The Daily Reporter articles from July 2004

The Daily Reporter archives from July 2004

Potawatomi tribe makes payment.
July 1, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan The Potawatomi tribe Wednesday secured loans from three banks and gave the state a $40.5 million payment that was required under its newest gaming compact. "This payment represents the commitment of the Potawatomi...

Wisconsin task force on public education recommends tapping transportation.
July 2, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Gov. Jim Doyle's task force on public education has recommended the state shore up school finances by tapping the transportation fund and expanding the sales tax to cover architectural and engineering services. ...

Racine-area program mentors young adults.
July 2, 2004... Byline: Brendan O' Brien The Racine Common Council earlier this month approved a donation of $100,000 to the newly established local Youthbuild program, a much-needed initiative allowing underprivileged youth to get a firsthand glimpse of...

Commentary: Business success = pursuit of excellence.
July 2, 2004... Byline: Tom Bentley Well those crazy, hazy, lazy days of summer are finally here. Whether you are into golf, lake life, Brewers games or Summerfest, it's time for Harley riding, concerts and goofing off. Problem: Customers don't stop...

Commentary: Sexual harassment not easily interpreted.
July 6, 2004... Byline: Scott C. Baumbach The outcome of sexual harassment claims are often difficult to predict because they often involve a he said/she said interpretation of events. A clear demonstration of the complex nature of these disputes is the...

Group: Dept. of Natural Resources permit reforms needed.
July 7, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan The state needs a more comprehensive approach to construction permitting and more citizen support for strained Department of Natural Resources staff, an environmental group asserted Tuesday. "We recommend the DNR...

Lt. Gov. Lawton advocates for female businesses.
July 7, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell At a recent roundtable discussion in the Milwaukee area, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said she was speaking to women entrepreneurs about why they want to start their own businesses. "One woman said to me, 'I don't...

DNR, contractors seek common waste ground.
July 8, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan The Department of Natural Resources is reaching out to contractors to collaborate on asbestos removal and find new ways to recycle construction waste. Some builders are reaching back. "More and more of the...

Wisconsin's poised to be player in biotech industry.
July 9, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan If an industry grows in Wisconsin and nobody sees it, it turns out it still makes a profit. Wisconsin has quietly researched, developed and manufactured biomedical products for more than a decade, but the limelight...

Constructive Comments: July 12, 2004.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Dick Snow How many times have you heard that? Indeed, history does repeat itself. For example: n The Pennsylvania governor signs a bill that will add 61,000 slot machines in that state to increase tax revenues and lower...

Wisconsin's biotechnology and medical sciences industries begin to emerge.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell It's hard to talk about the present state of Wisconsin's biotechnology and medical sciences industries without using the future tense. The University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Medical College of Wisconsin...

Condo seen as 'gateway development'.
July 13, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan Waukesha-based developer Scott Fergus is hoping his $60 million condominium project on the shore of the Milwaukee River will act as a link between new developments in the Third Ward and Walker's Point. "We believe...

Potosi chosen as home to National Brewery Museum.
July 13, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell While Milwaukee and St. Louis and their proxy breweries duke it out over who's the king or president or whatever of beer, the village of Potosi on the Mississippi River can lay claim to the title of home of beer. ...

Labor lawyers, unions oppose NLRB merger.
July 14, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan About two dozen comments came in response to the National Labor Relation Board's proposal to downgrade its Milwaukee office to cut positions and save money. They all opposed the plan. The NLRB's headquarters in...

OSHA rewrites crane rules.
July 14, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's committee to rewrite its crane rules found consensus on everything but regulation of operator certification, which two contractor associations disagreed on. The...

Faith Technologies practices what it preaches.
July 14, 2004... Byline: Brendan O' Brien In the face of mergers, acquisitions and the normal peaks and valleys of three decades of entrepreneurship in the construction industry, it has been an unwavering commitment to its clients, employees and community...

Commentary: Prioritizing construction issues.
July 14, 2004... Byline: Donald Croysdale This week, the Construction Employers Legislative Council begins its review of a significant array of construction legislative and regulatory issues. As noted last month, CELC is a discussion group of 16-plus...

Gugler Lithographic building's historic designation appealed.
July 15, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan Developers attempting to redevelop the Gugler Lithographic building in Milwaukee's Park East corridor have appealed the city Historic Preservation Commission's decision to grant it protection as a historic property. ...

Mayor of Milwaukee joins forces with city's business association.
July 16, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, making good on a campaign pledge, is soliciting opinions from Milwaukee's 23,000 companies to see how city government could help them prosper. "Part of the goal is to retain the businesses...

Wisconsin contractors to pay less for worker's comp insurance.
July 16, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The Wisconsin construction industry's increased attention to safety will bear fruit later this year when contractors will start paying less for workers' compensation insurance. In the last week, the state...

Three-way International Union of Operating Engineers race heats up.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell In an occasionally contentious campaign, the former second-in-command for the state's Operating Engineers union is making a bid to unseat his former boss. The race for the International Union of Operating...

Rainwater inflow and infilitration identified as causes for Milwaukee sewerage overflow.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan Rain leaking into cracked pipes keeps coming up as a main cause of sewer overflows as Mayor Tom Barrett's Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Audit Committee continues its inquiry. The Department of Natural...

Wisconsin's asbestos rule moving toward consensus.
July 20, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Rulemakers, contractors and trainers have settled disagreements that six weeks ago seemed poised to cause problems for big new changes to state asbestos rules and certification fees. Last month, the Department of...

Roundy's celebrates groundbreaking for its Oconomowoc distribution center.
July 21, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan Roundy's Tuesday celebrated the groundbreaking of its new Oconomowoc distribution center, which is still facing legal challenges from a local resident group called Friends of Summit. Gov. Jim Doyle, Transportation...

Union organizer ejected from Bush rally in Green Bay.
July 21, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan Outagamie County Supervisor and Ironworkers Local 8 Organizer Jayson Nelson was ejected from the Bush re-election rally in Green Bay after campaign workers discovered he was wearing a John Kerry T-shirt. Nelson said...

Commentary: Government at your service.
July 21, 2004... Byline: Donald Croysdale The Legislature may not be in session, but regulators are active in being of service for us. This week came the latest Great Lakes proposal for potential expansion of the freshwater system. At first blush, Waukesha...

Bradley Center, Wisconsin Center District consider merger.
July 22, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The Bradley Center and the Wisconsin Center District are taking steps to form some kind of consolidated entity and could ask the Legislature to bless the deal early next year. For the last several months, a group...

Commentary: Energy Star program can give builders an edge.
July 22, 2004... Byline: Matt Moroney In today's market, residential builders must strive to separate themselves from their competition. Building homes that meet the Energy Star standards is one way to do this. The Wisconsin Energy Star program, which is...

West Bend opens proposals for boutique hotel as part of redevelopment of downtown.
July 23, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan West Bend's redevelopment is hitting its stride as the city prepares to open proposals for a boutique hotel and Riverbend Development LLC is set to begin building its $80 million project. "We're trying to support the...

Commentary: Unfinished business.
July 23, 2004... Byline: Randy Crump Wisconsin 1984 Act 390 amended the law relating to state agency purchases, establishing a 5 percent minority goal and including a provision that a low-bid waiver may be given to a qualified certified minority firm whose...

Centers for Disease Control report shows asbestosis deaths on rise.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan A new Centers for Disease Control report shows U.S. asbestosis deaths, which occur decades after exposure to asbestos, are increasing. However, there is hope that the numbers will begin to decline over the long term...

Commentary: Constructive Comments: July 26, 2004.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Dick Snow All the potholes are filled, a new course of material has been applied and the construction industry is once more heading in the right direction. Putting it another way - the downturn in volume that began in 2003 is...

Report: Certificate-of-need laws drive up cost.
July 27, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Government controls on hospital construction and spending dampen competition and drive up costs for consumers, according to a new federal report. The study, issued Friday by the Federal Trade Commission and the...

Chicago co. lands Marquette Interchange reconstruction contract.
July 28, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Downtown Milwaukee is looking more like an extension of Chicago after an Illinois-based contractor filed the low bid Tuesday for a large piece of the Marquette Interchange reconstruction job. Walsh Construction...

Commentary: Special session called for Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
July 28, 2004... Byline: Donald Croysdale Competition does work - even in government, or at least in politics. Aside from the presidential campaign, the Mary Panzer-Glenn Grothman state Senate race may be the one most closely watched this year. Seldom is...

WisDOT's Ruben Anthony wins Legacy Award.
July 30, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan The U.S. Department of Commerce gave its regional Legacy Award to Wisconsin Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary Ruben Anthony for WisDOT's success in fostering minority contractors. "With some of the things...

West Allis awarded MMSD rescue contract.
July 30, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Starting in September, when Milwaukee-area underground workers dial 911 for a deep-tunnel rescue, a new fire department will answer the call. After more than a decade of providing the service, the Milwaukee Fire...

Commentary: Business success = focus on customer.
July 30, 2004... Byline: Tom Bentley Our series of "Manage for Success" articles have concentrated on internally controllable factors like motivating a team of quality employees or providing vision and leadership to corporate planning by top managers or...