Milwaukee has a lot going on in the summertime, from the myriad festivals and cultural celebrations to the numerous fairs the city and its surrounding areas offer. This year, however, the Midwestern city will boast two more impressive happenings: the filming of a long-running hit television show and a major motion picture.

Ryan Seacrest, host of the infamous American Idol, announced last week via Twitter that Season Ten of the hit show will be holding auditions in Milwaukee this time around. The show has never held auditions in Milwaukee during its run, so it’s a pretty big deal for us Wisconsinites. Five other cities will also be the center of attention when Idol crews come to their neighborhoods: Austin, Texas; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana; and San Francisco, California. The Milwaukee auditions will take place on July 21st at the Bradley Center for aspiring stars who want to test their vocal abilities and receive some brutally honest feedback.

They were our friends far longer than the seven year stretch from 1985-1992 that the popular The Golden Girls was on the air. Estelle Getty, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Betty White will live on not only for embodying four spunky old cohorts, but also for the myriad of achievements each accomplished outside of the sitcom.

With the recent passing of McClanahan on June 3rd from a stroke and subsequent brain hemorrhage, one might be led to inquire, ‘Where have all the Golden Girls gone?’

Betty White is still “White Hot” according to the previews for the new show Hot in Cleveland and she doesn’t show signs of stopping. White plays Elka the house caretaker in TV Land’s first original scripted comedy. The show is about three L.A. women played by Jane Leeves, Valerie Bertinelli and Wendie Malick whose plane unexpectedly lands in Cleveland on their way to Paris. The women live in the same house with the sassy Elka who is the caretaker of the property they have rented. There are ten episodes in the first season so far.

Hot in Cleveland is not the only reason White is still hot, she now holds the record for oldest person to host Saturday Night Live. Before White, Miskel Spillman, winner of SNL’s “Anybody Can Host” contest held the record at 80 years old when she hosted in 1977. White, 88, hosted SNL on May 8th, 2010.

With the recent accusation of seven Green Bay Packers and the continuing investigation of one player related to a sexual assault claim in Wisconsin Dells, it is clear that there are some bad apples in the sports world. This raises the question: should kids be looking up to athletes as role models?

Many are familiar with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who got into a near-fatal motorcycle crash in 2006 when he was not wearing a helmet. He also was accused of sexually assaulting a 31-year-old woman in Lake Tahoe in 2008 and a 20-year-old woman in Milledgeville, Georgia in 2010, for which he is suspended for six games during the 2010-2011 season under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

Lawrence Taylor is another football player who has recently found himself in trouble with the law. The New York Giants linebacker was arrested on May 6, 2010 and is charged with third degree statutory rape, which is a felony, for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old prostitute, and third degree patronization for allegedly paying the underage girl $300 to have sex with him. Taylor faces up to five years in prison and lifetime sex offender registration if he is convicted of both crimes. Also, this is not Taylor’s first brush with the law; in 1987, he admitted to and tested positive for cocaine; in 1988, he was suspended from playing football for 30 days for failing a second drug test; and in 1995, he was in drug rehab twice and over the next three years was arrested twice for trying to buy cocaine from undercover officers.

Since the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill wreaked havoc in the Gulf Coast on April 20, there has been little progress in stopping the flow of crude oil further along the coast of Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida With hurricane season, which began on June 1st, there is also the threat of the oil spreading further outward.

Marine life is showing up close to shore, which signifies that their regular habitat is not suitable for them to live in, and is heavily polluted. The crowding near the shore could lead to mass die-offs as the fish and marine life run out of oxygen and are more vulnerable to predators.

The latest figures show that 783 birds, 353 turtles and 41 mammals have died. The death toll is still so low in comparison to the Exxon Valdez oil spill where 250,000 birds and 2,800 otters are believed to have died. The reason for this is that the scientists are able to locate only a small fraction of the dead wildlife; many will never be found after sinking to the bottom of the sea or getting scavenged by other marine life.