Cracking down on troubled taverns is the theme next week at the City of Milwaukee Licenses Committee. Two taverns on the South Side, including Bay View's venerable Chaser's Pub on Kinnickinnic Avenue, will find their licenses on the block due to various nefarious activities such as drug dealing, illegal alcohol and prostitution. The other South Side joint is the Camelot Lounge, on South 13th Street.

Ald. Tony Zielinski has targeted the two South Side taverns in his district, filing the revocation complaints himself.

Chaser's, 2155 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., first came under fire after police bought crack and cocaine six times at the bar, including once from an off-duty bartender. The bartender told the cop at the time "she only sold crack cocaine while at Chaser's Pub. The bartender then stated that customers would ask for cocaine and she would go into the bathroom and get it for them," according to the police report. When one customer was busted after selling crack to cops, police found 11 rocks; when another was busted, police found 13 rocks.

In a follow-up check earlier this month, state revenue agents looked behind the bar and found 55 bottles of illegally purchased alcohol and 26 bottles contaminated with insects. Taverns have to purchase alcohol from licensed beverage distributors so that state taxes are adequately covered.

At the Camelot, a strip club at 2714 S. 13th St., prostitution and the fact that dancers can't get along seems to be the problem. Police began looking into prostitution at the club after they were called following an argument between two dancers that resulted in a stabbing. That same day, police were called after two other dancers got into a fight because one accused the other of
"running off" a trick. Police made at least two arrests for prostitution there this year. Police also report that dancers are going totally nude and not hiding their nipples and other parts, which is against city ordinances.

Revenue agents also showed up at the Camelot and found 40 bottles of illegally purchased alcohol and a case of illegal beer as well as a contaminated liquor bottle.

A North Side tavern, Tap Whatever, 3716 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., is also up for revocation after a shooting outside the place last month. An organized effort by neighbors put that license on the agenda. One complaint about the tavern referred to the shooting as a "mini-war."

The Party Has Spoken: The Milwaukee County Democratic Party has weighed in early on the Milwaukee mayoral contest. Perhaps thinking about scaring off would-be challengers -- or heeding that old adage about changing horses in mid-stream -- the party this week endorsed Mayor Tom Barrett for re-election.

Sweat Free Milwaukee: The City of Milwaukee will require vendors providing goods and services to pay employees non-poverty wages. Milwaukee already has a ban on buying clothes from sweatshops, but the new ordinance covers any purchase over $30,000. Ald. Tony Zielinski calls it contracting with "responsible manufacturers." Non-poverty level wages will be determined using the Central Intelligence Agency's fact book, which adjusts for purchasing power parity, whatever that means.

"If large purchasing entities like municipalities make their money talk in these ways, we can have a very serious impact on human rights abuses and sweatshop labor," Zielinski said.

The alderman had been working to get the ordinance passed for the past nine months.

Healthy Insurance Debate Avoided: In the "timing is everything" category, we have to wonder if news that the country's leading CEOs were calling for a revamp of employer-paid health insurance system was released earlier, perhaps the so-called Healthy Wisconsin plan might still be on the table.

The Committee for Economic Development, a group made up of top CEOs in the country, urges comprehensive reform on how health insurance is handled -- and their recommendations sound amazingly similar to the Healthy Wisconsin plan, which was offered with some bi-partisan support in the state Legislature as part of the state budget.

The Healthy Wisconsin plan passed the Democratic-led Senate, but Assembly Republicans were adamant that it be taken out of the budget.

The report was released Oct. 15, but the Journal Sentinel didn't publish word of the announcement until Oct. 22. In the meantime, lawmakers were taking Healthy Wisconsin off the budget negotiation table.

In essence, Healthy Wisconsin would scrap employer-paid health insurance in exchange for a payroll tax, which would then fund a pool to give insurance coverage to everyone in the state. It would be managed by an independent board and give consumers the choice of several types of coverage, allowing people to pay more or less depending on deductibles and co-pays. It would actually save businesses money in the long run, but the likes of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce -- the Badger State's self-proclaimed voice of big business -- are scared of the government-run aspect of the plan. It would also lower health care costs because competition would be fierce since providers would vie for the consumers to pick their plan. The Milwaukee County Board endorsed Healthy Wisconsin last month.

The CEOs group suggests a very similar idea for nationwide coverage.

How? According to the report:

The federal government should establish independent regional "exchanges" as points of entry for people to choose among competing private health-care plans. This system improves on the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan, which also covers members of Congress. Everyone would be guaranteed any one of a range of private insurance plans. System standards would ensure quality and comprehensive coverage. Plan comparisons and an annual open season would help people to change plans - introducing competition into the health marketplace. A "Health Fed," modeled on the independence and structure of the Federal Reserve, would supervise the exchanges.

Every household would receive a fixed-dollar credit sufficient to purchase the low-priced quality health plan in its region. Anyone could purchase a more-expensive plan by paying an extra cost. People could keep the kind of health insurance and doctor that they now have.

It would be paid for by a payroll tax, the group suggests.

"Every individual would in effect contribute toward the health-insurance program, so every individual would be entitled to insurance," the reports states. "With every individual assured of quality coverage, and able to save by choosing a low-priced plan, insurers and providers would then have a new incentive to offer quality, affordable care that people - not their employers - want. There would be competition in the health marketplace."

Land Grab May be Slowed: Members of the Milwaukee County Board want to reconsider what some see as a sweetheart deal for Wisconsin Lutheran College to buy more land at the County Grounds area in Wauwatosa.

The college has already bought and developed 26 acres of the grounds and holds an option for 8.62 acres for the next five years at $100,000 an acre. At least three supervisors think that's too cheap and want to renegotiate. The county would also pay to clean up the site, which currently is the location of the county greenhouses.

After the five years is up, in 2009, the land would be assessed at market value. County Exec Scott Walker has included the sale, as well as the sale of all the county holdings in the Park East Freeway corridor, as part of the revenue to balance his proposed budget. The Parks Committee heard the idea last month and this week but the Economic and Community Development Committee has yet to put it on its agenda.