Sentry Foods, McDonald’s report getting phony $100 bills

Port Washington merchants are being warned that counterfeit $100 bills are being circulated in the area.

    Two local businesses — Sentry Foods and McDonald’s — reported to police that counterfeit bills were passed to their clerks Thursday and Friday, March 21 and 22.

    The bills were confiscated and turned over to the Secret Service, which investigates cases of counterfeiting.

    According to Port Washington police, the bills were created by bleaching $5 bills and then altering them to appear to be $100 bills.

    The pens used by businesses to check the authenticity of currency won’t pick up the problem because the bills are real — just the wrong denomination, police said.

    Clerks are urged to check the watermark and hologram. According to police, an authentic $100 bill will not only have a security strip on the left side but a hologram of Benjamin Franklin on the right.

    Anyone who discovers a counterfeit bill is asked to contact police at 284-2611.

    In other police news:

    • A 16-year-old student at Port Washington High School was cited for possession of alcohol shortly before noon March 20 after it was discovered she had four 50-milliliter bottles of liquor in her locker.

    According to police, school authorities received a tip that the girl had alcohol and checked her locker. They notified police after finding it.

    A breath test revealed the girl had no alcohol in her system, police said.

    • A 23-year-old man was cited for damage to property March 20 after his car got stuck in a snowdrift in St. Mary’s Cemetery on West Beutel Road.

    According to police, the driver placed a heavy book on the accelerator of his Cadillac Deville and pushed his car out of the snowbank. However, because of the weight on the gas pedal, the vehicle rapidly traveled backward with no driver to control it, striking two gravestones before coming to rest atop a concrete marker.

    The vehicle had to be towed from the scene, police said.

City of Port Washington residents will have few choices on Tuesday’s ballot.

    There’s only one candidate running for each of the city’s four aldermanic seats — although one candidate’s name isn’t on the ballot.

    Kevin Rudser,  44, of 889 Glenlyon La., is a write-in candidate for the city’s 5th District aldermanic seat, which is being vacated by Ald. Joe Dean.

    Rudser is a member of the city’s Board of Public Works and Waterfront Safety Committee, as well as a member of the Port Washington Main Street promotions committee.

    If elected, he would be one of two new aldermen on the Common Council.

    Harbor Commission member Bill Driscoll, 812 Noridge Tr., is seeking election to the District 3 seat being vacated by Ald. Jim Vollmar.

    Incumbent aldermen Mike Ehrlich and Dan Becker, who represent the city’s 1st and 7th districts, respectively, are unopposed on the ballot.

    City officials are elected to two-year terms.

    Three Port Washington-Saukville School Board members will be unopposed on Tuesday’s ballot.

    They are Jim Eden, who represents those portions of the towns of Grafton and Saukville in the school district, and Kelly O’Connell-Perket and Jim Olson, who represent the City of Port Washington.

    School Board terms are for three years.

This Saturday’s Hippity Hoppity Easter event in downtown Port Washington might be the coldest such event in recent years, officials said.

    So cold, in fact, that they plan to provide hot chocolate and coffee in the warming shelter at Veterans Park during the Easter bonnet contest and egg hunt, said Greater Port Washington Kiwanis Club member John Sigwart.
    “The event will go on, snow or shine,” Main Street Executive Director Sara Grover said.

    The club and Port Washington Main Street sponsor the annual vent, which will be held in Veterans Park beginning at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

    The day will kick off with the annual Easter bonnet contest at 9:30 a.m. Prizes will be awarded in categories that range from children to adults and pets.

    The Easter Bunny will be in the park, posing for photographs with children, from 9:30 a.m. until the 10 a.m. egg hunt. Eggs will be left in a cordoned-off area, and youngsters will be admitted in age groupings, with the youngest going first.

    After the egg hunt, children are encouraged to visit downtown merchants that display a dancing egg symbol in their windows. These merchants will have special treats for the youngsters.

    The Easter Bunny will also be available  for photos downtown.

    The event runs through 1 p.m.