Sugar, 126 E. Mineral St., tucked in a largely industrial area, couldn't avoid controversy after its patrons would spill out on nearby streets after dancing.
One police officer described a scene of a crowded gas station filled with partially clothed girls. The officer said he was concerned for the safety of the girls who weren't wearing coats on winter nights and would sometimes have nothing on but bikinis for a so-called "Foam" night.
Food Fight: The dearth of food options at our fair city's new $15 million train station -- which OnMilwaukee.com's Jeff Sherman wrote about last week -- hasn't gone unnoticed by at least one Milwaukee alderman. Ald. Bob Bauman blasted the decision to lease vending space at the new intermodal station to a company that wants to install vending machines.
"Let them eat Twinkies and Sun Chips," said Bauman. "Just six months after the celebration and speeches at the VIP ribbon cutting ceremony we find there will be no counter service, no cocktail bar, no sit down food service, and no breakfast, lunch or dinner served at this magnificent facility any time soon.
"It is indeed ironic that WisDOT has no problem spending billions of dollars expanding Milwaukee area freeways, but when it comes to their Amtrak Depot/Intermodal Facility, vending machines will suffice. The citizens of Milwaukee did not make this investment in order to see this iconic facility degraded after only six months (of operation)."
Out of Gas: One large silence after the announcement from General Motors that it is closing its Janesville SUV plant entirely next year emanates from the governor's office.
A few years back the governor and dignitaries were in front of the plant giving GM several hundred thousand dollars to keep the factory open.
The Janesville plant employs about 2,400 hourly and 200 salaried workers. Earlier this year, GM announced plans to eliminate the second shift and 756 jobs in Janesville starting in July.
Out of Hell: The Badger State is apparently not the tax hell that many have tried to make it out to be. WISTAX, the tax watchdog group, reports that new Census figures for 2006 show Wisconsin's ranking dipped out of the top 10 for the first time since 1980.
The drop was due to Wisconsin's tax burden growing more slowly than the nation's, and especially because three states -- New Mexico, New Jersey and Louisiana -- moved ahead of Wisconsin.
State and local taxes were highest in Wyoming (16.6%), New York (15.7%), Alaska (15.1%), Maine (14.3%) and Louisiana (14.1%). Energy taxes were responsible for Wyoming's and Alaska's rankings. At the low end, Tennessee ranked 48th (9.3%); New Hampshire, 49th (9.2%); and South Dakota, 50th (9.1%). Among neighboring states, all ranked lower than Wisconsin.
Fuel for the Economy: A conservative think tank issued a report that suggests it's not rocket science to improve the economy in the Milwaukee area. In "Moving the Milwaukee Economy Forward: The Five Steps Necessary for Success," released today by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, George Lightbourn and Sammis White point out the bright spots and challenges in the current situation and then offer five practical action recommendations.
Based on an assessment of the region's strengths and weaknesses, the report offers five recommendations:
- Increase the flow of capable workers into high-end manufacturing
- Increase the number of high school graduates
- Increase the number of college graduates
- Lower the crime rate in Milwaukee
- Increase the Downtown Milwaukee population
An avid outdoors person he regularly takes extended paddling trips in the wilderness, preferring the hinterlands of northern Canada and Alaska. After a bet with a bunch of sailors, he paddled across Lake Michigan in a canoe.
He lives in Bay View.
