Liz Cheney to Open Bush-Cheney Office Here

If you are over by Mayfair Monday, you can drop by the grand opening of the Bush–Cheney’04 Wisconsin Headquarters, 2222 N. Mayfair Rd., Wauwatosa.  The opening is open to the press, and Liz Cheney will be available for interviews. The event is at noon and features such other dignitaries as Rep. Leah Vukmir, Rep. Mark Honadel, Rep. Curt Gielow, and County Executive Scott Walker.

If you are in the neighborhood and would like to do something other than that, then get to the corner of Hwy. 100 and W. North Avenue where Wisconsin Citizen Action hosts a “Bash Bush” event at 11:30 a.m.

Gary George Law License Suspended

If you never got around to hiring Gary George as a lawyer like the Warshafsky Law Firm did, you’re “temporarily” out of luck. The disgraced former state senator’s license was temporarily suspended April 1st by an order of Cornelia G. Clark the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, dated March 8, 2004..

Clark acted on a motion from the Office of Lawyer Regulation “seeking the temporary suspension of the license of Attorney Gary R. George to practice law in Wisconsin. … The basis for this motion is Attorney George’s January 22, 2004 guilty plea in United States District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, to one count of conspiracy.”

It is not common for lawyers to plead guilty to felony charges – they usually put up a fight, and a law license won’t be of much use where Gary’s going – namely, federal prison. For one thing, the competition would be intense. Paul Henningsen’s already got most of the business locked up by now, one would imagine.

Along with George’s demise we lose another annoyance – we shall no longer see or hear Gary George advertisements for the Warshafsky Law Firm.

George taped his advertisements in August, 2000, back when the century was new and George’s integrity was unblemished. (We were a simpler people then.) Back then I asked the law firm about the ads. “Are they designed to help George in his reelection campaign?”

The Warshafsky spokesperson replied, “It has no connection to the campaign. He just brings us a lot of business.”

Election Night Approaches

We are down to the final hours in our Mayoral election, with the result said to be a tossup. Much will be dependent on voter turnout, which itself can depend on things like the weather. The primary election had the added allure of a presidential primary to possibly juice the vote. On the other hand, it is possible that the lack of a republican presidential race kept Milwaukee republicans at home in February, and that they will come out to vote Tuesday, if there are enough of them to count. Then we have the white people for Pratt, and the black people for Barrett contingency. I should imagine they exist in roughly the same, small numbers. Among them – former candidates Frank Cumberbatch and Leon Todd have endorsed Barrett. Sandy Folaron and Vince Bobot have endorsed Pratt. (I saw the bus with Folaron’s face plastered over it March 29th at 6:27 p.m. at S. 1st and Washington streets. Can’t we repaint that vehicle? When is enough enough?)

The weather may have an effect on election day results. If it’s nice perhaps people will flock to the polls. Or maybe, they’ll go outside and enjoy themselves for a change. If it is crummy, it would be just another day in Milwaukee, and people might just stay at home and hang themselves instead of voting.

However, if your interest in democracy involves hanging out at the winning candidate’s party on election night, it looks like you’ll be at the Knights of Columbus, 1800 S. 92nd St. with Scott Walker, or at the Italian Community Center, 631 W. Chicago Street, with Tom Barrett. If you want to go to an unusual double event, Ald. Mike D’Amato and Judge David Halbrooks plan a joint election night party at Shank Hall, can you believe it.

Marsupial Bridge Set to Build

The Marsupial Bridge will be hung from the Holton Viaduct, with  work commencing this spring, according to Mike Wisniewski of the Department of City Development. Lunda Construction of Black River Falls was the winning bidder, at $2,608,252.95.

Lunda was the second-lowest bidder last December, when the oft-delayed project, designed by La Dallman Architects, went way over its $2,314,252 estimate. The low bidder that time was Zenith Construction, which bid $3,065,093 for the span.

James Dallman said the bridge will be substantially the same as designed. The cost economies will come from changes to ancillary projects like lighting and landscaping. “Also, some of the work might be done by city crews that originally was to be done by a contractor,” he said.

The bridge is designed to increase non-vehicular cross-river traffic and to extend the reach of the city’s bicycle trails. A companion pedestrian bridge is well under way atop the remains of the Milwaukee River Dam. The Holton Viaduct was built in 1926, and was the city’s highest bascule bridge when built. It opened for the last time in the 1950’s when the last load of coal was delivered upstream of it. The area below the bridge, particularly on the west side, has been extensively remodeled as the city’s Beer Line “B” neighborhood. The marsupial bridge, which will cross the river at a height of about 25 feet, will connect directly with Lakefront Brewery and the Riverwalk. It should greatly facilitate access to the Brady Street area.

Corrections

The nice thing about the internet is you can correct your mistakes and re-post the document. I thought I should fess up to some inaccuracies here. Some of you read last week that Peggy Lautenschlager voted from her Fond du Lac address. In fact, she voted from Madison during 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000.

Brian Rieselman of Lautenschlager’s office also told me that “during her tenure as U.S. Attorney, she never claimed the Fond du Lac home she owns for the homestead property tax credit on her state income tax returns.”

I hadn’t written anything about the homestead or any other type of credit. Peggy Lautenschlager made too much income to qualify for the homestead credit. A search of the records shows that Lautenschlager never applied for her Lottery Tax credit during that time, which is probably what Rieselman was writing about.

I suggested, that given Lautenschlager’s penchant for travel that she probably did not live in her Madison apartment during the week, as was required by U.S. Code. According to Rieselman, “Lautenschlager and her family utilized, and continued to utilize, both locations for occupancy purposes, more than satisfying the residency requirements of federal code.”

“Further, she has never claimed Fond du Lac as her ‘headquarters’.  This is clear both from documents filed with the State of Wisconsin and in her statements to the media.”

Patrice Harris, the Marketing and PR Director of Summerfest, wrote to say that I was harsh when I claimed on March 15th that the Summerfest brochure had “typos galore.” The omission of the Summerfest telephone number, which I noted, was “intentional,” she says, citing the internet as the new portal of information for the Big Gig. (The phone number, for the record, is 1 414 273-2680.) The 2004 pass-out policy actually gives patrons an extra hour by extending pass-out hours to 6:30 p.m. and allowing reentry until 7 p.m. The Summerfest pin is $3, not $2, as I mentioned. The Big Gig Value Card allows the discounts on admission once contained in the Summerfest pin, which, as I wrote, no longer conveys discount status upon the wearer.