Every Friday, Stuff We Missed looks to other Milwaukee publications (and beyond) for, well, stuff we missed throughout the week.
• Milwaukee’s VERY SUCCESSFUL DESPITE OUR OBVIOUSLY SARCASTIC HEADLINE streetcar system, The Hop, celebrated its first birthday today. Happy birthday, The Hop! To celebrate, Mayor Tom Barrett threw a little party at City Hall and announced some surprising news: Along with current sponsor Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, Cleveland-based technology firm Everstream has stepped up to make sure The Hop remains free “through the winter holidays.” The $90,000 commitment will pay for a “holiday-themed” streetcar.
The Milwaukee Business Journal explains:
The holiday-themed streetcar that Everstream is sponsoring will debut this month. Two other city streetcar vehicles are in service and could be sponsored by other companies.
The city also would explore sponsorship agreements during the Democratic National Convention in July 2020. Barrett said, “I think the DNC will be the easiest week in the entire year to have a sponsorship; I think people will be standing in line to sponsor The Hop during the week of the DNC.
“At some point there will be fares, but for the foreseeable future, we’re going to continue to have it be free,” Barrett said, adding that fares would be $1.
[…]
During the first year of service, Milwaukee financed free streetcar rides with money from the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino’s sponsorship agreement. That agreement will last 10 years, but more sponsorships will be needed to keep streetcar rides free long term without pulling city money from the Milwaukee parking fund, which includes revenue from city-owned structures and parking tickets.
Per OnMilwaukee, Everstream “opened an office in the Wells Building earlier this year to begin work on a $27 million fiber-optic network in the area.” Thanks, Everstream! [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• The downtown block that contains the soon-to-be-former home of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has been sold. Milwaukee developer J. Jeffers & Co. bought the property at 333 W. State St. and will redevelop it in 2021. The Journal Sentinel will soon move to the nearby 330 Kilbourn office towers at 330 E. Kilbourn Ave. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• That Mad Chicken place on the East Side, 2045 E. North Ave.—a.k.a. a former Burger King—will open later this month. [OnMilwaukee]
• The Milwaukee County Zoo is gonna get a new hippo exhibit in 2020. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• New episode of Milwaukee Kitchen! [YouTube]
• Milwaukee has gone [0] days without a controversy over a mural. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Miller Brewing Co. will rebrand and change its name to Molson Coors Beverage Company in January 2020. Oh, and it will move hundreds of corporate office jobs to Milwaukee…which will “result in the loss of 400 to 500 employees throughout the company.” [USA Today]
• Have a great weekend, Milwaukee!