News Net MPD shares message of “safety and partnership” with UWM by arresting 25 UWM students

Since sifting through dull newspapers, hyperbolic blogs, and overflowing RSS feeds for meaningful news can be an arduous process, News Net catches and compiles both the amusing and the significant reports that were overlooked over the weekend. Here are some things to think about as the workweek begins.

• With a new school year finally upon us, it’s time for Milwaukee to open its arms and welcome back its many returning college students. But for the neighborhood surrounding the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, it’s time to wearily engage in a time-honored East Side tradition: students begin to party, homeowners complain, police arrest students to placate homeowners, students mock homeowners who choose to live near a university, homeowners claim “It’s never been this bad!” Wash, rinse, repeat.

On Saturday, Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn held a roll call in the street at E. Newberry Blvd. and N. Cramer St., vowing to crack down on rowdy student behavior. According to the department’s slick new website, the stunt was intended as a message of “safety and partnership as students return to the UWM area and its surrounding neighborhoods.” Of course, this annual Reassuring Of East Side Homeowners carried out its message by arresting nearly 40 people, 25 of them UWM students. The department reported on the big bust in a bizarrely snide tone, on par with its oft-snotty social media presence:

39 persons arrested with 41 individual charges written. Of the 39 arrested 25 were UWM students. Those arrested were surprised to learn they would not just be issued citations; they were taken downtown and booked. At least six of those arrested are UWM student athletes.

You’re going downtown! Surprise! Here’s the breakdown of charges levied against the menacing rapscallions:

Excessive Noise – 11
Disorderly Conduct – 4
Underage Possession/Drinking – 22
Obstructing – 3
Public Drinking – 1

In other news, two Milwaukee men were shot on the city’s north side over the weekend. Both shootings were non-fatal, though there’s no word on whether the victims were being loud.

• Proving that shitfaced college students aren’t the only ones urinating in public, TMJ4 I-Team reporter Rob Koebel was cited for disorderly conduct a few weeks ago when he was caught pissing outside the Apple store at Bayshore Mall. According to the Whitefish Bay Patch, Koebel made matters worse by employing some “potty mouth” with police, calling the arresting officer a “derogatory term for homosexual,” and asking, “Do you know who you're messing with?”

In case you’re unfamiliar with whom police were messing with, Koebel was the dude who questioned a Milwaukee Public Schools bus driver about an old prostitution charge during an especially riveting I-Team “investigation.” The bus driver sued Koebel (the case is still open), and Koebel has now been let go from TMJ4.

• Let’s admit it: Sunday’s Packers-49ers game bit the big one, with or without the scab refs. About the only amusing Packers news to come across the wire this weekend was this quote from wide receiver Greg Jennings, vis-à-vis his thought process during a Lambeau Leap:

“I try to go away from the men because the men get a little grabby. The women get grabby too, but them men it’s like, come on, really, seriously?”

• This week’s recommended shows: Antibalas at Turner Hall Sept. 12; Cream City Soundcheck Celebration at Turner Hall Sept. 13; The Corin Tucker Band at Cactus Club Sept. 14; Nobunny at Miramar Theatre Sept. 14; Greg Brown at Shank Hall Sept. 14; Juniper Tar + Sat. Nite Duets at Riverwest Public House Sept. 14; Collections Of Colonies Of Bees at Milwaukee Boat Line Sept. 15; Elvis Costello And The Imposters at BMO Harris Pavilion Sept. 15; Odd Future at The Rave Sept. 15; Global Union at Humboldt Park Sept. 15; The Midwest Beat at Circle-A-Cafe Sept. 16; Rise Against + The Gaslight Anthem + Hot Water Music at The Rave Sept. 16; David Byrne + St. Vincent at Riverside Theater Sept. 16.