Six Latina poets from the Milwaukee area have collaborated in a poetry collection called “Between the Heart and the Land: Latina Poets in the Midwest” (Abrazo Press). The book is edited by Latin Studies teachers and poets Brenda Cardenas and Johanny Paz. Last month a poetry reading at Woodland Pattern celebrated the book’s release. The book will be available at Woodland Pattern.


A new Riverwest Drum and Civic Leadership Corps meet Wednesdays from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the COA-Riverside CLC, located at Riverside University High School. The group is open to any interested teens, and adults are invited to volunteer as well. Participants will not just play drums, but go out into the community with performances about social justice issues. For more information, call Quinn Wilder at 227-3172 or e-mail qwild@uwm.edu.


Despite strong efforts from neighbor-hood residents and others across the city, the office of Historic Preservation Officer was eliminated in the Milwaukee 2003 budget. The motion by Ald. D’Amato to preserve the position was defeated 9-6.


Riverwest Artist Association members are decorating windows on Center Street in its “Santa-windo-rama” exhibit. See page 8 for more information. A Bremen Street block club is making some headway on efforts to reduce crime in the area and is asking neighbors and businesses to donate white lights for a Christmas project. See an article from one of the organizers on page 6.


Riverwest resident and photographer John Ruebartsch was awarded a Wisconsin Humanities Council grant to do a photo documentary of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico. John recently returned from a visit to the home of the Tarahumara in the Sierra Madre mountainous region of Chihuahua Mexico. He is collaborating on the production of a book outlining the struggles of these Indians with their turbulent relationship to the modern world. His photographs from this project will be shown at Walkers Point Center for the Arts in September 2003. In case you missed it, Shepherd Express readers voted these Riverwest establishments as the Best of Milwaukee 2002, of course! BEST Neighborhood Festival: Locust St. Festival (2 years in a row!) BEST Vietnamese Restaurant: West Bank Cafe BEST Vintage Clothing Store: Yellow Jacket Closet Classics, runner up BEST Microbrewery: Lakefront Brewery


A planning session for the future landscaping of Reservoir Park (the portion of Kilbourn Park north of North Avenue) has been postponed indefinitely by Water Works head Carrie Lewis. The meeting, which had been scheduled with neighbors for Nov. 20, was postponed because architects did not have a model ready, and because the Water Works now says it needs to function without the use of the reservoir for a full year before it can get rid of the reservoir for good. That would put off any new work on the park until fall of 2003.


The Riverwest Co-op on Clarke and Fratney will have a ATM cash machine sometime in December. The Brewery Credit Union is working closely with the Co-op to provide this service. BCU members can make no fee cash withdrawals. The Co-op has also received permission to accept food stamp cards. The machine needed for food stamps should also come this month. Keep an eye out for the new Beerline trail brochure by River Revitalization Foundation. The brochure will be coming out this winter. It maps out the boundaries of the new trail that will be coming to our neighborhood.


Riverwest Artist Association has another show coming up, the P.O. Box Show, a tongue-in-cheek celebration of its new address. For more information, see Where Art Lives, page 8. Riverwest Currents – Volume 1 – Issue 11 – December 2002