CommunityWatch

Brookfield Central takes seat at GMC table

By Mike Daly

Dec. 07, 2012 10:52 p.m. |

The Brookfield Central girls basketball team started Friday night’s Greater Metro Conference opener with a three-pointer, and it was a sign of things to come in the Lancers’ 51-42 victory over Menomonee Falls.

Sophomore guard Emma Brauer gave the Lancers an early 3-0 lead over the visiting Indians, and junior guard and captain Lydia Rohde followed with four first-half triples to give the Lancers a 26-19 halftime lead.

“Lydia is a big, strong athletic kid with a great stroke,” Brookfield Central head coach Dan Wandrey said. “She’s such an unselfish player that sometimes it’s hard to get her to be that assertive offensively. But you saw what she can do.”

The Indians remained competitive, pulling within four in the second half, but the Lancers remained in control and held a lead that grew as large as 11 on the night. A competitive contest was expected after the teams finished third and fourth in the conference last season and split their head-to-head matchups.

“We had a slow start, but we fought hard and got back, we got it into within four,” Menomonee Falls head coach Craig Amundson said. “We threw every defense we had them. Rohde was pretty good tonight.”

At several moments in the second half, the Indians appeared ready to make a run, but turnovers or big plays on Central’s side stymied their rallies.

“We fought really hard,” Amundson said. “That’s why we really weren’t terribly disappointed with the effort. It’s not like our kids weren’t trying. We worked really hard right until the end. But the feeling I got was, we just couldn’t get over that hump.”

Wandrey offered a similar analysis.

“I’m kind of a doomsday guy,” he said. “It felt like it was at 42-38 for a really long time, and they just couldn’t get over that hump. I was thinking if they make a couple of plays, we could be in trouble, but our kids were on the floor, we were diving, and we just made the difference in hustle points.”

The Lancers, who improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Greater Metro, visit Slinger for their first road test of the season on Tuesday night, while the Indians (2-2, 0-1) will try to bounce back at Wauwatosa East.

Looking ahead, Amundson said it wouldn’t get any easier for the Indians.

“This is the toughest schedule I’ve had in my 16 years as the varsity coach, and that includes conference and our non-conference schedule,” he said. “Brookfield Central is good. There’s never going to be an easy game all year. If we look too far ahead in the schedule, you might get a stomachache. All we can do is focus on our mistakes and try to correct them in practice and work on improving. And we have been improving.”

Wandrey said the conference opener was a statement game for the Lancers and singled out the play of Rohde, who finished with 21 points, and junior forward Jasmine Lewis, who helped defend the Indians senior standout center Erin Crownover on the interior.

“We have sometimes struggled over the last few years with our consistency and intensity, and I don’t think we had that at all tonight. Jasmine is great. She’s an undersized inside player, maybe a slow-footed outside player, but whatever deficiencies she has, she makes up for it in hustle.”

Wandrey added a quality win early in the season could provide a boost of confidence for a team still trying to find itself.

“Last year there was this separation in our league and we were right in the middle,” he said. “We didn’t compete with the top teams; we just handled the weaker ones. We’ve been talking about our identity, and I think this tells us we can compete with those teams at the top of the conference.”

Fire in Falls destroys barn, semitrailer

By Danielle Switalski

Dec. 05, 2012 10:24 a.m. | A fire that erupted Tuesday afternoon, destroying a barn, is still under investigation after crews worked into the early morning Wednesday to extinguish the blaze.

The fire at W220 N9110 Town Line Road was reported at 3:38 p.m. About 17 communities responded to the fire that destroyed the main barn on the property, as well as a semitrailer parked next to it. A home also received minor damage.

One firefighter was sent to Community Memorial Hospital with minor injuries from back strain, said Menomonee Falls Fire Department Chief Jeffrey Hevey. No other injuries were reported and the injured firefighter was released from the hospital Tuesday night.

At the time the fire broke out, there were more than 25 horses in the barn and all were removed safely.

It took hours to put out the fire as water had to be trucked to the property in a dozen water tenders because there aren't fire hydrants in the area. Water tenders hold between 2,000 and 3,500 gallons of water.

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Falls police warn residents about 'ransomware' online scam

By Danielle Switalski

Dec. 04, 2012 3:51 p.m. | The Menomonee Falls Police Department is warning residents about a new cyber scam that poses as a criminal complaint center, freezes someone's computer and requires payment for it to be unlocked.

The latest version of the ransomware uses the name of "Internet Crime Complaint Center" to frighten victims into sending money to the perpetrators, according to the Police Department. This version of the malware also claims that the user's computer activity is being recorded using audio, video and other devices.

The cyber-scam lures victims to a drive-by download website, at which time the ransomware is installed on the user's computer. Once installed, the computer freezes and a screen is displayed warning the user they have violated United States Federal Law. The message further declares that a law enforcement agency has determined that a computer using the victim's IP address has accessed child pornography and other illegal content, according to the Police Department's news release.

To unlock the computer from being frozen, the user is instructed to pay a fine using prepaid money card services. The geographic location of the user's PC determines what payment services are offered. The malware then continues to operate on the compromised computer and can be used to commit online banking and credit card fraud.

For information about this scam or to report Internet abuse, contact the Menomonee Falls Police Department by calling (262) 532-8700.

Germantown seeks new Park and Recreation director

By Danielle Switalski

Dec. 03, 2012 9:30 p.m. | The Village of Germantown is seeking a new Park and Recreation Department Director after the Village Board on Monday announced the resignation of Director Brett Altergott.

Altergott has accepted new employment in Minnesota.

"It's really sad to see Brett go," said Village Manager David Schornack. "He's done an outstanding job here and we really wish him and his family the very best."

The Board approved advertising for the position on Monday; however, after a brief debate voted not to advertise the job with a salary range.

Trustees Terri Kaminski and Shane Daniels opposed the decision to not include salary in the advertisement. Kaminski said though it is common for private sector jobs to not include salary ranges, every public sector job advertisement does. The starting salary would have been advertised at $59,000 for someone with a bachelor's degree.

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