The Daily Reporter articles from May 2006

The Daily Reporter archives from May 2006

Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity plans first Women Build.
May 3, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle While a good deed knows no gender, Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity will begin construction on the city's first Women Build project on July 17. Milwaukee Habitat is hoping the Women Build recruits more female...

BuySeasons move to valley backed by Milwaukee's Zoning and Neighborhood Development Comm.
May 3, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan After an occasionally cross discussion about the jobs it would create, Milwaukee's Zoning and Neighborhood Development Committee endorsed BuySeasons Inc.'s move to the Menomonee Valley. "I think we will have a long...

Good Samaritan protection extended to Wisconsin contractors.
May 4, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle An amended version of a bill that provides Good Samaritan protection to Wisconsin contractors passed the state Assembly Tuesday and is on its way to Gov. Jim Doyle's desk. AB 958 gives contractors the same liability...

Good Samaritan protection extended to contractors.
May 4, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle

Soldiers Home chapel in Milwaukee full of mysteries.
May 4, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan There was a mystery about the stained glass windows in the Soldiers Home chapel in Milwaukee. They appeared in the oldest photographs discovered by the Soldiers Home Foundation, which is leading an effort to restore...

Blind since he was 17, Dick Wolter becomes premier custom home builder in the Hartford area.
May 8, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Dick Wolter is used to people doubting his abilities. But the owner of R.A.W. Builders and Designers of Hartford is also used to proving them wrong. Wolter has been blind since he was 17. But that did not stop...

Ethanol debate divides Wisconsin leaders.
May 8, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder With the public growing increasingly mindful of gas prices across the country, everyone seems to want to know how to deflate the cost at the pump. While Big Oil executives continue to be subpoenaed as they reap...

Talk of renovating stadium in Madison generates interest.
May 9, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Vern Stenman is a little surprised by all the attention a little talk with Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is generating. Stenman, the general manager of the Madison Mallards, met with Cieslewicz at the end of April...

Corn-fed ethanol becomes legislative hot potato in Wisconcin.
May 9, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Positioned in western Wisconsin, state Rep. Stephen Freese has a good view of the state's neighbors. Freese, R-Dodgeville, kept hearing about the economic impacts of Minnesota's ethanol mandate - and continually...

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker opposes county sales tax.
May 9, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker Monday spoke out against two County Board proposals to hold a referendum on increasing the sales tax for parks and cultural services. "Either instance would make us by far the...

Midwest farmers are in driver's seat.
May 10, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder When President George W. Bush signed the Renewable Fuels Standard into law in August, he hinted at the power that could be invested in the nation's farmers. "Someday, a president is going to pick up the crop report,...

Midwest farmers are in driver's seat.
May 10, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder

Milwaukee Connector wins approval from Milwaukee Common Council.
May 10, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan The Milwaukee Common Council discussed the Milwaukee Connector for 45 minutes before voting 9-6 to approve it, but the most intense debate started afterward. Connector opponent Alderman Robert Bauman asked to change...

Golf course in Germantown scaled back for mixed-use project.
May 10, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle The Blackstone Creek project in the village of Germantown kills two birds with one stone. Pewaukee-based VJS Construction Services' $50 million redevelopment of Lake Park Golf Course will provide Germantown with...

Bidding error delays construction on the village of Walworth's library project.
May 11, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle An error in the bidding process has pushed back construction on the village of Walworth's library project nearly a year. Walworth was supposed to break ground this month on a $1.96 million replacement for the...

Bidding error delays Walworth library.
May 11, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle

Ethanol could fuel construction industry, says director of Associated General Contractors of WI.
May 11, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Missing out on trends can be a damaging thing. Whether you're a 7th-grader caught in last month's fashions or losing out on contracts because of increasing green building requirements, the view from the sidelines...

Downtown Mazomanie Village garden gets second chance.
May 11, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder What a difference a day - or three - can make. Mazomanie Village President Jeff Wirth thought that a three-year effort to spruce up the downtown area with a garden was as good as dead on Friday. On Monday, he was...

Developer proposing $200M project that would mimic downtown Delafield.
May 11, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Bob Lang, who has developed 20 buildings in downtown Delafield, is gathering resident comments on his plan to develop a 60-acre site in the city that would mimic the downtown's character. "The whole plan is an...

Stanley ethanol plant is Wisconsin's first.
May 12, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Bob Sather knows too well how potent some friendly banter can be. Take that 2000 chat he was having with friend Alexander Smardzich, for instance. "We were talking very casually, and he just said to me, 'Well Bob,...

Rustic Roads program in Wisconsin is a network of rural byways.
May 15, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle We hear plenty about the Marquette Interchange reconstruction and other major highway improvements across Wisconsin. But what about those lightly traveled back roads that give the state its great outdoors flavor?...

EPA awards $2.6M in brownfields grants to four Wisconsin communities.
May 15, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle The Environmental Protection Agency awarded $2.6 million in brownfields redevelopment grants Friday to four Wisconsin communities. The Redevelopment Authority of Milwaukee and the cities of Kenosha, Oshkosh, and...

Brew City Redevelopment Group's case to be heard in WI Supreme Court.
May 16, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan The state Supreme Court accepted Brew City Redevelopment Group's case against WisPark LLC and The Ferchill Group over ownership of part of the Pabst Brewery. It also on Friday refused to hear a case between Oconto...

New Midtown development planned in Milwaukee.
May 16, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder After three years as a real estate acquisition and management firm, Oak Brook, Ill.-based Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust Inc. will break ground on its first development project Tuesday in Milwaukee. The...

Testimony heard in Milwaukee Metro. Sewerage Dist., Super Excavators case.
May 17, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Drag racing might have led to an accident in which the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is being sued for liability. MMSD is being sued for damages by a man who sustained injuries in October 2002 when his...

City of Madison buying Allied Drive buildings.
May 17, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder The most important strategic move Madison could make, according to Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, has been made. The city won its bid last week to buy nine rental buildings in the Allied Drive neighborhood for $4.35...

Northwestern Mutual announces $85M expansion in Franklin.
May 17, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan State and local officials hailed Northwestern Mutual's $85 million expansion in Franklin as a victory in Wisconsin's campaign to compete in the national and global economy. "We're getting offers all the time from...

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee report identifies poverty problems.
May 18, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan A new University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee report chronicles the city's shifting and increasing poverty and proposes making it the focus of development and regional efforts. "The bad news is that although inner city...

Opposition to casino bill in Wisconsin mounts.
May 18, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder A casino bill is on its way to the governor's desk, and the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin is leading the charge in urging its veto. The tribe has been a longstanding opponent of the legislation, AB 461, which was...

Tielens Construction Inc. project in Brown County case heads to jury trial.
May 18, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle An appellate court is hearing a case in which a painter fell down a stairwell that didn't have protective railing. In September 2003, Aaron and Angela Bain of Green Bay sued Luxemburg-based Tielens Construction Inc....

American Transmission Company's plans called into question by Dane County officials.
May 19, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Dane County officials want someone besides the American Transmission Company to weigh in on the county's need for transmission lines. And the Dane County Board of Supervisors was to review a resolution Thursday...

USDA awards $880,000 in grants to help rural businesses.
May 19, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle A northern Wisconsin organization with strong American Indian partnerships received more than $880,000 in business and development grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Keshena on Wednesday. USDA Rural...

Wisconsin developer asks Middleton officials for $65M to fund project.
May 23, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder It doesn't hurt to ask. Middleton officials, after all, are used to entertaining tax incremental financing requests from developers. Of course, those requests are usually in the $2 million to $3 million range. So...

Milwaukee public works bids coming in higher than estimates.
May 23, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Bids have been coming in high for Milwaukee public works projects because of fuel and commodities costs, but it's too early to say whether that would defer projects. "We were doing OK early on, and things got more...

$75M Wisconsin ethanol plant could be under way next year.
May 24, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Construction on a $75 million ethanol plant in Sparta could be under way next year. Sparta City Administrator Ken Witt said a feasibility study is under way and the 34-acre site is locked up for a cooperative group...

Milwaukee council committee endorses deal for a Job Corps training center despite objections.
May 24, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan A Milwaukee Common Council committee endorsed a deal to bring a Job Corps training center to town despite neighbors' objections to living alongside its students. The project would use $30 million in federal Department...

Wisconsin $200M mixed-use project is planned for the end of this year.
May 24, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Infrastructure work on the largest mixed-use development in the city of Racine's history is planned for the end of this year. KeyBridge Development Group, Waukesha, and the city have agreed on the development of...

Wisconsin-based Open Range Communications Inc applies for federal funds.
May 25, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Open Range Communications Inc. is applying for federal funds to provide broadband services to at least 505 rural communities in 23 states, including Wisconsin. The extent of its application is unknown since the U.S....

Wisconsin Governor Doyle signs bill that makes locating laterals easier.
May 25, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder Three years of work by the Wisconsin Underground Contractors Association came to fruition Friday as Gov. Jim Doyle signed SB 498 into law. "This bill is something we've worked to get for a long time, and we're very...

Wisconsin Memorial Park construction under way.
May 26, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle This weekend will be a busy one at Wisconsin Memorial Park in Brookfield, where up to 15,000 people are expected to visit and take part in Memorial Day events. "Memorial Day means honoring all the servicemen and...

A Milwaukee-based construction company lands construction manager for a Fortune 200 company.
May 26, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder It's not often that the opportunity comes around to build a Fortune 200 company's world headquarters, but Milwaukee-based Gilbane Building Co. has been afforded just that. The company announced Thursday that it had...

Augusta ethanol plant plans unveiled.
May 30, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder To say Stonic Energy gave their proposed ethanol plant for the city of Sparta a simple rethink might be a bit of an understatement. When Stonic and the city reached an agreement to build a plant in 2002, the plan...

Historic Milwaukee church to undergo restoration.
May 31, 2006... Byline: Sean Ryan Rev. Tim Kitzke said restoring St. Hedwig church on Milwaukee's Brady Street is not about religion - it's about improving the neighborhood. "The external restoration is very important because it sends off the message...

Wetlands exemption denied project in Kewaunee County.
May 31, 2006... Byline: Joe Grundle Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed a bill Friday that exempted a construction project in Kewaunee County from state building restrictions on wetlands. If signed, Senate Bill 551 would have allowed a town of Franklin resident to...

Arbor Gate project in Madison moves forward.
May 31, 2006... Byline: Paul Snyder It's all about forward momentum for Madison, says Alderman Tim Bruer, and a new development along the Beltline highway is carrying a lot of it. The Madison Community Development Authority approved the Arbor Gate...