Stories you might have missed from across Wisconsin.
South Milwaukee: Chainsaw artist creates life-sized :South Milwaukee Sam”.
Unless you live in South Milwaukee, you might not know that the city has a mascot, and an unusual one at that. “South Milwaukee Sam”, a Sasquatch is the city’s mascot and Sam is being immortalized by a local chainsaw artist for a permanent display in the city. Joel Asplin is a South Milwaukee resident, history teacher and founder of Chisel point Enterprises. He was contracted by the city to carve Sam’s likeness, which according to reporting in the Journal Sentinel, will stand six feet tall and be 28 inches around. He is creating the carving in front of his house so people can see the progress. Asplin said he spoke with Mayor Jim Shelenske in 2023 about possibly doing a carving event during a city function. Early this year, Asplin got a call from the mayor asking if he’d carve the city’s new mascot. Asplin said he’d donate a portion of the price and the city agreed to pay the remainder through part of a grant. The Common Council approved the project which is expected to be finished this month and reside under the Bucyrus Commons pavilion near the bronze Reggie “Da Crusher” Lisowski statue. Full Story
Madison: Pedestrian mall experiment to end.
Some experiments end earlier than others which seems to be the case for a three block stretch of Madison’s famous State Street. Just short of its six month anniversary, the “pedestrian mall experiment” in the 400 to 600 blocks of State Street will reopen to taxis, buses and delivery trucks on October 30. Restrictions on non-emergency traffic in that zone will be lifted the next day. When this project kicked off in May artists and volunteers painted murals on the street and the city installed metal pink flamingoes on the sidewalks all to call attention to the area where the experiment was taking place. During the summer, the Madison’s Central Business Improvement District sponsored free programming which according to the State Journal brought thousands of people to enjoy the vibrant area and local businesses. City planners had said from the start that the pedestrian mall was an experiment. Stopping traffic for much of the day presented challenges especially for local businesses. The city has learned some lessons from the experiment. The benches along the edges of the street were popular, but they got pretty beat up by the traffic that went by during off hours. The paint on the street didn’t stick well. The benches and planters will be removed at the end of the experiment. No word on whether the pedestrian mall will return. Full Story
Elkhorn: One Elkhorn Road is ranked as the third most haunted in the U.S.
Ghosts, spirits, specters, oh my! As Halloween approaches these scary beings appear everywhere, usually as part of decorations, On one road in Wisconsin, reports have them appearing all year long, much to the horror of drivers. Sixt.com ranked Bray Road in Elkhorn as the third most haunted road in the U.S. The website used search trends on TikTok and Google to determine the list, including the words “ghost” and “haunted” alongside the road’s name. The Ghosts of America website was also used to determine roadside ghost sightings. A story in the Journal Sentinel explains that the Elkhorn road is reportedly where a wolfman-like creature, the Beast of Bray Road, prowls. According to eyewitness accounts, the beast has been seen kneeling over a deer, walking on its hind legs, and reaching to the back of a truck to retrieve a roadkill deer. The first sighting of the beast was reported in 1936, when a man saw the beast that was described as over six feet tall, with a canine face and the body of a man. Avoid Elkhorn during a full moon. Full Story
