It was a long weekend for residents in the East Coast. Hurricane Irene swept through the outer banks of North Carolina to the eastern tip of Long Island, killing at least 19 people in six states and causing severe damage along the way. Over four and a half million people were without power. Hurricane Irene caused the transit systems to shut down in Philadelphia, Boston and New York. Many states are seeing flooding from Irene’s aftermath. President Obama sent out a message to the public saying the impact of the storm will be felt for some time and the recovery effort will last for weeks or longer.
There's over 3,000 Army and Air National Guard Officers in town for the 133 National Guard Association at the Frontier Airlines Center. The conference included a freedom ride from the Harley Davidson Museum to Holy Hill and back, and a trade show. The conference wraps up today. The estimated economic growth and its impact on the area is placed at more than $6 million.
There are now a lot of bus routes throughout Milwaukee County that changed. Bus routes can change up to four times a year, although not all of them change each time. The new schedule went into effect yesterday. Some routes include Humboldt and Wisconsin, Teutonia and Hampton, National and Greenfield, and North Avenue.
Yesterday was supposed to be the formal unveiling of the Dr. Martin Luther King Statue on the National Mall in Washington D.C. The memorial took on a small amount of water from Hurricane Irene and since many residents were facing a battle from the storm, the ceremony was postponed. Officials haven't announced when the unveiling will happen.
Milwaukee police are launching a new anti-violence initiative to deal with the increased number of shootings that city has seen this summer. Police Chief Ed Flynn met with over 100 officers this weekend before they went out for their overnight shifts. Officers patrolled neighborhoods in district 3, 5 and 7. Since May, there have been 178 shooting incidents in Milwaukee, and 142 of those happened in those three districts I just named.
Construction starts today on State Highway 145 in Menomonee Falls and Germantown. There's three and a half miles that will be blocked off so that the highway can be resurfaced at each intersection. Crews will be working on grading, placing a new storm sewer pipe and installing new traffic signals. A detour will be in place for North 124th street and State Highway 145.
