Take

General Mitchell International Airport

The Surface Parking and Cellular Phone Waiting Lots will be closed to parkers throughout the summer.

The Cellular Phone Lot, which is within the Surface Lot are both scheduled to reopen September 1, 2006.

Though these lots will not be available, the Hourly short-term section of the parking lot is a good option for shorter visits and will be available inside the adjacent covered parking garage.

This closure also affects Milwaukee County Transit Bus users/Beginning July 10 all buses will share the charter bus parking area on the north-end of the Baggage Claim Road.

All bus users should look for new temporary bus signage in this area for pickups and dropoffs.

Summer Insurance Issues

With summer in full siwng, the Office of the Commisioner of Insurance (OCI) reminds consumers to make sure their insurance coverage meets the needs of their summer vacation plans to avoid headaches and added stress.

Consumers need to be aware of what their insurance covers when it comes to travel, summer recreational and rental vehicles, and certain backyard hazards. Visit the OCI web site at http://oci.wi.gov for more information.

Holiday Traveling

Travelers on Wisconsin highways during the July 4th holiday period will encounter heavy traffic and unexpected slowdowns, especially near work zones.

But despite some possible delays, motorists will arrive safely at their destination and likely avoid other traffic hassles if they obey the speed limits, drive sober and buckle up.

Wisconsin State Patrol Superintendent David Collins said traffic is expected to be heaviest between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday, June 30, and again between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 4. Heavy traffic also is expected on Saturday morning, July 1.

In highway work zones, crews will pull back the orange barrels starting at noon on Friday, June 30, and open up as many lanes as possible, according to WisDot officials. Work won’t begin again unway Wednesday (July 5) morning at 6 a.m.

Jazz in the Park welcomes New York Trumpet Master, Brian Lynch

Jazz In the Park, held every Thursday in Cathedral Square Park from 6:30pm-9pm, welcomes Brian Lynch and his Latin Quintet this Thursday.

Born in Urbana, Illinois, Brian grew up in Milwaukee, where he apprenticed on a high level with local residents such as pianist Buddy Montgomery and organist Melvin Rhyne, while earning a degree from the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music.

Brian moved to New York in the early 1980s, and worked with a variety of artists from the Horace Silver Quintet to the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra.

Simultaneously, he played and recorded on the Latin scene with salsa bandleader Angel Canales and legendary cantante Hector LaVoe. In 1986, Lynch recorded his first album as a leader, Peer Pressure, and many albums followed.

Brian also made a name for himself as a composer, through numerous songs that play with and stretch harmony while never losing melodic essence and rhythmic thrust.

A 1997 recording called "Spheres of Influence," which earned a 4-1/2 star Downbeat review, was Lynch’s first project to reflect the panoramic range of interests that influence his working life as a musician.

Jazz in the Park is thrilled to present this former Milwaukeean to the crowds of Cathedral Square Park this Thursday evening. For more information on Brian Lynch, visit www.brianlynchjazz.com.

Jazz In the Park is presented by East Town Association, the organization that also brings The East Town Market and Bastille Days to the community. East Town Association is a member based organization whose mission is to promote the vital business and residential community located in the eastern portion of Downtown Milwaukee.
For more information contact Kate Mohle-Borders at 414.271.1416 or kmohle@easttown.com. Or visit www.easttown.com.

Win a VW Beetle Convertible for a Year And Support Digestive Disease Research At Medical College of Wisconsin Center

The Medical College of Wisconsin Digestive Disease Center will host its annual LPGA pro-am golf tournament to benefit the center’s digestive disease research, Monday, August 28, at Brynwood Country Club.

The event includes a public raffle for more than $18,000 in prizes, including a one-year/12,000 mile lease on a new Volkswagen Beetle GLS Convertible from Concours Motors, Inc., valued at $10,000.

Other raffle prizes include a $3,000 Miller Park Club Suite package from West Bend Mutual, to include 12 tickets, four parking passes, food and beverages; a $1,499 HP Business Notebook laptop computer from Tushaus; an $800 ladies English lamb leather bomber jacket from Holzman Furs; a $200 Bally Total Fitness three-month membership; and a Wyndham Romance Package valued at $189.

Raffle tickets are $50 each, three for $100, seven for $200 or 12 for $300. Ticket holders do not have to be present or attend the tournament to win. It is not too late to become a sponsor. There are some tees and greens, golf carts, welcome banners and hole-in-one packages still available for sponsorships.

Sponsors receive prominent visibility the day of the event. For sponsorship details, or to purchase raffle tickets, contact Meg M. Bilicki, (414) 456-4701 or mbilicki@mcw.edu.

The tournament features Ladies Professional Golf Association players who team up with 128 community leaders to raise funds for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis research at the center. More than two million Americans are afflicted with these two diseases, which are collectively known as inflammatory bowel disease.

The money raised will and help researchers work toward cures or therapies to help improve their quality of life. Last year’s event raised more than $200,000 that went toward seed grants for local research projects on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

These modest grants can spur a seven-fold return in federal funding for promising projects once they’re underway.

Michael Falbo, chairman of Associated Community Development, LLC, is honorary chairman of the event.

Co-chairs are David Raysich, managing partner of Plunkett Raysich Architects, LLP; and Digestive Disease Center Advisory Board member Carol Wuesthoff.

Class in session at Summerfest!

Local organization "skools" Milwaukee on hip-hop by Kia Marie Cook

T.R.U.E. Skool’s Eliot White and Sarah Dollhausen (photo by Harry Kemp)

rom beats on the streets to words that make you think: hip-hop is a culture.
Tantalizing rhythms that leave you with sensational feelings: hip-hop is a culture.
A fusion of unique, artistic expressions that transfuse rhythmic vibes of finesse through art, dance and music: hip-hop is a culture.
Well, it's time to get "skooled" on this culture. And one local grass-roots organization is ready to take Milwaukee to class, using Summerfest as the schoolhouse.
So gather around, as T.R.U.E Skool breaks down the art of droppin' beats, spittin' rhymes, breakin' and graffiti to area youth.
"We start off by really teaching the foundation and history of hip-hop, so they (can) get an understanding of where this thing called hip-hop comes from," said Sarah Dollhausen, director and co-founder of T.R.U.E. Skool, an organization that uses hip-hop as an empowerment tool for youth.
"Another thing that we try to do is teach kids hip-hop history. Show (them) where hip-hop came from," said Eliot White, who is the other half of T.R.U.E Skool’s leadership and founding team.
Through classes, workshops and various urban projects, T.R.U.E Skool is dedicated to promoting and preserving the essence of hip-hop, making a correlation between the hip-hoppers of yesterday and those of today, as well as addressing the social concerns that Milwaukee's youth face.
"Hip-hop is kind of the tool to bring them in and we use that to really teach them the reality of what's going on in (their) neighborhoods and community. We break down the social issues of why hip-hop is at its state today," Dollhausen said.
For the past two and half years, T.R.U.E. Skool has been on the working on the grass-roots level to provide a positive, educational outlet for Milwaukee's youth to express themselves, while they learn about themselves and their hip-hop culture.
This year, the organization has gotten a breakout opportunity to bring their efforts to the forefront with an invitation to educate and inform Summerfest attendees about the elements of hip-hop.
At Summerfest T.R.U.E. Skool will put on a show that will both entertain and educate Milwaukee's youth and adults with performances and workshops.
Everyday of the festival - June 29 through July 9 - at the Children's Stage, T.R.U.E. Skool will facilitate workshops on a variety of topics from Females In Hip-Hop to The Art of Emceeing.
Festival-goers will also be mesmerized by performances around the grounds with roaming break dancers and local and national graffiti artists creating live murals that will be auctioned during their annual fundraiser in September.
"We're getting B-boys from the block to come and break dance; we're getting graffiti artists from the near south side and near north side of Milwaukee where it's all hood to come and paint," White said.
Though White and Dollhausen, who have been immersed in the hip-hop culture since their youth, are grateful for the opportunity for exposure, they plan to continue T.R.U.E. Skool with its grass-roots foundation.
"We're very appreciative of the opportunity, but we are a grass-roots organization. We are not a corporate entity," White said
"We're not down there trying to get money or charging for anything that we do. We are basically looking at it as an opportunity for the artist and the youth that we work with to get exposure and to practice their art form," Dollhausen said.
They’re practicing an art form that's about more than spittin' rhymes or droppin' beats, but one that is about a people, a culture and life.