Reports of a naked man in a vehicle parked at the Holiday Inn Harborside shortly before 6 p.m. May 8 brought Port Washington police to the scene.

    An off-duty police officer from another community called in the report, telling a Port officer that his family saw a fat, nude man sitting in the back of a red Jeep that was also occupied by another man, police said.

    When a Port officer arrived at the scene, the off-duty officer told him that the vehicle was leaving the lower parking lot. The Port officer shouted to the driver to stop, but he continued driving, according to police. The window was open, police said.

    As the car passed, the officer looked inside the Jeep and saw a naked man laying in the back seat, police said.

    The officer began following the vehicle in his squad car with its lights and sirens on, but because of the high rate of speed the Jeep was traveling on Franklin Street, the officer discontinued the chase.

    The vehicle turned left from Franklin Street onto Washington Street. Eventually, it drove onto yards in the 200 block of West Main Street, tearing up the lawns, police said.

    The vehicle was stopped in the 900 block of South Spring Street by an Ozaukee County sheriff’s deputy. The naked man was no longer in the vehicle, police said.
    When asked about the naked man, the 38-year-old driver, who is from Milwaukee, initially said he never had a passenger but later told officers he had been driving a fully-clothed woman, according to police.

    The man was cited for reckless driving and damage to property, and police forwarded a request for criminal charges of fleeing an officer to the Ozaukee County District Attorney’s office.

Aldermen agree to go paperless and conduct city business on laptops, iPads

    Port Washington aldermen will be getting laptops and iPads to conduct city business on as the Common Council initiates a plan to go paperless, aldermen agreed last week.

    But not every aldermen will be getting the same computer or tablet. After discussion Tuesday, the council agreed that each alderman could select the device he is most comfortable using.

    City Administrator Mark Grams researched five brands of computers — three laptops and two tablets — priced at $340 to $500.

    Aldermen had mixed reactions to the list, with different recommendations from many of them.

    “If you want to look at ‘Made in America,” there are two ways to go,” Ald. Kevin Rudser said.

    Ald. Bill Driscoll said he wanted a unit that would be easy to take notes with, while Ald. Dave Larson promoted the iPad, saying it allows the user to take notes using a stylus.

    “It’s the easiest to use,” he said. “It’s a lot more intuitive. It just kind of works.”

    Simplicity was sought by Ald. Paul Neumyer, who called himself “technically challenged.”

    “I have enough trouble with Word 7,” he said. “Please don’t embarrass me.”

    Ald. Mike Ehrlich, who said he’s “a paper guy,” concurred, adding he preferred a tablet to a laptop.

    “The simpler you can make it, the better,” he said.

    The goal in getting the computers is for the Common Council to become paperless, Mayor Tom Mlada said, holding up an inch-high sheath of paper.

    “I couldn’t be more excited about getting rid of all this paper,” he said.

    A study by Grams showed that the city will break even on the computer purchase in less than two years — the term of office for an alderman. That’s because the city will not only be using less paper, it will also be significantly reducing the amount of time needed to compile agendas and the supporting paperwork and sending them out to officials.

    The computers will remain city property even as aldermen use them throughout their terms, officials were told.

    “Only city business is to be conducted on it,” Mlada said. “At the end of your term, you’re handing back the unit.”

Airborne family fun will highlight Saturday festival in Port’s Upper Lake Park

    Kites will fly above Upper Lake Park in Port Washington Saturday afternoon during a kite festival organized by enthusiast Tom Hudson.

    “It’s a nice way to spend a spring day,” said Hudson. “There’s something about just going out and flying a kite. It’s just fun.”

    The event will run from noon until about 4 p.m., weather permitting. It’ll be a casual event, Hudson said, with people of all ages invited to fly a kite.

    He’ll be flying a few of his own, and will have a few extras on hand available for participants to purchase at cost.

    He’ll probably also have a few kites for a giveaway, Hudson said.

    Hudson said he started flying kites as a child, initially simple paper ones.

    “They were cheap. They’d usually end up in a tree or torn,” Hudson said, adding that one of his favorite childhood memories is of flying kites with his father.

    Years later, he got a little more serious about the hobby and used his sister’s sewing machine to fashion a large box kite.

    That kite survived for many years, although it was damaged after he and his wife Elizabeth O’Connell moved to Port.

    In 2005, he remade the kite, which stands 5 feet tall, Hudson said.

    That same year, he took part in a kite festival organized by former Mayor Scott Huebner.

    While the festival fell to the wayside after a year or two, Hudson’s interest never waned. He said he’s thought about organizing a kite fest for a number of years but didn’t take formal action until recently, “when it finally clicked.”

    That was after he and his wife went bike riding and saw a couple people flying a “cool looking dragon kite.”

    He posted a notice on Facebook and has been encouraged by the response.

    “You need somebody to get this stuff going,” Hudson said. “If we even get a couple kids out there, it’ll be a success as far as I’m concerned.”

    Hudson said he’ll likely have at least five kites flying at the festival — the 5-foot box kite, a 6-foot Japanese rokkaku with six sides, 6-foot and a 16-foot deltas and a 6-foot conyne — and perhaps others as well.

    He said he’ll also have a few classic diamond kites on hand “for the purists who don’t think a kite should be anything but a diamond.”

    Flying kites is a relaxing hobby that’s ideal for a spring day, Hudson said.

    “You can make the hobby as big or as simple as you want,” he said. “You can learn how to make your own kites. You can put a camera on one and take aerial pictures. I’ve got some nice shots looking down on Upper Lake Park.”

    If the festival takes off, Hudson said, he would like to schedule another one for this summer and perhaps follow up again next spring — maybe at Coal Dock Park.

    “Coal Dock Park isn’t ready for it right now,” he said. “But Upper Lake Park is a really pretty place to fly, especially up at the north end.”

    In case of inclement weather, Hudson said, the festival will be rescheduled.