Just published today, Tosa Forward News has this update on the city's efforts to bring back a July 4 fireworks display. The short story: It isn't going well.
The city has a $25,000 contract for fireworks in celebration of the country’s 250th birthday, according to the Civic Celebration Commission, but it remains uncertain whether fireworks will be feasible in 2026.
And the commission has considered a LOT of options. Golf courses, a cemetery, school athletic fields, Mount Mary University, Firefly Grove Park ... West Allis. “The residents of Wauwatosa have asked for fireworks, and we’re just trying to accommodate their request for fireworks,” Robert Brunow, the commission’s chair, told Tosa Forward News after a March 12 meeting.
Tosa Forward News has invited city officials to comment for this latest story and has a pending open records request seeking additional information. Stay tuned.
Tosa Forward News also took a closer look this week at differing data on teacher retention rates cited by the candidates for Wauwatosa School Board and found that the apparent discrepancy is largely a matter of interpretation and emphasis. Full story here.
A lot of attention has been paid to the School Board race. Tosa Forward News also is working on a story providing an overview of the few contested Common Council races. Watch for that next week. That and other coverage will be posted to the Tosa Election Tracker.
The Wauwatosa and West Allis fire merger continues to make headlines. The two cities' new Milwaukee Metro Fire Rescue Board of Directors met online this week to address preliminary organizational matters. It also is looking ahead to a March 31 deadline to apply for significant state grants to support the combined department's launch.
A couple of East Tosa updates:
First, the Friends of Center Street Park broke down the annual winter ice rink last weekend. Gone but not forgotten. It was a successful season, Ed Haydin of the Center Street Hosers said.
"Any time we can get ice out there, it's pretty much a success," he said.
And the Waddle Inn on North Avenue continues its transformation, now with a plan to add mini-bowling lanes. The Common Council will vote on a conditional use permit on March 24.
Here are a few other headlines and tidbits from the past week.
A lot of high marks for Wauwatosa 14-year-old Abby Wurzburger, who spoke in Madison in favor of legislation opposing the testing of cosmetics on animals in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Examiner has this report from the Tuesday news conference.
A Fond du Lac man was sentenced to four years of probation in the 2024 traffic death of a retired Catholic priest, who was walking across West Wisconsin Avenue in Wauwatosa at the time.
Spectrum News had this profile of the Wauwatosa Curling Club, which is still bouncing back (sliding back?) from the August flooding that swamped its basement clubhouse at Hart Park.
Developers provided an update this week on the Harlow & Hem apartment project in Tosa Village, as reported by the Milwaukee Business Journal.
And good luck to the Tosa East High School girls basketball team, which is taking its unbeaten record to Green Bay today for a shot at repeating as state champions on Saturday. (Tosa Forward News won't name names but can confirm even a certain Common Council member wearing Tosa West Trojans gear appeared excited at the prospect of a Raiders victory.)
