Every Friday, Off The Record looks to other Milwaukee publications (and beyond) for bits of news we missed throughout the week.
• There’s a scene in the original run of Twin Peaks where Donna is talking to the grave of her murdered best friend, Laura Palmer. “As much as I loved you, Laura, most of the time we were trying to solve your problems,” she says. “And you know what, we still are. Not James’ or mine, or Maddy’s. Yours. You’re dead, but your problems are still hanging around! It’s like they didn’t bury you deep enough!”
It’s a delightfully overwrought scene full of soap opera emotions and capital-A acting. Which brings us to something equally overwrought and ridiculous: ex-Sheriff David Clarke. Despite resigning from his post last month, the world’s edgiest liberal-baitin’ internet troll keeps hanging around. Earlier this week, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist (and longtime Clarke aficionado) Daniel Bice dropped the former sheriff an email, asking him about the sudden end of his taxpayer-funded personal security detail. Clarke replied thusly:
“Fuck you and the horse you rode in on. I’m David Clarke and I approve this message.”
Bice shared screenshots of the “in-your-face” email on Twitter, leading to a predictably idiotic dustup of fellow liberal-baitin’ internet trolls crying “fake news.” Clarke mentioned the exchange on his Twitter account, too, but since we’re thankfully blocked from that account we won’t bother posting it. It’s like he didn’t bury his career deep enough. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Just in time for this weekend’s Doors Open Milwaukee event, the East Side’s back-in-the-news-again Black Cat Alley is adding a “beautiful new urban garden in front of Tia Richardson’s 2016 mural ‘Milwaukee Gaia Buddha,’ executed by Sam Alford; a brand-new mural by local illustrator and artist David Zimmerman; and the live installation of another mural by Chicago artist Goosenek.” [OnMilwaukee]
• Marcus Theatres continues to build a bunch of movie theaters in Brookfield, but it still has plans for one in downtown Milwaukee [BizTimes]
• Want to weigh in on the future of the corner of Oakland and Locust, site of a proposed five-story mixed-use apartment building? Alderman Nik Kovak (fresh from his latest “Read Before Kickoff” Packers preview column) will be hosting a public meeting at UWM’s Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, room N146, on Monday, September 25 at 6:30 p.m. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Evan Rytlewski rounded up a bunch of notable Milwaukee hip-hop releases, including tracks from Lex Allen (the excellent “Venus And Serena”), Reggie Bonds, Pizzle, and more. [Shepherd Express]
• Milwaukee is the sixth best city for single women homeowners! Great job, single women homeowners! [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• From February: Milwaukee is home to a housing gender gap! Oh. [Milwaukee Record]
• Strange Town, Andy Noble’s plant-based restaurant and bar that hopes to make the East Side, well, strange again, is set to open sometime in early October. [OnMilwaukee]
• A water main on Oakland Avenue near UWM broke on Tuesday, leaving a good portion of the street underwater. As expected, a couple of dudes used the opportunity to do some wakeboarding. [UWM Post]
• St. James Episcopal Church, 833 W. Wisconsin Ave., is closing its doors at the end of the month. A wedding and events venue is expected to set up shop there once the building is secularized. [OnMilwaukee]
• The Chicago Tribune had some nice things to say about Milwaukee’s Gallery Night and Day! Great job, Milwaukee! (The next Gallery Night is October 20-21.) [Chicago Tribune]
• Coakley Brothers installed a decorative 15,000-pound stained glass water tower on top of its Walker’s Point headquarters. The piece, by Brooklyn artist Tom Fruin, will be treated to an inaugural lighting ceremony Tuesday, September 26. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Have a great weekend, Milwaukee!