Plenty of Horne

Gary Witt, Pabst Theater Executive Director, sits among panelists (left of center). Photo by Erik Ljung. Attention! Greater Milwaukee Committee, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Commerce, and all you complacent suburbanites: The torch has been passed to a new generation, and you didn’t even know it was lit. So, turn off your AM talk radio and get on board the train to the future. Our very history is at stake. That was the message delivered to a standing room only crowd at the Pabst Theater on Monday, Jan. 30, in an event called “Remarkable Milwaukee.” The event was sponsored by…

A small cabinet from a Milwaukee collection took top dollar at Christie’s “Americana Week” sale of “Important American Furniture and Folk Art” on January 20, 2012. The “rare and important Chippendale carved mahogany diminutive block-and-shell document cabinet with drawers” sold for $3,442,500 (including buyer’s premium). According to Christie’s, it is a record for an American document cabinet. The seller was the Chipstone Foundation, established in 1949 by the late Stanley and Polly Stone as a center for the collection and study of American Decorative Arts. In 1964 the Stones bought the circa 1754 cabinet, made in Newport Rhode Island, and added…

The Riverwest Public House, the nation’s second co-operatively owned saloon, flexed its political muscle with a Packers / Politics gathering on an otherwise forgettable Sunday, at least for the Green and Gold. Rep. Tammy Baldwin brought her campaign to the tavern, which is bedecked like a political rally even when no office holders are present. She was joined by Mayor Tom Barrett, also getting his face out there among the energized electorate of the SoLo-ites and NoLo-lites who find the Lo-cust Street place a pleasant neutral grounds for gathering.  Rep. Sandy Pasch brought along (and left behind) a box of out-of-date (series 2009-2010…

A recent Plenty of Horne column (“Pittsburgh Avenue’s Future“) revealed plans to rename West Pittsburgh Avenue. The near-south side street, named in the 1920s after a paint company (not the city), will become home to the Milwaukee Water Council incubator. Council executives figure it’s just plain confusing to brand Milwaukee [Pop. 594,833] as the world’s Water Capital, and then run their empire from a street that would call to mind a completely different city. I brought this to the attention of Brian O’Neill, a columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and author of “Paris of Appalachia,” a paean to his home town.…

Milwaukee City Hall Last week, The City of Milwaukee Election Commission began what is likely to become a year like no other. It faces not just the usual batch of presidential year primaries and general elections, but also a possible primary and general recall election for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Additionally, staff must train poll workers in the intricacies of the state’s new voter ID requirements. (For example: You can vote even if your ID has an old address on it.) A good deal of valuable time must also be devoted to dealing with Ieshuh Griffin, judging by a…

Bob Watt by J. Shimon & J. Lindemann RIP BOB WATT Milwaukee lost one of its remaining links to the Beat Generation with the death of Bob Watt. This eccentric character, with his white beard and stained fish tie was familiar to locals in the poetry and art scenes. Watt was a prolific recycler of found art. His bungalow on North Dousman Street, where he moved after a house fire, soon filled with his works, which he would give away or sell for very cheap. His canvas was usually cheap art prints on cardboard which he would overpaint, virtually always…

The Watchman photo by John Cizmas JUDGE SHARES CANCER EXPERIENCES IN NEW LIGHT Judge Jean DiMotto has been sharing her experiences with cancer in a blog called Cancer Light, which she subtitled “Reflections and humor on the journey with cancer.” As a judicial blogger, DiMotto is not the first in these parts – that honor belongs to her husband Judge John DiMotto, who launched Bench and Bar Experiences in 2009. Jean DiMotto, a registered psychiatric nurse with a special interest in Dream Therapy, began the blog in August and continues to update readers with her progress. Writing in mid-December, DiMotto told her readers: In one 24-hour period…

Photo by Adam Ryan Morris Baldwin Has “Strong Spine.” Rep. Tammy Baldwin, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to replace the retiring Herb Kohl, says, “People say I am soft-spoken. But I have a strong spine.” She told supporters at a fundraiser Sunday, December 18th at the home of Julilly Kohler that possible Republican candidate and former governor Tommy Thompson “has changed more than I have over the years. “Thompson has flip-flopped on a number of issues like stem cell research,” she said. Thompson now opposes the use of fetal stem cells, citing what he says are advancements in technologies…

End Near For West Pittsburgh Avenue? City officials, including Department of City Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux and Milwaukee County Water Council president Dean Amhaus, have called for extending West Pittsburgh Avenue westerly through the Reed Street Yards, where they hope to attract water-based industries to the long-vacant 15-acre site. Also on the agenda – renaming Pittsburgh Avenue to something a bit less reminiscent of a city other than Milwaukee. No sense confusing folks! Although no names have been “floated” as yet, Pittsburgh Avenue was known until 1930 as Lake Street, which might, indeed, be a good replacement choice. How do…

Photo courtesy of milwaukeeconnector.com. Streetcar Project Still At Risk The Milwaukee Connector streetcar project is still at risk, says Kris Martinsek, a consultant who worked on the development of the long-delayed rail project. “The opponents are still working against it,” she said Wednesday, December 14th, at a fundraiser for Mayor Tom Barrett held at the Best Place at the Pabst Brewery. She says an aide to Scott Jensen, the former Speaker of the Assembly and presumed Walker administration eminence grise, has been circulating a petition against it. (So has Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan.) “The Republicans vs. transit might win,” she…