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Free tax preparations provided to low-income families

MILWAUKEE — We have less than three months to file our taxes, and we all know those forms can sometimes be confusing, or even overwhelming.

If you find tax preparation confusing and need help filing for your taxes, there is one agency in Milwaukee County that will do it for free.

The Milwaukee Asset Building Coalition kicked off tax season Friday by offering free tax preparations at Goodwill Industries on 91st and Fond du Lac Ave.

MABC is led by the Social Development Commission to help low-income families earning less than 56 thousand dollars a year file their income tax returns.  Volunteers can help prepare your taxes, provide financial advice, check your credit score, and find you the most applicable tax refunds and credits.

Charges filed in junkyard murder in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE — Charges were filed Thursday against Derrick Byrd and Navidia Bolden in connection with the murder of 41-year-old Shawn Jenkins at Midtown Auto & Metal Recycling in October 2011.

Byrd was charged with felony murder and faces up to 55 years in prison if convicted. Milwaukee police say Byrd was re-arrested Thursday night after turning himself in, after initially being released earlier in the day Thursday. Officials say his bail decision will be reviewed.

Bolden is charged with unauthorized use of personal identifying information, party to a crime. If convicted, should could face up to six years in prison.

The body of Jenkins was found dead at Midtown Auto & Metal Recycling near 31st and Burleigh at the end of October 2011. Jenkins was the owner of the business.

The criminal complaint says after Jenkins’ murder, Bolden tried to use credit cards stolen from Jenkins — to get some money from the card. The cards were declined.

St. Paul, Milwaukee face similar downtown dilemmas

A situation in downtown St. Paul sounds oddly familiar to one downtown Milwaukee is facing. St. Paul is in danger of losing its last downtown department store when the Macy’s lease expires at the end of the year, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The city gave the store, then Dayton’s, $6.3 million in 2001 to keep the store there through 2012. Now the city is eager to keep the store open after the lease expires, but some retail experts are pessimistic. “I don’t know if it’s three years or five years, but they’ll be out of here,” the Star Tribune quotes Love Goel, chairman and CEO of Minnetonka-based GVG Capital Group... ... Read More

Turkal: Aurora Sinai won't close

Turkal: Aurora Sinai won't close

Aurora Health Care CEO Dr. Nick Turkal said he is committed to always providing services at Aurora Sinai Medical Center, but changes need to be made in the months ahead to make it work. "The time has come for a thoughtful solution to the community-wide challenge of providing health services to Milwaukee's underserved," Turkal said in a letter to Milwaukee-area business executives. "We have listened to your concerns and understand that cost shifting to businesses is not an option." The downtown hospital has lost $107 million over the last decade and is projected to lose another $30 million this year if nothing changes... ... Read More

Proposed ordinance would boost number of "free" parking days in Milwaukee

Milwaukee alderman are considering a proposal to expand the list of "free" city parking days. The measure is sponsored by Alderman Bob Bauman and would include any day designated as a paid holiday day-off for city employees.

Right now, city code allows free street parking for seven calendar days. Those include Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day and July 4th.

The ordinance would add four more days to that list of "free" parking days. They would include Good Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, the last weekday before Christmas, and the last weekday before New Year's Day.

If approved, the new ordinance would save parking enforcement staff costs. But it would also mean no parking meter of parking citation revenue coming in on those four days.

The proposal goes before the Public Safety Committee at 9 a.m. on Thursday. You can listen in at room 301B at Milwaukee City Hall.

Police say death of woman found near 22nd & Capitol not suspicious

Milwaukee police say there's nothing suspicious about the death of a 64-year-old woman whose body was found behind a building near 22nd and Capitol.

The body was discovered around 7:15 a.m. Monday. The victim has been identified as a woman from Waukesha, but are not yet releasing her name. The Waukesha County Sheriff's Office and the Waukesha Police Department both report no missing person's cases for a 64-year-old woman.

Police patrol cars surrounded the area Monday, and yellow tape roped off the scene as police investigated, and many neighbors in the area say they have questions, but so far, aren't getting many answers.

State considers two sites for Milwaukee train maintenance

The state is considering building a more than $54 million train-maintenance facility either adjacent to the downtown Milwaukee station or in the City Lights redevelopment project in the Menomonee Valley. The facility would maintain trains that Talgo Inc. is building in Milwaukee to run on the existing Hiawatha service between Milwaukee and Chicago. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation on Jan. 31 will hold a public hearing on the two sites for the maintenance facility. At the request of the state Legislature, DOT officials also are studying the cost of maintaining the trains in an existing Amtrak facility in the Chicago area, said DOT project manager Carrie Cooper... ... Read More