WEEKEND UPDATE

Dear Reader,

Happy Fiscal New Year from milwaukeeworld, and may you enjoy your holiday. There are just a few notices to post here for your attention before we head out to the wonderful weather and innumerable diversions of the metropolis. Just read on, and sign off!

--Michael Horne

The Britinn opened Friday, June 30^th 2006 just in time to be ready for the England v. Portugal match Saturday, when the place will open at 9 a.m. for its first full day of business. The English-themed bar is located at 4473 N. Oakland Ave. in the site long occupied by the Shorewood Inn. The club, which is authentically English ex-pat owned, features beers and ales common to the Isles, including Guinness, Smithwick’s, Newcastle, and Stella Artois, a Belgian brand that is the best-selling premium lager in the United Kingdom, where, indeed, some of it is now brewed. Right now, the place serves drinks only, which is about the only foodstuff soccer fans consume during the World Cup, anyway. Food will follow in a fortnight or so. … Aladdin Middle Eastern Cuisine has closed its shop at 220 W. Wisconsin Ave., concentrating its operations at the Milwaukee Public Market. … Lew A. Wasserman writes that he is a reader of www.milwaukeeworld.com, and that he filed his declaration of candidacy for Milwaukee County District Attorney on Thursday, June 28^th. He will run as an independent for the partisan office, “because I believe that the District Attorney is a quasi-judicial office, and should be removed, or beyond, or above partisan politics,” he says. … Beth Martin of WE Energies explained the “back-up” system that failed to come on during the Summerfest power failure opening day, alluded to in public comments by fest Executive Director Don Smiley. The Henry W. Maier Festival Park is served by two feeders, she said, ordinarily providing the needed redundancy for the world’s greatest music festival. The line that fell yesterday disabled both feeders, she said, adding that the cause of the accident has not been determined, other than that it was not intentional. “Remember, our equipment is out in the open, exposed to the elements,” she said. Indeed, 29 per cent of electric power outages here are due to equipment failures from ordinary wear and tear in our severe climate. Storm damage is a close second, followed by trees and critters. Human error ranks very low. ... Joe Klein, who has been training in Mississippi for the past two months, while still keeping an eye on milwaukeeworld, will be feted by his wife Mary Jo Klein and many friends Saturday, July 1st, 2006 from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Uptowner, 1032 E. Center St. The next day, he and his fellow troops will be at the Milwaukee County Zoo to participate in Operation Freedom 2006. Then, they'll be shipped off somewhere overseas for a year's deployment.

(For those who believe irony is a dish best served delicious, County Executive Scott Walker is a prime force between Operation Freedom 2006. Joe Klein, in uniform, will have the honor of standing at attention while being speeched at by the guy he ran against for County Executive in a three-way primary for that non-partisan office. Klein came in third then, but he'll be coming back as a veteran when his tour is over. Take that, Chicken Hawks -- there's something about a man in uniform!)

--Michael Horne