GOVERNOR ACKNOWLEDGES PROCLAMATION FAULT

The office of the governor sent this letter to milwaukeeworld.com this afternoon in response to our earlier posting accusing the governor's office of using copyright material by Michael Horne that appeared here on February 12th in a proclamation issued in honor of the 60th anniversary of Glorioso Bros. grocery store in Milwaukee.
The governor's communications director, Dan Leistikow, admits that the proclamation came from this site, and gives the credit that had been lacking.
Milwaukeeworld is grateful for the governor's prompt attention to this matter of intellectual property.
--Michael Horne

pdf version

JIM DOYLE
GOVERNOR
STATE OF WISCONSIN
P.O. BOX 7863, MADISON, WISCONSIN 53707-7863 􀂌 (608) 266-1212 􀂌 FAX: (608) 267-8983 􀂌
WWW.WISGOV.STATE.WI.US
March 29, 2006
Michael Horne
Milwaukeeworld.com
Dear Mr. Horne:
As I mentioned to you over the phone, our office does thousands of proclamations, and
works very hard to gather accurate and thorough information from whatever sources it
can on a very short timeframe. Since the material for the Glorioso Brothers
proclamation came from your posting, I wanted to send you this letter giving you
credit. Feel free to post this letter on your site.
Glorioso Brothers is a great Milwaukee small business, with a rich history and a
bright future in the city. Your article was a fitting tribute to the company and the
hardworking people who have made it a success.
Sincerely,
Dan Leistikow
Communications Directorv

SHAM TRAM? SCANT INFO ON CONNECTOR ACCORD

By Michael Horne

I hope you have plenty of memory in your computer, because I'm going to download the entire Common Council files on the proposed Milwaukee Connector project right now. We'll give you all the links, too.
Ready?
Here is the entirety of the files for City of Milwaukee Common council Legislative File Number 051610:
"Resolution expressing the City of Milwaukee's support for the Milwaukee Connector public transit project."
That's it, in its entirety. No "whereas," "be it resolved" or "be it further resolved" clauses. Nothing, in fact, for an alderman or for the public to know exactly what it is the Steering and Rules Committee will discuss when the file comes up.
This leads an inquiring mind to wonder why there is such scant information available. Usually the reason is because the information that does exist is bad, poorly-researched or ultimately more expensive than we should know.
The silent treatment is especially handy when very large sums and very large projects are involved.
It is well documented that a move was afoot in private for several years to transfer control of the publicly-owned Mitchell International Airport from the county board to an unelected regional authority. That disaster benefited from silence and the withholding of information, and there is reason to be concerned that the proponents of the Milwaukee Connector project have not been particularly aggressive at advancing their cause, judging from the paucity of information out there. This group has spent $6 million studying an alternative form of transportation for the region, and what do we get for it? Surreptitiously introduced legislation unsupported by documentation.
When the file was submitted to the city clerk on March 23rd, he was unaware it was immediately on its way. His staff, significantly, had not been engaged in drafting legislation to express the City's support for the connector public transit project.
However, a source has provided milwaukeeworld with a Draft Common Council Resolution dated March 16th. The final resolution to be considered by the council will likely differ from the one before me which reads as if it were written by an engineer, probably from HNTB, the giant consulting firm that significantly has nothing about the Milwaukee Connector on its website, despite its intimate involvement with the project.
In a document that includes a staggering 22 "whereas" clauses, one "resolved" clause and four "further resolved" clauses, the draft proposal tells us that it has been seventeen years since $241 million in federal transportation aid was allocated to our area, and six years since the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County reached agreement to use $91.5 million to implement results of the Milwaukee Connector project."
The connector would be a "guided street tram" which "represents the new generation of bus rapid transit technology."
The next whereas tells us "the guided street tram is the best choice to fit the urban fabric of Milwaukee, versus the other technologies that have" [the sentence just dies right there.]
This miracle machine with "twice the life span of buses ... provides a flexible dual mode system operating on a guidance track with electric overhead power or optional being 'off-line' powered with a hybrid diesel/electric generator providing a more environmentally friendly public transportation system for downtown."
One whereas clause mentions "the proposed routes" for the guided tram. Somebody has penciled in a change so the sentence now reads, "the currently proposed routes."
These routes would "connect the city's major attractions, business centers, hotels, universities, hospitals, sports and entertainment venues, theaters, museums, dense residential neighborhoods and more with modern transportation."
So, then, what we have is a very poorly promoted proposal for a rubber wheeled transit system that will operate on overhead wires along an invisible track but can switch to a diesel engine for a little off-roading. The system would apparently operate two routes on 13 miles of already heavily-developed streets where it will displace a certain amount of parking and all buses.
Oh, and it's French technology, never before tested in the United States of America.
Sounds like a bus to me. Let's call it the "Sham Tram."
The final "further resolved" clause in the draft document states that the "Common Council directs the City's representative on the Milwaukee Connector Steering Committee to support the guided street tram as the locally preferred alternative and to vote "yes" to advance the next phase of the study which is preliminary engineering."
The proposal has raised the ire of Ald. Robert Bauman, chair of the Public Works Committee, which ordinarily would have had jurisdiction over the matter had Council President Willie Hines, Jr., the resolution's sponsor, not instead moved the file to the Steering and Rules Committee, which he heads.
Bauman has issued three releases against the proposal. He argues that the routes proposed for the connector are already served by buses and are virtually fully developed. He feels a connector system of some sort (Bauman, who was once in the railroad car business, is a fan of rails) that would operate in the city's lesser developed areas, like the Menomonee Valley as a spur to new businesses and residents.
Bauman would also like to see transportation dollars used to bring high speed and/or commuter rail to Milwaukee, which he said would provide a greater economic and social benefit than replacing Milwaukee's buses with -- buses.
The Milwaukee Connector has a website that contains a number of recommendations, studies and cost estimates. It is considerably out of date, with the most recent news dating to 2004. This is curious, especially since the connector is so close to being studied by the common council.
Take a look for yourself, and avail yourself of an opportunity to place your comment at the site
On March 25th, the city of Orleans, France, chose against a rubber tired tram system in favor of conventional steel wheels and rail.
[Update: March 29 2006 -- The Common Council file language will be introduced tomorrow, and we will update you when the information comes in. --Ed.]

MIDWIFE RESPONSE TO SUIT

A case last year in which an uncredentialed midwife has been charged with reckless endangerment in the death of a child during delivery has drawn a comment from the Wisconsin Guild of Midwives, a group which has been awaiting the governor's signature on a bill that handily passed both houses of the legislature on January 31.
Katie Prown, who led a grassroots charge to victory for the bill sent the following release to milwaukeeworld.com in which she says the pending licensing law would clarify the legal status of midwives.
Helen Dentice, the midwife who participated in the tragic circumstances attendant to the birth of Faith Stoiber, would not have qualified to serve as midwife under the provisions of SB477, Prown said.
According to the release:

SB 477, will close a gap in current law by requiring midwives who provide out-of-hospital maternity care to undergo the training necessary to qualify for the Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) credential. The CPM credential requires midwives to complete a rigorous educational program, to develop collaborative relationships with physicians, and to adhere to strict guidelines for identifying risk factors that necessitate hospital care.

Helen Dentice, who did not have the credentials that SB 477 would put into law, delivered Faith Stoiber in her parents’ home last November. The infant died, and Dentice has been charged with second-degree reckless endangerment, unauthorized delivery of a prescription drug, and practicing medicine without a license.

“I’m grateful that the legislators of this state recognized the need for this law,” said Bridget Stoiber, Faith’s mother. “Right now it can be very confusing for families to try to tell the difference between trained and credentialed midwives and lay midwives.” Under current Wisconsin law, there are no regulations governing out-of-hospital maternity care and no provisions to prevent lay people from advertising as midwives and delivering babies.

“As a Certified Professional Midwife who’s been practicing for over 25 years, it doesn’t surprise me that this legislation has earned such widespread support from the many physicians across the state who work with me and with other CPMs,” said Jane Crawford Peterson, President of the Wisconsin Guild of Midwives. “They know the difference between a CPM and a lay midwife, and they’re grateful that we finally have a bill that will clarify the distinction and give families the tools they need to determine if their midwife is appropriately trained.”

SB 477 requires midwives to disclose detailed information about their education, skills, and experience and to provide families with an individualized plan for care in the event that the mother or infant requires transfer to a hospital. The bill also clarifies that collaborating physicians cannot assume liability on behalf of the midwives who consult them. “Those of us who work with Certified Professional Midwives,” said Mike Feigel, MD, “believe this legislation will help open up collaborative relationships by removing the potential for litigation that has kept many doctors from being willing to confer with or accept patient referrals from midwives who practice in out-of-hospital settings.”

--Michael Horne

WALKER WITHDRAWAL PLUS FOR CLARKE

[An Opinion Piece]
The withdrawal from the Republican primary for governor by Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker creates an incidental, but not unanticipated shift in the partisan dynamics of the September election.
Why? Because it will open the opportunity for Republicans to cause mischief by voting in the Democratic primary, specifically for their hero Sheriff David Clarke, Wisconsin's most prominent DINO.
Clarke faces opposition in the Democratic primary election from challenger Vince Bobot, who has proclaimed that he is a "real democrat," and not a Democrat In Name Only like you-know-who.
When Bobot entered the race, it was with the expectation that Scott Walker would remain a candidate for the governor's seat. The loyal republicans who got Walker where he is today, it was reasoned, would certainly vote to elevate him to the high office once held by such notable figures of the Grand Old Party as Scott McCallum, Cadwallader Washburn, Jeremiah Rusk and the legendary Edward Scofield.
Wisconsin voters are not permitted to vote across party lines during primary elections. It was reasoned that while the republicans would be busy voting for Walker and therefore prohibited from also casting a vote for Clarke, Bobot's supporters on the democratic side would cast their votes for him, and not for the grandstanding cowboy from State Street.
Now that Walker has withdrawn from the race, and with no other appreciable primary races within the republican party, Walker's supporters will be free to cast their votes in the democratic primary election for Clarke.
Whether republicans will do so, and in sufficient numbers to guarantee reelection for the sheriff remains to be seen. There have been instances in the past when the party faithful have remained at home during primary elections in which there was no race within their party. This noble tradition should be continued.
--Michael Horne

$115,000 QUESTION FOR WALKER

THE $115,000 QUESTION:

CAN WALKER CONVERT

GOVERNOR RACE FUNDS?

By Michael Horne

How much of Scott Walker’s remaining gubernatorial campaign funds could be converted to the county executive’s 2008 campaign?

“There is internal disagreement on this issue,” says George Dunst, the legal counsel for the State of Wisconsin Elections Board.

He says that some of the staff feel Walker could close his campaign books at the end of the 2006 general election and roll over all of Walker’s remaining funds “to any future race,” whether local or statewide.

However there are those, including Dunst, who believe Walker may not use all of the sums he received in the governor’s campaign in a future county executive race, since some of the contributions he received were in amounts larger than the $3,000 threshold for that position. [Individuals may donate up to $10,000 total to any candidate for governor, per election cycle.]

By this analysis, there may be more than $100,000 in Walker’s campaign treasury that he would be forbidden to spend on his future campaigns for non-statewide office.

Final figures for Walker’s gubernatorial bid will not be released until the end of July, but we took a look at the two most recent Walker finance reports, from July 2005 and January 2006, and identified at least 37 individuals who had contributed more than $3,000 to Walker’s bid.

We calculated the overage by adding together the sums above $3,000 that the contributors had given Walker, and came up with a figure of at least $115,535 that could be embargoed from Walker’s county executive campaign. This is approximately 20 per cent of the $563,306 Walker had on hand as of January 31, 2006.

The record shows that Walker received six contributions of the $10,000 maximum, including those from M&I Bank head Dennis Kuester, publisher Roy Reiman, Roberta Reiman, finiancier Richard Nasgovitz, fund manager Edward Mooney and architect / heir David Vogel Uihlein, Jr.

Other large contributors include Fiserv founder George Dalton ($9,500) and his wife Pauline Dalton ($9,000); Artisan Partners owners Andrew Ziegler and Carlene Ziegler ($8,000 apiece).

Other donors included Terrence Wall of Madison, Ralph Stayer of Johnsonville Brats, Michael Cudahy and his kin Anne and Fred Luber.

Any potential future seeker of Walker’s county executive seat would be advised to challenge the excess Walker contributions; it would take 39 contributions of the maximum permitted amount of $3,000 to equal the $115,535 advantage Walker enjoys from collecting contributions of over $3,000 and up to $10,000 during his abandoned run for governor.

It will be interesting to watch this issue play itself out.

WALKER OUT OF GOVERNOR RACE

In remarks emarrgoed for release until 6:30 p.m. this evening, Scott Walker announced he was withdrawing as a Republican candidate for Governor.
He gave as his reasons
1.) lack of money
2.) "God's will."
Which still leaves us with the tantalizing possibility that Nicholas Hurtgen might be singing to the feds.
--Michael Horne

WELL, I PROCLAIM!

GOVERNOR'S PROCLAMATION BORROWS
-- OR SHALL WE SAY, "STEALS" --
FROM MILWAUKEEWORLD.COM POSTING

By Michael Horne

Governor James E. Doyle, Jr. presented our friends at Glorioso Bros. Company Italian Foods with an official plaque in honor of the firm's longevity. If I flatter myself to think the wording was particularly melifluous, I trust you will excuse me, since it appears the governor's highly ethical and hardworking staff pretty much cut-and-pasted an item about Glorioso's that I wrote and posted here on Monday, February 13th.
[Note: italics below added for emphasis. -- Ed.]
The Governor's salutation begins, "February 14, 2006 marks the 60th anniversary of Glorioso Bros. Company Italian Foods, a landmark Milwaukee grocery store that opened February 14, 1946 and is still in business today."
I had begun my posting with, "Happy 60th birthday to Glorioso Bros. Co., the grocery store at 1020 E. Brady Street that opened February 14, 1946 and is still in business today."
The governor's proclamation mentioned that the store is "run by three brothers -- Joe, Eddie and Ted Glorioso -- who have worked side-by-side for six decades."
I had written, "three brothers -- Joe, Eddie and Ted Glorioso -- have been able to survive working with each other for six decades."
The governor wrote, "Glorioso's remained as anchor on Brady Street even during the steet's declining days and played a major role in the rejuvenation due in large part to their support and allegiance to the area which led other property owners to realize the hidden value of Milwaukee's lower East Side."
I had written: The Gloriosos stayed put even during Brady Street's declining days ... Indeed their support led other property owners to realize the hidden value of Milwaukee's lower East Side."
The governor wrote: "The brothers' success in working together for the last 60 years, despite disagreements in English and Sicilian -- with the latter adding undeniable flair to the debates -- has been based on their ability to forgive and get back to work."
I had quoted Eddie Glorioso saying about the interfraternal disputes: "we forget all about it and get back to work."
I had also written that "more complicated arguments, like 'who taught you how to stack persimmons?' tend to be held in Sicilian, which adds a certain buoyancy and flair to the debate."

As you know, Dear Reader, I write milwaukeeworld.com as a labor of love, and because you like to read my always original material. I haven't hit you up for money, or begged you for contributions.
Meanwhile, we the taxpayers are supporting a governor and his well-paid staff who find it necessary to steal the words of others because they lack the talent or energy to pen what is essentially a Hallmark greeting card on their own. They certainly lack the integrity to give credit where it is due.
On second thought, we know what the Governor sounds like when he writes his own material -- how boring and tiresome that can be. I suppose I should be flattered. But I'd rather be credited, and paid, and not have my words stolen by a Harvard Law School-educated son of a Federal Judge who is (for now) the governor of Wisconsin.

[For the complete text of the Proclamation, and an abridgement, properly credited, of the milwaukeeworld.com story about Glorioso Bros., please pick up a copy of The Italian Times, April, 2006 edition, available now.--Ed.]

[Update: March 28th 2006. I called the Governor's office yesterday and did not receive a response. I called again this morning and left a detailed message with Anne Lupardus of his staff.]

[Update: March 28th 2006 2:48 p.m. I spoke in person with Anne Lupardus who says she is looking into the matter and that I should expect somebody to get back to me.]

[Update: March 29th 2006 11:53 a.m. I spoke with Dan Leistikow, the Governor's Communications Director. He said he would send me a written response sometime today. When it is received, I will share it with you.]

[Closure: March 29th 2006 3:30 p.m. The governor's office has issued a statement crediting milwaukeeworld.com with the text of the governor's proclamation. The letter is posted above.]

BARRETT AT HEAD OF IMMIGRANT RALLY

On Thursday, March 23rd 2006, when I saw the Sixth Street Viaduct filled with a marching band of humanity, my first thought was, "oh boy, the Republicans won't like this."
My reasoning was that the over 10,000 Latinos and their supporters who marched from the south side to Zeidler Union Square downtown represented a voting bloc that republicans covet, but which democrats might rightly call their own -- if only they voted!
The mass rally, in support of immigrant rights and immigrant reform, had all the earmarks of earlier public demonstrations that had marked earlier generations. In fact, with the excellent organization of Voces de la Frontera, Wisconsin Peace Action and the League of United Latin American Citizens, not to mention the very professional conduct of the Milwaukee Police Department, the march may portend an era to come in which the public en masse regains an interest in politics by taking it to the streets.
Of course, certain elements in the media realm had a different take on the proceedings. Channel 58 news called the event a "Massive Protest," belying a prejudice and inexact choice of words that is hardly commendatory from a major news organization.
(Oh, strike the above comment -- it is unjust to apply the journalistic standards of a major news organization to Channel 58 local news.)
The Bill of Rights gives us a right to peacably assemble. Simply because we do so does not mean the gathering is a "protest." The word "massive" itself has connotations of something gone awry, which was certainly not the case. [There were no arrests made, according to police. Furthermore, within two hours of the end of the event, there was no sign of any litter whatsoever at Zeidler Union Square.]
I had a wonderful view of the event as it transpired from my offices high above the Marquette Interchange, and I grabbed a camera to record the activities.
Leading the parade, and included in the photograph I have attempted to attach to this document, was Mayor Tom Barrett, the guy on the right. He was accompanied by Rep. Pedro Colon (seen with papers), and Rep. Josh Zepnick, (seen in profile). [If the photograph does not appear, it is not for want of trying on my part.]
Now -- if only a fraction of the marchers registered to vote, got their friends to do so also, manned telephone banks on election day -- and voted, would this cause problems for Republicans?
This is a matter for time to tell. About 44 per cent of the Latino vote went to Bush in the last election, a far better showing than from the 1960 - 1972 election cycles when massive protests were the norm and Democratic presidential candidates averaged 84 per cent of the vote.
--Michael Horne

MILMAG LAUCHES APRIL ISSUE

The staff of Milwaukee Magazine held a "Launch Party" for its April issue with a reception at the Holiday House, 525 E. Menomonee St., and nearly 100 people showed up at the gig Wednesday evening, March 22, 2006.
Publisher Betty Quadracci was sunning in the Dominican Republic, and could not make the event, but the fort was well held down by editor Bruce Murphy along with colleagues Kurt Chandler and Mary Van De Camp Nohl.
Chandler has an item in the new issue that practically wrote itself, he said. He gathered four college fraternity brothers together after 50 years out in the real world and sat them down at Jake's Restaurant, where they reminisced. It sounds like pretty standard fare, until you realize the fabulous four consist of Sen. Herb Kohl, Steve Marcus, Commissioner of Major League Baseball Allen H. "Bud" Selig and Atty. Franklyn Gimbel.
The story that will probably get the most traction from this issue is an Eric Gunn profile of Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., the feisty republican representative from the North Shore and beyond. Gunn traces the political trajectory of the Kimberly Clark heir who now is chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee.
The article is accompanied by several unflattering photographs of the congressman, [there is no other kind] taken by Tom Bamberger.
Murphy said Sensenbrenner's handlers did whatever they could to stymie Bamberger's access to the great man for purposes of portraiture.
Bamberger, not one to be deterred, simply waited until Sensenbrenner held one of his signature listening sessions in a public library, and snapped away. The resulting images are classic photojournalism, and I am certain if Sensenbrenner had not put up such a fuss, Bamberger might have told him his collar was askew in every image.
Among the attendees who enjoyed complimentary wine (a California red, a German Gewurtraminer and a New Zealand Sauvingnon Blanc) and beer (Trummer Pils) were such notables as H. Carl Mueller, Danae Davis, Judith Moriarty, who does a regular gossip feature for the magazine, photographer Peter DiAntoni, and others too numerous to mention.
-- Michael Horne


BITS and PIECES
Milwaukee slumlord Tim Brophy Jr.'s Whitefish Bay Lake Drive mansion is for sale, as the real estate mogul faces continuing troubles over his properties and performance. A Brophy building at the southwest corner of N. Prospect Ave. and E. Brady St. is placarded and is unfit for habitation, according to the Department of Neighborhood Services, which has hundreds of outstanding orders against properties in the 50-building plus Brophy portfolio.
According to sources who have toured the Whitefish Bay home, which many of us recognize from its inappropriate beveled glass front door, even more horrors await within the structure, which Brophy refinished in Nouveau Riche Baron style, complete with dark wood, over-impressive fixtures and fittings, all installed, apparently, by $7 per hour carpenters. ... Dr. Enrique Figueroa was the moderator Thursday for the 4th Street Forum at Turner Hall. The topic of the day: "Who Owns Lake Michigan Water?" The answer: nobody. Water is too precious to own. According to panelist Doug Cherkauer, Ph.D., a researcher at the Great Lakes Institute of UWM, "water is dynamic, mobile and essential. It is not a commodity like oil or coal."
the panelists discussed the Annex 2001 agreement between the eight Great Lakes governors and two Canadian premiers. The agreement was signed in Milwaukee in December. According to environmental lawyer Melissa Scanlan, the founder and executive director of Midwest Environmental Associates, the agreement will permit diversion of water from the Great Lakes, provided it is done so in containers of 5.7 gallons or less. She opposes this portion of the agreement. Panelist Chris Ahmuty of the ACLU said we should be cautious about diverting water to Waukesha county, which he says is a separate economy from Milwaukee. Why should the poor of the city permit diversion of water to an area with hypersegregation? he asked. The forum was introduced by Julilly W. Kohler, its founder. Her sister Marie Kohler popped in for the discussion. It will be televised Friday at 10 p.m. and repeated Sunday at 3 p.m.on WMVT-Channel 36... There is a proposal to change zoning on N. Warren Ave. north of E. Brady Street from two-family to planned unit development to permit the construction of two three-story buildings somewhere on the east side of the street. I cannot think of any vacant lots in the area; and the common council file does not give an exact address of where this development is to be constructed. There is a vacant lot on the west side of N. Warren Ave. We'll have to figure this out later. ... The absentee ballots have been out for weeks, and where have you been? Apparently not voting. There is an election on April 4th, you know. Over at City hall downtown, fewer than 20 absentee ballots have been returned thus far, which is slow turnout for a super-slow turnout election. The clerk in Fox Point says she's had only three walk-in and less than 15 mailed-in ballots thus far.
Well, that's enough for now, I'll check back with you tomorrow.
Michael Horne

3 TIFS TO BE DISSOLVED

Three Milwaukee Tax Incremental Financing Districts [TIF] are scheduled to be dissolved because they now generate sufficient revenue to cover each district's remaining outstanding debt, according to legislation introduced to the Milwaukee Common Council today.
They include TIF No. 5; TIF No. 11 and TIF No.29.
TIF No. 5, established in 1985, is more commonly known as the Theater District. Number 11 is better known at the Historic Third Ward, and was established in 1988. The final TIF is known as "Park East II," and was established in 1995.
The combined incremental property value in the three districts, as of 2005, was $271,964,400. Upon dissolution, the tax base will become available for general levy purposes.
The resolution to dissolve the districts will also authorize distribution of $4,168,353 surplus funds to the City of Milwaukee and other taxing jurisdictions.
--Michael Horne

BARRET TAPS LABOR NEGOTIATOR

Mayor Tom Barrett has announced his intention to appoint Troy M. Hamblin to be the City of Milwaukee's labor negotiator. The matter was brought to the Common Council today and is assigned to the Finance & Personnel Committee.
Hamblin, 39, is a resident of the East Village where he owns a home. He recently negotiated eight labor agreements for Milwaukee County, covering 5,500 employees. He also worked with the Department of Employee Relations of the State of Widsconsin. From 1998 to 2002 he served as the executive director of District #10, Wisconsin Education Association Council.
Hamblin would replace the retiring Dave Kwiatkowski in the post, which pays between $78,000 and $110,000 per annum.
-- Michael Horne

AG MUM ON CRONY AID(E)

AG MUM ON CRONY AID(E)

State Picks Up Bjork Legal Tab

By Michael Horne

Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager issued a rather testy press release on Tuesday stating she “in 2003 convinced legislative leaders to agree to terminate funding of legal services when charged with a crime. The legislature has done just that. Not a penny has been spent on the legal fees of wrongdoers since the agreement was made. … There is no ‘loophole’ in the agreement, as has been alleged by some who apparently are unfamiliar with the agreement, the law, or both.”

(That last sentence was a slap at Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, who hopes to beat Lautenschlager in the September primary election.)

Although “not a penny has been spent,” certainly many thousands have been spent by the government defending three legislative aides implicated in the legislative caucus scandal – Tanya Bjork, Raghu Devaguptapu and Doug Burnett.

Bjork, a former aide to Sen. Brian Burke, received $24,128 in taxpayer-funded legal advice, and has not been required to reimburse the state.

I called Lautenschlager’s office twice to ask spokesperson Kelly Kennedy if the attorney general planned to seek repayment of fees from the trio, and received no reponse.

Maybe that’s because Lautenschlager is a wee bit too close to the characters involved.

Bjork is married to Scott Tyre, a Madison lobbyist who represents, among other clients, the American Petroleum Institute, General Motors Corporation, and Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI).

Tyre served as the head of Lautenschlager’s inaugural committee when she took office three years ago.

How convenient!

Brewer Babe has a new home

Happy Thursday guys and dolls. Just a quick note to all you Brewer fans that the Brewer Babe has a new home. My columns can now be found on Milwaukee Opinions. The first posting is already up. You can click here to check it out, or click on the link to the right. 10 days and counting!

WORST REFERENDUM EVER?

GAY MARRIAGE:

NOT THE WORST REFERENDUM EVER

<>By Michael Horne

Wisconsinites have been invited to vote in November on SJR 53, the anti-gay marriage referendum. The amendment reads: : "Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state."

Is this the most cynical and most discriminatory referendum Wisconsin voters have ever had to face?

No, it is not.

That dishonor belongs to two referenda of 1858 and 1865 which asked, “shall suffrage be extended to colored persons?”

In 1857, Wisconsin voters said, “no,” by a vote of 41,345 to 28,235. In 1865, after the close of the Civil War, voters again rejected suffrage for African Americans by a vote of 55,591 to 46,588.

What is it, besides the outcome, that marked these referenda as the most cynical and discriminatory in the state’s history?

That’s easy – the referenda were put on the ballot in response to an earlier referendum on colored suffrage which the voters passed in November 1849 by a vote of 5,265 to 4075.

The 1865 referendum so infuriated supporters of equal rights that such heroes as Sherman Booth and Edward D. Holton encouraged Milwaukeean Ezekiel Gillespie, a black man, to vote. Although blacks had voted in Wisconsin as early as 1835, when Solomon Juneau’s cook cast a vote, Gillespie was turned away. He brought suit, and the case quickly went to the state Supreme Court which ruled that the 1849 referendum had, in fact been ratified as of November 6, 1849, rendering the subsequent referenda moot.

Thus, the referenda of 1858 and 1865 must rank as the most cynical and politically-motivated in our state’s history, the anti-gay marriage amendment notwithstanding.

This leads us to the question, “Is the anti-gay marriage referendum the most cynical and politically-motivated Constitutional Amendment in the state’s history?”

For that question, the answer is definitely, “yes.”

For one thing, the “colored suffrage” referenda were on the ballot because the Wisconsin Constitution requires any extension of suffrage to be voted on by the electorate. The referendum of 1912 in which Wisconsin men voted 227,024 to 135,545 against extending the suffrage to women was another dark spot in our history.

The anti-gay marriage referendum, however, is in the form of a Constitutional amendment – which is a type of referendum, and is the 193^rd amendment submitted to the electorate. It is by far the worst one. [Check for yourself ]

It is the only amendment designed to limit the rights of a class of people; it is the only amendment offered to solve a non-existent problem; it is the only amendment to place, in the constitution, a law that already exists on the books; it is the only referendum designed to prohibit legislative activity; it is the only referendum to embrace a religious viewpoint and it is the only referendum designed to encourage citizens to go to the polls to vote – for governor.

So is the anti-gay marriage referendum the worst referendum ever – no. Is it the worst constitutional amendment ever offered to the people of this state? Yes. Vote “no” in November.

CALLING ALL GAY RELATIVES OF REPUBLICAN LEGISLATORS

Milwaukeeworld.com has begun contacting the republican legislators who supported the anti-gay referendum to ask this question: “Do you have any gay relatives?” So far, there has been no response from Sen. Alberta Darling and Sen. Scott Fitzgerald. We’ll continue to contact other supporters of the bill, to see if they have any gay relatives, but there is only so much time in the day.

We singled out Alberta since she is from River Hills, and even represents a portion of the sophisticated east side of the City of Milwaukee where lots of gays live and is therefore presumed to possess some degree of social and political sophistication. There is nothing in her background to suggest she is anti-gay. Fitzgerald was chosen because he is the sponsor of the bill, and as such, must of necessity be as pure as Caesar’s wife. Certainly no man with a family history of homosexuality would dare sponsor an anti-gay amendment.

Of course, there is a likelihood that these representatives will not get back to us.

So, in the interest of efficiency and information, let’s pose the question another way: “Dear Reader – are you the gay relative of a Republican legislator?” If you are, kindly drop a note to horne@milwaukeeworld.com and we will help you get in touch with your long lost (spiritually and emotionally lost) republican legislator relative. It’s time for fireworks!

[Update: March 23rd 2006, 1:45 p.m. Tom Petrie of Sen. Darling's office called to say that the senator "would decline comment on this question and any other question" regarding the defense of marriage act, as he called it. The senator's office would be happy to share her voting record on the issue. Call 1-800-863-1113 to speak to Sen. Darling's staff. --Ed.]

--Michael Horne

BATTER UP! Who Will Lead Brew Crew at Opener?

Dear Reader --
Since a number of us are scheduled to catch the flu at around 11:30 a.m. on April 3rd, our friend the Brewer Babe, Tamra Reynolds, tells us what to expect when the first pitch is thrown on opening day at Miller Park.
Got any comments? Give us a shout out here at milwaukeeworld, and we'll share your thoughts with the world.
Thanks for dropping by,
Michael Horne
Editor / Publisher
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BREWER BABE

By Tamra Reynolds

March 22 -- Hello again Brewer fans. Opening Day is getting closer and closer, so I thought I’d give you a summary of the news coming out of Spring Training Camp.

It looks like Ben Sheets will start the 2006 season the same way he ended 2005 – on the disabled list. The latest reports say that Sheets will be a long shot to pitch the opener against Pittsburgh, due to soreness associated with his injured latissimus dorsi muscle from last season. He’s pitched a total of 2.1 innings in camp this year, and already is on the DL? What’s wrong with this picture? This guy stands to make over $11 million this season and he can’t even stay healthy through spring training.

I guess it’s lucky his contract is insured, meaning that the Brewers won’t be on the hook for the entire amount, should Big Ben not be able to perform for a large part of the season. The question is, what exactly does this insurance cover, what is provided, and for how long does he have to be out before it kicks in? Sheets was out for about 3 months last season with two different injuries. Calls to the Milwaukee Brewers to verify the specifics of his contract and insurance are as yet unreturned.

Sheets’ negative prognosis for opening day could bode well for Doug Davis. Davis is the next logical choice to open the season, although Davis was quoted as saying he’d rather earn the spot than get it because of injury. Davis was scheduled to pitch in a minor league game on Monday, while the rest of the team enjoyed a day off. Ned Yost is expected to make an announcement sometime this week regarding the Opening Day starting pitcher.

In other pitching news, word out of Maryvale is that Dave Bush, the 26-year-old right-hander acquired in the Lyle Overbay trade, seems to be a lock for the 5^th starting position. He’s competing for that 5^th spot against veteran Rick Helling, and Dana Eveland. Rather, he was competing against Eveland. Eveland reported to camp a little heavier than Yost would have liked, and has struggled with his control. He pitched in four games, and got severely knocked around, posting an ERA of 15.75 before getting optioned to AAA Nashville. So that left just Bush and Helling.

Helling has been sidelined for most of camp with elbow soreness, and has pitched in only one game. He was impressive in that one game, allowing only one hit, walking one and striking out one in the two innings he pitched. Unfortunately for Helling, that one game was back on March 3, and it’s hard to win a starting spot if the managers don’t see you pitch. Time is running out for Helling to show Yost what he can do. If not the starting spot, Helling still has a good chance to earn a spot in the bullpen pitching long relief.

A check of the Brewers website this morning found Adam McCalvy answering questions about the Brewer lineup, minus Ben Sheets. Adam seemed to think that Sheets will not open the season on the DL, and also went so far as to discuss how Yost could work with only four starting pitchers until April 17. The pitchers mentioned were Davis, Capuano, Ohka and Bush. Wonder if Adam knows something we don’t, or if he’s just assuming Bush will win that coveted 5^th starter spot? The way the days off fall in the first two weeks of the schedule, these four pitchers could handle every start, and still manage to get in their required days off. This could be very convenient for keeping Sheets off of the DL, while still allowing him time to fully recover. Adam also mentioned that Sheets had finally thrown some curveballs off the mound. This was the pitch that snapped that muscle last season, and from which Sheets has shied away during spring training.

I really haven’t heard anything coming out of camp about Chris Capuano, so I’m taking that as no news is good news. The only thing I’ve heard is that Chris is trying to master the cut fastball that seems to work so well for Doug Davis and Tomo Ohka.

Brady Clark is out to prove he’s not a one-hit wonder. As of Sunday the 19^th, he has hit safely in 6 straight games. He’s also improved his base stealing abilities, getting the best of Mike Piazza three times in Saturday’s game against San Diego. That brings his spring training total up to 6, and he’s been caught only twice so far.

JJ Hardy is looking to be 100% by Opening Day. He was sidelined for a week by back spasms, but he’s thinking if he can get in two weeks before April 3, he should be just fine.

The outlook isn’t so good for Rickie Weeks right now. As of Sunday, he was saying he’s still not close to 100%. He’s been out with a strained oblique muscle.

The rest of the team seems to be in good spirits and good shape, and anticipating Opening Day, as am I. I will have a little spy in camp this weekend, so I’ll be able to get some first hand information for you all. Until then, only 12 more days! Go Brewers!

THE TREASURER'S REPORT

One Million Wisconsin Accounts are"Abandoned"
$300 Million Held by State Treasurer
By Michael Horne

“Mind Your Pennies, and the Dollars will Take Care of Themselves”

-- Proverb.

Jack C. Voight, the Wisconsin State Treasurer, received lots of ink in newspapers across the state on Sunday, March 19, 2006. His name appeared in capital letters in bold reverse type on the top of 28 pages of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel alone in a special paid section, published annually, consisting of the “legal notice of names of persons and businesses appearing to be owners of abandoned property.”

An estimated 25,000 such accounts exist in Milwaukee County alone; the entire searchable statewide list is available by clicking here .

The print edition lists names and addresses of those who have property lying about. The internet version allows the reader to find out where the money is from. In neither case is the sum involved mentioned, but the amounts can be prodigious: in 2005, a total of 27,000 claimants received $19 million in property. In addition, 248,000 shares of stock with a total value of $4 million were repatriated with owners and heirs.

Altogether, the treasurer says $300 million, belonging to 1 million Wisconsin residents and businesses, is being held by his office.

That’s an average of $300 per claim, so it is worthwhile to check your name and those of friends, neighbors and relatives to see if they have money coming.

Very often the money consists of insurance policies, refunds, dividend checks, etc. of recently-deceased individuals whose assets have not been completely identified. The treasurer’s list provides an inestimable service for personal representatives. Also the elderly, and those with mental and or medical conditions, often leave assets unclaimed, perhaps as contents of safety deposit boxes. These human events are understandable, and tragic in some instances.

However, it is amazing some money ever gets lost, since some of the biggest players in this town have a habit of abandoning their property – even individuals and firms that we expect to know how to deal with big bucks

A good place to begin looking is under the letter “U.”

Milwaukee’s Uihlein family has been loaded for generations. They’ve owned oil wells since before the automobile was invented. The family even operates its own office to handle the money that flows to the heirs of the former Schlitz brewing empire. Still, not everything makes its way to the proper Uihlein. J.C., for example, has some money coming from Milwaukee Pershing, LLC, which happens to be a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual Life, the region’s single largest pile of assets.

This leads us to NML itself, which has been dilatory about picking up a number of checks and securities, including those from American Greetings Corp., Tyco International [sure, the stock’s tanked, but it’s not worthless!], Gemstar/TV Guide and Travelers Insurance, which itself is owed money according to the treasurer’s list.

Folks from many walks of life are joined in the brotherhood of unclaimed property. There’s a fellow doing 5 years in Waupun for habitual criminality who might like the assistance of a jailhouse lawyer to claim four checks he’s got coming to him. On the other side of the spectrum, the entirely respectable Dr. Hermann Viets, the president of the Milwaukee School of Engineering, has several surprises waiting for him from Unisys Corp.

St. Luke’s Medical Center has money awaiting it, which might balance its woes from patients who cannot afford their bills.

Some derelict property gives a hint of the interests and passions of its owner. Bruce D. Schrimpf, an assistant city attorney in the city of Milwaukee, is a railroad buff, and it is his miniature locomotive that circles the base of the Holiday Christmas tree in the rotunda of city hall. Wouldn’t you know it, he’s got some money coming from Burlington Northern / Santa Fe Railroad.

A family named Morrison has some thirty accounts overflowing with cash, apparently refunds of some sort from WE Energies.

Pabst Brewing Co., which has long since abandoned 807 W. Juneau Ave., has some money waiting for it. Amazing this ever got by the trustees of the Kalmanovitz estate!

Somebody should tell the folks at General Electric that Marquette Electronics, which it bought during the last century, has many accounts due it, including sums from Advocate Health and Hospitals Corp., Sun Microsystems [5 separate checks] and an entity misspelled as “CE Capital Inforamtion Technology Solutions, Inc.”

Marquette University has some funds due it, too, but it’s not the only college in that position.

The Medical College of Wisconsin has ten accounts floating around out there. It has abandoned property due it from the University of Houston Health Science Center [great – hospitals sending money to each other!], Aetna Life, American Family, Employers Mutual – insurance companies all, and pharmaceutical giants Novartis and Astrazeneca. T. Michael Bolger – what do you do all day?

Restaurants appear to be cavalier about some of their receivables. Just ask “Chuck E. Cheese,” and Wilmer and Dolores Coerper.

Banks themselves are not immune to leaving money on the table, as unimaginable as that may seem – even those departments of banks whose function is specifically to see that checks get cashed. Just ask the folks at the Bank of New York Clearing Service, which moved out of 111 E. Kilbourn Ave. and apparently can’t be located at their New York City address, which just happens to be 1 Wall Street.

Finally, if you had to guess which Milwaukee – the City or the County – had unclaimed property, what would you venture?

If you said “Milwaukee County,” you’re right.

Fiscal watchdog Scott Walker should download a form right now to claim account 1053489 on behalf of “Milw Cnty Parks,” which has money coming to it from WE Energies.

GOVERNOR PARTIES DURING BLIZZARD

Dear Reader –

Welcome to the feast of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Water Street. The brewers have managed to secularize this holiday just like Halloween, and even Archbishop Dolan is getting into the spirit of his adopted city by offering the faithful a break from Lenten restrictions on Friday meat-eating. So, chow down, and stay sober long enough to enjoy a free ride on the bus.

Milwaukeeworld got into the spirit of things by hanging out with the governor during his annual St. Pat’s party and by taking a little stroll through the city and encountering all sorts of news.

I’ll get back to you a bit later to talk about a story in yesterday’s New York Times wherein the paper of record discovered that unscrupulous individuals have been selling forged Picasso drawings accompanied by similarly-forged certificates of authenticity, malheureusement! Faithful readers know that we have cautioned you that it is highly unlikely that you will ever encounter a legitimate Picasso drawing on the internet, and there are many examples in our archives about crooks and forged Picassos. (Use the Google engine above to locate the stories). Still, I hear on a weekly basis about people buying “Picassos” and ruing their fate. This must wait for later, since I am obliged to attend to my brisket and my beer right about now.

Thanks for visiting, and do let me hear from you.

Michael Horne

Editor / Publisher

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THE GOVERNOR’S ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARTY

Governor James E. Doyle, Jr. partied down with over 200 blizzard-defying supporters Wednesday, March 16^th 2006 at Lakefront Brewery, 1872 N. Commerce Street from 5 – 7 p.m. The intrepid revelers would not let the weather deter them from communing with their leader at his annual celebration of the Holy Day of St. Patrick, Bishop. Despite howling winds that approached double-digit strength, a thermometer stuck in the lower thirties, and television weather personalities issuing the most dire warnings about the hazards of outdoor travel, Doyle’s partisans nonetheless made their way to the riverfront brewery while as much as one and one-half inches of snow blanketed the city in what some feared might be an impassible mantle of white.

The St. Patrick’s Eve Blizzard of aught-six, indeed, shall go down in the record books as among the 5,000 most violent snowstorms in Milwaukee’s 135 years of recorded weather history.

Still, the Doyle crowd jammed into the brewery building, occupying all but about one-quarter acre of the cavernous facility.

Among the attendees was Dan Schooff, appointed just that day to the task of managing Doyle’s campaign for re-election to the governorship. Schooff was chatting with Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority Executive Director Antonio Riley, with whom he once served in the Wisconsin Legislature. Candidates J. D. Watts (judge) and John Chisholm (D.A.) worked the room as did Jim Sullivan, who hopes to wrest the 5^th District Senate seat from the clutches of Tom Reynolds, the rabid republican of whom the governor remarked, “he’s crazy. Everybody knows that. Even members of his own party.”

Among the elect who partied with those who merely hoped to become elected, were such formers as Shirley Krug and Barbara Notestein, the very current Tony Zielinski and scores of the well-connected like Joe Messinger, Michael Guerin, son Eamon Guerin, John Budzinski (with traveling companion Matt Robbins, Esq.), gubernatorial sister Catey Doyle, Sandra Stone Ruffalo, Sam Orlich, Jack Murtaugh, Stephanie Bloomingdale, Gene Gilbert and others too numerous to mention, including Secretary of Administration Steve Bablitch. The audience supped on a buffet of savories both hot and cold that emanated from the kitchen of the Lakefront Palm Garden. Owner Russ Davis said he has shut down his operation on N. Humboldt Boulevard, and will repurpose the space he had envisioned as a market / café. The coming of Whole Foods to the east side hastened his decision, he said. For the event his staff whipped up tenderloins, meatballs, puff pastry somethings, fruit, cheese and various crackers and breadstuffs. By the exacting standards of political gastronomy, the meal was virtually republican in its splendiferousness.

The beers were courtesy of Russ Klisch, president of Lakefront Brewery.

The musical accompaniment was from Leahy’s Luck, a band which also played for the governor’s companion party held the day before in Madison at a joint with the decidedly non-Irish name of “High Noon Saloon.”

The governor mingled with the crowd, displaying his touch, which is as common as could be expected from a guy in a grey suit. The governor’s notable composure was broken only once, when he got down to business and talked about Marquette University’s heartbreaking loss in the NCAA basketball tournament that day, which the governor apparently watched. “Here we have the best three-point shooter in college basketball and he’s wide open and he doesn’t make the shot!” the governor exclaimed, discussing the hoopfest with an animation he would be advised to adopt when talking about politics. -- Michael Horne

MORE INTERESTING NEWS

Vince Bobot will hold a fundraiser Monday, March 20, 2006 at Miss Katie’s Diner, 1900 W. Clybourn St. from 5 – 7 p.m. All donations gratefully accepted, says the campaign, which will offer complimentary hors d’oeuvres and soft drinks. Campaign staffer Les Johns says fundraising for the sheriff’s challenger is above projections. … Waterford Wine Company has opened at 1327 East Brady St. Owner Benjamin Christiansen has turned the bi-level shop into an intimate setting, with a desk and an oriental rug dominating the front and lower room, which is devoted to red wines. Christiansen says the wines are displayed from left to right according to increasing levels of complexity. The rear and upper room is reserved for white wines and champagnes, none of which are chilled. This is not the sort of place where one grabs a bottle and dashes out to the street to drink it; the robust pricing structure of the inventory is a testament to the rarity of the vintages available. But for those who are tiring of traveling to the House of Glunz in Chicago for their wines, Waterford offers many products never before seen in this city. A grand opening party is planned for April 7^th from 5 to 9 p.m. … Attention Diocesan Priests – if you would like to get on the good side of the Archbishop, you might care to follow in the footsteps of Rev. Tim Kitzke, pastor of Three Holy Women Parish. Last week’s take for the church totaled $19,271.37, a full $7,636.70 above budget. Year-to-date the east side congregation is running a $21,501 surplus, with $477,944 in the till thus far. – Michael Horne

LAKEFRONT BREWERY’S “PROBLEM”

Overwhelming Demand for New Product

Lakefront Brewery president and owner Russ Klisch says the recent launch of his New Grist, a sorghum and rice-based beer designed for sufferers of Celiac disease, has taken him by surprise. The demand for the product is the greatest he has seen in the brewery’s 18 year history. In fact, in just a few months, the beer has become the biggest seller of the brewery’s entire product line of about ten varieties. “Everything’s on the table right now,” he said, referring to his strategy for managing the demand for the product. One possibility: contracting out the brewing of New Grist to someplace like the Stevens Point brewery. The problem: “this is a difficult beer to brew.” Another option might be to contract brew some of the company’s other products, or to somehow jam more equipment into the brewery. It would probably be easier to make the day 24 hours longer, but Klisch has surmounted other problems in the past. – Michael Horne

A BIT OF EVERYTHING TODAY

Dear Reader –

It seems that many of you are under the weather, and this snowy nonsense is hardly the healthiest thing to have atop one. Let’s hope both you and the weather will warm up soon. I have a little time here today to throw a couple of items at you, including war news that has finally hit close to home for me. Also, even though spring is not here, springtime events like Pub Crawls are here, so read on to find out where I’ll be hanging this Saturday. And what about Friday, St. Patrick’s Day? Strictly for rookies! Slainte!

Horne

MORE INTERESTING NEWS

The President has called up the Wisconsin National Guard 1^st Battalion, 121^st Field Artillery for service, most likely overseas, and you know where that is. The battalion is located in Milwaukee on N. Richards Street, just north of E. Capitol Drive. You can take the #14 bus practically to the front door.

More than 400 soldiers will be affected by the order; according to a press release issued Tuesday.

According to the press release highlighted above, “with this mobilization, about 7,260 soldiers and airmen from the Wisconsin Army and Air National Guard – more than 76 per cent of the Guard’s total force in the state – will have served on active duty since September 11, 2001.” The total number of Wisconsin guard soldiers and airmen now on active duty exceeds 2,500. Members must report to the armory April 19^th. April 18^th should be a good night to go out drinking.

--Michael Horne

ABOUT THAT RICO LAWSUIT

I called City Attorney Grant Langley to find out the latest on the RICO lawsuit against Ald. Michael D’Amato and others. Langley was out, but I did receive a nice telephone call from Atty. Thomas L. (Tom) Shriner, Jr. [J.D. University of Indiana’72, magna cum laude] of Foley and Lardner who told me nothing’s happened yet, lo these many months later. I got the same message from Assistant City Attorney Jan A. Smokowicz (UW’80) handling the non-RICO complaint about D’Amato filed by members of the Bondar family on January 21^st. The city moved to dismiss the RICO suit, which names a whole passel of neighbors, which probably would have happened by now if the case was in a Wisconsin Circuit Court. As Shriner told me, in Wisconsin you file your motions, set a court date, and things work themselves out.

It is a different world in Federal Court, where you throw your paperwork at a clerk and wait for it to appear on top of the file. So, we have no clue right now what is happening with these cases. Amazing how the judiciary works sometimes. Also, according to news reports, sentences in Federal Courts have increased slightly since mandatory sentencing guidelines were eliminated.

--Michael Horne

RIVERWEST PUB CRAWL

The Riverwest Pub Crawl is back for its sixth incarnation, and will include 20 taverns this year, according to organizer Erik Peterson. The event will take place Saturday, March 18 beginning at 1 p.m. The sign-in is at Onopa Brewing Co., 735 E. Center St., and will be the last event to be held at Onopa which will briefly close for remodeling. The fee is $30; or $25 in advance, with a portion of the proceeds to benefit the Museum of Beer and Brewing. There will be dozens of beers available and plenty of free food, the best of which will probably be the Puerto Rican buffet at Club 99 – or will it be the appetizers at Nessun Dorma? – or whatever Dino’s might offer.

If you haven’t been to the Riverwest neighborhood recently, this will be a time to remember, provided you don’t drink too much. … Erik says business is booming at Metal Forms, the Riverwest manufacturer where he is employed as an engineer. He says the company recently made forms for a runway extension at Dallas-Fort Worth airport. The runways are 20 inches thick; the forms weighed hundreds of pounds apiece. … The Friends of the 261 will be bringing the fabled Milwaukee Road steam locomotive to Milwaukee again this summer, and will base several trips from our city. The train will be here the last weekend of July. We will have ticket information as it becomes available… Ald. Bob Bauman recently paid a visit (by train, of course,) to former Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist in Chicago, where Norquist runs the Congress for the New Urbanism. Norquist’s book “The Wealth of Cities” is now out in a paperback edition. … Jugglefest will be Sunday, March 19^th from 1 – 3 p.m. at Shorewood High School, 1701 E. Capitol Drive. The event is for all ages, but I am certain kids will dig it. It is presented by the Shorewood Recreation Department and is sponsored by our friends at Art Smart’s Dart Mart and Juggling Emporium on Brady Street. … Pam Percy and Martin Hintz (a.k.a. Boris and Doris on the Town), authors of the compelling occasional column in the Shepherd Express have placed their River Hills home on sale, apparently by owner. The property includes chicken coops and other outbuildings along with enviable propinquity to W. Brown Deer Road, and provides a handy base for unauthorized forays into the Bradley Family Sculpture Garden just down the road.

--Michael Horne

REACH OUT AND TOUCH AT&T

Today's Zen question: Is it possible to use the telephone to communicate with the telephone company? In my experience, which I shall relate to you, the answer is: No!
I noticed, from milwaukeeworld's lofty aerie high above downtown, that the heavy winds Monday and Tuesday were causing the rubber membrane roof at 826 W. Michigan St. to blow in violent ripples. The roof, in large part, had become unattached from the building, which is not a good thing. I determined that the owner of 826 W. Michigan St. was AT&T. I found a telephone number for the company here in Milwaukee, at the address given on the property records of the city of Milwaukee. (By the way, because it is a telecommunications facility, the four story building is tax-exempt. Score one for the consumer!) The telephone rang fifteen times before I hung up, with my dire message unheard. Apparently, AT&T offices are not equipped with answering machines.
I must therefore resort to the power of the internet to hope my message to AT&T's building maintenance people is somehow received. Of course, they'll find out soon enough once the snow melts, but the problem could have been inspected and remedied days ago, before the snow started falling. If you're heading up there, the damage is most severe on the southwest corner of the roof. I'll be watching.
--Michael Horne

STATE PAYS ETHANOL SUBSIDIES

By Michael Horne

In January, before the legislature voted to defeat a bill to require ethanol in most gasoline sold in Wisconsin, milwaukeeworld included this quote from Wispolitics.com, wherein Sen. Luther Olsen

belatedly announced his decision to recuse himself from that vote:

-- “Republican Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Berlin, said today he made the decision a while ago to recuse himself from voting on the pending ethanol bill due to business ties. ‘I had decided to do that a long time ago. We're just too close to it,’ Olsen told WisPolitics.com in an interview.” – [Source: www.wispolitics.com ]

We also mentioned that Utica Energy, the ethanol production company which is a component of the Olsen family agricultural empire, receives millions in federal subsidies for its production of ethanol.

Interestingly, Wisconsin also offers state subsidies to ethanol producers – and then-assemblyman Luther Olsen had no compunctions in 1999 about voting in favor of these subsidies when the lower house of the legislature concurred with the upper house’s passage of Senate Bill 378 to create 1999 Wisconsin Act 55. This act predated the organization of Utica Energy in 2001 – although the skeptic might say the up to 20 cents per gallon subsidy might have been an incentive for the construction of the plant. The payments are limited to ethanol plants that were fewer than five years old.

In any event, the Ethanol Producer Grant Program, administered by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, has made payments since 2003 to the three ethanol producers in Wisconsin to qualify for the act’s provisions, which allow for grants to those firms with annual production of at least 10 million gallons of ethanol. There is a cap on payments for production above 15 million gallons.

For fiscal year 2005, the most recent information available, payments were made to three producers: Ace Ethanol of Stanley, Badger State Ethanol of Monroe and Utica Energy of Oshkosh, which is operated by Paul Olsen, the senator’s brother.

Each firm received a prorated $633,333 for that year. The firms received an identical amount in 2004. Payments began in 2003, when Ace received $1.3 million and Badger State received $1.6 million. [The Utica plant was not on line at that time]. The program will expire in 2006 with the payments to be received by late April or early May.

The observant reader would note that at the minimum production level of 10 million gallons, each firm should have received a $2 million grant, up to a maximum grant of $3 million.

The reason the firms only received $633,333 each is that the program is not fully funded; in fact the Doyle administration removed over $1 from the program’s budget after the 2003 payments.

The program is funded by $1.9 million of tribal gaming revenues, according to Chris Pollek of the State of Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau.

ON THE CHISHOLM TRAIL

Howdy, Pardners. John Theodore Chisholm, the Lincolnesque heir-designee to District Attorney Edward "E." Michael McCann has been hitting the campaign trail good and heavy lately. He'll be hitching up his horse in front of Vucciria, 1323 E. Brady St. tonight, Tuesday March 14th, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. as the guest of honor of Mimma Megna, Joe Megna and John Piette, so here's your chance to meet the tall man who is just now rising from the threadbare-carpeted oblivion where he has toiled in devoted anonymity on behalf of his mentor so long.
By "Lincolnesque," I refer to his lanky build and craggy visage. He's rail thin, (a result of military training, he says), and looks like he could split a few of 'em if he took a hankerin' to do so. He's only a stovepipe hat and a beard away from the 16th president physically. But, what the world of historical pageantry lost, the world of The Law gained when Chisholm graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1994. [Click here for bio stuff.] Whether he will rank with or above the Great Emancipator in the annals of lawyer-statesmen is for historians to decide, but you can enjoy complimentary pizza and hors d'oeuvres from the new Vucciria menu if you show up during the appointed hours and take a gander at the man for yourself.
P.S. In addition to the new menu, there are other changes at Vucciria. The place shut down for a couple of days to have a crew from Flux Design repaint and redecorate the restaurant. Also, Nick Anton has sold his interest in the business to the Megnas.
--Michael Horne

GET SPORTS SCORES ON SLY, AT WORK

GAME TIME!

GET SCORES ON SLY, AT WORK

Microsoft, believe it or not, has scored one for the little guy.

With three teams in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, Wisconsin is well-represented at the big dance by UW, UWM and Marquette. Countless thousands of hours of manpower will be wasted by employees following the games rather than their career trajectories.

This is one reason why some corporations block employee access to sports news sites, with their message boards, streaming videos and other allurements. Other firms have technology departments that monitor employee computer use so that unauthorized or frequent visits to sports news sites among the prisoners of cubicle row can be detected and punished.

Leave it to the folks at Microsoft to devise a system so we can check the scores of our favorite teams in real time, during work hours, from our desks, and without attracting the attention of the boss.

Simply go to the MSN search engine , enter the name of the school or team you are following, and you will receive real-time scores, past game results and upcoming game schedules, delivered to you in such a fashion that will not likely send a red flag to your boss or corporate computer overlord. The information is powered with data from Fox Sports, which is working in conjunction with Microsoft on this project.

How is this bit of corporate stealth possible? It’s simple. Most corporate filters have software that sorts data by megabytes of traffic. Sports sites, with their wealth of data, video and other links consume many megabytes, as do gambling and porn sites. So, when employees use company time to visit such sites, the filters pick up the extraordinary amount of megabytes, and before you know it, they’re busted!

However, most filters are not designed to be troubled by innocuous inquiries to search engines, and the text documents generated when you search MSN for team results will create little traffic for your company’s IT department to get excited about.

So, follow your team(s) during the championship series without the boss becoming aware!

This Healthy Workplace Update is brought to you as a public service by www.milwaukeeworld.com , which does not generate many megabytes and is always a safe place to visit any time, whether at work, play, or home.

--Michael Horne

PRESS SNUBS BRADLEY AWARDS, GREBE SAYS

By Michael Horne
Pity Michael W. Grebe, the head of Milwaukee-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. This year, for the third time, a panel will select four prominent conservatives who will be able to stuff an additional $250,000 each into his or her pockets. But the mainstream media just doesn't seem to care, Grebe told the Washington Times
"It has been frustrating, even remarkable, how the establishment media has chosen to comment on similar prizes given by Teresa Heinz Kerry, but not by the Bradley Foundation," Grebe told the newspaper.
Milwaukeeworld will gladly disassociate itself from the mainstream media by offering this comment on the Bradley Prizes: Even a conservative would acknowledge that a no-strings-attached $250,000 is a very liberal gift.
Previous winners of the ignored prize have included conservative columnists George F.Will and Charles Krauthammer, who was a winner of the Bradley Prize in its inaugural year of 2003. No awards were granted in 2004, which may explain why the media moguls of the world have not penciled the event into their calendars, but were resumed in 2005 with Krauthammer as a judge this time, along with Grebe, Pierre S. "Pete" Dupont and Jeane Kirkpatrick. It's a wonder anybody could stand up to the scrutiny of that team!
The awards will be handed out in a gala ceremony May 25th at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Grebe is quoted in the article as saying the event will be "our own Oscar night," and "over the top," which must be quite a heady thrill for the former Foley and Lardner partner who was paid over $529,333 for his work in 2003. [A more recent salary figure for Grebe is available in the foundation's 2004 IRS Form 990-PF, a 1000 page plus document that overwhelmed milwaukeeworld's computer when an attempt was made to open it this afternoon.]
The foundation has 2004 assets of $665,327,753.
Nominations for the prizes are made by a panel of 100 prominent conservatives. The judging panel has included such notable figures as Wm. F. Buckley, Jr. and Robert H. Bork. The winners will be announced in April, and you'll read the names here first. Grebe wasn't available Friday afternoon for comment.

WEEKEND ROUNDUP

Dear Reader:

Thanks for dropping in as the promise of spring begins to fill the air. The recent rains have washed away all but the most heavily-shaded piles of snow in our city which is now bathed in a muddy wash. That minor inconvenience was hardly enough to stop the world from spinning or to keep Milwaukeeans cooped up any longer, so off to the streets it has been for many of us. You are welcome to join us as we tour a new condominium project months before it is built, and then it is off on our rounds where we keep running into politicians at every turn. A bit further down, we tell you that the scary Marilyn Karos pleaded guilty to yet another federal crime, this time in St. Louis. Also, along the way, our Madison correspondent Paul Snyder of the Capital City branch of The Daily Reporter newspaper writes about a politician who issued a press release begging farmers to stop spreading manure. Ah, yes, if only farmers would issue a press release asking politicians to do the same!

Thanks for dropping by, and do stay in touch. There are many ways to do so, including by telephone, e-mail, or by posting a comment on the stories below utilizing the “leave a comment” button at the end of many items.

Also, if there is anything you would like me to do to make my postings more “bloggy” and less fact- and observationally-based, please tell me so that I may better emulate my peers.

Very truly yours,

Michael Horne

Editor / Publisher

www.milwaukeeworld.com

1414 978-8039

horne@milwaukeeworld.com

735 West Wisconsin Avenue

Suite 1200

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233-2413

UNBUILT BUILDING HOLDS GRAND OPENING PARTY

Neither rain nor muck could deter hundreds of Milwaukeeans from attending a “Private Grand Opening Party” for the Edge Condominiums, an unbuilt housing development to be located at 1890 N. Commerce St., just north of the Holton Viaduct.

Valet parkers were available to ferry visitors’ vehicles from a muddy lot to paved spaces underneath the bridge, while revelers entertained themselves in a tent constructed on the site of the proposed development, enjoying the music of Berkeley Fudge and his combo.

Inside a mobile trailer adjoining the tent, scores of real estate agents showed scores of other real estate agents models of the project and samples of available finishes and upgrades. The Edge is a joint venture of Brewery Works and Tandem Development. The property had long been used as a storage yard for the nearby Schlitz Park.

Among the attendees were such real estate luminaries as Molly Abrohams, Lynn Buckley and Nancy Beutner Meeks, fresh from an appearance in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Gary Grunau, the head of Brewery Works, mingled with the crowd, which dined on a variety of hot and cold appetizers from the Waterfront Deli. Among the treats were mounds of fruit, marinated asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, cocktail sandwiches and meatballs.

The beverage service was catered by Party Wizards, a new business owned by Mary Bennett. She wisely stocked beer from Lakefront Brewery next door, where she once worked. Uniformed staff bore trays of wine glasses to those who chose not to belly up to the bar.

The housing units for the four story-plus-penthouse building range in size from just under 1,000 square feet to just under 2,000 square feet, and are priced from under $200,000, rather a bit less than might be expected. I asked Grunau if the low prices were a factor of his having owned the land there forever. He said, “well, the prices are going up tomorrow.” [A thousand bucks is all it takes to reserve a unit.] Departing guests were treated to a goodie bag containing a high quality coffee mug and a cute little pair of binoculars capable of rendering images a full five per cent larger than they would appear to the naked eye.

The project will commence construction later this spring, provided sufficient pre-sales are made. It is expected to be completed in the autumn of 2007. For more information visit www.edgecondos.com

--Michael Horne

OUT OF THE WOODWORK

Candidates Appear Everywhere

This is a political year, and the candidates are crawling out of the woodwork and into our pocketbooks as the political races heat up.

One newcomer is Jeffrey B. Norman, J.D., a Milwaukee detective with the Criminal Investigation Bureau, who has announced his candidacy to replace Judge Jim Gramling on the City of Milwaukee Municipal Court Branch 3, where he has served since 1986. Milwaukee police officers are permitted to practice law on the side, provided they have degrees, and Norman got his from Marquette University in 2002. He took a break from the department to work for the District Attorney’s office, but jumped ship from that job when it proved not as challenging or rewarding as his police service. Right now Norman is making the rounds, including paying an aldermanic visit Monday when milwaukeeworld encountered him at City Hall while we were busy chewing the fat with Judge John Siefert of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Branch 47, himself a former police officer who practiced law on the side (insurance stuff, he says) and later became a municipal judge. Small town!

If elected in next year’s spring elections, Norman would increase the African-American representation on the three-member court to 100 per cent. … John Budzinski, a national board member of the 300,000 member United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters, Steamfitters, Refrigeratorfitters and Sprinklerfitters, hosted a fundraiser Thursday evening at Pitch’s Lounge and Restaurant, 1801 N. Humboldt Av. for Sheriff candidate Vince Bobot. Thrifty Bobot says he will wait a couple of months before opening a campaign headquarters. It won’t be at the location of his mayoral race headquarters at 620 W. Wisconsin Av. which he said was difficult to heat and prone to all sorts of crazies popping in at all hours. That space is being turned into a coin laundry to serve downtown residents. … The 7^th district of the Wisconsin State Senate was redrawn following the decennial 2000 census to form a lakeside district that is two thirds south side and one third east side. The seat is held by Democrat Jeff Plale of South Milwaukee who faces a primary challenge by Donovan Riley, a former east sider who now resides in Bay View. Riley calls himself “a Democrat who will vote like one.” He held a fundraiser at the Cudahy Tower and Condominiums library, which was reserved for him by Barbara Stein, a politically-active resident of the building. Among the small band of supporters were Dennis Conta, Ald. Robert Bauman, County Supervisor Gerry Broderick, Kathleen Hart, Barbara Notestein, Sam Orlich, Geralyn Wendelberger, Leonard Zubrensky, Jack Murtaugh, Rep. Fred Kessler and his wife, Hon. Joan Kessler, of the Court of Appeals. The guests drank wine (red and white), water (bottled) and supped on appetizer trays provided by Beans and Barley. Commenting on Riley’s chances in the primary race, Bauman said, “I’d ask him how many doors he plans to knock on, because votes in this district come on a retail basis.”

Michael Horne

FROM BREW CITY TO CAPITAL CITY

“Of Liquid Manure Application, and Why it Doesn’t Make Me Want to Run Back East.”

By Paul Snyder

Well, it’s spring again (not technically, but it’s all I can tell myself to prevent total psychosomatic seasonal breakdown). You’d think this being my fifth consecutive winter in Wisconsin, I’d have gotten used to the cold days, winter drivers, and the 10 inches of snow that falls three weeks after it really should have.

But I haven’t.

Couple mounting tasks at the office with the fact that the (forever dragging) end of winter always puts me in a funk, and you’ll find explanation as to why word to Milwaukeeworld from Madison has been conspicuously absent as of late. But the good news that rain is on the way to wash this grey/brown snow away and the possibility that we just might crack the 50s on the thermometer by Friday has put me in rebirth mode.

And so, the habits of old are returning. I’m monitoring progress in Mesa for my beloved Cubs like a hawk and rediscovering discs I haven’t listened to in awhile – Jeff Buckley’s Grace being a particular constant in rotation lately. “Love, let me sleep tonight on your couch,” he sings in “So Real.” “And remember the smell of the fabric of your simple city dress.”

The smell of the fabric of your simple city dress… something I’ve since forgotten, no doubt. Born and raised a city boy – well, technically a suburban boy, but with no need at any point to thank God for being a country boy – there are certain agricultural processes, we’ll say, that remain strange and alien to me, even now being a resident of Dane County.

Don’t let the “second biggest city in the state” label misguide you – drive 10 minutes in any direction from Madison, and you’ll be on a farm. And as such, privy to breaking news in the morning like this:

Madison – Today, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk advised farmers and manure haulers not to apply liquid manure on cropland for the next 10 days. The weather forecast is predicting higher temperatures and possible thunderstorms that could result in the manure spread on the snow covered and frozen fields to run off.

Now I could’ve gone the satirical route with such a thing – comedians could have a field day with such a bulletin item, and if not that, certainly the fact that Dane County actually does have a Manure Spreading Task Force – but I was bit too dismayed at the thought that the warm weather I’ve been pining for since November could mean a healthy dose of poop seeping into the lakes, rivers and streams in the area. Can’t wait to don those swimming trunks…

Granted, it’s all a part of the agricultural process, I know that. But if you’re in your mid-20s the first time you’re made aware of a manure spreading warning, certain mental checklists seem to pop up about the application of liquid manure, when and why there are dangers to it, and how sick it is that I’m pondering all this in the first place. We’re now a mere three months away from the culmination of my first year as a Madison resident, and this kind of alert does make me think back to the last four manure warning-free years I spent in Milwaukee.

Those years where sunny days beckoned you outside, but the air’s aroma sent you back in. You know what I’m talking about – the collective stench of brewery-meets-tannery-meets-brewery-meets-those-smokestacks-south-of-the-interchange-and-oh-yeah-the-interchange-construction-too-meets-brewery. The smell of industry! It is repugnant when the wind’s coming in strong off the lake, isn’t it?

Case in point, three quarters of a year in and what have I learned? We’re not that different, Brew City and Capital City. Sometimes we both just stink.

KAROS GUILTY AGAIN IN FEDERAL COURT

By Michael Horne
The last time we saw Marilyn Karos around these parts it was Halloween, and she was in U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin to face sentencing on charges of obstruction of justice in a failed attempt to spring her lover, Chicago antique dealer Richard O'Hara, from prison.
She got 20 months for that caper, with time off Wednesday for a field trip to St. Louis, Mo., where she appeared again in a familiar venue -- federal court -- to plead guilty to charges of attempting to sell a fake Rembrandt painting for $2.8 million on behalf of a phony Saudi sheik in 2004.
The hapless Karos and her princely pal had a willing buyer in an undercover federal agent, leading to her arrest.
She and her accomplice, Majed Ihmoud, also tried to sell a pair of bronze doors, valued at $10,000 for $130,000, falsely claiming they had once been the property of boxer Muhammad Ali. That sale, in July, 2004, likewise was to an FBI agent.
Karos pleaded guilty in 2001 to possession of stolen goods in the case of the missing items from the Rome Observatory, consisting of astrolabes and armillary spheres, which she had tried to market out of her Whitefish Bay home.
A very shady character named Zakria El-Shafei was lured to her home and beaten by O'Hara in that bizarre case. El-Shafei has disappeared. However, a recently-published book entitled Forbidden Prayers, includes a character who very likely is, or is based on, El-Shafei.
Karos' Milwaukee nemesis has been FBI Special Agent James Doyle who led the investigation into her recent activities here which brought to light the St. Louis connection. Karos is to be sentenced in St. Louis in May. According to the Bureau of Prisons website, she is now in transit, presumably to the detention facility in Chicago where she has been housed.
An article about Karos appeared in Wednesday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which is also accompanied by a lovely photograph of Karos. Use the Google search engine above to find the entire trove of milwaukeeworld.com stories about Marilyn Karos.

UPDATE-- Thursday, April 6th 2006 -- Majed A. Ihmoud was sentenced yesterday to five months in federal prison and and additional five months home confinement for the Rembrandt caper. Karos' sentencing is set for May 31st. -- Ed.]

BLIND JUSTICE: JENSEN CAN'T SEE ACCUSERS

By Michael Horne
The new $44 million Dane County Courthouse is taking its maiden voyage as the trial of Rep. Scott Jensen sails along. Wednesday, Jensen's lawyer, Stephen Meyer, asked for a mistrial since the courtroom's design does not permit Jensen to see his accusers eye-to-eye.
Judge Steven Ebert denied the motion, flatly saying that confrontation "is broader than the ability to look somebody in the eye." This puts the Dane County circuit court judge on a collision course with Justice Antonin Scalia of the United States Supreme Court, which has ruled quite differently.
How broad is the right to face-to-face confrontation with a hostile witness in a court trial? Well, it is embodied in the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which says that "in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right ... to be confronted with the witnesses against him."
This is not possible in the Jensen case, due to design flaws in the courthouse, which place the defendant, Jensen, out of the sight of those testifying. Milwaukeeworld has verified this with individuals who have been observers of the trial proceedings.
Even Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard admitted in court that "witnesses may lean a little bit [to see Jensen], but when they lean a little bit they would see him."
However, acrobatics in the courtroom was probably not what the framers of the Bill of Rights had in mind, and for centuries courtrooms have been built to allow face-to-face confrontation.
This is not merely a matter of interior design, but an established principle of the constitution, as we have seen.
The right was most recently affirmed by the United States Supreme Court, with Justice Antonin Scalia writing the opinion of the court that face-to-face confrontation "is not a preference 'reflected' by the Confrontation Clause [but rather] a constitutional right unqualifiedly guaranteed."
The right derives from "the irreducible literal meaning of the clause," which traces "to the beginnings of Western legal culture," according to Scalia in Crawford v. Washington, 02-9410 US 2004
This small detail was overlooked somewhere along the line as the courthouse facility was designed and constructed..
What appeared at first to be a sightline problem similar to occupying an obstructed seat in a stadium or theater, may indeed portend a constitutional issue beyond the scope (and apparently, the understanding), of the Dane County judiciary.
The gravity of the design flaw was pointed out by Waukesha County Judge Mac Davis, who is aware of the right to face-to-face contact with one's accusers, and who brought the matter to the attention of Jensen's attorney. It occured to Davis that something was wrong, as he testified, and he brought it to the attention of the Jensen team.
Jensen's supporters spent the evening Tuesday calling attorneys familiar with the provisions of the sixth amendment. The attorneys, who are not involved in the case, immediately referred to Scalia's opinion on the literal interpretation of face-to-face contact. Scalia's ruling, for example, prohibits the practice of separating a juvenile sexual assault victim in court from the accused by a sheet or other screening device. It also has implications in closed-circuit trials in which the accuser would be physically separated from the accused while the proceedings were televised.
Most famously, the issue appeared in last year's sexual assault trial of Michael Jackson. His accuser was obliged to deliver his testimony in Jackson's line-of-sight, rather than remotely.
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, a former state intervenor who is running for Attorney General directed questions to Chief Judge Michael Nowakowski, who referred questions to court administrator Gail Richardson, who was not immediately available for comment. [We'll post her response when she returns the calls.]
The architect for the project is Parker Durrant International Architects, a firm currently engaged in designing the world's tallest building, they say, and which has several web pages devoted to its courthouse work across the country.
Milwaukeeworld sent an e-mail to Kathe Stanton, the director of Media Relations for the architecture firm for her comments.
We've also called Kelli Thompson of the state Public Defender's office to see if the unconstitutional courtroom has caused problems for indigent criminal defendants.

BRADY STREET BANDIT SOUGHT

The photo above was thought to be, but is not, the "Brady Street Bandit," who has held up four businesses on the street over the course of the past week or so. The picture had been posted in many places of business on the street. [See update below for further information.]
About the Brady Street Bandit:
He's a short crackhead, according to those who have seen him in the past. He seems familiar with the Brady Street neighborhood, particularly the eastern end where he has pulled most of his jobs.
He does not get much money from the stores he robs, and the cash almost certainly goes immediately to drugs. He claims to have a gun, and should be considered armed and dangerous, but there is a likelihood that if he had a gun, he would have sold it for drugs by now.
The photograph you see is of our robber at work at the M&I Marshall and Ilsley Bank on N. Water Street, which he held up Friday, thus ratcheting his offense level to a federal crime.
If this were London, the police probably would already have got their man, since the British capital makes extensive use of public cameras and facial recognition technology.
Police Chief Annette Hegerty is considering installing pole cameras in Milwaukee, using drug asset forfeiture funds.
The folks on Brady Street probably wouldn't mind having a camera or two.

[UPDATE: 10 March 2006 -- The fellow in the photograph has been identified as Emmett P. Bankhead, (what a great name for a drug addict bank robber!) He is shown on his way to pick up cash to buy some drugs. Police arrested him in connection with three bank robberies including the March 2 hold-up at the M&I Bank (pictured above). Bankhead also admitted to the robbery of the Wells Fargo Bank at 735 W. Wisconsin Ave. and the Associated Bank at 200 E. Wisconsin Ave. However, police do not now believe, as they did earlier in the week, that he was the Brady Street bandit. That suspect may be in custody at this time, according to Jim Searles of the Brady Street Pharmacy. We'll tell you more if the police ever call us back.]
--Michael Horne

NEW WARDEN FOR OXFORD

Attention all inmates at the Federal Correction Institution in Oxford, Wisconsin! Meet your new warden, Ricardo Martinez, a twenty-year veteran of the Bureau of Prisons who took over the medium security facility and its approximately 1336 inmates this week.
Martinez was previously the warden at the Federal Prison Camp in Yankton, South Dakota where his inmates included such celebrated Wisconsinites as former Ald. Paul Henningsen and Sen. Gary George.
-- Michael Horne

NML STAFF GUINEA PIGS IN EMERGENCY DRILL

Those bloodied bodies you will see piled up in Cathedral Square Thursday morning will be volunteers from Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.
The Mayor's office announced at 5:27 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon that a "Full-Scale Emergency Response Drill" was planned for "Thursday March 3rd" in Cathedral Square. [For those who are keeping up with their calendars, Thursday is actually March 2nd.--Ed.] The City of Milwaukee is holding the drill in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security, so I suppose we have no choice in the matter, but you'd imagine a little warning would be nice.
I mean, how long has the mayor known about this drill?
"Oh, for some time," said mayoral spokesperson Eileen Force, when milwaukeeworld called her at 5:35.
"What is this drill? Doesn't it need a permit? How long has this been planned? Why did you wait until now to tell us? How many stories have appeared in the news media about this exercise? Will there be tanks involved?"
Ms. Force withstood the barrage of questions. The drill is a simulation of some kind of disaster. NML got involved because the Homeland Security folks needed some voluntary victims. The thing has been in the works for a good time, it does require a permit, no stories have appeared about it yet, although the police department has mentioned it and yes, some members of the media were notified about the planned emergency before 5:27 p.m. [So why didn't they write anything?] No tanks will be involved.
So, if you are in the vicinity of Cathedral Square between 9 a.m. and noon on Thursday, March 2nd 2006, you now know what's going on.
A little warning beforehand would have been a nice thing; the correct date even nicer.
Here's the terse press release, tantalizing and utterly lacking in details. Doesn't it scare you, too?

***MEDIA ADVISORY***

City of Milwaukee to Conduct Full-Scale Emergency Response Drill

MILWAUKEE – The City of Milwaukee, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will conduct an Emergency Response Preparedness Drill tomorrow, Thursday, March 3^rd beginning around 9:00 a.m. The City is partnering with Northwestern Mutual for this full-scale exercise.

WHAT: City of Milwaukee

Full-Scale Emergency Response Drill

WHERE: Cathedral Square

Downtown Milwaukee

WHEN: 9:00 a.m.

The exercise is expected to conclude around 12:00 noon.

-30-

Eileen Force
Communications Director
Office of Mayor Tom Barrett
City Hall
414-286-8504 (phone)
414-286-3191 (fax)
eforce@milwaukee.gov