Thursday, July 26, 2012
Police say a driver was doing burnouts in the upper parking lot of Bender Park and that a passenger threw a bag of marijuana out the window.
A 25-year-old man who police say was doing burnouts in the upper parking lot of Bender Park was arrested for drunken driving, and his passenger for drug violations, Sunday night. An officer stopped the vehicle about 7:15 p.m. and could smell a strong odor of intoxicants as he talked to the driver, according to a police report. The officer asked if he had been drinking, and the man said yes. He had a preliminary blood-alcohol content of .12, according to the report, and was arrested for operating while intoxicated and operating after suspension. The officer then called for a police K-9, who found a bag containing 21 grams of marijuana in the grass near the vehicle. Inside the car, the dog found a black bag that had a digital scale with …
Friday, July 13, 2012
Three people who left Bender Park reportedly had to be rescued by the South Milwaukee Fire Department late Wednesday.
Three people who left Bender Park on a personal watercraft had to be rescued by the South Milwaukee Fire Department late Wednesday night, according to South Milwaukee Blog. Two of the occupants (a 36-year-old father and 13-year-old child) were in the water and a 9-year-old was still aboard the watercraft when the fire department found them, according to the report. They were reunited with their family and turned over to the Oak Creek Fire Department to be medically evaluated. Read the complete story at South Milwaukee Blog.
Monday, July 2, 2012
It's unknown when beach will reopen; officials say weather key in fixing problem.
In the middle of a stretch of unrelenting heat, the beach at Bender Park has been closed due to high levels of E. coli. The Oak Creek Health Department posted signs about the closure last week, though that hasn't stopped people from continuing to swim and sunbathe on the beach, Health Officer Judi Price said. E. coli is a bacteria that can cause serious infections. Price urged residents to heed warnings and not use the beach until the area can be cleaned up, despite the constant 90-degree temperatures that have left people needing a place to cool off. Price said she wasn't sure when the beach would reopen. The Oak Creek and South Milwaukee health departments are monitoring the water and have tested it each day except for Sunday. Results …
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Just a year after a dredging project shut down the Bender Park boat launch, problems have again cropped up for boaters accessing Lake Michigan.
Oak Creek's Bender Park is only a year removed from a dredging project that cost Milwaukee County roughly $280,000. But what was supposed to be at least a five-year fix didn't come close. Thanks in part to a mild winter, the sediment that was removed has piled back up to the point that more dredging is needed for boaters to launch at Bender Park, County Supervisor Steve Taylor said. The launch hasn't yet shut down, but it's become difficult for boaters to access Lake Michigan, with some areas near the launch only 18 to 24 inches deep, Taylor said. County officials are studying their options and have sent soil samples to the Department of Natural Resources for its review. Taylor doesn't expect any easy solutions. A long-term, permanent fix…
Thursday, June 21, 2012
A 59-year-old Cudahy man was arrested at Southbound bar after police found his car damaged and unoccupied in a ditch at Bender Park.
Oak Creek police arrested a 59-year-old Cudahy man for drunken driving after finding his car abandoned in a ditch at Bender Park. According to an Oak Creek police report: About 1:30 a.m. Thursday, a passer-by discovered an unoccupied vehicle in the ditch between the north and south parking lots of Bender Park, 4500 E. Ryan Road. The vehicle had struck a tree and continued in a northeastern direction before coming to rest in the ditch. The car had dents and damage to the front bumper area. Police found the driver at Southbound bar and arrested him for operating while intoxicated. He was also cited for failure to keep vehicle under control.
42.871342
-87.849593
Bender Park
4300 E Ryan Rd, Oak Creek, WI
/articles/police-make-owi-arrest-after-finding-abandoned-car-at-bender-park
1838544
/locations/7292148
Monday, September 12, 2011
Several law enforcement agencies were involved.
A search for a missing boater on Lake Michigan Sunday night ended when authorities discovered the boater was actually not on the water at all. At 9:50 p.m., a 24-year-old man informed an officer at Bender Park that his friend, a 32-year-old Milwaukee man, entered Lake Michigan at 4 p.m. for what he called a "journey in a homemade boat" and had not been seen or heard from since, according to a police report. The man was said to be in a 6-foot-by-8-foot white fiberglass boat. Oak Creek police notified the U.S. Coast Guard, which said it would send a search boat. The Oak Creek Fire Department was dispatched as well. A message was sent to all agencies along the Lake Michigan shore, according to the report. The OCFD got an additional search …
Friday, July 22, 2011
What's the story behind those stinky carcasses?
For the last several weeks, the shores and beaches of Lake Michigan from Chicago to Door County have been littered with little dead fish called alewife. Though a summer die-off is an annual event, the odor and sight of thousands of decaying fish along the lakeshore is getting some attention. Richard Benson, a staff member at Shoop Park Golf Course, has noticed. "None of the golfers are complaining, but with the east winds a few weeks ago, it was pretty ripe for awhile," he said. Though the reasons for this die-off are not completely understood, some understanding of the alewife and its relationship to Lake Michigan is a good starting point. In the early 1900s, locks and canals were constructed to make possible the shipping of goods between…
Friday, July 8, 2011
Patch takes a look at some of the area's best parks.
Nothing says "it's summer" like going to the park. There's usually a little more time for fun during the warm season, and nothing can fill a day like one of our area parks. We may be a stone's throw from the big city, but that doesn't mean that Milwaukee County is lacking in breathtaking natural locations. Here are our picks for the best area parks: 1. Bender Park One of Milwaukee County's newest parks, Bender Park is located along the shores of Lake Michigan and can be accessed by driving east on Ryan Road. It features a beautiful overlook of the beach and Lake Michigan. Also, spooky rumor has it that Bender Park is a hotspot for paranormal activity, which can make night excursions to the area quite an adventure. 4300 E Ryan Road. 2. …
42.90097
-87.89467
Abendschein Park
1321 E Drexel Ave, Oak Creek, WI
/articles/patch-picks-parks-11
1722919
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42.871342
-87.849593
Bender Park
4300 E Ryan Rd, Oak Creek, WI
/articles/patch-picks-parks-11
1838544
/locations/4798498
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Rumors of Bender Park's haunting draws amateur ghost hunters to the area.
Oak Creek's Bender Park has become a hotspot for paranormal investigators after rumors of its supposed haunting spread on the Internet. Last week, a couple of amateur Milwaukee ghost hunters - accompanied by yours truly - headed out into the park in the dead of night to see what all the hubbub was about. Websites like Haunted Wisconsin and Strange USA both list Bender Park as one of our state's most haunted locales. A Caledonia man even started a Facebook page for Haunted Bender Park. All of these sources include some variation of the same morbid tale. Legend has it that in the 1890s, a local farmer butchered his wife and neighbor before burning his lands. His field is said to lie within the park borders these days. Rumors about Indian …
42.871342
-87.849593
Bender Park
4300 E Ryan Rd, Oak Creek, WI
/articles/ghost-seekers-investigate-bender-park
1838544
/locations/4578231
Friday, May 20, 2011
Milwaukee County still negotiating terms of a lease for pavilion.
The Milwaukee County Parks Department is negotiating a lease with a man who would run a concession stand at the Bender Park pavilion this summer. Paul Frenn has already applied for and received a beer license from the city in preparation for his business, Bert's, to open. The license, which carries a start date of July 1, was approved by the Common Council unanimously on Tuesday. However, the license is subject to the lease between the county parks department and Frenn being completed. The clerk's office had not received a lease agreement as of Friday morning, but it has received a "letter of intent" from Milwaukee County, which basically means the county intends to enter into a lease with Frenn and is hammering out the details. Frenn …
Mark B
12:16 pm on Tuesday, July 3, 2012
As far as the algae and the closed beach, there's not really a lot that can be done. The algae is growing in far bigger numbers and at greater depths due to the fact that the lake is clearer because of the filtering by zebra and quagga muscles thus allowing sunlight to penetrate to deeper depths. We need some steady West winds to help clear the algae off the beach. As far as the boat launch and … more ›