The Daily Reporter articles from December 2007

The Daily Reporter archives from December 2007

Stores, restaurants to encircle Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
December 3, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan The owners of the Bradley Center are hiring Indianapolis-based Lauth to plan for the development of new restaurants or stores on its property surrounding the arena. The planning would focus mostly on possibilities to...

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources forced to re-examine plant's cooling system.
December 3, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan We Energies says a water-intake pipe is environmentally and economically the best technology available for its new Oak Creek power plant. Clean Wisconsin is positive that building cooling towers for the plant would...

Two Wisconsin townships clash over $3.8 million, 47-lot development.
December 3, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Tim Gotzion isn't a big fan of DeForest's village officials right now. "It's pretty sad they can't do this right," he said. "It's ridiculous they can't look at the big picture. It's just frustrating." Gotzion,...

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz bouncing back from business rebuff.
December 4, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz sounds like a leader determined not to let a setback wreck his vision. Sure, he was excited about what might be when last year he pitched the idea of the Planning, Community and...

Owner sees upgrade in new Madison spot.
December 4, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder With more than a year's worth of business now under its belt, the Brink Lounge on East Washington Avenue in Madison is looking good. The combination wine and martini bar-coffeehouse-nightclub has been performing...

Milwaukee maneuvers to be water king.
December 4, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan New Berlin Mayor Jack Chiovatero knows there's more at stake for the city of Milwaukee than just another $700,000 in annual water sales. If he ends up buying the water New Berlin needs from Racine or Oak Creek...

Green goes extreme in proposed riverfront project in Milwaukee.
December 5, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Russ Davis, seeking to develop a $10.6 million condo, office and restaurant building by the Milwaukee River, uses the word "greenominium" to describe his project. Beyond using the typical recycled building materials,...

Pabst Farms in Oconomowoc resurrects interchange plans.
December 5, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Apparently, the road people were among the last to know. But that doesn't mean they won't be heavily involved now that the development of a regional shopping center at Pabst Farms in Oconomowoc is back on its feet....

No silent nights for Milwaukee.
December 5, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan In Milwaukee, the debate between Christmas trees and holiday trees has been overshadowed by a different battle pitting traditionalists against free-thinkers: wrapped or hung? City Hall has been getting complaints...

Library in Wausau needs Legislature to step up, take the heat.
December 5, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Some visitors to the hilltop Marathon County Public Library in Wausau this winter may face a long, roundabout walk up to the building. The city recently finished building a second library-parking lot at the bottom...

Kenosha lighthouse still glowing.
December 6, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan When the top of the Southport Lighthouse was taken down in 1913, somebody dropped the beacon lens, which plummeted 55 feet and shattered. The tower in Kenosha has since been restored, and the U.S. Coast Guard supplied...

Mortensen Construction superintendent Blaser dies in traffic accident in Wisconsin.
December 6, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Tom Wacker is hard-pressed to remember one particular project that Steve Blaser really came through on, or a situation in which he saved the day. "Steve did that on virtually every project," Wacker, Mortenson...

Oconomowoc mayor 'pleased' but cautious about Pabst Farms.
December 6, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Oconomowoc Mayor Maury Sullivan is pleased that a new developer is lined up to build the 1 million-square-foot shopping center for Pabst Farms, but he's not handing out any approvals just yet. "We've already adopted...

World Trade Center Wisconsin to build in downtown Milwaukee.
December 7, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan World Trade Center Wisconsin is talking with developers and city officials about building a 10- to 15-story building in downtown Milwaukee with offices geared toward international business. World Trade Center...

C&D Technologies plans to base its new battery research plant in Milwaukee.
December 7, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Although China is responsible for most of the research in military-strength lithium-ion batteries, C&D Technologies has decided to base its new research on the product in Milwaukee. The company plans to bring on...

Office buildings in Madison, Wis. to have smaller parking lots.
December 7, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder New office buildings around Madison are going to start having smaller parking lots. The city's old ordinance required 3.3 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of development, but the City Council has revised it to...

American Transmission Company's new public outreach program urges power companies to emulate.
December 7, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder When work started on the 220-mile Arrowhead-Weston electric-transmission line in 2006, Mark Williamson was relieved that protests hadn't turned into obstructions. "People didn't stand in front of the bulldozers...

University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Dairy Sciences to get state-of-the-art barn.
December 10, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Ric Grummer says not any old dairy barn will do. "We're one of the premier land grant colleges in the country that's doing dairy outreach," said Grummer, the chairman of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's...

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee exploring expansion.
December 10, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which is about 1 million square feet shy of the space it needs to operate, is working on making up for that deficit. Thanks to $2 million from the State Building Commission, UWM...

Milwaukee County wants a selling price without selling.
December 11, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee County is putting out a call for developers interested in buying all or part of the 44-acre Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex in Wauwatosa. On Monday morning, supervisors and staff wrestled with the...

City of Janesville to air instructional videos on navigating roundabouts.
December 11, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Jack Messer is going to try, but he knows he's not going to reach everybody who needs his advice about the newest-old thing in Janesville transportation. The city soon will be airing 10-minute instructional videos...

At University of Wisconsin-Stout, science gets $8.1M jolt.
December 11, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Thanks to an $8.1 million budget increase approved by the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, UW-Stout will get its new science wing instead of a building with a lot of empty rooms. The project budget was cut to...

Wisconsin-based Pabst Brewery project wins one, loses one.
December 12, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan The Pabst Brewery project first ran into one setback, then took one step forward. It met some resistance at the Milwaukee County Courthouse Monday morning, but was successful at Milwaukee City Hall in the afternoon....

Quest to bring back historic facade may cost Wisconsin-based Goldmann Department Store's owner.
December 12, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan The current exterior of Goldmann's Department Store is history, both literally and figuratively. That may cost the owner a lot of money. The light-green facade and big clock are the result of a 1956 restoration...

Inclement weather conditions in Wisconsin are hazardous working environments for laborers.
December 12, 2007... Byline: Dustin Block Memories flooded back to Tom Fisher on Tuesday. Twenty-nine years ago, in an ice storm similar to the one that attacked southern Wisconsin Tuesday, Fisher's brother Tim died working as a laborer in Madison. ...

Wisconsin Supreme Court deadlocks on moratoriums.
December 13, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan A lawsuit expected to determine whether municipalities can ban temporarily the dividing of land for new developments got kicked back to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals after the state Supreme Court deadlocked on the case....

Director of Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association: Pitting highways vs. rails a 'stalemate'.
December 13, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Tom Walker predicted that a funding battle between rail projects and highway construction would end in a stalemate that wouldn't advance either undertaking. "That (highways vs. rails) concept has been around...

Misky to lead redevelopment authority in Milwaukee.
December 14, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Dave Misky, development and environmental manager for the Milwaukee Department of City Development, was chosen on Thursday to lead the city's redevelopment authority. Misky will take over from Joel Brennan, Mayor Tom...

Milwaukee Metropolitan Builders Assn. executive to resign.
December 14, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan With a young daughter starting kindergarten next year, Metropolitan Builders Association Executive Director Matt Moroney is joining the ranks of people resigning from their jobs to spend more time with family. "I...

For its future, Green Bay reaches to its past.
December 14, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Green Bay next year will start promoting its offering of $10,000 grants to people who convert downtown multi-family houses back to their original single-family use. Most of the downtown housing in Green Bay dates back...

Extension of Milwaukee's Hank Aaron State Trail will help Silver City neighborhood.
December 17, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan A short extension of the Hank Aaron State Trail over the Menomonee River and under the Canadian Pacific railroad will open up a whole new world to pedestrians in Milwaukee's Silver City neighborhood. "For the people...

Milwaukee's move to help Integrated Mail Services stings Bee Bus Line.
December 17, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee's plan to use eminent domain powers to help Integrated Mail Services acquire land for its expansion has moved forward despite protests from the land's owner. At a Thursday meeting (PDF) of the Redevelopment...

Wis.-based Splat Digital Printing buys Anderson Graphics Inc. building for its expansion.
December 18, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Splat Digital Printing will follow through with its plan to move to Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley, but it will buy rather than build. The company considered building new in the Menomonee Valley Industrial Center, but...

Wis.-based Urban Land Interests to buy Madison's glass building.
December 18, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Forward thinking was at the heart of the U.S. Bank building when it was built on Madison's Capitol Square in 1973. Brad Binkowski doesn't want that to change. Binkowski is a principal with Madison-based Urban...

University of Wisconsin takes steps to help support nanotechnology research.
December 18, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Timing is critical in nanotechnology research. For Wisconsin's university researchers, every day lost in the development of a new patent presents an opportunity for scientists in Illinois or California to get done...

Evansville School District in Wisconsin plans to buy cheap land and build later.
December 19, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Average land prices in Evansville range from $10,000 to $20,000 an acre, but the Evansville School District still wants to buy land without any immediate plans to build. Heidi Carvin, the district's administrator,...

Continental Properties Co. Inc. to build Miwaukee soccer training facility, Cudahy Station.
December 19, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Cudahy is taking a second shot at creating a landmark destination after its first attempt, the Iceport project, failed. Sportsites LLC's proposed Iceport aimed to be the region's epicenter for hockey, but the building...

Nuclear debate strikes Wisconsin State Capitol.
December 19, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Steve Gregg just can't picture anyone building a nuclear power plant in Beloit. "It's not something we think about really," said Gregg, Beloit's assistant city manager. "I think you have to be closer to a large...

Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District corners the market on dead bacteria.
December 20, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Of all the products that put Milwaukee on the map -- Harley-Davidson hogs, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, Usinger's brats -- Milorganite isn't the first to come to mind. But the fertilizer can be found in stores across the...

Milwaukee Kaye land-rigging case could continue.
December 20, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan A U.S. court of appeals decision on Monday could give Joseph Kaye a second chance to pursue his lawsuit charging Milwaukee officials with rigging a land sale. The U.S. Eastern District Court of Wisconsin dismissed...

University of Wisconsin-Parkside builds so students will stay.
December 21, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Maggie Brogan spent a lot of money on gas last year. A sophomore living on campus at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside at the time, Brogan could find absolutely no reason to stick around during the weekends. With...

Developers finger city of Onalaska as a hot spot.
December 21, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder VEH Properties wants to build something in Onalaska, but the city isn't sure what, exactly, that might be. The Onalaska-based developer submitted an application for a conceptual site plan to the city of Onalaska...

Snow piles get under Milwaukee alderman's skin.
December 21, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman has spent years sloshing through the snow and slush that accumulates on the city's bus stops and corners, and he's not going to take it anymore. He's asking fellow aldermen to support...

Big business rises from death discussion.
December 21, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan People like to have a roof over their heads, even when they're dead. A home for the afterlife is a necessary topic of discussion. And when people talk, a special breed of builders is listening. Christine Toson...

Cassville power plant generates local support.
December 24, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Dale Kruger lives in Cassville, but on the other side of town from where the 300-megawatt expansion to the Nelson Dewey power plant would be built. He's not next door, but he's still closer to the plant then the...

Milwaukee Public Museum's 'creepy' collection escapes cramped quarters.
December 26, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan The storage room where the Milwaukee Public Museum keeps its jars of fish, frog, snake and lizard specimens is plastered with "No Smoking" signs. One errant cigarette, after all, could blow a hole in the building....

Pardon the interruption:Wisconsin considers requiring installation of arc-fault circuit interrupters.
December 26, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Chris Kelliher knows how hard it is selling clients a $15 product they're not familiar with instead of the 50-cent item they've known for years. That's the concern of Spring City Electric Inc.'s sales and marketing...

Wisconsin Assembly bill puts the squeeze on metal thieves.
December 26, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Michael Banaszynski said he knows there are honest scrap yards in Wisconsin. "But for every honest one," he said, "there's another one that isn't." Banaszynski is a detective in the Walworth County Sheriff's...

Madison airport collects its fare share.
December 27, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Joey Tremain travels a lot. He's been to airports all over the country, and he's familiar with what it costs to park at a lot of them. "(Dane County Regional Airport) has always been so much nicer compared to...

Snow removal cramps Madison coffers.
December 27, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Madison officials would prefer not to dip further into the city's reserve fund for snow removal before Jan. 1. Tim Wobbeking, a meteorologist for WKOW-TV in Madison, said that won't be an option. "We'll be...

State of Wisconsin gives Sheboygan River new lease on life.
December 28, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan The last 14 miles of the Sheboygan River are practically useless. The water is undrinkable, the fish are inedible, and the stretch of water is too shallow to hold much more than a model boat. But the state is in...

Wisconsin builder groups place their bets on Bosman.
December 28, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Both the construction union council and the builders association representing Kenosha, for the first time, endorsed a candidate in the city's mayoral primary election. Without consulting each other beforehand, the...

Janesville prepares for possible sign assault.
December 28, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder Lamar Outdoor Advertising has put up six electronic billboards around Janesville. By the end of February, it might be putting up more. A citywide moratorium on the billboards will end Feb. 27, but before it does,...

Logo for De Pere, Wisconsin, loses its relevance.
December 28, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder There's a lot of thought that goes into a city's logo. Citizens discuss it, committees debate it and designers try and try again to get it just right. When the logo is done, it's supposed to represent a city. ...

Heavy snowfalls crush contractor budgets in Wisconsin.
December 31, 2007... Byline: Paul Snyder City cleanup crews weren't the only ones cursing Friday's snowstorm. At construction sites throughout Wisconsin, work moved indoors (where it could) or came to an early end, like at the Creekside Elementary School...

Neighborhood sounds off over loud Milwaukee airport.
December 31, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan Carl Tucholka said his complaints about the noise at Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport keep falling on deaf ears. But that, he said, won't stop him from yelling about it. "If they decide to quiet...

City of Brookfield settles some Calhoun lawsuits.
December 31, 2007... Byline: Sean Ryan The city of Brookfield struck settlements with seven property owners who live on Calhoun Road and sued the city over its move to acquire property for the road's planned expansion. "We have seven cases that are pending...