Milwaukee abandoned boat: Who's paying to remove Deep Thought?
The Brief
The boat abandoned at Milwaukee's lakefront was pulled onto land Tuesday.
Tuesday's work alone was estimated to cost $50,000.
Taxpayers are on the hook, at least for now – but that's not the end of the story.
MILWAUKEE - Deep Thought, the boat that's been abandoned at Milwaukee's lakefront since October, was pulled onto land Tuesday afternoon.
Taxpayers on the hook
By the numbers
Freeing the sand-shackled boat was not cheap. Milwaukee County leaders originally estimated Tuesday's work alone could be about $50,000. Who's paying? The short answer: taxpayers.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android
"I figured if I'm paying for it, through my taxpayer dollars, at least I get to sit and enjoy it," said Glenn Borden, a Milwaukee resident who watched Tuesday's removal effort at the lakefront. "Somebody got that stuck here. It's kind of on them to take care of that. At the same time, I get it, accidents happen."
For now, Milwaukee County is paying to remove Deep Thought.
"We don't want to get stuck with a $50,000 bill. I don't think the Milwaukee County taxpayers should be paying for this," said County Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman, chair of the board's parks committee.
Wasserman told FOX6 News the county may go after the boat's earlier owner – not the couple who bought the boat before it ran out of gas and got stuck. The county supervisor said it's not clear whether the boat's sale was even legal.
"I chatted with (the owners)," Dan Steininger told FOX6 last week. "These are two people who had a dream, spent their life savings to do it. Flat broke, had nowhere to go, distraught. I said, 'We don't treat people mean in Wisconsin – you are our guests.'"
Could donations help?
What they're saying
Steininger, the grandson of former Milwaukee Mayor Daniel Hoan and current president of the Hoan Foundation, stepped in with a $10,000 donation to help pay for removal efforts. Back in April, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced a different, anonymous donor.
"You'll have to ask the anonymous donor how much money they're talking about. My job was just to connect the dots," he said.
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
The mayor said all he did was link the anonymous donor with Jerry Guyer of Pirates Cove Diving – the man who tried, tried and tried but was unable to pull the boat from the water. Guyer said he sunk $27,000 into failed attempts to remove Deep Thought; he also told FOX6 he has not heard from the anonymous donor.
"I don't know what happened in that relationship. Again, my job was just to connect the dots, and that's what I did," said Johnson.
On Tuesday, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said he believes the anonymous donation was in the ballpark of $20,000 to $25,000. He also floated the possibility of selling pieces of the boat to help cover removal costs.
The U.S. Coast Guard said it was not their responsibility to remove the boat because it was not blocking waterways and was not a hazard to navigation. The USCG did investigate for possible pollution in October and found it was all clear.
The Source
Information in this report is from FOX6 News interviews and prior coverage of efforts to remove the boat.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Lead concerns in Milwaukee Public Schools; new push for federal help
The Brief Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin is making a new push for federal help to address the lead concerns in Milwaukee Public Schools. Six MPS schools have been shut down in 2025 because of the lead concerns. Four remain closed. MILWAUKEE - Dangerous lead levels forced the closures of six Milwaukee Public Schools in 2025. Four of those six remain shut down. Now, there is a new push for federal help on the matter. What we know Westside Academy is one of six Milwaukee Public Schools shut down for dangerous lead levels. Koa Branch has two children who attend school there. Even before the lead problem at Westside, Branch regularly had her kids tested for lead. Moving schools was a test for her kindergartner, Jonas. What they're saying "We're getting them tested again, tonight. I'm just nervous about it, so I just test them whenever I feel I need to test them," Branch said. Other MPS parents shared similar problems during a roundtable with U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) on Monday, June 9. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android "I run a tight schedule. So, I'm used to my son getting off the bus at 2:36, so I can be at work by three, so now I'm getting late to work. I mean the communication with Brown Street is excellent, the transition, as far as getting them to school is excellent. But, it just took us out of our routine," said Santana Wells, a parent of a Brown Street School student. What we know Sen. Baldwin is now inviting U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy to visit Milwaukee and hear the stories from parents like Branch and Wells. "These children are people. It is not a blue or a red issue. This is everybody's issue," said Shyquetta McElroy, Coalition on Lead Emergency. SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News The senator urges the Trump administration to reinstate laid off CDC lead experts. "They could make the situation better today, by rehiring these experts," Baldwin said. Dig deeper In April, the CDC told the Milwaukee Health Department it could not send a team of lead experts. The CDC blamed it on the complete loss of the lead program. Secretary Kennedy told reporters in April, he thought that the program was being reinstated. But Sen. Baldwin said she is still waiting. "He either was lying or he didn't know what was happening in his own department. And I don't know which is worse," Baldwin said. HHS said the CDC did help validate new lab equipment for Milwaukee's lead testing. A Milwaukee Health Department spokeswoman said that was a single lab tech who helped calibrate a new machine, not the team of experts once in discussions to come to Milwaukee. The Source The information in this post was produced by FOX6 News.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
ABC News suspends journalist after calling Trump and adviser ‘world-class' haters
ABC News has suspended its senior national correspondent after he described top White House aide Stephen Miller as 'richly endowed with the capacity for hatred' on social media. In a now deleted post, Terry Moran, who recently conducted an interview with Donald Trump, said that the president and his deputy chief of staff, Miller, were both 'world-class' haters. An ABC News spokesperson said that Moran 'has been suspended pending further evaluation', adding: 'ABC News stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others. The post does not reflect the views of ABC News and violated our standards.' According to a screenshot of the post, Moran said that Miller was not the brains behind Trumpism and his ability to translate the movement's 'impulses' into policy was 'not brains. It's bile.' 'You can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment,' Moran added. 'He eats his hate.' He added of Trump: 'Trump is a world-class hater. But his hatred only a means to an end, and that end [is] his own glorification.' Miller shot back, saying: 'The most important fact about Terry's full public meltdown is what it shows about the corporate press in America. For decades, the privileged anchors and reporters narrating and gatekeeping our society have been radicals adopting a journalist's pose. Terry pulled off his mask.' The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, described Moran's rhetoric as 'unacceptable and unhinged' on Fox News. 'I think this speaks to the distrust that the American public have in the legacy media,' she added. JD Vance, the vice-president, described Moran's post as a 'vile smear'. The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post See our guide at for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each. ABC News' suspension of Moran comes nearly six months after the organisation agreed to pay $15m to a Trump presidential foundation or museum after he filed a defamation case following anchor George Stephanopoulos repeating an assertion on ABC's This Week that Trump had been found 'liable for rape' in a lawsuit filed by the columnist E Jean Carroll. He had not. The latest incident will probably deepen suspicion on the right that US mainstream media outlets are fundamentally biased against the administration. In its statement, ABC News maintained a position of neutrality, saying: 'ABC News stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others.'


New York Post
a day ago
- New York Post
Lawyers urging ‘caution' on antitrust remedies in Google search trial have cozy ties to Big Tech
A group of prominent lawyers claimed to be objective last month as they urged a federal judge to take 'caution' when imposing antitrust remedies against Google's online search empire — but many of them have cozy ties to Big Tech, The Post has learned. US District Judge Amit Mehta is expected to rule by August on the best way to rein in Google's illegal dominance over online search after ruling last year that the company was a 'monopolist.' The Justice Department, rather than merely punishing past misdeeds, wants Google and CEO Sundar Pichai to sell the Chrome web browser, among other remedies. On May 6, a group of former DOJ and Federal Trade Commission antitrust enforcers submitted an amicus brief warning the federal judge against aggressive remedies. The lawyers said their brief was made 'in support of neither party' and was intended to guide Mehta on following the 'proper remedy standard.' However, many of brief's coauthors have direct or indirect links to Google and other Big Tech firms. That includes Joe Sims, who last year dismissed criticism of Google's widespread evidence destruction as 'silly,' and Willard Tom, who once defended Google in the high-profile antitrust lawsuit filed by 'Fortnite' maker Epic Games. Their arguments closely match those of the defense offered by Google, which claims the DOJ's proposals go far beyond the bounds of antitrust law and that the court risks jeopardizing American AI leadership – and even national security. The lawyers' links to Big Tech raised alarms with Google's critics, including Sacha Haworth, executive director at the Tech Oversight Project, who told The Post that it 'speaks volumes that the only people rushing to Google's defense are people paid by Google to care.' 5 Google faces a potential breakup of its business in the search trial. AP 'If Google is broken up, it will be a win for our digital economy that will lead to lower prices and more choices for consumers,' Haworth added. Aside from a forced divestment of Chrome, the DOJ wants Google to share its search data with rivals. The agency has also asked Mehta to consider the potential impact of Google's massive investments in AI-powered search when crafting any remedies. Elsewhere, the feds want Google to be barred from paying billions to companies like Apple to ensure its search engine is set as the default option on most smartphones. They also propose a forced divestiture of Google's Android software if initial remedies prove ineffective. 5 Google, led by CEO Sundar Pichai, is fighting to avoid a forced divestiture of Chrome. Getty Images 'We've long said the DOJ's proposals go miles beyond the Court's decision,' a Google spokesperson said in a statement. 'We appreciate that a wide range of experts, academics and businesses agree.' An amicus brief – also known as a 'friend of the court' brief – generally includes information that interested third parties want to flag for the judge's consideration before reaching a verdict. In a filing, the brief's coauthors noted that they were not paid by any outside party and that no outside party had contributed to the writing. Contributors included Tad Lipsky, who heads up the competition advocacy program at George Mason University's Global Antitrust Institute – which has received millions in funding from Google and other Big Tech firms while frequently arguing for a light touch on antitrust enforcement. Sims retired as a partner at law firm Jones Day in 2016. In July 2024, Jones Day successfully secured dismissal of a class-action suit accusing Google of antitrust violations tied to its Maps service. 5 Google faced criticism for destroying employee chat logs that it had been ordered to preserve. REUTERS Last August, Sims raised eyebrows when he argued that Mehta was 'silly' for criticizing Google over its deletion of employee chat logs during the DOJ's search trial – in violation of court orders to preserve evidence. 'No firm has an obligation to create a paper trail for people or entities that may want to attack it,' Sims wrote on X. 'If anything, it has a fiduciary obligation to do just the opposite.' Tom is a former partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius who represented Google against 'Fortnite' maker Epic Games's antitrust lawsuit until his retirement in July 2022. Google eventually lost the suit in a bombshell ruling that has major implications for its 'Google Play' app store. Richard Parker previously represented Apple in the ebooks case bought the DOJ and currently works at Milbank Tweed, a firm that advised Google in the search trial and helped argue its ongoing appeal of the Epic Games verdict. The brief notes that Parker contributed in 'his personal capacity' and had 'not worked for Google on this matter or any other matter.' 5 US District Judge Amit Mehta is pictured. AFP/Getty Images Terry Calvani worked law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer from 2005 to 2019 – a period of time in which the firm served as an outside counsel for Google in several lawsuits. From 2020 to 2025, Calvini was a senior adviser at strategic communications firm Brunswick Group, which counts Google as a client. Several enforcers who backed the amicus brief, including Sims and Lipsky, are listed as authors for Truth on the Market – a competition law-focused blog with close ties to the Big Tech-funded International Center for Law and Economics. Jon Neuchterlein is a nonresident senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute, which acknowledges on its website that it has received from donations from the likes of Google, Amazon, and Apple, among other tech firms. 5 Judge Mehta is expected to rule on potential remedies by August. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia From 2015 to 2024, Neuchterlein was a partner at the law firm Sidley Austin. During his tenure, the firm counted Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Intel among its clients. In their brief, the antitrust lawyers urged Mehta to take 'caution' when considering two elements of the DOJ's proposal – the forced Chrome divestiture and the search data-sharing requirement – to avoid overstepping the bounds of antitrust law. 'Antitrust remedies in a monopoly maintenance case are intended to terminate the unlawful conduct and prevent its recurrence, and remediate proven harm to competition caused by the illegal conduct,' the brief said. The lawyers added that remedies that 'further than that or that are not narrowly designed to achieve those goals can undermine the purpose of the antitrust laws by inhibiting the very robust competition that those laws are intended to promote.'