UW-Madison students and residents of the Mifflin Street area are encouraged to attend an informational meeting about the annual Mifflin Street Block Party tonight.
The meeting is being held at 7 p.m. at the Madison Senior Center, 330 W Mifflin St. It will feature officials from the Madison Police and Fire Departments who will give presentations about law enforcement expectations for the party, according to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4. Verveer will act as the meeting's facilitator.\
Police and fire officials at the meeting will present their plans for dealing with the event including its crowded porches, loud music and public drinking.
Verveer said meetings like the one tonight have helped prevent the party from getting out of control in recent years.
""The city does a good job of communicating before the party,"" Verveer said, noting that the party has been without an official sponsor since the Mifflin Street Co-op pulled its backing in the 1990s. ""There hasn't been a real problem at Mifflin for 10 years.""
In 1996, the block party ended disastrously, as partiers lit bonfires and threw bottles at police.
""It made the last few Halloweens look like nothing happened,"" Verveer said. ""It was that bad.""
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