Milwaukee's Streetlight Crisis: Community Safety at Risk?

Good morning. Good morning. What's happening? Family. Welcome to the show. It is Michelle Bryan here at WNLV, 860 AM, 106.5 FM. You are listening to say something real and just for a moment, real talk. Milwaukee, if you are out on the road, please drive like you got some sense. Please drive like you want to get home this evening, like you're not trying to take nobody else's life. Please stop driving like y'all stupid man.

the number of people with all of this, you know, fog and low visibility that was flying, riding up on the right side of you, which is illegal even when the weather is fine. It's just sad that, you know, it's nobody else's fault that you left your house and not enough time to get where you need to be. And I say this as somebody who leave late every day, you know, but.

I'm going to have good sense and not drive crazy out here. So we got young people going to school, sitting on these bus stops, elderly people trying to cross the street. You know, people just trying to handle their business. And some of us are just, just when I was completely disgusted driving this morning, because people act like the low visibility was not a factor at all. And I watched the car go on the right side of in the parking lane of a vehicle.

And it was a woman stepping off the curve, getting ready to, you know, cross the street. And he was about to hit her. And then so just to see, you know, how hard he had to slam them brakes not to hit that woman. So I'm just saying, please, please, please act like other people. If you don't care about your own life, hey, do you. But nobody else should have to go out with you because you being reckless and irresponsible. So.

Well, I got that little PSA out the way. Let me say what's happening to the players in the building. What's going on with Clark Kent? Who are you with? See, I knew where to start today. I knew who to talk to today, baby. Because this thing over here, you do be banging. You good, Clark? What's going on, fam? I mean, I'm just tired of this darkness.

Block man, I can't take you man. I'm gonna start carrying my pistol. It's too far. It's so dark man. I can't even see myself. On the radio. I can't even see myself. I can't even see myself. I can't even see myself. I can't even see myself. I can't even see myself.

I mean y'all I got a street lights where you stay in the street light in three four weeks. Wait a minute. What you mean? Who took them? Man, we ain't nobody take it. Shut up you guys. Everybody live in the area of Keep Avenue. What we used to say man. Keep in what? Keep right by the gray yard. Keep at 19. Yeah. And y'all had those street lights. At three feet, three to four weeks. Did y'all call y'all representatives? Did y'all call?

Neighbor, I mean, is it I don't know neighborhood services. Let me see. Who do you call when your street lights? I tell you what you do. You're going to get you some GE bug. No. They bring good things to life. You climb up that boat. The only the only lightest part of my block is my porch. The only light is on your porch. Yeah. So you need to call this number.

Call them while you are here, Clark. Write the number down. If you have a broken or non-functioning street light in the city of Milwaukee, the number, you ready? I'm ready. We got a attitude. 414-286-2489. Got it. You can even do it online for folks that are at home.

Click for Action Online System is the name of the site. You can go there. You can do it on your cell phone. They got an app you can put on your phone called MKE Mobile App and you can just do it right from your cell phone. They want the exact location, the street address or the nearest intersection. This is new. Look what Curly said. What? See right there. Look what she said. My friend has been trying to get her blocklights to work since May.

She is in Stampers District. Send me to cross streets, Curly, Q, so we can follow up. You know, because that's trifling. Hell, it's October. And you've been trying to get your license work since May. So we're going to make some calls today, because one of my other guys who stays over near... Look at how happy the doughnut said, look. What happened to the doughnut said? It's right there. Follow the entire Sherman Boulevard on our behalf too.

Mr. Clark is dark as hell out here. So Sherman Boulevard. Man, what's going on? Let me see. Let me see. Let me see. My guy, he is over near Clark East. What is it? East Clark and like second, whatever it is. And he said they got like some construction that.

the city had been doing or somebody had been doing and the the thing. What is it? The little horse thing is still in the street, but no construction has happened for over two years. I think he said it's just been sitting there and it's like a whole. So I got to go. I just text him and told him to give me the exact situation because I'm calling on his behalf. But I'm going to just say this. This is my public service moment. If you got your lights out on your block.

or in your neighborhood and your other person has not responded. Please call me and let me know if you got some construction that has not been completed and you'll see no work activity happening. Please call me and let me know where you are. I will be happy to follow up but also call your other person and I

I don't care if you gotta put it on your calendar for the damn phone call to happen. Sorry, babies on your way to school. But for the phone call to happen every day at twelve fifteen, you need to call these people. This is madness. You know, I had the good morning, Michelle. Um.

Oh, somebody said, okay, somewhere between 40th and center and Hadley. Okay, 40th and center and Hadley. I'm going to get a little bit of Clinton says, see, stay about a gray out too. Thank you, Clark.

for that, bro. I got to take my garbage out at night by the graveyard. All right, we don't, we don't call. We don't call. We don't call. And you know, I'm happy to put it in writing too. So I will get these areas. We've been out. Look, somebody said, Marcel said, we've been out on 18th in Congress. The Rufus King area for months. What the hell is going on in the city? Again, babies go to school. Don't listen to Miss Michelle swear.

What is going on in the city that people can't get streetlights made? Yeah, because now to your point, it is dark early in the morning. What is going on? Look, man, Johnson, I'm about to call your office today, bro. And then we will be calling. Yes, call the other person. This is what they get paid for.

not remove the Ottoman and replace them. It's a new day and a new season. Somebody said ghetto begets ghetto. Come on. I mean, come on. I don't even know what that means. I don't care where I live. I need to get service that I pay for. So you know what they were saying with that?

You know, from that statement, violence begets violence. That means that it attracts violence. So violence is going to bring other violence. So for that person to say ghetto begets ghetto. That just mean that you said just because you live in a certain part of the neighborhood that you're supposed to get. I almost said the word service. That's trash. So somebody said their guy.

who works for the city said the reason the lights are out because people are still in the cable. I don't believe that. No, I don't believe that. Not for every one of these situations though. No, no. And what kind of cable is being stolen so we can educate the community on what's happening? It's copper. Right at the bottom. Now, I did hear that. And I've heard something similar. I just don't know if that's all of these situations. Replace them though. Like, if you know them and that they have.

I mean, what's the response? Yeah, what do we need to do? But we can't just have people in the dark. And thank you for that. So yeah, so people still in cable. You know what? I just do not understand. Somebody said no lights on 35,000. Hang on, I have a bat. I carry on my block. North 37th between Nash and Viana.

Somebody else said 2700 block of north 40th. Like come on y'all. What is going on? In the city, I'm telling you I don't know what is going on. There's no news. There ain't been no news about the nothing. It was certain areas been like this for years. Oh, so the person who said ghetto gets ghetto. They said what they meant is that if we have information and the education to make these things happen.

for our own services, but yet we don't call on them. But I think we're making an assumption because do you know that people have not called? Yeah, people call. You know, and this sounds crazy too, but I don't know that everybody had the information. They got it today.

I, you know, I mean, yeah, you can find it, but the number of people that call me for stuff. Jermaine, if you freeze me out here this morning, I swear to God, I'm a bushy. I got some heat. They go here. A whole crime. Homer. Homer. Blow going to be doing the police report of what happened in this radio station this morning. The lights go go out. Clark and they go here. I'm telling you right now. My toes. They're going to be totally here with you today. Whatever, man. I'm Paul. Do you know what?

That air stay on over the five minutes. I swear to God. Me and you go fight up here. Home a blog. I'll be over at the truth talking about. So on page two of the report.

And then at the end, he said, and Michelle Bryant was quoted as saying, you go learn today. You ain't gonna freeze me out today. It's sick of you. Now I know how these men feel when they be at home with their wife and they be going through, you know, hot flashes and bros be like, bang, it's all in here. Right.

What's going on with your little regulation? But you need to get it together. Somebody said, we were told the lights are old and they can't replace the parts. They are changing them to upgrade. Whatever is going on, citizens need to know.

They need to have a timeline. It needs to be some lit drops done, some information provided. People can't just be out here not knowing what's happening in their community or when to expect anything to be done. And so I will say this to that person who posted, you do have to figure out how to advocate for yourself. You do have to figure out who to call. You can call this station. Who do I call about this?

everybody knows somebody that's usually good at this kind of stuff. I'm not sure who I talk to, neighborhood services, my other person, you know, who am I calling down at the city? But make some calls. Don't just sit there and take this stuff and then we talk about it and like, you know, it's messed up. We ain't safe. Know who you're supposed to call because you're paying them every month.

They get paid by taxpayer money every two weeks or every month depending on if you work at the state or at the city level Know who to call but all the persons in the area You know when Andrea Pratt would come on here and talk about her daddy Alderman Marvin Pratt Before he became I think and even maybe while he was coming out president used to ride through his neighborhood with a clipboard She would hold a clipboard with her daddy

and he would be right now what needed to be addressed in his district. Man, some of y'all need to do that because your community should also not have to track you down. You live in these areas. You see what's going on. I know they see what's going on. Man, come on, y'all. Everybody needs to do their part. Yeah. But

this non-responsiveness and I just don't know what's happening and I got to figure it out. No, we can't keep doing that. I got a call or something. Okay, let's go to the phone line. Hey, Carla, what's happening? And then I'm going to say good morning to you because I know you're waiting and you're mad. I know you're a baby. I know you're a baby. Oh, you're a baby. You was waiting. You was waiting. Yeah, I know you was. Hey, Carla, what's happening?

You know they added street lights to our wider view. What? They added street lights to our wider view so we could pay more money. So they do stuff. This is never no money but they jack us up.

taxes and all, but you have to call them. They're not gonna, they don't send nobody out to check it out. You have to call them. And that's what I wanted to say. Wow. Thank you so much. All right. All right. And so I want to follow up on what the caller said. Yes, the city of Milwaukee added a street lighting fee to its quarterly Milwaukee municipal services bill commonly called your water bill.

calculated at about a dollar per linear foot of street frontage annually, which breaks down to about $10 per quarter. You're paying roughly $40 a year for a typical 40-foot residential property. And this is being collected quarterly by the Milwaukee Water Works alongside your water sewer storm.

water and solid waste charges. It applies to most properties across the city, including tax exempt entities like hospitals and colleges, as well as corner lots, which are billed based on the shorter side of the frontage. It was created to fund the operation, maintenance, repairs, and electrical power for the city's roughly 77,000 street lights.

This goes back to 2021. Milwaukee, back in 2021, the story Milwaukee residents will see new fee to keep street lights off. So that just makes me even more irritate. Because you charge in my household potentially $40 a month. Because I'm going to tell you, because people put their bills on auto pay, people don't even look at their bills on war. You just pay whatever say you owe.

Especially on your water bill because that can fluctuate so much. So you don't even open it. Some people got paperless bills and you see the balance. It don't sound completely out of pocket. You just pay it and go on about your life. So you may not notice you paying an extra $10 every quarter, but when they tell people we cash strap, we're going to charge you a fee to go towards paying is

and keeping these lights maintained. But my lights ain't on. That's even worse. Carla, thank you so much for putting folks up on game, because I didn't realize that this was happening. And if I did, I forgot about it. I didn't know it was happening this much in the city either, though. But you know, something Jen said, that's been on the water bill. Girl, am I looking on the water bill? You just pay it. And so I'm glad she said it. Let me go to the phone line. Hey, Carla, what's happening?

Good morning, Michelle. Good morning. How are you doing this morning? Good to hear from you. Oh, I'm doing. I'm doing fine. The two things I always say about the driving is why are you in a hurry to die? Pretty much. Don't be in a hurry to die. I mean, because sometimes in the morning, these people be that right lane, they'll run a light, they'll do, they'll run through, and you be going like, why are you in a hurry? And sometimes it's the most expensive cars that are driving the crazy.

And you go like, what's wrong with these people trying to kill themselves in there? You can't even do 40. That's the speed limit. You can't do it because they get right up in the back of you. Like they go just bump you forward. And so the second part is on the light. Yeah, there is a big, I don't know how these people are digging up these lights and taking the copper, but you know, they had an accident on 35th and spinner a week ago.

a week or a week or two weeks ago and it was all calls because somebody had dug up the light and dug up the copper and the light wasn't working and they had that school bus in here right there on 35th and center so it's at the level of danger now and you ask yourself is and then who's buying the copper so if you buy in the copper then you know it ain't come to you legitimately so it's number of things and the second third thing is

The city needs to do what we did in 1993, 94. They need a efficiency expert to look at all their practices and everything because we did it for two years under Northquist. And my department was the worst and became the most efficient in government because we went through everything. What we do, why do we do it, how many people do we need to do it?

How much does it cost? What can we consolidate? What can we eliminate? All kinds of things we went through because they have an efficiency issue trying to say how we spend it our money. Where is it going? And there's ways to save and become more efficient in the delivery of services. And so my department was one who delivered all the services to the city. And we became the most efficient in

city governor because we undertook these those methods to try to figure out how to save the taxpayers money. So there's a number of things but everything reverted back all you need is people who don't care. They revert back to what they do which becomes normal and they do the same thing over and over again without anybody saying, wait, stop. And so that's what I would suggest because I know it can be done and I know you can create some of the most efficient levels of services.

if you just review all of what you do and why you do it. All right. Thank you, Tyrone. I appreciate the comment and the information. Yep. You know, we got to do better. One of the things that I went and did, and I will do this on the other side, I'm going to take a break real quick, but I went and pulled.

some information on what my my guy sent me that he said that somebody who works for the city shared with him about these cables. And so there was a story written about a month ago relating to copper thieves escalating tactics to steal wire from Milwaukee streetlights. Let's talk about that on the other side. Be right back. Do it. I'm not going to do it. You better speak to me woman.

I'm not going to do it. All day today, anytime somebody asks me something you want to do, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it. It's almost like, watch out for the coons. Your kids want something to eat. Mommy, you going to make dinner? I'm not going to do it. And kids.

This does not work for you. You need to clean your room.

I can't be responsible. Right at the time. This is not applied to anybody that they pay in their own way. If you pay in your own way, you can sing. I'm not going to do it. But if you 18 and you still live at home, listen here, that's a quick way to get a jet to vacation. If you don't get a jet to vacation, you right.

Yeah, so you gotta be careful about what kind of you know what we encourage people to do. All right, so let me take this caller first and then I'll talk about the story and then we'll get to some other other news of the day. But let me go to the caller. Hey caller, what's happening? Hi Michelle, good morning. Good morning. Oh yes, I received my bill here at the day and not only is it has lights on here, but it's got snow and ice too, you've been in charge for.

You know what? And for some reason, I remember snow and ice when it got added to the field. But let me look and see. I'm going to see when it got added. But thank you for flagging that as well. Oh, OK. Now everybody pulling the bills out. Yes. Yes, ma'am. You too. Thank you for the call, sis. Let me see too. Milwaukee. Is it the Waterville? Let me see.

But I'm telling y'all people crazy. We do not. Yup. Here it is. The snow and ice charge on your Milwaukee bill is an annual snow and ice removal charge bill that 97 cents per foot of frontage, which typically appears on the last bill of the year. Um, really, you know, a same thing.

See. Okay, so let me see. Milwaukee municipal service charges and water rates draw concern from residents. Milwaukee residents, this was just written back in August. Milwaukee residents have raised concerns about an increase in the municipal service bills, commonly referred to as a water bill.

While the water rates remain the same, there were increases in several municipal service charges in 2026. Annette Butler owns a home on Milwaukee's north side and saw her bill increase to $780. She says she recently filed for bankruptcy and though her bill would be covered under it and thought her bill would be covered under it. The city was supposed to send me a new bill and I was expecting it to be zero, but that's when I got hit with the high bill.

Butler, who said there are only two people living in the home, wondered if there was a leak, a water leak in her home that caused a spike. She had her home inspected for leaks, but none were found. But then when I guess they took a closer look at the bill, they realized that this is not only for water, but other costs. The bill combines charges from Milwaukee Metropolitan Policy District and Water Works. And so breaking down this bill,

I see where the water service is fixed, blah, blah, blah. Not that. Challenges. What was the other stuff? Okay, that's all still water. Fixing leaks, increased costs. I'm looking for... That didn't have it. I thought it was going to happen in that story. But, okay. So let me just say this. I pulled up the story on the copper.

thieves in relationship to these utility poles. So this story ran September 30th. So like I said, a little less than a month ago, Milwaukee Journal sent them. Thieves are going to increasingly dramatic lengths to steal copper wire from Milwaukee light poles as the city tries new methods to thwart them, officials said.

or reported on September 30th. When the Department of Public Works added tamper-proof boats to the boxes where the wires are accessible at the base of the street lights, thieves got hold of a tool to open them. Before that, they had resorted to sledgehammers. And in the early morning of September 29th, thieves at North 35th Street and West Capital Drive had dug under the box.

attached a strap and pulled it out with a vehicle. You got time to do all of that. And nobody see you on 35th and capital. In the last year, the city has tallied about 180 deaths of live wires from street lights. Some 75 deaths happened in August alone is what was reported to the Common Council's Public Works Committee.

The thieves can sell the copper to recyclers while city taxpayers foot the bill to fix the lights. So far, thefts have been, theft costs have been about $600,000 to $650,000 in labor and materials. The thefts leave neighborhoods in darkness and diverse city workers from fixing other issues in the city's electrical system. They have been concentrated around North Timstree and West Capital Drive, but have also stretched east and west.

Most of the tests are in Arlington Heights, Borcher Field, Rufus King neighborhoods on the city's north side. All the woman, Andrea Pratt, who lives in the Rufus King neighborhood, says she routinely sees street lights without wiring. Oh, Jesus Christ. Quote, this latest rash, it happened back to back to back in these neighborhoods. Something has to be done, some kind of relief because people are scared when they are coming home. Other cities were like

I'm sorry, other cities where these deaths have been going on longer continue to struggle to prevent them. Public Works officials declined in publicly detail current prevention efforts because they didn't want to basically alert the thieves to, you know, the new stuff that they try. They are in contact with the police, believe some arrests have been made, not sure whether charges have been filed. So this is my thing.

And again, so thank you to my brother who sent me that information. So. I got to ask the question. And I think one of the one of the brothers brought it up when this first we started talking about this this morning. The the companies that are buying the copper.

What is the regulations on how you can buy copper from individuals? Yeah You because as you say you see some of these damn people and how they look, you know, you don't work nowhere where you get no copper from you look grungy crazy probably dirty Where are these people coming from? So What what's the tracking method? You need to be able to explain to me where you got this copper from

So now I'm getting ready to go during the break, because I got to take a break and see if we have regulations on because if you if you stop the purchaser, then some of this stops because these people have to figure out another way to sell it. They will have a product that people can't buy.

Now, I don't know how that looks on the black market and I'm going to find out if there's a black market for copper. But let me see legally what we require as a state for people who purchase copper. I'll be right back. All right, family, welcome back to the show. So I told folks that I would go and look and see what are the statues around either selling or purchasing copper or non nefarious metals or not fair. Is it not ferris?

Ferris. Okay, I'm not saying that right. But anyway, so yes, Wisconsin does regulate the purchasing sale of scrap and, you know,

the word, including copper. Who can sell or buy scrap copper on the seller's part? There's an age requirement. You got to be at least 18. They're supposed to show ID. And the dealer must record the government issue photo ID, driver's license, passport, state ID for every transaction. The dealer must record the license plate number, state of issuance and making model of the vehicle used by the seller or the deliverer.

ownership and proof. Sellers must provide a written declaration of ownership and proof of lawful possession or make a diligent inquiry. The scrap dealer, so the buyer's requirement, record keeping, they must document seller's name, all that information, and they have to keep these records for two years. Local law enforcement can require scrap dealers to submit daily reports on all the scrap.

on proprietary metal purchases by the next business day. And then when somebody said Michelle, they could be selling over in Illinois. Illinois has restrictions on buying and selling too.

They even have one that's more specific on telecommunications wire is illegal to buy or sell telecommunications wire unless the seller is an authorized agent or licensed contractor of a public utility or telecommunications service. So now I want to go back and look and see. Do we have a similar piece of legislation here in Wisconsin that says in order to sell.

wires that look like they came out of these utility poles, that you have to be a certified contractor or public utility, you know, an authorized agent of a public utility. Because that could also get to the heart of some of this mess that's going on. So I'm going to look and see if we have that. In Illinois, they limit how much you can pay in cash, $100 or less.

for copper tubing, copper wiring, telecommunications wire, traceable transactions, $100 or more must be paid by check or money order. So there are things that people are trying to put in place. Obviously, folks are skirting this because, again, you're using a fake ID to go sell this stuff. But if I'm looking at your car, does your car have stolen plates on it? It seems like there are all these little steps in place

but yet this is clearly an issue and a problem. So where is the breakdown? And all of it is not just on the people still it. It's on the systems. It is on the systems. You telling me I recorded a plate on the car and then somebody ought to be requesting that information on a regular basis so people can run them plates to see if in fact those plates are valid.

But it's going to require some extra measures, not saying that that's not happening. We may not be privy to that as a community, but this clearly is an issue. So didn't realize this was going to be a whole rabbit hole this morning. But evidently, it's something that we needed to talk about. Let me take a break. I'll be right back. All right, family, let me catch this caller. Hey, caller, what's happening? Good morning, Michelle. Good morning. Let me get my radio.

Yeah, thank you very much for covering the subject. I'll be quick. I know you've got other things. You know, last time I called about a couple weeks ago, I said that the Steering and Rules Committee meeting of the Milwaukee Common Council, 15 people, they are the governing body of the first class city, Milwaukee. I said that they had not met 19 times in the past two years.

I have to update that it's now 20 times because they skipped another meeting yesterday. Now these are meetings where all of the elders have an opportunity to come into a room, talk about a subject in a legal fashion, you know, not in a secret meeting where blacks are not allowed, but in an open forum where maybe you're bringing experts, you bring in the public,

You're bringing people that can tell you exactly what's happening. You can bring in the copper guys. You can bring in the police department. I don't know what's going on, Michelle. These guys don't even meet anymore. It is ridiculous. They just had a meeting Saturday at the Mitchell Street Library to meet Ravich. All the women to meet Ravich held it.

Zanereepa doesn't show up, Perez doesn't show up, the common council president who runs the steering and wheels committee. This is the meeting where these major, major issues need to be happening. And he has not met 20 times in the last two years, but not just that as well. I said at the meeting, there is no food in Gaza. Well, there's no food on the north side of Milwaukee. There's no street lights in Havana, Cuba.

There's no street lights on the north side of Milwaukee. They're cutting down the rainforest in Brazil. We're cutting down a forest on the north side of Milwaukee. I'm starting to see a pattern here. And the police department comes to the town council. They don't come to public safety meetings during the course of the year. The chief does not. But when it's time to grab some more money,

They are right there. I'll tell you, they're sharp in their suits. Uniforms, they're just ready to go. Cops are making, are taking $900,000 a day. Think about this. Think about the copper. Think about the streets they can be fixed. Think about the alleys. $900,000 a day. And the chief of police is in Israel and we cannot find out why.

Well, I think I know why but that's a different subject. But this just goes on and Michelle if I finish This goes back to the importance of voting We need to ask Alderman Stamper Alderman Jackson and Alderman Westmoreland if this is what they voted for when they voted to have

Alderman Perez as the president of the Common Council. They had a choice. And where is the African-American caucus or the Black Caucus? I don't know what to call them because they don't exist. And as far as I know, there should be a Black Caucus to show Belle Forks sat in that room by herself with 27 other Alders.

All right, imagine the scene. Five foot nothing, well still standing up for black people. And now you have a majority in the common council and you can't get a brother to stand up. I don't know what's going on, Michelle, really. That's about it. All right, thank you, brother. Thank you.

Only because I got a guest coming in. They're actually here waiting to be brought into the studio, so I just can't. I couldn't go long on that call. But, you know, it was a lot said in that call. I'm trying to figure out if he's talking about Chief Norman

And a recent trip to Israel. I know that earlier in the year there was a lot of criticism leveled at the chief because he was going to Israel on some counterterrorism training some program and They were Saying that the training was non-political focused on public safety But I didn't know like

if he was still doing different training uh yeah I you know and and Benjamin then yahoo ironically they having an election um is it today uh but they have an election going on because you know they hadn't had an election since since the whole thing jumped off um

So that's interesting. So it yeah, I actually have to hit the chief up and ask him is he still doing the counter terrorism stuff a lot of people and some people would be like well Why you know would someone be upset about that they liking it to what? APAC does To bring people over to Israel frequently courting groups to Give them you know a one-sided view

of events on the ground of, you know, threats and, you know, like I said, the majority of black pastors, they get to go to Israel, good to go on a pick packs down.

And then they come back and they want to be, you know, the biggest advocates in the world. But I'm like, y'all just got a free trip. The girls did was just go get a free damn trip. I don't care how you dress it up because some of y'all were never going on your own. You weren't going to pay for it. These people have realized folks like to travel, folks like new opportunities. And yeah, we'll bring you over. We'll give you, you know.

The world view through our lens and y'all go back home and y'all be our mouthpiece and people don't think you know about all sides of the coin and Usually your loyalty lies with who paid for your trip So I just you know had gotten to the point where I was sick of black pastors and they trips to Israel Because I'm like y'all want some BS and I don't care what y'all say. I don't care who I like it. I'll care who I offend

You got to understand propaganda and when people are using y'all and a lot of them didn't and the ones that did they didn't care because they was getting free trip But they spent it like they was going to the holy land. Oh, I know all of that I all of that and all it was a lot of it was nonsense, you know, because you're being fed information given a worldview indoctrinated on some level and I'm just saying that Everything that's free usually ain't free

You just didn't understand what the cost was. All right, so I'm going to Yeah, let me get the guest brought in. Yeah, I'll Yeah, put the call around and then you can bring the guest in for me so we can get rolling Take this call You hung up on them Jermaine I hear hanging up people all people Huh

Oh, yeah. Here. Bring me your phone card and you can take a picture of it. That's OK. I will tell. I'll have your man send it to you. He just wanted a copy of the information for the interview. All right. Good morning. Good morning. What's happening? What's happening, y'all? Sorry about the way y'all coming in. I thought I was going to be able to do the phone call.

and then have y'all brought in, but let me get all this mess out y'all. Okay, okay. Um, I have it. Yeah, I got it. I got it. Uh, so you know what? And I'm all right with that. I am all right with that. Uh, let's do this.

Let's take a moment to introduce the guests and talk about something that is extremely important in relationship to raising awareness, health. I'm sorry, I got Buzz, Keith's friends want to fly around. It's Keith's friends, man. But ladies, ladies.

Come on now. Uh, so first of all, let me have you introduce yourself to the listening audience. Uh, we got folks on YouTube, Facebook. I say good morning and the other yoga this morning. Good morning, family. What's happening? But let's do that. And then we'll get right into the conversation. Good morning. My name is Nicole Mewkes. I am the founder of common threads for cancer awareness. So it started as a fashion show now turned into a foundation. Well, all right, we'll look.

Talk more about that. And what's what's your name trouble? Good morning. My name is Denise Smith. I am a co-producer this year for the Common Threads for Cancer Awareness Fashion Show. All right. So we have had you on before and talked about this work. But let's just remind people for a second because something that was started to help honor a family member to raise awareness.

Talk talk a little bit about that piece of the journey. Okay, so I started common threads because my mom died from pancreatic cancer in 2015 and then in 2018 my sister had breast cancer and she did she's a survivor and then later that year my dad had prostate cancer and so I

I kept looking around and I'm like, this is affecting everybody. Unfortunately, this is a common thread. And I feel like we spend so much time worried about what other people look like, what they believe in. Meanwhile, cancer don't care about none of that. Cancer don't care about anything. It doesn't care about your size. Don't care if you wear glasses. Don't care if you believe in God. You don't believe in God. It don't care if you black, white, Asian. It just doesn't care. And so I'm like, I want to do this so that we can

Focus on this common thread and stop focusing on the differences. Let's let's look at this Well, you know what? I'm just gonna say this and it's not really a pushback But I think it is important to say I wouldn't pulled up the data because I know some of the data in relationship to breast cancer but studies show that in the black community

It is roughly 20% to 50% higher than the rate of white Americans who, you know, are afflicted with pancreatic cancer. Our survival rate is worse. So we do. And, you know, and that term common thread, it just does so many things because also.

What is the common thread within our families that's happening? Absolutely DNA genetics What are the things that you know because you're talking about three family members? Yeah, very informed of cancer. I haven't even talked about others. My dad's mother also died from leukemia So, you know that that word common thread becomes extremely powerful when you talk about connecting these dots and helping people understand

that, you know, there are things that connect all of us. Absolutely. And we can all be afflicted. But I ever want to lose sight of the fact that our survival rates are different. Absolutely. Our treatment is different.

the way people, we were just talking about the NFL player who found out he had blood clots. Jayla Hertz. And, you know, initially people were trying to blow him off. We even had a black sports commentator who was on TV talking about, he was lying about the severity of his.

dude get that stuff hanging off your mouth man you look crazy sandwich ain't a sandwich man you look gross over there you need to keep a mirror so you know how you be looking you eat always done i was thinking i wanted a bite no no no i can't have some i can't have some hanging while i'm just trying to talk i'm like

And they'll scream as everything may be like, I'm just saying, get out of here. But they tried to dismiss this brother. And another brother, like said, he's just trying to walk away from the season because the season is bad. And then he had to come and do a public apology because see you talking.

out of term, you know what you're talking about. So I do want to, I want to elevate that. I appreciate what you said, but I have to elevate our outcomes can be very, very different. It's very true. So when my mom got sick, it went real quick for her. But so let me say it was about July, August, she kept saying her stomach was hurting. And so she kept telling her doctor and we was going, my mom has so many scopes and scans.

right during that time and trying to figure out what was going on what was going on and They kept saying we can't find anything. Nothing's wrong. Nothing's wrong. But then by October I'm taking her to the ER twice a week Because of the pain because of the pain and so now she didn't had all these scopes all summer long and then We get into October we go I take her to the ER the ER doctor happened to be oncologist and he says

First, well, first of all, they thought she was drug seeking because she was saying she was in pain. My mom never never took pain. So again, how they treat us, absolutely, how they see us, how they respond to our, our, you know, complaints about pain or, you know, that something's going on. True. OK. So the oncologist says, well, I'm going to let me run this test. So I've been taking her since July. How come October that this test test was just introduced to us?

when it's something you could have took back in July. So he does this test and then he comes back and he was like, I see something. I'm gonna give you a deeper test. So he gives a deeper test and sure enough, the scan comes up and she has, is cancer is around her pancreas and is wrapped all around her blood vessels. But we went all summer.

trying to figure this out. And nobody thought to give this specific test. So I do know that what this fact that you that is a fact. And that's true. We they don't listen to us. They don't hear us. And we know that. So she gets that diagnosis in October. We don't see the oncologist till November. And when we get there, November is stage four. There's nothing they can do.

There's absolutely nothing. So how long did she survive after the November appointment? She was there by January 3rd. So we're talking about eight weeks. And she spent six and a half adults in the hospital.

So we went to the oncologist's appointment in the beginning of November. The oncologist took her straight from her office and sent her straight to the hospital. She spent four and a half weeks in the hospital. She came home for a week and a half. She went back to the hospital Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, she was like up, cheerful herself, eating because she hadn't been eating. And then about maybe the end of December, she just stopped responding.

And so you said she passed on January 3rd 2015 2015 okay, so you In the midst of having to grieve having to bury your mom all the things that go with losing a loved one at some point you shift and are like, okay How do we turn this into right either?

an uplifting thing, honor. You know, you feel weird saying celebration, but you understand when people say we having a celebration of life. So how do you make that pivot? Why, why, why, how does this become a goal? Well, I think because when I think about my mama.

She was a common thread. She was like the common thread in our family. She was the one that always, you know, she would help keep it together and she was doing this and she was doing that even in her community, you know, after my mom died. So my mom, she worked for Wisconsin gas, which came we energies and then she also set up the call center at SDC down, you know, down here on East Capitol. And so when after she died, they asked us to come. They had a lunch for us.

and they ended up naming the call center after my mother. Oh, okay. And people sat around that table and told those stories about our mother, about how she helped this person. How many siblings do you have? My sister. You and your sister, okay. That's the one who had breast cancer.

My mom was the common thread for a lot of people I called to curves to cancel her membership And it was a young white girl and she was like your mom helped me I'm like well how did my mom help me help you and she said well I have a mixed baby I don't know how to comb her hair. I don't know what to do You know your mom told me buy this product do this product do this and like helped her through this this process because that's just who she was so I felt like

what better way than the honor her was through this, you know. And so I felt like I took on some of her strength and I wanted to be a common thread like her. And so this just continued to develop in my mom love fashion and I'm also in fashion in Milwaukee. And so I felt like why not put it together, you know, the fashion would have caused. So Denise, how do you come to the table?

So I am also a model in Milwaukee runway and print model. We both are international models. And so with that being my model sister and my friend, she asked me to come on last year. I helped out and I was also a model this year. I'm more on the producing side and I will just open the show as a model. And then after that, I'm behind the scenes. But I want to let's take it back. We're going to go back a little bit further because she's she missed a whole bunch of years. So.

decided that I wanted to do this. So when I decided I wanted to do this, she was actually one of the first people I told about it because I was going to do this in 2020, but then COVID hit. But Denise was on board with me then. We had already started the planning process. So this goes back to 2020. This is not just something that we decided to do last year. So she's been right with me.

from that time. So that's where it really started. And so you got one of these under your belt already. You did it last year. I did. How did things go? It went amazing. We sold out. It was like, I still have a process. It's been a whole year and I'm still like, how did we do that? Like we didn't have, like everything was so smooth, almost too smooth. Oh, nothing in my life goes smooth. So with that smooth, I'm like.

It was weird like it was so you know We had little little like small tiny things but nothing like everything was so small like it just laid out so easy and so effortless work and so they didn't do on the show and putting this together because This is a fashion show. It is so who are the designers? We're the clothes coming from you know if people because and I love

fashion. One of the things that's on my short term bucket list, I want to go to black fashion week in Paris. Oh, yeah. Yeah. When I was in Cape Town, I bought a, it is I think one of my most prized possessions. I bought this black dress by a black designer in Cape Town. When I say that's one of the baddest dresses I own, the fabric is unlike nothing, the level of detail. It's just honey.

When you put it on, you know. And everybody who sees you know. Absolutely. Are we doing that? Yes, ma'am, we are. This is what we're doing.

How do you decide who's going to be in the show? Where do these people come from? So, because I've been doing fashion for a while. And I just want to say this piece right here, I'm feeling that. I'm feeling that with the little, because I was like, oh, okay. All right. I thought it was a jeans jacket. I'm looking at it. I was like, no, it's okay. Okay. All right. So go ahead. So a lot of the designers I know, and then also

like doing shows, you know, I'll just kind of pay attention to, you know, their brand. And then I feel like I'm gonna reach out to them. So this year, a lot of designers, I do know I have model for them. So, you know, we always gonna have Gigi. We always gonna have Gigi. I have bought stuff from Gigi. You just, you just know she always- Cause she's not up on Northat. Where was she? No, she's not. She's not up on Northat. She's been there a long time ago. Then we also have, yesterday I announced we have Cree Simone.

So she does special occasion wear. Beautiful dresses, beautiful gowns. And then we have J. Riley. J. Riley. Jamila Riley, she does the crochet earrings. Oh, yeah. So at the end of my show last year, she was like, I want to do this. And I'm like, OK.

So she's in as our so this year. It's about culture. So she's cuz she's our African thread. So her gonna be like African okay inspired and so Jay Riley then we have Pamela Graham, which does 90 so she's kind of like Native American inspired

But hers is she called hers the ancestral thread. So it's all about still about the threads. And then we also have so many because the show is crazy. So we actually have two shows in one. So what do you mean two shows? So VIP has they have their own separate pre show.

a pre show with a whole another set of designers really in the actual show. See, people get on my nerves. People get on my nerves because you know everybody think they VIP. So, I'm Clark, is your hand up Clark? I'm sorry, Clark. Clark is like, whatever is VIP, that's what we do in African World Festival. And people, I remember, I won't even talk about it, but I remember

this organization saying no one is going to do that. Honey, you don't understand. You don't understand how we get down. You don't understand the mentality. If it's special, I need to be treated special. Absolutely. So now where is it held? Is it at the same place this year? It's going to be at the Deco. We love the Clyburn work. Okay. But it just was not big enough. Like I knew once we got in that building and all those models came in there, I was like.

And so the Deco, where's the Deco? I haven't been there. So the Deco is on 71st and Greenfield. Okay. It's three levels. It used to be a department store. Oh, really? Back in the day, I think it maybe was JCPenney. So it's three different levels. So along with this pre-show, they're also going to be human mannequins. They're going to be in the windows. Okay. With cancer facts. With cancer facts. Yep. They're going to be holding a cancer fact and then they're also going to be wearing local brands. You know, as they're, you know,

Holding these cancer facts then it goes into the VIP preshow and then it goes into the actual show Okay, it's a lot going on it's a lot going on So ticket prices to attend this so where does the money go?

Okay, so the money is going to go back into the foundation because I have other things that I'm doing, other educational things that I'm working on, like I'll be going into the hospitals with like our kids. So Sherry Sherrell or Sherry Williams, she is simplistic BSC. Okay. Has given me product. So she made a special shampoo for people with cancer. It's called a brave roots. And Sherry Sherrell is the first African American to

get her product into the hospitals nationwide. So, Sherry Williams, but it's simplistic BSC. It's our name. She's here. She's from Milwaukee. And it's what's the call? Simplistic BSC. But what's the shampoo called? It's called Brave Roots. Brave Roots. Okay. So, she's in Fresh Time. She's in the hospital. So, she's all over. So, we are working. So, you never thought about needing a shampoo.

for someone with cancer. To help, you know, to help, you know, grow your hair back, get it back healthy and strong. Simulating the herbal hair growth shampoo. Okay. Yep. I see you, Jay. Um, okay. That's an interesting concept. So the money is going to go into back into the foundation to education. Yes. All right. So let me do this. Let me take a quick break. When we come back, we'll talk about ticket prices. Okay. Where folks can find those. Hmm.

You got me with that one. I'll be right back y'all. Michelle Bonne, WNLV 868. I'm on a 6.5 FM. Be right back. All right, family. Welcome back to the show. So I am fortunate this morning. I'm having a conversation with Nicole. Nicole, how do you say your last name again? Mewkes. Mewkes. The spelling throws me every time. I know. I'm sure it's changed. Denise, did you ever say your last name?

Smith. Okay. But we are talking about an effort that has gone into, first of all, uplift in the spirit, legacy and work of Nicole's mom here in the community, but then turning that passion into a purpose in terms of a fashion show, one of the projects to be able to support the work of the foundation.

So I was asking about some of the logistics for the fashion show. So where so we got the venue remind people again the deco and the date November 8 Sunday November 8th 3 p.m. VIP 4 p.m. General admission and then where do people get ticket information they can get it from ticket league

They also ticket leave. I've never heard of that ticket leave. They don't charge all the high the high fees Okay, and then also to you can follow us on social media. It's gonna be common threads number four cancer That's gonna be on Facebook Instagram and tiktok and then the the link

to the tickets is in the bio. And you said that there were a couple things that you wanted to make sure that you had a chance to mention when we were going to the break. You remember what those things are? Okay, because I don't know if it was somebody sent you a message or you looked at your phone, it's like, oh, I need to remember to say this.

You got it? Oh, yeah. So just saying who else was going to be there. Oh, OK, go ahead. James is going to be there giving away six pair of cranberry. He also is our cancer survivor because you were six. He's given a giving away six pair of cranberry adidas. So what does that mean? So he developed those. Look at your face. Look at your face. Yeah, I'm like, we need to explain it because everybody's not going to catch that. So he developed.

That specific adidas because he has a cancer journey So you got to come to the show to hear about his cancer journey because I'm not gonna tell it That's his his place to tell so he has donated six pair of cranberry adidas to us to off to donate Okay, and then I heard one of our good County supervisors. Yes, so Lee Van Roundtree. It was a designer Yeah, he was a designer last year. He's gonna be a designer this year and he don't know he's gonna be a forever designer

You can't. Yeah, I was messing with his mom. You know, it must be just wonderful having your child. You'd be like, look here, I want this outfit made. And, you know, I see her in a couple of weeks and she rocking the outfit. It just it must be so wonderful having a designer in the family. Well, this sounds like an amazing event. Hopefully people will come out and support it, understanding the broader work that you all are trying to do. Any final

You know things push that we need to say to the community Denise you want to jump in here and say anything? No purchase your tickets It's more than about purchasing the tickets and it's more than about a fashion show This is truly about a cause that we know is affecting us and it's a it's affecting us very happy And we need to talk about it We need to be in this room together to figure how we can fight against this like this is real

You know, the other thing I'll just say on a side note, I appreciate the diversity of the look, you know, because when people talk about who who should be a fashion model, what fashion models look like, whether we're talking about physical stature, whether we're talking about skin color, complexion, hair, you know, when you see somebody with freckles on somebody, yep, I do all of that. I get that work, you know, full size models.

And then I love that there was a sister. She has a vitiligo. And she is one of the top models right now. And I remember looking at some people who said, I can't believe they let her model. And I'm like, what are you talking about? People are weird. How do you not see the beauty here? But they're like, you know, they just can't believe because she's in the stages of her skin changing. So I love the idea that, you know,

This, this comes in all ranges, shapes, sizes, colors, looks. That's how our models look. And that's what it's supposed to. Please look like real life. Please look like real life. Our models are real life. We got, we got everything. We got, we got, we got standard. We got transgender. We don't care. Come on. Work is work. Well, I appreciate it. So.

I will make sure that I mentioned it again so that folks can come out and support. This is a great opportunity to help. And when you see this kind of initiative being spirited from people in our community, for folks that we have known and loved, cared about, and then that these artists that are being profiled from our community, you know, this is one of those definite things where it's like, come on, y'all.

We show up for each other. So thank you for the work. Thank you for the foundation. Thank you for the support for this sister while she was trying to pull this together. So I got to take a break family, Michelle, Brian, WNOV, a 68 year one on 6.5 FM. I'll be right back.

Alright folks only got a few minutes left in the show. So let me first of all do this remind people today is the first day of early voting. Today is the first day of early voting here in the state. You can go and cast your ballot for governor. On the three referendum questions for lieutenant governor and everything that's down ballot. There are a number of locations. Most people usually end up over at Midtown.

41, 17 or 56th Street. They are open today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. While I certainly appreciate that Midtown added a few later hours, there are at least one day a week that they're open until 7 p.m. Excuse me. And it's usually on a Thursday. So this Thursday they're open to 7 p.m. on

Monday, they're open until 7 p.m. next week. No, I'm sorry. Yeah, next Monday on the 26th, they're open to 7 p.m. and on Thursday, they're open to 7 p.m. I would love to see the data because I guess I'm just interested. And I'm still in my mindset and work mode that I'm at work between 9 and 5. So people that get off work at 5 o'clock.

but they want to early vote. They either have to wait to Saturday or Sunday, unless they can catch that one night a week. But anyway, a number of places you can go, Good Hope Library, Marquette Alumni Union, Mitchell Street Library, Tippecanoe, UWM, Zalizo Center, Washington Park Senior Center, downtown at the city municipal building.

Zeidler, Serb Hall, and of course Clinton Rose Senior Center. So early vote, early vote, early vote. If you have your ballots at home, mail in ballots, today is one of those magic days that you really wanted to try to get it back in the mail if you're not dropping it off at one of the early voting sites because they need about

You know, 10 days comfortably to process these mail in ballots, get them in, get them recorded that your ballot has been mailed in. You can go on my vote.WR.gov and see where your ballot was received. Give people the time that they need to make sure that they get all of these ballots documented in terms of having been received at the elections office. So.

That is what's going on. Debo has set it up so that for folks that are looking online, we have samples of the ballot. You will notice all of the different areas that you have to run for. I'm sorry to make a selection for this is a partisan ballot. So you are voting Democrat or Republican, independent, Green Party, Libertarian, whatever the parties are that are on here. You will see that a lot of people are uncontested.

But at the very end of everything, you will run into those three ballot referendum questions. Question one about changing the governor's veto power. Michelle Bryant speaking that on behalf of the station or any organization vote. No question to the ability to have the state not shut down a church.

During a emergency Michelle Brian speaking now on behalf of any organization vote no. And then that last question it is basically a question to they make it sound pretty we want to ban discrimination. But what they would do is basically stop at the state level education public administration.

all of the efforts being made to address systemic racism and under representation from marginalized groups. Vote no. Michelle Bryant speaking, not representing any organization or this radio station, just Michelle Bryant. It should be no on all three questions. If you forget when you go and I don't care how good it looked and when you rationalize it and reading it in your mind, I want you to go in and go.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

Oh, Jermaine got the finger wave going. All right. So let me try and do two things very quickly if I can because I am early today. Number one, Jermaine and Clark in here, busting the gut, laughing at the black Republican lady who got kicked out of Ken Paxton's rally. The black Republican lady who drove two hours who was proud of the fact that she flipped.

parties from the Democrats back in 2024 and began working for Donald Trump. So she worked against Kamala Harris in the, um, in the Donald Trump campaign against Kamala Harris. And so she's a proud Republican. She got her, you know, followers on TikTok. She's like, you know, we the Queens, that's gonna flip it red. The baddest Queens, you know, just, oh, she and her black woman, Glory. Um, and she drives.

And she is recording herself because she's a social media influencer So she drives to go see two hours ago see Kim Pax's rally and she says as she is pulling up to the rally y'all know I had to come right? Something to this effect not a few minutes later

She is back live saying, I cannot believe this. Yeah, she talked about that shortly after this video of her saying, y'all know I had to come, she was back on saying I was asked to leave.

I'm a Republican. This is what she posted. I'm a Republican that has done nothing but support my party. It's not your party, boo. I can't believe I was treated like this. Why? They even told me, they even, they were even told not to allow me back inside. The video showed her being

looking shocked as she was escorted out of the building, questioning someone off camera. And there's no one I can talk to about this. And the person said, I'm sorry, no, ma'am. Once outside, her name is Louise. Once outside, she explained what she said had happened. Someone just came up to me and said, the campaign manager wanted me to leave.

But she kept insisting I did nothing wrong I drove two hours to get here and this is how I got treated But see the thing that she won't do so I'm gonna do it for her It's because your behind was black That's the thing she won't do

Why are you trying to figure out what was it that Ken Paxton and the Texas Republicans didn't see in me to allow me to stay in the room because I've been to the convention. I've had press credentials to go in here. I've done this. I've done it. You was black boo. And unless they know you wanted a paid blacks that I support Republicans, they paid blacks. I support Trump. You know, then they have no use for you.

Tell the truth and shame the devil you know why your behind got put out You wouldn't never want to know Democratic Party event Somebody said must have saw they said she looked like she was almost in tears. She should have been in tears Because you should be crying to realize you've been a fool You wouldn't never got handle like that in a Democratic Party event and had the question did I get put out because of my race? Your behind got put out because you was black

Alright, so I didn't get to get to NPS, but I'll get to the pedophile at NPS tomorrow Yeah, more children they say may come out against this brother Yeah, mm-hmm and all the NPS alumni are up in arms like it's too much No, it's just your turn I'll talk about it tomorrow

Thanks, Jamay. We never heard from you. But since you said you was doubling up on Wednesday. Oh, I'm a triple. Yeah. I'm running the basis on you. Oh, I hope you all talk about it because I didn't get to talk about it. The gold, the Miller. I mean, the baseball, Milwaukee Brewers ticket. Oh, yeah. And how they doing these people. So we're going to let greed mess over our our supporters because this is nothing but greed. So hopefully you all talk about that. All right, family. Talk to you all tomorrow. Hey.