Every Friday, Off The Record looks to other Milwaukee publications (and beyond) for bits of news we missed throughout the week.
• Let’s be honest: we could run a column entitled “How hard was Sheriff Clarke trolling THIS week?” every week from now until eternity. The desperately “outrageous” FOX News pundit and podcast host who occasionally masquerades as Milwaukee County Sheriff says so much dumb and blandly baiting shit every week—nay, every day—that to write about it all would just be encouraging him. But occasionally, the man who thinks he’s scoring some serious “straight-talk” points by referring to the Black Lives Matter movement as the Black LIES Matter movement says something really fucking stupid. Like these comments about Beyonce’s politically charged Super Bowl 50 halftime performance and her new song/video, “Formation”:
“Well, I try not to overreact to these things, and I don’t want to give this thing any more play than it’s already getting. Look, musicians have long used their music, their trade, to make political statements in their music. We may not like it, but I don’t want to make a huge deal about it. Them coming out…Beyonce in those Black Panther-type uniforms, would that be acceptable if a band, a white band came out in hoods and white sheets in the same sort of fashion? We would be appalled and outraged. The Black Panthers are a subversive hate group in America.”
Clarke squeezed out his latest corn-speckled turd during some rare downtime at his job as Milwaukee County Sheriff an appearance on Fox Business Live.
• The little ol’ University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee had quite a week. First, the urban college was bumped up to the “elite” status of R-1 doctoral research university on the 2015 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education list; then, it hosted the latest Democratic debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. The Journal Sentinel delved into the former, while OnMilwaukee‘s Dave Begel looked behind the scenes of the latter.
• Milwaukee pooped its collective pants over showing up in Lonely Planet‘s “Have we ever put Milwaukee in one of our ‘Best In The U.S.’ travel lists before? No? Okay, let’s put Milwaukee in there” list. Great job, Milwaukee!
• Here’s a fun fact: The Wisconsin Center District forks over $7 million in sales tax proceeds every year to VISIT Milwaukee for marketing. $7 million! VISIT Milwaukee! So, what do you do when VISIT Milwaukee thinks it’s time to expand the Wisconsin Center? Make VISIT Milwaukee pay for it! Earlier this week, Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos proposed using some or all of that $7 million to pay for an expansion to the downtown convention hall. The Milwaukee Business Journal detailed this brilliant—er, “controversial”—idea.
• The Hear Here music video series released the first part of its three-volume series featuring Milwaukee’s Foreign Goods. It’s goooood.
• For our latest installment in “Where are they building luxury apartments you’ll never be able to afford THIS week?” the answer is: Prospect Avenue! Urban Milwaukee gazed longingly at the proposed 26-floor, $55-million tower.
• Speaking of shit you’ll never be able to afford, Urban Milwaukee also took a peek inside 833 East, Downtown Milwaukee’s newest 18-story office tower that will “help transform the lakefront.”
• Hinterland chef Dan Van Rite and former Odd Duck and Wolf Peach chef Dan Jacobs will open a new restaurant in the Third Ward, revealed the Journal Sentinel. The duo will set up shop in the former site of Tulip. A name, menu, and opening date have yet to be announced.
• The Journal Sentinel‘s resident “musin’s and thinkin’s” columnist, Jim Stingel, weighed in on the Mitchell Park Domes fiasco. His take? Well, he hasn’t been to the Domes in forever, and he hasn’t seen them on many Milwaukee novelty T-shirts. Case closed!
• CVLT Nation premiered the title track to Northless’ upcoming full-length album, Cold Migration. The latest from the Milwaukee metal gods will be released March 11.
• WMSE announced a killer show to celebrate its 35th anniversary. “Never Mind The Reunions: It’s WMSE’s 35th Anniversary Punk Show” will feature performances from Moloko Shivers, The Mighty Deerlick, Feck, Skiptracer, The Crosses, and The Benjamins. The Crosses, featuring Die Kreuzen singer Dan Kubinski, will play the debut Die Kreuzen LP from start to finish. The Benjamins, meanwhile, will play their 15-year-old (!) The Art of Disappointment from start to finish. The show is set for Saturday, March 26 at Turner Hall.
• The new Cafe Corazon in Bay View is open for business. The Journal Sentinel detailed the rocky opening of the hotly anticipated restaurant.
• A film called The Sixty Yard Line will finish shooting in Green Bay next week, reported the Milwaukee Business Journal. The oft-Business–Journal-promoted film was supposed to feature Lea Thompson, but the former Back To The Future actress ran into scheduling problems. Instead, Thompson’s role will be played by that lady who yelled a lot in the Austin Powers movies.
• Finally, an excellent Soundcloud “mixtape” for the 2016 Eaux Claire music festival (complete with weird between-song “skits”) was released this week, along with a video announcing the festival’s lineup. Bon Iver! Erykah Badu! Vince Staples! Bruce Hornsby! The fest is scheduled for August 12-13 in Eau Claire.