Student Organizations Struggle to Find Practice Space After Buildings Near Humphrey Torn Down

PayPal’s Peter Thiel invests in firm co-founded by Medical College of Wisconsin researcher

A biotech firm co-founded by Medical College of Wisconsin professor Blake Hill received an investment from Breakout Labs — the science-centric nonprofit backed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. San Francisco-based Breakout Labs invests $50,000 to $350,000 to get startups through the proof-of-concept stage and, ideally, into collaborations or more significant funding, according to the San Francisco Business Times, a sister publication of the Milwaukee Business Journal. Breakout Labs takes a 1 percent equity stake in the companies and receives royalties on marketed products. Those profits then get plowed back into a revolving fund to make more awards. Hill co-founded CyteGen, which is developing a platform to tackle multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and rare diseases, hoping to turn back the clock on aging-related neurodegenerative conditions. George Ugras is the president and co-founder of CyteGen. CyteGen’s leaders want to dramatically increase the human health-span by reversing age-related decline in the body. By approaching the topic from a holistic, systematic point of view, they have developed a new way to think about reversing this decline, and to develop therapies that cure some of the most devastating diseases associated with old age, Breakout Labs said. Breakout Labs said CyteGen has assembled a “dream team” of interdisciplinary experts and is working with researchers at eight major, but unidentified, universities. Hill is a professor of biochemistry at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa. He joined the faculty of the Medical College in 2012 to pursue translational applications of his laboratory’s basic research on the mechanism of mitochondrial homeostasis. Prior to joining the Medical College, Hill was on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University where he began a National Institutes for Health-funded research program in the molecular basis of mitochondrial homeostasis. Breakout Labs says it has invested in more than two dozen companies at the forefront of science, helping new technologies get beyond common hurdles faced by early-stage companies. Portfolio companies have raised more than six times the amount of capital invested in the program by the Thiel Foundation, and represent six Series A valuations ranging from $10 million to $60 million as well as one acquisition, according to Breakout Labs.

Freshwater Plaza site sells for $2.9 million; construction starting

The site of the future Freshwater Plaza retail, apartments and office development in Walker’s Point has been sold, with the project to break ground this month. Citizens Bank of Mukwonago sold 3.2 acres at the site, east of S. 1st St. and north of E. Greenfield Ave., to two affiliates of developer Wangard Partners Inc., for $1.39 million, according to state real estate records posted Wednesday. The bank also sold to 3.2 acres to Cermak Realty LLC, for a 42,000-square-foot Cermak Food Market, for $982,500, and 2 acres to the city Redevelopment Authority for $528,200. The authority is holding its parcel for a possible future office building. Meanwhile, construction begins this fall on the supermarket, and on a four-story building with street-level retail space and 76 upper-level apartments that Wangard Partners will operate. Wangard also will develop two additional smaller retail buildings. Wangard’s financing for the $49 million project includes $5.1 million in city financing, a $27.9 million bank loan, $3.2 million in equity, a $1 million state grant and $10.8 million in federal New Markets Tax Credits, which are provided for commercial developments in lower-income neighborhoods. That requires Wangard to set aside 20% of the apartments at below-market rents for moderate-income residents. The city funds will be paid back by Freshwater Plaza’s property taxes. The city is financing an environmental cleanup at the former foundry site, as well as sewers, water mains and other public improvements.

county to drop part-time drivers to end transit impasse

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said Tuesday he will authorize transit system officials to drop their push for 45 part-time drivers in an attempt to avoid another bus strike and end the six-month impasse between drivers and the company. After Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 members rejected the transit system’s latest contract offer on Monday, Local 998 President James Macon emphasized that the issue of part-time drivers was at the heart of an overwhelming no vote. The old contract between the Milwaukee County Transit System and union drivers and mechanics ended March 31. ATU members “sent a strong message to MCTS and County Executive Abele that we will not stand by and let them turn our careers into part-time jobs,” Macon said late Monday. Abele responded quickly Tuesday. “If that is their biggest, single issue, I’ll drop that,” Abele said. “No part-time drivers.” Abele spoke Tuesday at a meeting with Journal Sentinel reporters and editors. “I’ll figure out a way to pay for it” in the 2016 transit budget, Abele said. “Tell them to put it in writing and we’ll discuss it,” Macon said when asked to comment on Abele’s statement. Macon scheduled a 4 p.m. Tuesday news conference to disclose whether the union local’s executive board had authorized a strike or other work action in the wake of Monday’s vote. Transit drivers went on strike July 1 to 3 before voluntarily returning to work.

City ordered to pay strip club’s legal fees

The City of Milwaukee has been ordered to pay Silk Exotic $482,586 to cover attorney fees and out-of-pocket expenses following a lawsuit the company’s owners brought forth last year after being denied a license to open a strip club Downtown. The ruling Monday, by U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, brings the total the city now owes to Six Star Holdings, LLC and Ferol, LLC, the entities formed by Silk owner Jon Ferraro and his partners for the purposes of opening a downtown club, to close to $1 million. In February, a jury awarded Silk $435,500 in federal court for revenue lost because the city would not grant the company a license for a Downtown strip club. That suit is on appeal in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.  The second lawsuit against the city has been assigned to Adelman, who presided over the first trial. Silk was represented by The Jeff Scott Olson Law Firm. Olson was paid $575 per hour for his work. Trial consultant Sara Furey Crandall, who is also an attorney, was paid $385. Associate attorney Andrea Farrell was paid $350 an hour. Law clerks and paralegals were paid $150 an hour. The firm spent a total of 1,032.8 hours on the case. The city argued that the firm’s rates were excessive. A survey conducted by the State Bar of Wisconsin found in 2012, the average hourly rate for personal injury lawyers was $207 and the 95th percentile hourly rate for all private practitioners in Wisconsin was $395. Adelman disagreed, saying the survey reflected rates from 2012, not present day. Silk’s owners also asked for out-of-pocket expenses totaling $57,033. The city argued that the expenses – including two breakfasts that cost $30 each and hotel costs totaling $3,813 – were unreasonable; however, Adelman believed the costs were reasonably incurred. Olson said he client was pleased with his success in court, but would rather make money running a downtown club than suing the city. “He will take suing the city as a second choice,” Olson said. “The city has had so many opportunities to resolve this cheaply. But we make our living on unreasonable settlement decisions.” Silk has tried since 2009 to open an establishment downtown; its latest proposal was to put a club on the fourth floor of an office building at 804 N. Milwaukee St. was denied last month. Assistant City Attorney Adam Stephens said the city is reviewing the order right now and he expects it will be appealed. Silk has three locations, one location in Milwaukee, 11400 West Silver Spring Road, and locations in Middleton and Juneau. In 2010, the Common Council rejected Silk Exotic strip club proposals at 730 N. Old World Third St. and at 117 W. Pittsburgh Ave. in Walker’s Point. In 2013, Silk Exotic tried unsuccessfully to open approval for plans for a strip club in a city-owned parking structure at 4th Street and Highland Avenue, across the street from the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Last year, the Common Council […]

Milwaukee gets $30 million federal grant to redevelop Westlawn public housing campus

The Milwaukee Housing Authority received a $30 million federal grant to demolish outdated buildings in the Westlawn public housing property and build hundreds of new apartments and houses. The grant would continue the redevelopment of the housing authority’s Westlawn campus on West Silver Spring Drive, between 60th and 68th streets. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the award Monday morning. The authority plans to demolish 394 old affordable apartments on Westlawn’s western half and build in their place 708 new housing units. The new apartments will include at least 394 affordable units for low-income residents, market-rate apartments and some owner-occupied homes. A new building on Silver Spring Drive will have first-floor retail space with housing on the upper levels. The project follows Milwaukee’s completion of 250 new housing units on the eastern portion of Westlawn. The grant award includes construction money for the renovations and $8 million for revitalization efforts in neighborhoods around Westlawn. The Housing Authority is among 33 applicants that competed for the federal grants through the Choice Neighborhoods program. Milwaukee was among nine finalists announced earlier this year by HUD, and five that will actually receive a share of the $150 million in awards. The latest award continues a long string of the housing authority securing federal HUD grants to modernize its public housing properties in Milwaukee. Nani Coloretti, HUD deputy secretary, and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett were to announce the Milwaukee grant award Monday morning.

Officer in Badger Guns lawsuit describes bloody shooting scene

Milwaukee Police Officer Bryan Norberg saw a flash and felt an excruciating pain in his mouth. The bullet ripped into his mouth, shattering eight teeth and sending shards into his tongue, and then blowing out his check and slicing into his shoulder. “It felt like someone had ripped my teeth right out of my mouth,” Norberg testified Monday about being shot with fellow Officer Graham Kunisch in June 2009. The shooter, Julius Burton, got the gun a month earlier, through a straw buyer, from Badger Guns. Norberg said he tried to fight through the wall of pain, to get to Kunisch, who was more severely wounded, taking two shots to his head and others to the body. “There was a lot of blood,” Norberg said. “I felt like it was everywhere.” Norberg, 28, took the stand in a case he and Kunisch filed against Badger Guns, its predecessor, Badger Outdoors, and the owners, claiming negligence in the sale of the gun used to injure them. They also contend the owners of the West Milwaukee gun operation conspired to defeat a federal effort to revoke the gun-dealing license. Norberg grew up in Bay View and said he always wanted to be a cop, “to take care of my city.” On that day, he was assigned with Kunisch to patrol near Bradley Tech High School on the last day of school. They saw Burton riding a bike on W. National Ave. and stopped him for an ordinance violation. As they approached, Burton struggled. Kunisch radioed for help and Burton pulled a gun and fired. After the shooting, Burton fled and was arrested in a nearby house, where police found the gun. Police learned Jacob Collins bought the gun — a Taurus .40-caliber handgun — at Badger Guns for Burton, who was not old enough to buy a handgun. Collins got $60 from Burton. Collins testified earlier Monday that he doesn’t read well and guessed at the answers on the gun purchase form. He said a store salesman told him how to answer a key question. Collins had marked on one form he was buying for himself; on another he wrote “no” to the same question, asked differently. Collins said the salesman gave him the forms back. “He told me to mark the box off to say ‘yes,'” Collins said. But the attorney for Badger Guns noted Collins told police something else after he was arrested. According to a report, salesman Donald Flora told Collins: “Read the form and put what you think is right. I can’t help you with the form.” Flora earlier testified he has no memory of the sale. Signs of straw purchase There were several telltale signs that Collins was a straw buyer, according to the officers’ attorney, Patrick Dunphy. Burton was in the store during the whole transaction and pointed to the gun he wanted. Collins changed his address on the form. He and Burton left the store to get more cash to pay for the gun. And […]

Laurie Bebo ordered to pay $4.2 million in SEC case

Former Assisted Living Concepts Inc. CEO Laurie Bebo, who has sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for appointing the judges in its enforcement actions, was ordered by one of those judges to pay a civil penalty of $4.2 million for violating the Securities and Exchange Act. Administrative law judge Cameron Elliot issued the decision Friday that requires Bebo to pay the civil penalty and bars her from acting as an officer or director any securities issuer. Elliott heard testimony in the case in Milwaukee in April and May and again in June from Bebo and other witnesses. Even on the witness stand, Bebo’s testimony “largely amounted to a fairy tale,” Elliott said in his ruling. “The simple truth is that Bebo concocted an elaborate fiction, started telling it over six years ago, and has never stopped,” Elliot wrote. The SEC accused Bebo of a scheme involving manipulating documentation on the occupancy levels of Menomonee Falls-based Assisted Living Concepts facilities to help the company meet requirements of its lease covenants with Ventas Inc. of Chicago to avoid lease defaults. The ruling follows Bebo losing an appeal in August at the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago where she challenged the constitutionality of the SEC’s in-house court proceedings. Assisted Living Concepts former chief financial officer John Buono, who also faced SEC civil action, settled the case against him in January for $100,000. The settlement permanently bars Buono from serving as an officer or director of a public company or practicing accounting before the SEC. In his ruling, Elliot repeatedly questioned the veracity of Bebo’s testimony while acknowledging that some of her arguments had merit. “Her evasiveness and discursiveness throughout the hearing especially damaged her credibility,” Elliott said. The SEC alleged Bebo was involved in falsifying documents while she was Assisted Living’s CEO. Bebo was CEO at the company from November 2006 until she was fired in May 2012. The company was sold in July 2013 to private equity firm TPG Capital, which relocated the headquarters to Chicago. The SEC’s enforcement division said Assisted Living Concepts listed fake occupants at some senior residences between 2009 and 2012 in order to meet the requirements of a lease to operate the facilities. The agency alleged Bebo and Buono devised a scheme involving false disclosures and manipulation of internal books and records when it appeared likely that the company would default on financial covenants in a lease agreement. Bebo’s attorney Mark Cameli of Milwaukee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Amilinda’s Gregory Leon

Uihleins spend big to help Ron Johnson defend Senate seat from Russ Feingold

It’s not enough that Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein are trying to buy up and lock down important parcels of property in northern Wisconsin. The Uihleins — owners of Pleasant Prairie-based Uline Corp. — also are staking a claim in the hotly contested race between U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and his predecessor, former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold. Records show that the Uihleins and their company already have pumped at least $1.3 million into three outside groups putting up ads either helping Johnson, a Republican, or criticizing Feingold, a Democrat. The election, of course, is still 13 months away. Most recently, Uline Corp. gave $500,000 to Club for Growth’s super PAC, making the company the biggest donor by far to the national conservative group this year. Uline’s support represents more than two-thirds of Club for Growth’s total take of $762,767 in 2015. The Uline money arrived a few months before the group launched a $700,000 ad campaign attacking Feingold. Club for Growth has announced that it hopes to spend more than three times that amount helping to re-elect Johnson. Tom Russell, campaign manager for Feingold, said it’s not surprising that out-of-state multimillionaires are “bankrolling” his opponent’s campaign via Club for Growth. Russell said they are doing this because Johnson supported, among other things, the policies that led to the 2013 federal government shutdown. Earlier this year, Richard Uihlein chipped in $800,000 to two conservative political action committees running TV and radio spots on the race — $300,000 to Restoration PAC and an additional $500,000 to Americas PAC. Richard Uihlein, who lives in Lake Forest, Ill., did not return calls last week. But in an August email, he told No Quarter that his company and family have deep roots in the state. “My company’s corporate headquarters are located in Pleasant Prairie, WI. Wisconsin is a very important part of our business,” Richard Uihlein wrote. It goes even further than that. The Uihleins — who own property in northern Wisconsin — have come under scrutiny in recent weeks for asking Gov. Scott Walker’s administration to approve two land deals that would benefit them. First, Elizabeth Uihlein is trying to buy 1.75 acres of prime lakefront property in Vilas County from the Department of Natural Resources. Richard Uihlein also wants state approval to tie down a 12-acre floating bogto keep it away from his family property. The politically active couple has given some $3 million in support of Walker’s successful gubernatorial and unsuccessful presidential campaigns. The Uhleins, in other words, are quickly becoming the Koch brothers of Wisconsin politics. In his email to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Richard Uihlein said the Johnson-Feingold contest is among the most important U.S. Senate races in 2016. He said he put money into the Restoration PAC to draw attention to Feingold’s support of the Iran nuclear deal, which Uihlein called “one of the greatest threats to our nation’s security.” He added, “We thought it would be a good time to highlight this.” As for out-of-state spending in this crucial contest, Richard […]

DNR investigating unauthorized path improvements on state land

A footpath on Department of Natural Resources property in Vilas County that a wealthy political supporter of Gov. Scott Walker is trying to buy has been upgraded in recent months without state approval. A spokesman for business executive Elizabeth Uihlein acknowledged that workers at her adjoining property may have ventured onto state land and cleaned up the trail slightly, although those who have seen the trail say the improvements were detailed and significant. Uihlein, a co-founder of Uline Corp. in Pleasant Prairie, is seeking to buy 1.75 acres along Rest Lake, where the footpath is located. But a tentative deal with the DNR was put on hold last month after critics raised questions about the transaction. Vegetation and brush have been cut and removed on about 500 feet of the footpath in the Town of Manitowish Waters, say those who have seen it. The ground has been raked. And some dead or dying trees and stumps have been cut to the ground. The DNR inspected the site on Thursday and found an “established trail,” DNR spokesman Jim Dick said in a statement. “This is not a DNR trail. We do not know who is responsible, but we are looking into it.” He declined to provide details on the scope of the inquiry and whether the department had talked to Uihlein or her representatives. Any work that might have been done by Uihlein’s workers was modest, said her spokesman, lobbyist Bill Broydrick. Uihlein has made substantial investments in the Northwoods community through a company, EAU Holdings. “No one connected with and employed by EAU Holdings has modified the trail in a material way,” Broydrick said. “It is possible that as part of our work near the DNR property, some minor cleanup on the trail was done. “Both DNR and Mrs. Uihlein share the same goal of protecting the environment.” Uihlein and her husband, Richard, founded Uline in 1980. The company is a distributor of shipping and packaging supplies with more than 4,000 employees in North America. The Uihleins have donated nearly $3 million to Walker in recent years, according to public records. This past summer, Elizabeth Uihlein was cited for violating Vilas County shoreline protection ordinances when she clear-cut trees on her condominium property near the trail. She paid a fine of about $750, according to a Vilas County official. Also, in 2012, her husband was cited for violating Sawyer County shoreline regulations for clearing 135 feet of frontage on the Chippewa Flowage, records show. Richard Uihlein paid a $767.50 fine. He has proposed to the DNR an unprecedented plan to move a 12-acre floating bog away from his property on the flowage and anchor it to the lake bed. Big donors to Walker The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on July 31 that the Uihleins donated $2.5 million to Unintimidated PAC, a political action committee supporting Walker’s presidential bid that was formed in April. They also have contributed nearly $290,000 to support Walker’s elections for governor, and Richard Uihlein gave $200,000 […]

Local jewelry maker caught Steve Madden’s eye

Tammy Spice started beading jewelry when she was a little girl and had no idea at the time it would morph into a lucrative career for her grown-up self. “My mom was very creative and when I was a young girl she saw that I was creative with my clothes and accessories so she introduced me to the basics of beading and bought me my first jewelry making supplies,” says Spice. Spice attended an all-girls high school that required the students to wear a uniform, so wearing jewelry was the primary way the young women were able to express themselves. “Needless to say, the jewelry I created really grabbed attention among the girls in my high school,” says Spice. “Eventually, my creative hobby blossomed into a successful jewelry business.” During college, Spice continued making jewelry and sold it at local, now-defunct shops Three Graces and J.Bird. “That really helped boost my confidence,” she says. However, her big break came later, when she was co-managing the Steve Madden store in Mayfair mall. One day, Madden made a surprise visit to the store and Spice greeted him while wearing a necklace she designed. “I was wearing a favorite design style of mine at the time called The Sabrina necklace – an agate hanging on suede cord – and he noticed it,” says Spice. “We immediately started talking about a purchase order for many of his stores. This connection gave me what I needed to start converting this hobby into a career as a jewelry designer and business owner.” Today, Tammy Spice Jewelry is sold nationwide in high-end boutiques and catalogs. The Barn Owl in Delafield and Mainstream Boutique in the Historic Third Ward have particularly large selections of Tammy Spice Jewelry. “I have made some amazing wholesale relationships over the years,” says Spice. Spice recently had her website redesigned and her jewelry is also now available here. The collection includes necklaces, bracelets, earrings and keychains. The majority of the pieces are under $100. Many of the earrings are $38; most rings are $25. Spice describes her jewelry as “a unique mix of edgy design and flirty elegance.” Spice designs all of the jewelry herself and it is assembled entirely by women who live in lake country. “My pieces are approachable, fun, and can be worn every day,” she says. “The jewelry offers an array of designs with alluring elements and attention grabbing fundamentals.” Spice was born in Wisconsin and then moved to California with her mother and sister when she was one year old. Her family lived there a decade before moving back to Wisconsin. She studied art history and fine arts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and also took fine art courses at The Milwaukee Art Museum. Today, she lives in Oconomowoc with her family. “Like most women, I am balancing my business expectations and my family obligations so I am always looking for good sales representatives to meet the needs of our wholesale customers and help to expand into the […]