Bryan_Polcyn's Blog

My Sunday night story on Food Stamp Fraud is getting bigtime buzz on local talk radio.  Conservative AM talker Charlie Sykes spent his entire 10 o'clock hour Tuesday morning playing the audio of our investigation (with stops for commentary) and taking calls from listeners. 

Check out the podcast of Sykes' show (it's part 2 from 7/15/08). 

First, Miller.  Now, my beloved Anheuser-Busch.  The once proud, dominant, masculine, midwestern beer belt has been swallowed - chugged like a can of Beast on a college campus.  Guzzled like a warm Natural Light in your parents' garage.

InBev?  Who the (blank) is InBev?  At least I'd heard of Coors.

I grew up at Busch Stadium.  The original Busch stadium.  I took my first A-B Brewery tour at age 7 - not for the beer, but for the Clydesdales and the gift shop loaded with St. Louis Cardinals souvenirs.  (In case you didn't know, A-B once owned the Cardinals.)

I can still recite the contents of the Budweiser label by heart...

"This is the famous Budweiser beer.  We know of no beer produced by any other brewer which costs so much to brew and age.  Our exclusive beechwood aging produces a taste, a smoothness, and a drinkability you will find in no other beer, at any price."

No Google.  No cut and paste.  That's from the heart.  The same heart that some Belgian conglomerate just ripped out.  This isn't just another big corporate merger to me.  It's beer.  And it's personal.

The temptation in Milwaukee may be to celebrate.  Misery loves company, hey?  From where I sit, it's just bad news all around.   

You played.  We cheered.  You retired.  We cried.  You rode off into the sunset a hero.  I understand you have "the itch" to play.  But, please... don't scratch.

This is Aaron's team now. 

Your legend is at stake.

There are hardly two bigger stories in Milwaukee this week than: (1) a federal jury finding ex-alderman Michael McGee guilty of shaking down business owners; and (2) the chaos surrounding federal disaster assistance (food vouchers) for low-income flood victims, none of whom are required to show proof they actually sustained flood damage.

What I find so interesting, though, is the widely disparate reactions to those stories from different groups of people.

Some see the food stamp fiasco as evidence of government waste and an entitlement mentality gone mad.  Others see it as dramatic evidence of skyrocketing food prices and rampant poverty in the inner city.  (And that's just in our newsroom)

While many observers rejoice over Mike McGee's conviction, his most ardent supporters STILL say "it isn't fair."  They see him as a "martyr."  A victim.

What does it say about this community when so many people can look at the same pictures, the same evidence, the same stories - and draw such vastly different conclusions? 

No, not a hybrid car.  Not an iPhone.  Not an Aaron Rodgers bobblehead.

I finally got a foul ball at a major league baseball game.

It came in batting practice, but who cares?  I've sat in prime foul ball territory at dozens of MLB games in my life.  I practially grew up at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.  Never once did a foul ball (or home run ball) come closer than 10 rows away.

Until now.  After watching 20 minutes of BP from the right field bleachers at Miller Park, I gave up and walked back up to the concourse.  Moments later, a ball came screaming past the right field foul pole, bounced about 10 feet from where I was standing and ricocheted down the hallway.  I raced after it, weaved in and out of several fans who either didn't realize a baseball was bouncing past them or didn't care, and pounced on it. 

Along the way, my sunglasses fell off.  A kind gentleman picked them up and offered to trade them for the baseball.  Sorry, my friend.  I've waited my entire life for a foul ball.  I'm keeping this one.  (He gave my glasses back anyway.)

Lake Delton is empty.

The words sound so ridiculous, I can hardly grasp what they mean. 

Have you seen the pictures?  Incredible.  Flooded basements?  I expected that.  Swollen rivers?  No surprise. 

But entire houses floating down a raging river that never existed before?  A county highway completely washed away?  Lake Delton - the centerpiece of Wisconsin tourism - sucked dry like a plug pulled from a bathtub?  Unbelievable.

(I know, I know.  I don't post anything for 16 days, now I'm posting for the second time in an hour.  What can I say?  I have the day off and my 7 month old is napping.)

If you haven't been to Port Washington in a while (or ever), this Sunday is a good time for a visit.  I'm biased, of course, because I live there.  But, I think Port is a hidden gem that - to folks south of, say, Mequon - might as well be in Iron County.  (It's closer than you think).

Port is completing a major streetscape project that will hopefully give a big boost to the picturesque  - but struggling - downtown.  Among the improvements, new wider sidewalks made from brick pavers.  Ultimately, some of the restaurants will add outdoor seating (the owner of Wilson House told me last night he's awaiting word on permission to do just that).  In addition, the old Smith Bros. building was rehabbed more than a year ago (unfortunately, there's still no restaurant or other major tenant beyond a coffee shop).

Port may be on the verge of a major comeback.  If so, it starts this weekend.  The main street through downtown reopens for the first time Sunday, June 1, and the city plans a street festival from noon to 4pm to celebrate.  Come check it out.

My official "chip" time is still listed on the Chicago Marathon website: 4:00:47

47 seconds away from a 4-hour marathon!  For three years, it's been gnawing at me.  Goading me to try again.

Now, it's important to point out, I've never been a long-distance runner.  Athletic, maybe.  For a 35-year-old father of two, I can get around okay.  But I never ran track or cross country.  Never really liked running, unless I was playing a sport (like soccer).

But my brother (Mr. Boston Marathoner himself) convinced me to give it a shot in 2005.  And I took him up on the challenge, figuring it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.  It was supposed to be.  But then I came oh, so close.  47 seconds. 

I've finally decided to give it one more shot.  I just signed up for Milwaukee's Lakefront Marathon (Oct 5th).  Money's been spent.  Guess I'd better get my running shoes on.

My producer had the bright idea a few months ago of requesting the state's list of objectionable license plates -- all the personalized plate applications that have been denied, because they were offensive, obsene, etc.

When we got the Excel spreadsheet full of more than 8,000 letter and number combinations, I was engrossed.  Some of it is funny, some disturbing, some confusing. 

Mostly, though, it is fascinating.  So, I wanted to post the entire list here for you to peruse.  Unfortunately, our news managers - in a bout of journalistic responsibility - decided it would be best not to place such potentially offensive and obscene material on our website. 

Still, it's my contention that our story will pique many viewers' curiosity as to what this magical list really contains.  So, here's another website that has a searchable database of Wisconsin's objectionable plates.

If you're interested in America's obsession with vanity plates, a guy in New York is writing a book called, License To Roam: Vanity Plates and the Stories They Tell.  He's done some really interesting research on this.

It's no surprise that Scottie Baldwin has family and friends who support him.  But, the comments one of them left on my voicemail speak volumes about how some in our community view domestic violence.

In case you haven't seen our stories, Baldwin is a habitual domestic abuser who - until recently - had a lot of success beating the criminal charges against him.  His success was tied to his victims' (yes, that's plural) unwillingness to testify in court.  He's been charged over the years with brutalizing 4 different women; 1 of them at least six times.  And those are just the beatings that were reported to the district attorney.

Tonight, a Baldwin supporter left me a voicemail. 

Among her comments... "A lot of times, women provoke this stuff to happen."  And, "Scott is not a person that just constantly goes around beatin' on women, and beatin' on women unless they constantly attackin' him in some way or the other. "

Women provoke this stuff to happen?  Four different women all "provoked" him?  And - even if they did - that makes it acceptable for him to batter them in return?  I wish I could've called the woman back, but she rambled on for the full 2 minutes and my voice mailbox cut her off before she could leave her number.

Mark Benson -- the 55-year-old former doctor accused of a fatal OWI crash that killed an Oconomowoc school administrator, her daughter, and unborn child -- was in court yesterday. 

In setting $1 million bail, Waukesha County Circuit Court Commissioner Martin Binn said, "This court will not, it cannot allow him to play Russian roulette with the lives of the citizens of Waukesha County when he gets behind the wheel of a motor vehicle."

Tough talk -- but a few days too late.

On April 23rd, Waukesha County Circuit Judge Lee Dreyfus sentenced Benson for OWI 3rd offense.  He had the opportunity to lock him up on the spot, but instead chose to give him time to report. 

In other words, he allowed Benson to play "Russian Roulette." 

Benson is accused of pulling the trigger one more time, driving while under the influence of three prescription drugs.

This time, the chamber was full.

Coincidence?

My story tonight focused on a repeat drunk driver (Matthew Olson) who killed a husband and father -- then blamed the weather, rather than his .135 BAC.  He ultimately pleaded guilty.  And got probation.  That's right, probation for homicide.

My story aired around 9:15.  But, did you notice the top story, just 15 minutes earlier?  Turns out it was a repeat drunk driver -- with a revoked license -- who killed the high school administrator, her daughter and her unborn child in Oconomowoc.

Let me recap:

Scheduled investigation -- repeat drunk driver kills, gets slap on the wrist

Breaking news -- repeat drunk driver gets slap on wrist, then kills.

Amazing coincidence, huh?  Well, that's not all...

My last investigaiton into repeat drunk drivers aired February 5th... the same day Matt Olson was sentenced to probation.  In fact, that's how I found out about Olson's case.  A friend of the victim's family had been in court that morning and watched Olson walk out a free man.  That night, she saw my investigation into repeat drunk drivers... and called to ask if Wisconsin has a problem.

Coincidence?  Or evidence of an epidemic? 

I still remember the first time my wife turned on our "audio" baby monitor in Kansas City, and we heard our next door neighbor gossiping on a cordless phone.  It gave me a knot in my stomach, but I was too embarrassed to tell her.  We just switched channels from A to B.

But, there's something even more disturbing about SEEING inside someone's home.  So, I was absolutely floored when my producer told me that the wireless device we were testing for an investigation was picking up a nanny cam -- with a baby in his playpen.

Check out our page and watch the story.  What this little $100 device can do is astounding... and more than a little unnerving.

Do YOU have a wireless video camera?  Are you sure it's secure?

If you get a chance, stop by the newly-redesigned Investigators page on myfoxmilwaukee.com.  It's been streamlined and reorganized.  We've added links to some of our favorite websites, as well as a nice section for links to story-related items, like .pdf's and spreadsheets. 

Please let me know what you think, especially if you have suggestions or ideas.  What would you like to see on the Investigators page?

The Crew is off to a great start... again.

But this time it's for real, right?  This time, Ben Sheets is healthy, right?  This time, Ricky and Prince and Bill and Tony have matured, right?  This time, Derrick Turnbow won't meltdown?  Ryan Braun won't be a defensive liability?  Ned Yost won't tinker with the lineup too much?  Road trips won't destroy our record?  The Cubs won't rally in the bottom of the 9th against the Crew en route to a 100th anniversary resurrection?

Right?