Unspeakable terror at Waukesha Christmas Parade
Thousands of spectators turned out for a bit of holiday normalcy Sunday afternoon, the kind we so desperately need right now. It was the Waukesha Christmas Parade, a cherished rite of the holiday season. A joyous crowd lined both sides of the road, people bundled against the cold. A holiday event that wasn't canceled, with students marching with their high school bands or dance troupes, cheered on by their parents and friends. It was all so normal and good. But in an instant, the normalcy was shattered when a red SUV plowed through the parade, striking a high school band, a dance troupe and the beloved "Dancing Grannies." Corey Montiho, a Waukesha school board member, was by Mainstream Bar & Grill when he heard that his daughter's youth dance team was hit. "There were pom-poms and shoes and spilled hot chocolate everywhere," he said. "I had to go from one crumpled body to the other to find my daughter. My wife and two daughters were almost hit. Please pray for everybody. Please pray. My family is safe but many are not. I held one little girl's head in my hand, she was seizing and she was bleeding out of her ears. I held her mother as she collapsed. Please pray.”
Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said that around 4:39 p.m. a red SUV broke through the parade barriers and headed west on Main Street. "The vehicle struck more than 20 individuals. Some of the individuals were children and there were some fatalities as a result of this incident," he said. A suspect vehicle was recovered and a "person of interest" was in custody, the police chief said.
Just before midnight, the city posted on its Facebook and Twitter accounts that five people were killed and more than 40 were injured. Many people transported victims to hospitals in their own vehicles.
Videos and eyewitnesses on social media appear to show the “Milwaukee Dancing Grannies” being struck by the vehicle. Members range in age from their early 50s to mid-70s. The only requirement is that members must be grandmothers themselves, the website said. "Members of the group and volunteers were impacted and we are waiting for word on their conditions," said a Facebook post from the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies. "Please keep the Grannies, all those injured, and all those who witnessed this horrible event in your thoughts and prayers."
"Please pray for everybody."
Four Wisconsin National Guardsmen went to Afghanistan together. All returned home safely. Within months, all took their own lives.
On a sunny November day in 2018, hundreds of Wisconsin Army National Guard members crowded into the atrium at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field. All the soldiers would go overseas together. All would return home safely. But four of the men at Lambeau that day — James Swetlik, Eric Richley, Evan Olson and Logan Collison — would not live more than 18 months after returning to Wisconsin, each dying by suicide. Evan would take his life one week after attending Eric’s funeral. Logan died five weeks after speaking at Evan’s service.
Suicides have been a long-standing problem in the military: Four times as many veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars have died by suicide than in battle. But the suicide rate in the National Guard has been especially troubling, higher on average over the past five years than the rate among full-time and reserve military personnel. In 2020, 120 Guard members nationwide died from suicide, up from 90 the year before. A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found that as America increasingly leans on the Guard to fight overseas wars, provide security at protests and even drive public school buses, Guard leaders and lawmakers have failed to keep pace with the greater mental health burden facing the soldiers. Guard units across the country have been called up more in the last year and a half than in any 18-month period since World War II.
Some families who lost soldiers to suicide say they are frustrated that the Guard markets itself as a part-time commitment. “I see these posters that say, ‘Full-time student, part-time soldier’ — it’s just not true,” said Linda Collison, mother of Logan.
Read this story. Think of what we've asked these people to do for us since 9/11. We owe our Guard members more than this.
This former Kenosha greyhound racing track is getting new life as a mix of sustainable light industrial buildings and apartments.
What was once the last vestige of a defunct Wisconsin industry — greyhound racing — is being redeveloped into an unusual mix of environmentally sustainable light industrial buildings, apartments and retail space. The dog track, one of five that operated for a time in Wisconsin, has been closed for more than a decade. The site languished following a failed effort to develop a casino, and was ultimately sold.
The name of the $250 million Greeneway project is a nod to the many 'green' and sustainable building practices being used, such as geothermal heating and cooling. The development will feature 432 apartments, known as Greeneway Residences, as well as the 90-acre Greeneway Corporate Park — where the first building is under construction. There also will be 117,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.
Greeneway's first building is a $29 million headquarters and distribution center for Heartland Produce Co. Construction started in July, with completion set for late spring 2022. Heartland Produce, a third-generation family-owned business, supplies fresh fruits and vegetables to retailers and foodservice distributors. The company will relocate from its older Kenosha facility and is expected to create 40 full-time jobs with average wages above $28 per hour.
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The Money
HOUSING: The number of new housing permits issued in Wisconsin is increasing to the highest levels since the Great Recession but is still far from the building boom during the 1990s and early 2000s.
CRANBERRIES: Holiday food shoppers could have a hard time finding fresh cranberry fruit after Wisconsin cranberry growers yielded less crop than usual this year — nearly 100 million less pounds than an average year.
The Games
PACKERS: The Packers lost to the Vikings.
MARQUETTE: The Golden Eagles lost for the first time under new coach Shaka Smart.
Today's Weather
High of 34 and sunny.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Unspeakable terror at Waukesha Christmas Parade
