestrian safety out of the 51 largest metro areas in the nation, according to a new report by the National Complete Streets Coalition, a program of Smart Growth America. According to the report, Dangerous by Design 2014, 183 Milwaukee-area metro resi- dents were killed while walking between 2003 and 2012. Statewide statistics show that 522 people were killed while walking in Wisconsin between 2003 and 2012, representing 7.6 percent of the 6,870 traffic-related fatalities in the state during this period. Wisconsin's overall pedestrian danger index is 27.12, which places it 37th nationally. For the years 2003 to 2010, these fatalities include 43 children under 16 and 140 adults aged 65 or older. Adults 65 or older make up 13.3 percent of the state's population and represent 26.2 percent of its pedestrian fatalities from 2003 to 2010. Older pedestrians died at a rate of 2.3 per 100,000 residents in Wisconsin, compared with 1.02 per 100,000 for residents under age 65, ranking 35th nationally for fatality rate among pedestrians 65 and older. The report found that the majority of those deaths likely could have been prevented with safer street design. Most pedestrian deaths occur on roadways that are engineered and operated for speeding traffic with little to no provision for the safety of people walking, biking or using public transit, the report said. Four of the top five most dangerous metro areas for pedestrians are in Florida, including Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami. 4 • Milwaukee County Post • May 30, 2014 WEEK IN REVIEW STATE AND LOCAL STORIES OF INTEREST Report: State needs population growth A new report from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance says the number of people moving to Wisconsin will need to dramatically increase for the state's economy to grow. "One of the lasting lessons of the postwar era is that a population boom can spur the economy," the report says. Todd Berry, president of the group, said the state's birth numbers are likely not going to rise very much. That is coupled with a migration trend that has moved in the opposite direction in recent years. In 2000, there were just over 7,000 more people moving into Wisconsin than those moving out. By 2005, the number moving out outnumbered those moving in and in 2010 there were nearly 10,000 more departures than arrivals. The state also lost an estimated $432 million in net income in 2010 because of departures. If current trends continue, the report estimates the state could lose 57,500 people over the next 10 years and $3.1 billion in income. That would cut a projected natural increase in the state's population in half and likely result in a shrinking workforce. While the report does raise some concerns, it also points out Wisconsin has had more favorable migration trends as recently as the 1990s. Water Street Brewery coming to Oak Creek Water Street Brewery got its start in downtown Milwaukee and then expanded to suburban locations to the west and north. The restaurant and pub is now planning to build its fourth area location in the south shore, in Oak Creek. Water Street Brewery announced that it's building in Drexel Town Square, just east of Interstate 94 at the intersection of Drexel and Howell avenues. The new location broke ground earlier this month and plans to open in the summer of 2015. Water Street Brewery first opened in downtown Milwaukee in 1987 and then added locations in Delafield in 1999 and Grafton in 2010. Oak Creek recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the development of the Drexel Town Square. The 85-acre site will include a new city hall and public library, and between 150,000 and 200,000 square feet of retail space. Authorities hand out 418 citations over weekend The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office says its Memorial Day weekend enforcement resulted in 418 citations being issued for various violations of the law. The enforcement took place between 10 p.m. May 23 and 7 a.m. Tuesday. It coincided with the sheriff's office's Operation Drive Sober campaign. That resulted in eight people arrested for drunken driving. The average prohibited alcohol concentration level was 0.16, twice the legal limit. According to the sheriff's office, two of the eight arrests were third-time offenders, and another was arrested a second time. All told, there were 42 lakefront-parks citations, including one drunken driving arrest, 10 county ordinances, seven seat belt violations, five license violations and 20 miscella- neous violations. On the county freeway system, there were seven drunken driving arrests, 167 speeding violations, 34 operating with a suspended, revoked or driving without a license, 29 seat belt violations, two for breaking county ordinances, 23 crashes with damage to the vehi- cle only, two crashes with personal injuries and 119 miscellaneous violations. DMV to replace all old Wisconsin license plates As the popular, but aged, sesquicentennial license plate approaches its 17th year on Wisconsin roads, it will continue to be replaced by the tens of thousands per month. The Department of Motor Vehicles originally distributed the plates to recognize Wisconsin's 150th year as a state, but time is fading them and rendering them illegible. Many red-printed license plates are also showing similar signs of wear, and the DMV is moving quickly to replace each one with a black-printed plate. The DMV has reissued 150,000 plates since August 2013. It plans to replace another 150,000 within the coming five months. Drivers will receive a letter in the mail, alerting them that their plates must be replaced. According to Mitchell Warren, director of the Bureau of Vehicle Services within the DMV, the replacements are necessary. "It's really a safety and law enforcement issue," he said. Medical College awarded $1.02M grant MILWAUKEE – The Medical College of Wisconsin received a four-year, $1.02 million grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development Division for spinal cord injury research. Dr. Shekar Kurpad, associate professor of neurosurgery at the MCW, is the principal investigator for the grant. He and his research team will investigate use of diffusion MRI imaging as a method to evaluate future function in patients with a spinal cord injury. Diffusion MRI imaging uses magnetic resonance to measure the magnitude and direction of diffusion of water molecules in the tissue. Researchers at the MCW have been working to refine this technique, initially devel- oped for use in brain imaging, for spinal cord imaging to better evaluate the injury and improve prognostication of recovery. The research group also is working to develop dif- fusion imaging to improve evaluation and treatment of other types of diseases affecting the spinal cord. The grant represents the renewal of a previous $450,000 exploratory grant to explore the viability of the technique and will validate new imaging-based tools that would help physicians better and more accurately predict the return of neurological function in patients with spinal cord injury.

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