Franklin Today

Sources: Tom Reinke will be back as Robinwood's principal

Franklin Today has received word from very good sources that Robinwood Principal Tom Reinke will be reinstated as its principal and will be back on the job on or around October 14th. According to the sources, Robinwood staff was to be notified about this earlier today by district officials.

As I personally hoped, the situation regarding Mr. Reinke seems to be close to an end. It's a huge plus that Franklin Public Schools and Mr. Reinke had positive discussions, and hopefully resolved the matter with the individual who filed a complaint. No one wants to hear about someone on the faculty being unhappy, and I only for the best.

Regarding the many concerned parents at Robinwood, this can only be excellent news for them. They can finally breathe a sigh of relief that this matter is soon-to-be at an end. As an example of how many parents were concerned about Mr. Reinke's status, Franklin Today received an all-time high in the number of hits and searches during this time. Thanks to all of you for reading, and for continuing to keep Franklin Today on your must-read list.

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If you'd like to read and add your signature to the petition to urge Milwaukee County to bring an Aquatics Center (aka mini water park) to Franklin, please click this link.

The women of Franklin have a club all to their own!

In response to my recent blog entry calling on all Franklin organizations to submit their pieces and promote themselves on Franklin Today, I received an e-mail from Shari Hanneman. Some of you may know Shari thanks to her dedicated work on various Franklin issues, including Citizens for a Safe Wisconsin and being a member on the city's Plan Commission for several years. This time, Shari wasn't discussing CFSW or anything relating to city planning, but rather an organization whose backbone are the women of four communities and goals would are aimed at benefiting and improving them. The organization I'm talking about is the Root River Junior Woman's Club.

Mayor's 2010 budget revealed with plenty of cuts to show

Well it has arrived! Mayor Taylor submitted his 2010 budget proposal to the City of Franklin's Finance Committee for review. Let's just say, the cuts that the mayor promised to make certainly are significant. Unfortunately, the mayor contends it needs to be done to keep the tax levy at a reasonable level. Mayor Taylor is still under accordance with his pledge with Franklin blogger Fred Keller, which stated that he would not submit a budget proposal to the Finance Committee with a tax levy increase of more than 3%. The 2010 budget has a 2.9% increase in the levy.

Journal Sentinel picks up on Sentry closing

Several weeks after you heard it first on Franklin Today, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has posted its article on Sentry Foods in Franklin closing its doors. It's basically more of the same content you have read on here, but it basically becomes that much more official.

While initially it was floated around that Sentry would close by the end of the month, apparently it has moved to an undetermined date. It's unfortunate that Franklin residents will lose one of the staple food stores in the community; a food store that employed many students from Franklin High School.

A commenter on this blog made the observation that usually when Sentry stores shut down, a Piggly Wiggly usually opens up in its place. Would a Piggly Wiggly come to Franklin? Would city officials work to persuade Piggly Wiggly of the new opportunity on the heavily traveled 76th & Rawson intersection? I suppose it all remains to be seen.

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If you'd like to read and add your signature to the petition to urge Milwaukee County to bring an Aquatics Center (aka mini water park) to Franklin, please click this link.

Hey Franklin: Let's fight off apathy together!

Compared to last week, this week seems to be dragging along! For once in a very long time, Franklin Today was covering three topics all at once, and I definitely appreciate and thank you for your readership! I know from my stats that I've definitely picked up a few new regulars, which is always great to find out. From the Reinke matter to garbage contracts to Sentry's closing, I've been working to get information out to all of you in the best and fastest way possible. Franklin Today is now also on Facebook to further the convenience of you receiving information on local happenings.

Last week also was when I decided to take the plunge and start a petition to better our community. I figure that I might as well walk behind what I'm talking about on the blog, especially with the new blog series I'm writing titled Franklin First. Out of all the topics I covered/covering, I hope this one still continues to build momentum and support.

Most of the things that go on in our community go largely unnoticed. There are many things that YOU as a citizen can do to directly influence and impact our community for the better. It's happened before and it still happens today. Let's target the apathy that some (if not most) the population has had in recent years and work to decrease it significantly. It can be done, but we need to work together as a community.

For starters on my end of things, I'm hoping to receive more info on Franklin organizations in the near future. Personally, I'd like to highlight them on this site so others who might be interested can possibly join or donate a few bucks to support them. If you are a member of such an organization and would like to promote your group on Franklin Today, send me an e-mail at franklinblog@gmail.com.

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If you'd like to read and add your signature to the petition to urge Milwaukee County to bring an Aquatics Center (aka mini water park) to Franklin, please click this link.

Franklin should be considered for this mini water park

Last week, in the midst of quite a heavy news week on Franklin Today, I launched a petition for Franklin residents to sign that would ask the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors to clarify the proposed location for an Aquatics Center. To read the petition and add your signature, click this link. Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker in his 2010 budget labeled the new center to go somewhere in "southeast" Milwaukee County, which would exclude Franklin from being considered as its location.

Since the petition's launch, some of you have been asking just what an Aquatics Center actually is, and why should Franklin residents support it. Here are the answers:

Our police department deserves better credit than one aide's perspective

This past weekend was quite an interesting one for me, as well as several other Franklin residents. When Sunday morning came around, some residents woke up to notice attempted thefts or actual thefts of their property. One of these residents just happened to live on my cul-de-sac, and it was his unlucky third instance of such an experience.

Later on that evening, or should I just flat out say late night, a friend and I were driving home from a friend's house along Church Street in western Franklin. It was a foggy night, but even so my friend quickly noticed something strange was going on.

Greg - there's a man walking through those yards! Turn the car around!!

Thinking that my friend was simply seeing things in the mist, I turned the car around, which was along Church Street between Mission Hills Drive and Mission Road. Right at the curve before the stop sign at Mission Hills Dr, there stood a man along the sidewalk now. The man stopped once our headlights beamed on him and he gave us a glare that certainly spooked my passenger.

Call the police. You just have to call the police! Doesn't this man look similar to one your mom described last week!?

Doing some quick thinking, my friend was right.

School Board member responds to public criticism on Reinke matter

On her FranklinNOW.com blog, Franklin School Board member Janet Evans has taken the time to address the issue surrounding Robinwood Principal Tom Reinke. This is the first time a School Board member has went public to this extent; until now all School Board members simply replied to concerned parents on an e-mail basis.

You can read Evans' thoughts and concerns on the matter by clicking this link. What caught my attention was the removal of all the Franklin bloggers that were listed on the sidebar of Evans' blog. I can't help but believe the removal of the other blogs has relation to the publishing of several posts on Franklin Today and other Franklin blogs covering the School Board in a less-than-flattering light. As I said yesterday, if the communications between parents and the Board didn't pan out as expected, then the way of handling future matters should be modified.

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Don't forget to sign the petition to convince Milwaukee County to bring an Aquatics Center to Franklin!

To be or not to be...garbage carts...that is the question

To further discuss the issue relating to the upcoming waste hauling contract, Franklin Today contacted several municipal and contractor sources and complied information in an easy, "Q&A" format.

Attorney for Tom Reinke updates Franklin Today

For those who are concerned about the status of Robinwood Principal Tom Reinke, I received the following from his attorney:

Greg,

I want to let you know that Mr. Reinke and Dr. Patz had a very productive meeting today.  They are working together to resolve the situation in a positive and mutually beneficial manner, but need a few days to coordinate information.  

We encourage you to be patient.

Robert E. Shumaker

DeWitt Ross & Stevens S.C.

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Don't forget to sign the petition to convince Milwaukee County to bring an Aquatics Center to Franklin!