The Milwaukee Post

4 • Milwaukee County Post • May 11, 2018 Drug Take-Back collects thousands of pounds in meds MILWAUKEE — More than 6,500 pounds of medications were collected for the April 28 Drug Take-Back initiative throughout Wisconsin, according to a press release. Coordinated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, the main focus is to remove potentially dangerous pharmaceutical substances from household medicine cabinets and prevent them from going into the water supply. Unused or expired medicine should never be flushed or poured down the drain. Water facilities are not designed to remove all particles and trace amounts of pharmaceuticals that are found in rivers and lakes around the world. WEEK IN REVIEW STATE AND LOCAL STORIES OF INTEREST Black Arts Fest MKE joins lineup of ethnic festivals MILWAUKEE — Black Arts Fest MKE, a new cultural festival to be held at Henry Maier Festival Park, will celebrate and African and African-American culture from noon to midnight Aug. 4. Derek Tyus, chief investment officer and vice president of West Bend Mutual Insurance Company and chairman of the Black Arts Fest MKE board of directors, said, "We are very excited to see an African-American focused festival returning this year. "We hope that the festival will inspire all attendees and strengthen pride in our ances- try," he said in a news release. "There is a wealth of African and African American talent in Milwaukee County and the state, we look forward to sharing it with the entire community, "Black Arts Fest MKE Executive Director Patrice Harris said. The Miller Lite Oasis, Johnson Controls World Sound Stage, Children's Stage and the large grassy area east of the Mid Gate will feature a variety of programs, festival organ- izers said. Market Square will feature wares and products aligned with the culture and produced by black-owned businesses. "It is exciting to welcome this new addition to our diverse line-up of events, further earning our reputation as The City of Festivals," said Don Smiley, president and CEO of Milwaukee World Festival Inc. Advanced tickets are on sale at BlackArtsFestMKE.com. Headliners, entertainment, programming, vendors and features will be announced in the coming weeks at the site. 2 Madison teens charged in gun store burglaries WAUKESHA — Two Madison teens already facing charges in burglaries that saw one of them allegedly fire a gun at a neighbor who witnessed one event were charged last week for allegedly stealing a score or more of guns in Waukesha County. A criminal complaint said they were among five people who wore masks as they tried to break into Select Fire Weaponry in Waukesha early in the morning of Jan. 19, but did not gain entry. Surveillance video showed one person carrying an AR15 or AK-47-type rifle outside and another with bolt cutters, the complaint said, but the parties fled with- in a minute after an alarm was activated. That same morning, 20 to 30 firearms were taken from Freedom Arms Unlimited in the Town of Oconomowoc in about 90 seconds, as several figures entered the store and smashed display cases with a hammer, bolt cutters and by firing a .22-caliber rifle, then made off with weapons, the complaint said. Seventeen of the stolen firearms were recovered later that morning in Milwaukee where a 13-year-old boy was shot in the foot. A 15- year-old boy there identified Armon Vaccaro, 17, Prentiss Adams, 16, and himself among those involved in the gun store inci- dents, the complaint said, adding it was believed Adams took the remainder of the guns with him. Adams was in court May 4, where bail was set at $50,000. An arrest warrant was issued for Vaccaro. City partners with UWM on two more initiatives MILWAUKEE — The Lubar School of Business Executive MBA program at he University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the city of Milwaukee will partner on two proj- ects, utilizing and developing the skills of students. One program is working on a five-year financial plan to address the city's fiscal chal- lenges. The other is developing a marketing and growth strategy for MKE Plays, a pub- lic-private initiative that revitalizes neighborhood parks. In targeting the financial growth of the city, Alderman Michael J. Murphy, who spearheaded the partnership approved by the Common Council, said, cities such as Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Toronto have implemented long-term financial strategies to ensure communities are successful. "As the largest city in Wisconsin, it is critical for the success and stability of Milwaukee to utilize best financial practices," Murphy said. "This project would reflect the philosophy of the Wisconsin Idea, which values the impact that our universities can have on the welfare of our communities." Created in 2015, MKE Plays set out to transform the city's most deteriorated playgrounds over a three-year period and has raised more than $1.575 million in private contributions, which will support reconstruction at 14 sites by this summer. The restoration of Milwaukee's playgrounds brings improvement to many of the city's poorest neighborhoods by creating safe and attractive places for families to play and encouraging activity when close to 35 percent of Milwaukee high school students are either overweight or obese, according to a news release. As the MKE Plays program grows, there's a need "to create a sustainable growth plan and marketing initiative to continue to encourage investment into the community," Murphy said. The two programs build on the Lubar EMBA program's previous partnership with the city, in which its students were crucial in helping build the software and data compo- nents of the Milwaukee Health Department's food grading for licensed food establish- ments, said Murphy, lead sponsor of the Common Council resolution that created the sys- tem. MPD investigates May 4 South Side shooting MILWAUKEE — Police said Wednesday they are continuing their investigation of a 31-year-old man shot in what is believed to have been at attempted robbery at about 10:30 p.m. May 4 in the 1200 block of South 34th Street. The victim was taken to a local hospi- tal for non-life-threatening injuries and the investigation is ongoing, police said. Florida residents face federal charges for alleged ID thefts MILWAUKEE —Three Florida residents have been indicted for wire fraud and identi- ty theft alleged activities around southeastern Wisconsin in recent months. U.S. Attorney Matthew D. Krueger for the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced May 4 that a federal grand jury returned an 18-count indictment charging three Florida residents each with three counts of wire fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft. The defendants are Adam Yves Paul, 30, of Gainesville, Fla.; Frantz Aubert Nelson, 28, of Miramar, Fla.; and Yann Asmael Poye, 24, of Pembroke Pines, Fla. According to a news release from Krueger's office, the defendants obtained stolen identities and banking information of state residents and then traveled throughout southeastern Wisconsin making unauthorized withdrawals from automated teller machines. The total amount of loss caused by the scheme is not known. But the release said Paul used stolen ID information to withdraw at least $73,290.23, Nelson stole at least $35,564.76, and Poye received $23,439.37. The maximum penalties for each count of wire fraud are 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. The ID theft charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of two years' imprisonment and a maximum $250,000 fine. Krueger cautioned that an indictment is merely a charge and all defendants are pre- sumed innocent until proven guilty. One killed, one injured in South Side motorcycle crash MILWAUKEE — Edgar H. Ramirez, 30, died after a crash between his motorcycle and an SUV around 1:35 p.m. Saturday in the 1200 block of South 11th Street, police said. He and a 22-year-old female passenger were northbound on South 11th Street when a 35-year- old, who stopped her SUV at a stop sign, proceeded westbound on West Madison Street when the motorcycle crashed into her, police said. Both people on the motorcycle were taken to a local hospital where Ramirez later died from his injuries and the woman was treated for serious injuries, according to police. The driver of the SUV was not injured, remained on scene and is cooperating with investigation, police said. A preliminary police investigation reveals the motorcycle may have been speeding at the time of the crash. Murphy

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