The Daily Reporter articles from June 2006

The Daily Reporter archives from June 2006

Milwaukee mayor's veto of the Connector holds.
June 1, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan After the Milwaukee Common Council upheld Mayor Tom Barrett's veto of the Connector, he welcomed a discussion about other ways to use the $91 million in federal funds. "Today's vote to uphold my veto of the Connector...

U.S. Rep. Ron Kind releases energy plan for 21st century.
June 1, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder U.S. Representative Ron Kind, D-Wis., announced Wednesday his 21st century energy strategy to meet America's current and future energy needs. The plan would also relieve the price pinch on consumers, reduce...

Wauwatosa's oldest fire station eyeing bigger facility.
June 1, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Many people want a bigger house, but Wauwatosa's oldest fire station might move for a bigger garage. At 14 feet tall, new standard fire trucks are much too high for the Underwood Avenue fire station's 10.6-foot-high...

Bill regulating impact fees in Wisconsin is signed.
June 2, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder New homeowners in Wisconsin should now be able to breathe easier in bracing for impact. Gov. Jim Doyle signed SB 681 into law Tuesday, which requires impact fees imposed upon new development to be fair and...

Retired pipefitter files asbestos suit in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
June 2, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Bill Jorgenson, a retired pipefitter and self-proclaimed father of Wiscon-sin bluegrass, is suing 19 companies for asbestos exposure that allegedly lead to his January diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma. "He had a...

Beloit welcomes bottling plant.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Construction is set to begin this summer on a plastic beverage container manufacturing facility in Beloit. The Beloit City Council on Monday is expected to approve a development agreement with Southeastern Container...

Public Service Commission of Wisconsin examines new coal technology.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder All of the sudden, integrated gasification combined-cycle technology doesn't seem like such a bad idea. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin released a draft...

Land-use plan for Mount Pleasant clears hurdle.
June 7, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Mount Pleasant is set for some major growth, and Jim Henke says he only hopes everything unfolds in an orderly fashion. Henke, the village's community development director, has seen big things coming for Mount...

RockGen Energy Center in Dane County future uncertain.
June 7, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan New York City's CIT Group is set to take over the RockGen Energy Center in Dane County within 60 days. However, it will have to close the five-year-old power plant down if it can't get a Wisconsin utility to purchase...

Kenosha-based Biehn Construction scales back business.
June 7, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Biehn Construction Inc. of Kenosha is scaling back its operations in an effort to stay competitive. As of March 20, BCI phased out a few of its divisions, primarily in the mechanical trades. "The industry has...

Wisconsin professor says wood's value is overlooked.
June 8, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Wisconsin's push to expand the ethanol industry in the state has been based on one major crop - corn. But Gerry Ring says Wisconsin is well equipped with another renewable resource that can be used for ethanol, and much...

WI Dept. of Transportation to unveil north-south corridor plans.
June 8, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle The Wisconsin Department of Transportation will unveil four concepts Thursday afternoon for the Interstate 94 north-south corridor reconstruction at a public meeting in Milwaukee. The eight-year, $1 billion project...

Milwaukee Alderman Joe Davis criticizes contractor on minority goals.
June 8, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee Alderman Joe Davis Wednesday said he will be watching road projects in his home city to gauge how many minority workers are on site. He said he's gone past the reconstruction of West Capitol Drive between...

Milwaukee's 27th Street business community unites.
June 9, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan The newly formed business association for South 27th Street in Milwaukee and Greenfield has concerns about competition from Franklin and Oak Creek. "They are light years ahead of where the north section of South 27th...

National transportation research group outlines Wisconsin's future interstate needs.
June 9, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder It's been a fantastic 50 years for Wisconsin's interstate system. Now, about those next 50... Such was the sentiment in Madison Thursday as transportation officials joined manufacturers and laborers to announce the...

Birds bring Wisconsin construction projects to a halt.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle While it hasn't reached Hitchcockian proportions just yet, the birds are making their presences felt on construction sites throughout the state this spring. In early May, a red-tailed hawk's nest halted the...

Milwaukee's TechnoJungle receives funding.
June 13, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Johnson Controls is giving $3 million to Discovery World in Pier Wis-consin for a TechnoJungle exhibit intended to encourage innovative thinking. Chairman and CEO John Barth said the exhibit should inspire young...

Annual ethanol expo opens next week in Milwaukee.
June 13, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Milwaukee is set to be the center of the ethanol world, if only for a week. BBI International's 22nd Fuel Ethanol Workshop and Expo kicks off June 20 with the convention's annual golf tournament at Brown Deer Park...

WI Supreme Court rules statute of repose bars safe.
June 14, 2006... Byline: David Ziemer Ten years after a structure is completed, sec. 839.89 bars safe place claims from injuries caused by structural defects, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held on June 6. In 2001, Julie Mair fractured her right femur in...

Statute of repose bars safe.
June 14, 2006... Byline: David Ziemer

U.S. COA, 7th Circuit rules since gov't didn't appeal, defendant not entitled to further reduction.
June 14, 2006... Byline: David Ziemer A court may not impose a below-guideline sentence as a means of reducing the difference between defendants convicted of crack cocaine offenses, and those whose offenses involve powder cocaine. Writing for the...

Madison School Board approves $23M referendum.
June 14, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder The Madison Metropolitan School District needs some more real estate. The district will soon be putting out bids for work on an addition to Leopold Elementary, but it's also going to need another new school on the...

Boulder Junction eyes winter park.
June 14, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle The town of Boulder Junction has asked the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to reclassify 21 acres of state forest land for a winter recreation park. The park will lie on Northern Highland-American Legion...

United Community Center in Milwaukee breaks ground on two projects.
June 14, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan The United Community Center Tuesday broke ground on an expansion that will house unprecedented Alzheimer's disease research alongside preschool classes. "In some situations, we've got three or four generations of the...

Milwaukee County's Park East panel wants greater oversight.
June 15, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan The Milwaukee County Board is taking steps to remove procedural and scheduling issues arising during the sale of the county's Park East properties. After passing the Park East Redevelopment Compact resolution saying...

Park East panel wants greater oversight.
June 15, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan

Ground broken in Madison on landmark WECC project.
June 15, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Ground was broken in Madison Tuesday on the first LEED Gold-Certified building in Wisconsin. Members of the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation, Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and representatives from the...

Six-year flood-mitigation work begins on Milwaukee County Grounds flood-management.
June 15, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District broke ground Wednesday on the Milwaukee County Grounds flood-management project. The six-year, $84 million flood-mitigation project will reduce flooding along the...

Graves unearthed at Milwaukee job site.
June 16, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan They were buried about one or two feet deep in coffins, with their heads facing west and their feet pointed east. Time passed, and builders buried the graves under another five or six feet of dirt. The paving crews...

Washington County Board backs off developmental rights program.
June 16, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Washington County farmers may not be able to sell their farmland's development rights to the county while keeping their property after all. The Washington County Board backed off of an earlier decision to create...

Family businesses comprise up to 90 percent of all business enterprises in the U.S.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder The family firm's a force to reckon with. Consider this from American Management Services Inc.: Family businesses comprise 80 to 90 percent of all business enterprises in the country. And this: Family-owned...

Like Father, like son.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder

Federal funds secured for roads in northwestern Wisconsin.
June 20, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Northwestern Wisconsin's roads may see significant growth down the line, but for right now, the issue is making them safe. And that's a relief to at least one state senator. Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, issued a...

Federal funds secured for northern roads.
June 20, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder

Milwaukee-based Dawes Rigging and Crane Rental helps Lucy get back on her feet.
June 20, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle When one of the world's largest land animals can't stand up, who are you going to call? Well, if you're the Milwaukee County Zoo and your 9,000-pound elephant needs assistance, you call Dawes Rigging and Crane...

Dawes helps Lucy get back on her feet.
June 20, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle

Tim Michels won't run for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin - this year.
June 21, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Two years after his surprising victory in the Republican primary for Wisconsin's 2004 U.S. Senate race, Tim Michels has chosen not to run again this year. While Michels has not ruled out a future career in politics,...

Michels won't run for U.S. Senate - this year.
June 21, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle

Selective Video slowing redevelopment in Madison.
June 21, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Adult entertainment just doesn't figure into Tim Bruer's redevelopment plans. The Madison alderman is leading the city's charge on revitalizing the Todd Drive area along the Beltline Highway, which will include the...

Chicago investors set sights on Milwaukee.
June 21, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan A team of Chicago investors, smelling opportunity in Milwaukee, is crossing into the downtown hotel market with a $7 million overhaul of the Howard Johnson. "Milwaukee has been unusually attractive to us," said John...

Developer abandons Landmark Gate project.
June 22, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder And just like that, one half of the Todd Drive revitalization effort in Madison is a question mark. Mortenson Investment Group announced Tuesday that it was abandoning its proposed Landmark Gate project, due to a...

Kenosha-based Biehn Construction's status unclear.
June 23, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle While Biehn Construction Inc. owner Larry Biehn has denied that auctioning off his company's assets means he is going out of business, a letter sent to his creditors paints a different picture. On June 6, Biehn told...

Richland Center auditorium to be saved.
June 23, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder As with all great stage performances, timing is key. While there have been a number of talks over the years to revitalize Richland Center's historic Municipal Auditorium, it finally looks like there is going to be...

State of Wisconsin considers suing defunct Westra Construction.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan The state is gearing up to sue the defunct Westra Construction Inc. after it missed a May 20 deadline to pay ex-employees $620,225. The money represents unpaid health care payments, balances on health care savings...

Wisconsin governor calls GOP 'anti-ethanol'.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Another Wisconsin push for ethanol was put on hold this week. The Joint Finance Committee suspended a vote Wednesday on allocating $335,000 to support several interrelated alternative fuel projects targeted to local...

City of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, nixes $60M resort.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Once again, the city of Oshkosh has an opening for a cornerstone project in its riverfront redevelopment. After months of trying in vain to lock down financing, the $60 million Five Rivers Resort development...

Development limits proposed by Milwaukee's City Plan Commission.
June 27, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Not every neighborhood wants to grow like Brewers Hill has. Milwaukee's City Plan Commission reviewed a plan Monday that would make parts of the Brewers Hill and Harambee neighborhoods a Neighborhood Conservation...

State of Wisconsin helps Buechel Stone Corp. expand.
June 27, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Buechel Stone Corp. received a helpful boost from the state Friday in its expansion efforts. The Fond du Lac-based building and landscaping stone outfitter was awarded a $1 million Community Development Block Grant...

Associated General Contractors of WI to open nine training academies.
June 28, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle If imitation is a form of flattery, then the first year of the Construction Career Academy at Burlington High School was a rousing success. Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin is expanding the program to...

Atwood Community Center in Madison plans foundry renovation.
June 28, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Recycling has a funny way of bringing things around again. The Atwood Community Center was responsible for launching the first neighborhood recycling center in Madison, and it used the former Kupfer foundry as home...

Task force reports Milwaukee needs an affordable-housing trust fund.
June 28, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan A Milwaukee task force last week released its suggestions for creating and financing a new program to subsidize affordable-housing projects. Now it's up to the city to take it or leave it. "It's no longer a...

Wisconsin Supreme Court rules against WisDOT.
June 29, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Wisconsin's eminent domain laws gained some new conditions when the state Supreme Court upheld a Winnebago County Circuit Court decision Tuesday. The conflict was between plaintiff Bernice Spielberg and the...

Columbia St. Mary's in Milwaukee starts $417 million project.
June 29, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Columbia St. Mary's broke ground Wednesday on a $417 million hospital on Milwaukee's east side that is projected to open in 2010. "This really marks our next step in transforming health care for all the people we...

Waukesha panel recommends 333 acre annexation.
June 30, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle The city of Waukesha Plan Commission voted Wednesday to recommend the city annex 333 acres along River Road from the town of Waukesha. Annexing the land could pave the way for Milwaukee-based Fiduciary Real Estate...

State approves U of Wisconsin-Whitewater business school.
June 30, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder The State Building Commission gave a major facelift at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater the green light by approving construction of a new College of Business and Econ-omics building. "We're thrilled about...

State approves UW-Whitewater business school.
June 30, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder