The Daily Reporter articles from April 2005

The Daily Reporter archives from April 2005

Wisconsin GOP proposes second Jobs Creation Act.
April 1, 2005... Byline: Jeremy Harrell It's back. On Wednesday, Republican state legislators unveiled the sequel to last year's Jobs Creation Act, a wide-ranging bill hailed by business groups and criticized by environmentalists. Like its...

Progress seen in construction workplace accidents.
April 1, 2005... Byline: Sean Ryan The Bureau of Labor Statistics Wednesday reported the construction industry accounted for 155,420 of the 1.3 million total lost time workplace injuries in 2003. Construction ranked as the fourth most injury-prone...

Rhinelander-based Lakeland Enterprises may appeal OSHA fine.
April 4, 2005... Byline: Sean Ryan Lakeland Enterprises of Rhinelander is considering appealing its $49,000 Occupational Safety and Health Administration trenching fine to the U.S. Supreme Court. "We disagree with OSHA on a number of different items,"...

Dodge County prepares to solicit highway construction bids for first time in two decades.
April 5, 2005... Byline: Sean Ryan The Dodge County Highway Depart-ment is preparing to solicit construction bids for the first time in more than two decades. "I don't remember us ever bidding one, and I've been here since '78," said Highway...

Milwaukee's mayor and alderman consider tax incremental financing districts to attract businesses.
April 6, 2005... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee's mayor and aldermen are brainstorming on how the city can best use tax incremental financing to create jobs and compete with neighboring communities. Wednesday morning's Zoning, Neighborhoods and...

Madison-based construction co. works with Tibetan monks to build Buddhist temple in Oregon.
April 6, 2005... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The word "unique" gets thrown around a lot in the construction industry, but it surely applies to the Deer Park Buddhist center near Oregon. It's not often that contractors apply Western materials and building...

Waukesha-based Bill Dentinger Inc. to close.
April 8, 2005... Byline: Jeremy Harrell After 30 years and hundreds of projects, masonry contractor Bill Dentinger Inc., Waukesha, will soon lay its last brick. A cancer scare one year ago prompted Bill Dentinger, the company's vice president, and...

Milwaukee's historic Pabst Brewery buildings spared.
April 11, 2005... Byline: Sean Ryan The Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission Thursday voted against demolishing two buildings in the PabstCity development. The Juneau Avenue Partners had requested that eight buildings be demolished, but the...

Milwaukee Mayor Barrett: Conservation, water sales should be tied.
April 12, 2005... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has to follow the rules just like everybody else. And, like everybody else in southeastern Wisconsin, he doesn't know what rules the Great Lakes Council of Governors will place on Lake...

Risk management helps avoid defect claims.
April 12, 2005... Byline: Tony Anderson Responding to litigation arising from alleged defects can be a nightmare for the construction industry. Attorneys should be taking steps before claims arise to help their clients reduce the likelihood of a lawsuit...

Wisconsin housing authority works with contractors to redevelop Milwaukee's Lindsay Heights area.
April 13, 2005... Byline: Sean Ryan After achieving success in the southern portion of Milwaukee's Lindsay Heights area, the city and state are focusing their housing funds farther north this year. "We're getting to the end, and it's all new...

Plan introduced for Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward district.
April 14, 2005... Byline: Sean Ryan The new development plan for Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward had to find a balance between future opportunities and the many amenities the area already offers. "The plan really deals with how do you create an...

Madison working on development plans for the Villager Mall.
April 14, 2005... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Madison city government ended years of debate when it bought the Villager Mall in December. Or so it seemed. Now the project is entering a perhaps more crucial second stage, when city leaders, design...

Milwaukee World Festival Inc.'s refusal to sign lease for Lakeshore State Park raises concerns.
April 15, 2005... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee World Festival Inc.'s refusal to sign a lease for Lakeshore State Park is raising concerns in the HistoricThird Ward that it could delay the project a year. "We're in the midst of negotiations with both the...

Columbia St. Mary's to build Whole Foods grocery on 1st floor of its new Milwaukee medical office.
April 18, 2005... Byline: Sean Ryan Columbia St. Mary's had to build something to make its new Milwaukee medical office fit in with North Avenue's many bars and restaurants. But since a popular pub or evening eatery wouldn't quite fit as the first...

Affordable housing projects get boost from Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.
April 18, 2005... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Affordable housing got an $87 million shot in the arm Friday as the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority loosened its purse for 23 projects statewide. WHEDA and Gov. Jim Doyle targeted...

Preservation advocates want WI to establish an ongoing fund to keep the Capitol building in shape.
April 19, 2005... Byline: Jeremy Harrell It's a sad fact, but a $145 million facelift lasts only so long. Less than four years after a dome-to-tunnel restoration of the state Capitol, preservation advocates want the state government to establish an...

Reps from WI's transportation industry go to D.C. to push for federal transportation bill.
April 20, 2005... Byline: Jeremy Harrell On Wednesday, 60 Wisconsinites will descend on Washington, D.C., and the nature of their visit is all business. Representatives from the state's transportation industry hope to persuade their members of Congress...

Wisconsin lawmaker introduces bill giving utilities the authority to condemn publicly owned land.
April 21, 2005... Byline: Jeremy Harrell A prolonged impasse over the Arrowhead-Weston power-line project has prompted a state lawmaker to propose a bill this week that could break the deadlock. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Phil Montgomery,...

WI Dept. of Transportation still looking for replacement for defunct road-building firm.
April 25, 2005... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The state Department of Transportation and a surety provider are still lining up replacements for James Cape & Sons Co., but project deadlines are quickly nearing. Cape, a Racine road-building firm, announced...

Employees of WI-based electrical contractor form teams and compete in battle of the bulge.
April 25, 2005... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Sometimes being a loser isn't so bad. Just ask the employees of Grunau Co., Oak Creek, who for the last few months have been waging a successful battle of the bulge in a healthy competition to improve their...

Waukesha County Board considers zoning change for Aurora Health Care's proposed hospital.
April 26, 2005... Byline: Sean Ryan Waukesha County's lawyers are telling supervisors to disregard concerns about health-care price competition when considering Aurora Health Care's proposed hospital Tuesday. "They are trying to help us not to put...

WI regulators work with builders to decide on incentives for exceeding conservation rules.
April 26, 2005... Byline: Jeremy Harrell State environmental regulators and housing developers are close to finishing a deal that would give builders incentives for exceeding conservation rules. For both sides, it's a more than even trade. Development...

Racine-based James Cape & Sons Co. seeking to reclaim bond from state of Wisconsin.
April 27, 2005... Byline: Jeremy Harrell James Cape & Sons Co., Racine, found itself back in the Wisconsin Supreme Court Tuesday, once again seeking to retain a claim to a $100,000 bid bond. Cape and its lawyers first argued this case in the state's...

Waukesha County Board rejects Aurora Health Care's $85 million hospital proposal.
April 27, 2005... Byline: Sean Ryan Aurora Health Care said it won't give up on its plan after the Waukesha County Board voted 21-11 to reject its $85 million hospital proposal. "We're looking at all of our options and keeping all of our options open,"...

Madison mayor: Building will make city better.
April 28, 2005... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz has a lot of ideas for making his city better. He wants to open more parks, improve race relations and keep property taxes down. He wants more bike paths, better garbage collection...

Panel tackles southeastern Wisconsin's water supply issue.
April 28, 2005... Byline: Sean Ryan Wednesday's Public Policy Forum symposium raised hopes that southeastern Wisconsin's realization of a water supply problem and lack of information about it would foster cooperation. "There's no better issue than this...

The Daily Reporter's Top Projects 2004: Best of the Rest.
April 29, 2005... Byline: Candace Doyle Our annual Top Projects awards go to the 20 deemed the most outstanding. This year, the number submitted for consideration again topped 100, and culling, once again, was difficult. Yet cull we did, and the 20...