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Racine declares apartment complexes and bar to be nuisance properties

From The Journal Times.com:

Holly Gilvary

RACINE — The City of Racine has formally declared four properties as nuisances, citing repeated building code violations and a "significant volume" of police calls.

In the past 60 days, the city has recorded 33 police calls and 11 building code violations at the Mitchell Wagon Factory Lofts, 815 Eighth St. 

Journal Times file photo

The Mitchell Wagon Factory Lofts at 815 Eighth St., the Arcade Apartments at 413 Main St., and bar and restaurant Mahoffers on Main at 236 Main St. were declared nuisances this week. Last month, the city declared McMynn Tower Apartments, 110 Seventh St., a nuisance property.

In the past 60 days, the city has recorded seven police calls and 45 building code violations at the Arcade Apartments, 413 Main St.

Journal Times

In the past 60 days, the city has recorded 33 police calls and 11 building code violations at the Mitchell Wagon Factory Lofts, and seven police calls and 45 building code violations at the Arcade Apartments.

Journal Times

McMynn Tower has received more than 800 police calls since 2022.

According to the city, the ongoing building code violations and public safety issues at the properties "have reached a point where formal action is necessary to protect residents and the surrounding neighborhoods." 

City departments have attempted multiple interventions to resolve the issues at the Mitchell Wagon Factory Lofts and the Arcade Apartments, but the conditions have persisted, according to a news release.

With the nuisance declarations now in place, all properties must provide formal abatement plans to the city that outline specific corrective actions and timelines to address outstanding safety violations, reduce police-related incidents and ensure the properties are managed responsibly going forward.

The Mitchell Wagon Factory Lofts and the Arcade Apartments are both owned and managed by The Michaels Organization, a national housing operator based in Camden, New Jersey. The company is not affiliated with the Wisconsin-based Michels Corporation.

If the property managers do not meet the requirements laid out in the abatement plans, the city may pursue further enforcement actions, including municipal citations, cost recovery or additional legal remedies permitted under city ordinances.

"We expect The Michaels Organization to correct these issues quickly and demonstrate a renewed commitment to the people who live in their buildings," Mayor Cory Mason said in the release.

Unacceptable behavior

The police have received more than 50 calls for service at Mahoffers on Main since the establishment opened in July, with the calls including physical fights, disorderly conduct and loud music complaints, according to the city. Several of the incidents were categorized as "serious" and required "significant police response."

Mahoffers on Main, 236 Main St., has had more than 50 police calls for service since opening in July, according to the City of Racine.

Journal Times file photo

Racine Police Chief Alex Ramirez said the police department expects business owners to "operate responsibly and to be good neighbors in our community."

"This owner has not demonstrated that level of responsibility," Ramirez said in a statement. "The volume and nature of these calls — some of them serious — are deeply concerning from a public safety perspective. This behavior is not acceptable, and it places an unnecessary strain on police resources."

From: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/government-politics/article_2f5591a4-b8ff-4250-8bd3-6484bf518b04.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

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Milwaukee council committee backs regulating chemical cousins to marijuana, including delta-8

From JSOnline:

Alison DirrSophia Tiedge

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

It was August 2024 when two kids arrived at Children's Wisconsin, having snacked on newly purchased gummies before the woman caring for them realized what they had eaten was not an innocuous sugary candy.

As the children wandered through a convenience store while the woman shopped, they were munching on what was later described as "THC gummies."

She told police the candy looked just like what they normally got in grocery stores, down to the Trolli branding. When she realized what they were eating, she took them directly to the hospital.

The store clerk told police he gave the candy to the woman after she purchased it, though surveillance video showed the clerk getting the gummies from under the counter and handing them directly to the two children, according to a Milwaukee police report.

Alderperson JoCasta Zamarripa was alarmed that police could not issue a citation because there is no age restriction in Wisconsin for hemp products, including on the sale of those that can get users high.

"The truth is that he was within his rights to hand those gummies to a child," Zamarripa said of the clerk on May 20, when the store owners came before the Common Council's Licenses Committee, which she chairs.

Manwinder Singh Bhagat, one of the owners of Rama Foods, 6730 W. Villard Ave., told the committee he believed there was a miscommunication. The employee had been fired, he said, and the store sells such products only to people over 21, as listed on some of the packages.

Now, council members led by Zamarripa and Alderman Peter Burgelis want to see that minimum age become more than optional in Milwaukee.

"There was no violation of city ordinance or state law; it is wholly unregulated," Burgelis said during a July 3 meeting of the council's Public Safety and Health Committee. "This ordinance will fix that and give an age restriction to these products."

Milwaukee council members seeking minimum age for delta-8, other hemp derivatives

Council members have put forward legislation to prohibit selling or providing hemp-derived THC products to anyone under 21 years old.

Those include products with names such as delta-8 and delta-10 — chemical cousins to marijuana. An investigation last year by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Examination and AL.com found the products are causing a sharp rise in reports of children and adults getting sick. Those findings are alarming doctors and public health researchers.

Such products can be traced to Congress' legalization of the sale of hemp and products extracted from it in the 2018 Farm Bill. Hemp is a type of cannabis plant with low levels of the psychoactive compound that gets people high, known as delta-9 THC.

The city legislation would carry fines of between $400 and $1,000.

It does not apply to "any non-intoxicating cannabinoids," including CBD.

The committee backed the ordinance, which is expected to go to the full Common Council for a vote at its July 15 meeting.

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.

From: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/07/milwaukee-council-committee-backs-regulating-delta-8/84430410007/