The Daily Reporter articles from April 2006

The Daily Reporter archives from April 2006

Laborers' International Union planning to split altogether from the AFL-CIO.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle If there's strength in numbers, two national trade unions' split from the AFL-CIO's Building and Construction Trades Department would weaken the labor movement. But that's not how the Laborers' International Union,...

Commentary: Chasing dreams is the only way to catch them.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Randy Crump President Abraham Lincoln, though born into a family with few assets and experiencing a number of failures in his lifetime, proved that through determination, moral living and the pursuit of excellence, one can overcome...

Milwaukee County Board committee approves MLG plan for Park East parcel.
April 4, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan A Milwaukee County Board committee Monday approved MLG Development's proposal to purchase and develop a Park East property despite supervisors' reservations about the process. The Committee on Economic and Community...

MLG plan for Park East parcel moves forward.
April 4, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan

Capitol Square in Madison getting new look.
April 4, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Capitol Square in Madison could be looking at an entire facelift in the near future if the first part of its reconstructive surgery goes well. A $3.2 million effort to revamp Capitol Park will start April 17, which...

WI construction professionals voice concerns over split of 2 trade unions from national organization.
April 4, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Two trade unions' split from the national Building and Construction Trades Department has locals feeling labor's pain. And Wisconsin State AFL-CIO President David Newby acknowledged that the national division could...

Architect predicts green building boom for Wisconsin.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan The prediction is becoming more common in Wisconsin: In the future, all buildings will be green buildings. The latest person in Milwaukee to anticipate a time where all buildings are built sustainable and...

Racine receives Smart Growth grant from the WI Department of Administration.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Racine County received a $639,000 Smart Growth grant from the Wisconsin Department of Administration, the largest in the state this year. "This award could not have come at a better time," said Racine County...

Sheboygan votes on bringing casinos to city.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Voters headed to the polls in Sheboygan Tuesday to sound off on bringing American Indian casinos and riverboat gambling facilities into city limits. The Common Council isn't sitting on or preparing to face any new...

St. Ann respite center in Milwaukee expansion begins.
April 6, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan The St. Ann Center broke ground on a $5 million respite center expansion that's intended to round out its already revolutionary services for children, seniors and people with disabilities. "I don't know if you know...

Taxpayer Protection Amendment gets audience in Madison.
April 6, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Wisconsin's economy is tightly tied to its heavy manufacturing base, and it's time for a change. That was the message in Madison Wednesday as representatives from nearly every field of Wisconsin's construction...

Milwaukee's Good Jobs and Livable Neighborhoods Coalition sets sights on new projects.
April 7, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan The Good Jobs and Livable Neighborhoods Coalition is back. The coalition of religious, environmental, social and organized labor groups around Milwaukee emerged in December 2002 in Milwaukee as city leaders were...

American Transmission Co. says work to begin on transmission lines on Madison's east side.
April 7, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Tim Allen would be happy - Dane County just got a healthy dose of "more power." The American Transmission Company announced Wednesday that in addition to a new 345-kilovolt being placed in service from the Columbia...

Lobbying and legislators: Money talks, panelists say.(Discussion)
April 7, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Total public financing of political campaigns is the only way to ensure fair representation in state government. That seemed to be the consensus of the four-person panel at Thursday's Fourth Street Forum on...

Wisconsin's energy policies balanced, panel says.
April 10, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan The Energy Symposium 2006 in Milwaukee painted a big picture view of Wisconsin's rates and generation that affirmed its recent energy strategy. "If you look across the country, we have one of the most balanced energy...

ePermits debut in Milwaukee.
April 10, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Last year, it took contractors about an hour, and sometimes days, to get an electrical permit in Milwaukee. This year, it takes five minutes. About two months ago, the Milwaukee Department of City Development...

WI Department of Justice to look into the permits of Weston 4 near Wausau.
April 11, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder A little information, or lack thereof, can go a long way. At the referral of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, the state Department of Justice will now weigh in on information withheld during the...

Milwaukee School of Engineering commercial team wins first place.
April 11, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle While the University of Wisconsin hockey team winning a national championship on Saturday was certainly impressive, it paled in comparison to what undergraduate students from the Milwaukee School of Engineering...

Falk expansion gets funding from the Milwaukee Common Council.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Projects in Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley are expected to bring in 400 new jobs in 2006 alone. That doesn't count new hires at mechanical contractor J.M. Brennan Inc., P&H Mining Equipment or the Forest County...

WI Governor Doyle issues green building mandate.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Green is the color of money and grass, both of which played an important role in Gov. Jim Doyle's most recent executive order. Doyle signed an executive order Tuesday requiring all state buildings to conform to high...

Executive order issued in WI largely applauded by construction industry.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Ready or not, the construction industry was told to start seeing green on Tuesday. Gov. Jim Doyle issued an executive order requiring all state buildings to meet high environmental and energy efficiency standards,...

Port of Milwaukee proposes idea to ease traffic congestion.
April 14, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan The Port of Milwaukee Thursday floated the idea of building a dock to allow cargo trucks to bypass the highways by boarding ships and sailing around the Great Lakes. "There's nobody running trucks on the Great Lakes...

Wisconsin State Capitol's significance is honored.
April 14, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder The most recognizable building in the state got some new decor Thursday. A ceremony was held at the Wisconsin State Capitol to unveil two new bronze plaques on the building, one designating the building as a...

Amherst consruction firm believes green appeals to a universal set of values.
April 17, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Three buddies from Amherst decided to start a green home-building company in 1987. It wasn't a financial decision - environmentally friendly home construction wasn't a recognized market back then. Instead, they...

Story Hill courts green building housing.
April 17, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Some Story Hill residents visited developer Sheila Firari on April 5 and asked her to consider green building for her next residential project. Firari, of CityMark LLC in Milwaukee, purchased a prime site next to...

Legislation creates Wisconsin Aerospace Authority.
April 18, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder One can almost see Spock bestowing the "live long and prosper" gesture upon Sheboygan. Gov. Jim Doyle signed SB 352 into law on Friday. The bill creates a Wisconsin Aerospace Authority and also allows for a board of...

Legislation creates Aerospace Authority.
April 18, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder

Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District plans major flood-control project.
April 18, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is ready to begin an $84 million project to prevent flooding around the Menomonee River. "The Milwaukee County Grounds flood-management facility is the cornerstone to the...

Mandel Group plans to develop Milwaukee's North End.
April 18, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan The Mandel Group Sunday went public with its plan to spend $175 million redeveloping a Park East tannery into condos, apartments and public space. "Much like a lot of recent downtown development, this will be a mix...

Boldt to receive honorary degree from Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Construction magnate Oscar C. Boldt will soon be able to hang another degree next to the one he earned from the University of Wisconsin-Madison back in 1948. UW-Madison will present Boldt, chairman of the...

Dane County ready for Regional Economic Development Entity.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder By all accounts and measures, the time doesn't seem quite right for a regional economic development organization to be cropping up in Dane County. After all, most regions establish such organizations after...

Milwaukee alderman Bauman offers Connector alternative.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman offered an alternative to the Milwaukee Connector that would extend the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee passenger train line to Milwaukee County's northern border. "It does not just replace...

Job Corps training facility planned for Milwaukee area.
April 20, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee's redevelopment authority Thursday will consider buying a former James Cape & Sons property so a third of it can be developed into a federal Job Corps training facility. "It's a very important program for...

Two unauthorized immigrant construction workers discuss living and working away from home.
April 20, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle With jobs in his hometown scarce and a family in need of support, Miguel left Mexico a dozen years ago to search for work in the United States. "It was very difficult economically," he said. "There weren't enough...

UW-Milwaukee plans new residence hall.
April 21, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan The university of Wisconsin-Milwaukee hopes to break ground this summer on a new $25 million dormitory to satisfy the growing demand for student housing. "We do not have the ability to house more than 45 percent of...

Leopold center near Barbaroo takes hold.
April 21, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Famed conservationist Aldo Leopold's renovated chicken coop known as the "Leopold shack" is about to get a much larger neighbor. The Aldo Leopold Foundation will break ground in June on the $5.5 million,...

Veto of pothole bill by Governor Doyle disappoints Wisconsin Counties Assn.
April 24, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle The Wisconsin Counties Association is disappointed that Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed a bill that would have eased local governments' liability for road defects. "This bill was a softball and Gov. Doyle swung and missed,"...

Smart Growth statute repeal sought - again.
April 24, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Smart Growth is under fire again. Rep. Mary Williams, R-Medford, is the chief author of AB 645, an act that would repeal the Smart Growth statute, and it had its first hearing Wednesday before the Assembly Committee...

Dane County plans for increased traffic.
April 24, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Two transportation studies should work in tandem to alleviate projected traffic congestion in the Dane County area, said Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's spokesman. "It's estimated that by 2031, we will have 100,000...

Traffic between Wisconsin, Illinois to ease.
April 25, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle The rivalry between Wisconsin and Illinois might be age-old, but highway traffic between the two states is only growing. That is why the Wisconsin Department of Transportation plans to increase Interstate 39/90 to...

U.S. Rep. Don Kind, D-Wisconsin, calls for new energy strategy.
April 25, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Talk is cheap, says one U.S. representative, and the price of gas isn't. U.S. Rep. Don Kind, D-Wis., told Wisconsin farmers at the West Salem Farmers' Cooperative in Washington, D.C., that the country's...

Offsourcing industry jobs becomes issue.
April 25, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Professional associations and business interests are visiting Congress to give their ideas on how to regulate the outsourcing of engineering jobs to foreign countries. Engineering associations, including the Institute...

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker proposes selling county land.
April 26, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker Tuesday floated the idea of selling county land to pay off its debt. Walker's speech at the annual conference of the International Council of Shopping Centers, Wisconsin...

University Square in Madison gets helps.
April 26, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Madison's Board of Estimates gave University Square its nod of approval Monday, informally endorsing $3 million in tax incremental financing for a $42.2 million piece of the project that includes retail space and...

Construction industry weighs in on immigration reforms.
April 26, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Two national construction organizations are throwing their weight behind a more lenient immigration reform bill up before the U.S. Senate. Both the Associated General Contractors of America and the American...

Relaxed brownfields bill in Wisconcin advances to state Assembly.
April 27, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle The state Assembly passed a brownfields bill Tuesday aimed at fostering the development of environmentally blighted areas. SB 546 makes redeveloping brownfield sites more cost-effective by exempting local...

Relaxed brownfields bill advances.
April 27, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle

Gerhard Zoller of Poynette dies in accident.
April 27, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder A reception was held Tuesday at the Madison headquarters of J.H. Findorff & Son Inc. to celebrate the life of Gerhard Zoller of Poynette, who died Thursday near Lodi when his bicycle was struck by a motor vehicle. He...

The Daily Reporter in Wisconsin honors the 20 top construction projects.
April 28, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder The far-reaching impact construction projects have on a community is not something to be underestimated. And no one knows that better than D. Mark Singletary, publisher of The Daily Reporter's sister newspaper in...

TopProjectsof2005.
April 28, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder

Wisconsin's Running Rebels Organization announces plans to build permanent home for athletic program.
April 28, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle For 25 years, Milwaukee's Victor Barnett has made men out of boys through his inner-city Running Rebels Community Organization. Soon, Barnett and the Running Rebels will be able to stop running, as the organization...