The Editor's Notebook

Patch Partners for Kids Crossing Safely

Recent meeting sparked ideas for short-term solutions to get guards on the street, as well as great ideas for a long-term plan to get funding for paid crossing guards.

As our work to help get local kids to school safely continues, this morning's meeting was overwhelmingly successful. We had dozens of ideas for both long-term and short-term solutions to the crossing guard shortage but we need some feedback from you — the busy moms and dads driving during peak crossing times, the parents who won't let their kids go through those busy intersections, the voters who would prefer not to have taxes raised so we can fund this initiative. We need your comments and suggestions to help make this possible.  With school kicking off in less than two weeks (Sept. 4), we have very little time to really drive this initiative home. So, our objective for the next couple of weeks is simply to get a few crossing guards that …

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The Editor's Notebook

Call to Action: Will it Take the Death of a Child You Know to Pay Attention?

More than ever, drivers are doing everything but driving and Bayside needs you to help local kids cross Brown Deer Road safely.

We've all done it - you're running late, so you're driving on auto-pilot, texting and realize long after you're through the intersection - there were blinking yellow lights and a child was standing there.  Luckily, that 10-year-old little boy didn't misjudge traffic and try ot make a run for it because you were driving an auto-pilot and never would have seen him. And with school starting in just more than two weeks, the close-calls will only become more frequent.  So, instead of sitting on the sidelines, writing about the close-calls, sadly, waiting to write about a child who has been hit by a car, I'm doing something.  I'm partnering with Fox Point and Bayside parents to help kids cross safely. Regent Road and Pelham Parkway cross Brown …

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National Bike to School Day Wednesday

Bayside will have extra officers out to help make sure the busiest intersections will be safer for the little ones walking and peddling to school.

Wednesday is the inaugural National Bike to School Day and students all over Fox Point and Bayside will join others across the country biking to class. “Wisconsin students will join other students across the county to raise awareness about this healthy mode of transportation,” said Renee Callaway, WisDOT’s Safe Routes to School coordinator, in a press release. “Parents are urged to bike with their children to promote safe bicycling habits.” In Bayside, two intersections have been a strong focus among parents and police. Pelham Parkway and Regent Road cross Brown Deer Road and there have been numerous near-misses according to Bayside Police Lt. Tom Henkel. On wednesday, Henkel said there will be additional police officers at each …

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Bayside Police Issue 25 Citations During Sting Operation

To bring more awareness of pedestrian safety, Bayside police ran a sting operation at Brown Deer and Regent roads. Lt. Tom Henkel would click the pedestrian crossing light and when cars didn't stop, they got pulled over.

The fluorescent lime green pedestrian crossing signs at Brown Deer and Regent roads blink furiously, indicating someone wants to cross. As the pedestrian takes a couple of steps onto the road, cars continue to fly by, not even slowing for the full-grown man trying to cross the road. And what about a small child, half his size and less visible? Bayside Police Department Lt. Tom Henkel ran a sting operation Tuesday to get people to slow down and stop for the pedestrians that have the right to cross the road safely. "People who are not stopping we are cited today. They have ample time to see it," Henkel said.  But after given the ticket, Henkel said many people were trying to talk their way out of the ticket — even with children of their own …

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Crossing Guards Will Assist at Busiest Bayside Intersections

Police Department will provide training, vests and paddles.

Kids will travel through Bayside a little safer this summer. Volunteer crossing guards will help them get through some of the busiest intersections in Bayside. At the Village Board meeting Thursday evening, the board unanimously approved an ordinance that gives volunteer crossing guards the legal right to stop traffic to assist kids, along with bright, high-visibility vests, signs and training. "What this is doing is giving them legal authority," said Village Attorney Christopher Jaekels. While these positions are voluntary, part of the ordinance states that the crossing guards are required to be trained and supervised by local police. Bayside Police Lt. Tom Henkel said that those bases are very well covered. "They're not going to be …

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Kelly Roark Herda

8:11 am on Friday, June 10, 2011

Do we just stop by village hall to sign on as a volunteer?   more ›