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

1 414 978-8039

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