Residents in the southwestern part of New Berlin will be in for a double whammy this year as two major construction projects on Racine Avenue will be starting soon and finishing up in November.  The New Berlin Police Department urges you to begin planning your alternate routes now.

     First, the intersection of Racine and National Avenues will be totally reconstructed and the intersection will be closed on March 30th.  This is going to be a major mess, as Racine Avenue will be passing UNDER National Avenue when all is said and done, so the landscape will be altered dramatically.  Please stay away from this area and utilize Highway 164 or Moorland Road as an alternate north/south route and Interstate 43 or Lawnsdale Road as an alternate east/west route.

     The other project, which will begin in mid to late April, is the reconstruction of the Interstate 43 and Racine Avenue overpass bridge and on-ramps. The current stop light intersections just north and south of the freeway will be replaced by roundabouts.  Residents who live in the area between the two construction zones will be able to access their homes from the south. 

     Please stay away from these areas if at all possible, and if you must drive in the areas don't forget to slow down in construction zones.  We want EVERYONE to get home safely at the end of the day!

The New Berlin Police Department recently produced a two minute public safety announcement aimed at young drivers warning them of the consequences of drinking and driving, talking on the cell phone while driving, and texting while driving.  The PSA is titled "Just Drive" and was created using footage from a mock drunk driving crash that was staged at New Berlin Eisenhower High School in April, 2008.  Please check it out and have your teenagers watch it too!  Click on this link:

Parents' & Police Join Forces to Prevent Teen Drinking

The Addiction Resource Council and New Berlin Police Department have joined forces to prevent adult hosted drinking parties in New Berlin using the Parents Who Host Lose the Most: Don't Be a Party to Underage Drinking campaign. 

Parents Who Host Lose the Most is a community effort that alerts parents to the legal and health related consequences of purchasing, providing or pouring alcohol for anyone under age 21, other than their own child. As part of the campaign, coalition members will  be providing information abut the dangers of underage drinking, the legal consequences of hosting underage drinking in your home and how parents and other family members can host safe and fun alcohol free events for youth.

"Too many people think underage drinking is harmless or worse - acceptable if parents take cars keys away from youth.  Every year we hear about teens dying from alcohol poisoning or alcohol related poisonings and drowning that occur after adults provide alcohol to youth." said Claudia Roska, Executive Director of the Addiction Resource Council. "Nobody has the right to endanger the welfare of someone else's child by providing them with alcohol", she added.

"The New Berlin Police Department takes underage drinking and the adults who sell or serve alcohol to youth very seriously", said Chief Joe Rieder.  Individuals who purchase, provide or pour alcohol for anyone under age 21, except their own child, is breaking the law and will be charged under state or municipal law, he warned.

In addition to the planned public information effort, local law enforcement led by will be conducting alcohol age compliance checks in the area to confirm that local vendors comply with laws prohibiting the sales of alcohol to anyone under age 21. 

"Underage drinking is illegal, has long term health consequences and is a factor in all five of the leading causes of death among youth." said Roska. "We want this to be a happy prom and commencement season, underage drinking isn't part of that picture." she added.

For information please call: Brianna Duffy, Addiction Resource Council 262-524-7921

The following information was obtained from AT&T:

 Periodically, emails warning of a scam involving calls from the 809 area code circulate.  The emails contend there has been fraud associated with unscrupulours pay-per-call operators in that area code.  However, the message contains some misinformation, especially the highly exaggerated cost of a phone call to the 809 area code, which is a legitimate area code for the Dominican Repuplic.  This long distance phone scam causes consumers to inadvertenly incur high charges on their phone bills.  Consumers usually receive a message telling them to call a phone number with an 809, 284 or 876 area code in order to collect a prize, find out information about a sick relative, etc.  The caller assumes the number is a typical three-digit U.S. area code; however, the caller is actually connected to a phone number outside the U.S., often in Canada or the Caribbean, and charged international call rates.  Unfortunately, consumers don't find out that they have been charged higher international call rates until they receive their bill.

 Tips to remember:  Only return calls to familiar numbers.  You can always can check the area code location with directory assistance.  Carefully reveiw your telephone bill just as you would with your credit card statement(s).  If you believe you have been scammed contact the carrier with whom the charge oridinated, whose name and toll-free number should be printed on the same bill page as the charge in question.  Often, the problem can be resolved with a single phone call.  If the carrier with whom the charge originated does not agree to resovle the problem, contact AT&T.  AT&T will work with you and the carrier to help remove the fraudulent charges from the phone bill.  If you have a carrier other than AT&T the same procedure should be followed with that particular carrier.  You may also file a complaint online with the Federal Communications Commission about this and/or related phone scams.

Police Department Cable Show Information

MISSION: POSSIBLE-Episode Forty-seven

     Episode forty-seven features an interview with Community Service Officer Dan Hanlon.  Dan will tell us about the police department use of crime mapping and statistics as a tool used to predict and prevent future crime in the city.

     After that, we'll stop over at New Berlin West and School Resource Officer Tony Pine will tell us about the 2009 season of Midnight Basketball and interview several participants.

     Next up, a visit to the Texas Roadhouse restaurant in New Berlin is on the agenda as several New Berlin police officers and auxiliary officers teamed up with Special Olympics on a fundraiser called "Tip a Cop."  (If you've never seen police officers attempt to line dance, you should watch this!)

     Then it's off to New Berlin Eisenhower, where the police department assisted with a holiday luncheon for the Special Education students there.

     Officer Scott Hippler is up after that to tell us about a speed reduction initiative that the police department will be participating in this year called "Speedwave."

     To finish up this episode, we'll stop down at the Princeton Club where the police and fire departments recognized five citizens with Lifesaving Awards for their quick action that saved the life of a member recently.

          You can get the monthly show schedule on the city's website at http://www.newberlin.org/.  Click on "Police Department" and then click on "Mission: Possible" or check in the New Berlin/Muskego NOW newspaper (first issue of each month has the current episode's topics and schedule.)   You can also go to the New Berlin NOW website at http://www.newberlinnow.com/ to get a monthly schedule.  Each episode of Mission: Possible is also available at the New Berlin Public Library on DVD for you to check out.

 Episode 47-Show Dates and Times:

And you can catch past episodes of Mission: Possible that you might have missed: