Property Transfers, June 23

Here are this week's property transfers ... nothing big stood out this week. Let us know if you see any important sales.

Property Transfers, June 23

Mason raises $64K for re-election; Krupp breaks $100K

State Rep. Cory Mason, 62nd Assembly District, D-Racine, is doing his best to scare away Republican challengers. The first-term incumbent announced Wednesday he's raised $64,000 for re-election. Here's the full release (and an update on Marge Krupp, below):

Racine- State Representative Cory Mason (D-Racine) announced today that he has raised over $64,000 for his re-election campaign. In addition, Rep. Mason has built a broad coalition of financial support from over 600 Racine County residents.

In making this announcement Rep. Mason said, "It is important to me to not only raise the resources I will need to run a vigorous campaign, but to do it the right way. The majority of my donors are from Racine County, and my average donation is less than $55. I want my campaign to reflect the interests of those that I serve, so it is very important to me that I continue to build grassroots support from around the community."

Rep. Mason is in his first term as a state Representative. He serves on the following committees: Natural Resources, Education, and Jobs and the Economy. Mason is a graduate of Case High School and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is an active member of the River Alliance of Wisconsin and serves as a commissioner to the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Racine.

Mason filed his campaign finance report with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board today.

Filing period for candidates ends on July 8. So far, Mason has one opponent: Keith Deschler, who ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2002 and 2004.

Marge Krupp, one of five Democrats vying for the nomination to run against Congressman Paul Ryan, R-1st District, announced today that she broke the $100,000 barrier of credibility. It's looking like she has a shot at winning the Democratic nomination. That'd be a major accomplishment for First Congressional Dems who haven't been able to overcome the cross-dressing Republicans who nominate Doc Thomas every two years.

p.s. (pre-emptive strike): Yes, dear commenters, we'll post Vos' totals as soon as they're available.

The Saving Energy Bill ... who isn't for that?And who's against oil price gouging...

In this day of $4 gasoline (Someday all-too-soon, we'll look back on these parlous times as the good ol' days of cheap fuel.), who could oppose saving energy through public transportation?

Let's get Congress to pass a bill called the "Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act of 2008."

The findings of said bill could have such neat bullet points as:

-- In 2007, people in the U.S. took more than 10.3 billion trips using public transportation, the highest level in 50 years.

--Public transportation use saves fuel, reduces emissions and saves money...

--The direct petroleum savings attributable to public transportation use is 1.4 billion gallons per year (and when secondary effects are taken into account... more than 11 million gallons of gasoline per day)...

--Households that use public transportation save an average of $6,251 every year.

And so on.

Why, such a bill could include grants to improve public transportation in urban areas, say $750 million in 2008 and 2009; and another $100 million a year for non-urban areas.

The money could be used to reduce bus fares, acquire clean fuel equipment, expand commuter services, expand public transportation or maintain intercity service.

There's even a provision to establish up to five vanpool pilot programs -- whatever thy are.

And "Increased federal share for end-of-line fixed guideway stations," which is reimbursement for purchase and construction of park-and-ride lots serving "a commuter bus route that is more than 20 miles in length." (My favorite provision is in this section: The grant, it says, "shall be for 100 percent of the net capital cost of the project unless the grant recipient requests a lower grant percentage." Oh, yeah; I bet that happens often!)

The bill, according to its author, Rep. James Oberstar, D-MN, "provides much needed support to states and public transportation agencies and also increases incentives for commuters to choose transit options, thereby reducing their transportation-related energy consumption and our nation’s reliance on foreign oil."

Further explanations of what the bill would accomplish are HERE, written by Oberstar and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon.

And so on and so forth. Who could be opposed to such a bill? Not many. The House passed HR 6052 last Friday (read it HERE) and sent it on to the Senate. The vote was 322 to 98, and somewhat bi-partisan with 231 Democrats in favor, none opposed; and 91 Republicans in favor, 98 opposed. (Roll call HERE.)

Paul Ryan voted no.

No word from Ryan on why he opposed the bill -- although I would bet its $1.7 billion price tag had a lot to do with it.

But wait, there's more!

Last week, the House dealt with another apple-pie-and-baseball-titled bill, the "Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act." Actually, the full title is even better: A bill to protect consumers from price-gouging of gasoline and other fuels, and for other purposes. Full text HERE.

Who could be against that, you ask?

Not to put too fine a point on it, the bill prohibits anyone from selling gasoline during a presidentially-declared energy emergency "at a price that is... unconscionably excessive; and... taking unfair advantage of the circumstances related to an energy emergency to increase prices unreasonably."

You'd be for that, right? Well, Ryan wasn't. The measure received 276 yeas (225 Democrats and 51 Republicans) and 146 nos (1 Democrat and 145 Republicans) -- not enough yeas for the necessary two-thirds majority. Roll call HERE.

Two retail chains with stores here talk of closures...

The new Starbucks taking shape on Green Bay Road

The retail landscape may be changing soon. Two major chains with stores in Racine talked about closure plans today, although neither gave any definitive information about the stores here.

First up, Starbucks, the Seattle coffee retailer with 7,950 outlets in the U.S., announced plans to close 600 of them, those that are "underperforming." No details were forthcoming. Meanwhile, Starbucks is proceeding with plans to open a new store in the former location of Jo to Go, a drive-in coffee purveyor. Remodeling has been under way at the site for a couple of weeks. (Picture above taken on June 18.)

And then Steve and Barry's, the $10 logo sweatshirt and apparel retailer with 270 large mall stores around the country, is said to be on the brink of bankruptcy, desperately seeking $30 million to keep operating for the rest of the year.

Steve and Barry's occupied a premiere part of Regency Mall until last January, when it gave up its place for Burlington Coat Factory and made plans to move into somewhat smaller space next to JC Penney. The new Steve and Barry's opened a few weeks ago.

Regency Mall Manager Curt Pruitt said, "our company is working closely with them," and no plans for closing our new Steve and Barry's have been discussed.

Steve and Barry's before the move within Regency Mall

SCJ products: Why you can feel good about them

'Companies must take the lead.' -- Fisk Johnson

“When you reach for any SC Johnson product, you can feel good about it.”

SCJ Chairman Fisk Johnson says that in a TV commercial, and his words are supported by data reported today in the company's 2008 Public Report, its 17 year of reporting progress on its sustainable development objectives.

Some of the highlights:

--SCJ gets nearly 40% of its global electricity from renewable energy
--It removes more than 61 million pounds of volatile organic chemicals from the environmental footprint of the company's products since 2001
--It is reducing, reusing and recycling a record 95 percent of the solid waste at Waxdale
--The company launched nearly 175 new products in 2007
--It has donated $168 million to the communities it serves in the past 10 years.

Some of the "smaller" sustainability factoids are stunning:

--Lighter pallets reduce diesel fuel consumption by 80,000 gallons a year
--Lighter-weight bottles eliminate 1 million pounds of plastic annually
--SC Johnson reuses nearly 20% of the plastic recycled from its Ziploc bag manufacturing plant
--A new wind turbine in the Netherlands will produce 6.1 million kilowatt hours of green electricity every year
--SCJ's efforts in South Africa have brought malaria-prevention information to 1.12 million people.

In keeping with the company's conservation goals, SCJ limits distribution of the printed edition of the report -- preferring the internet -- and makes a contribution to Conservation International to help offset the carbon emissions of printing and distribution. This year's contribution supports the restoration of degraded lands in southwest China, producing timber and fuel wood for local communities, fostering employment and providing a habitat for the red panda and the Bengal tiger.

Download the full 56-page report HERE.

"As a business leader, a scientist, a citizen and a father, I believe that companies must take the lead," Johnson wrote in the report's cover letter. "We can’t leave it to watchdog groups or federal regulators. The government can’t test everything or monitor everyone. And we should not want it to — companies should understand the science and have the sincerity to do what is right. We all must be responsible...

"For us, responsibility is both a holistic and continuous process that extends beyond the products we make. We’ve been reducing our use of fossil fuels for almost a decade. We’re helping protect families from diseases like malaria and dengue. We invest annually in the communities where we operate, to help make them better because we are there.

"That, above all, is what SC Johnson is all about. We are 12,000 people in more than 70 countries around the world, working each and every day to set the pace. To live up to very high standards. To take the lead and do what’s right."

Racine Unified implements four-day work week

Racine Unified School District is switching to a four-day work week for the rest of the summer, "in an effort to conserve energy while reducing district costs as well as decrease commuting expenses for employees."

The district will be "piloting" a summer hours program for summer clerical and administrative staff from Monday, July 7, through Aug. 1. During this time, district departments will be open longer Monday-Thursday and closed on Fridays. The extended Monday through Friday hours will be determined by the individual departments, and families are encouraged to contact departments in advance for available hours.

The longer hours Monday-Thursday will also assist working families as many district departments will be open later so parents may receive services after normal working hours. Families that have a need on Fridays should call the district's main number at (262)635-5600.

LEE's roller coaster ride continues...

(Updated below at the end of the orignal post.)

Ya gotta love some financial analysts. After the barn door has opened and the livestock escaped they tell you it might rain next week.

And so it goes with Deutsche Bank and its analysis of Lee Enterprises (NYSE:LEE), parent of the Journal Times, which we told you yesterday was having a particularly bad year (and in April, and in January, and...)

Today Deutsche Bank downgraded its recommendation of Lee to "hold." In other words, kids, don't rush out and buy any ... even though the price OMG! OMG! OMG! has just fallen through the floor again! Yesterday, it dropped 41 cents, to yet another historic low of $3.99 a share. (Remember, it had been at $49 four years ago, and at $21 last year at this time.)

Well, that was so yesterday. This morning, Lee fell another jaw-dropping 53 cents; it's down to $3.46 a share as I write this. (A 27-year low, according the Associated Press.) There was no apparent reason for today's decline, except for Deutsche Bank's downgrade, which is plenty.

Deutsche Bank has lowered its price target from $14 (good luck with that!) to $6 (ditto).

StreetInsider.com writes today:

Deutsche Bank cited a difficult ad environment, no foreseeable positive catalysts, and concerns over the company’s leverage as justification for the Hold rating.

In addition, the firm said, "Lee is trading at 6.4x FY08 EV/EBITDA, slightly above the newspaper peer average of 6.2x. We believe a premium to the group is warranted due to the company's small/mid-sized market portfolio, which gives LEE a superior growth profile. Our DCF suggests a $6 value, while our ROIC analysis points to $7. Nonetheless, the increasing possibility that LEE may have to obtain covenant relief, cut/suspend its dividend, or take other emergency actions leads us to conclude that the shares will continue to trade below fundamental value."

Lee wasn't the only newspaper stock hammered yesterday. MediaGeneral also fell 9%, and McClatchey -- stumbling over its purchase of Knight-Ridder much as Lee has suffered from its acquisition of Pulitzer newspapers -- fell 5% and was kicked off the Russell 1,000 list of America's largest publicly traded companies. Editor & Publisher magazine's story of yesterday's declines is HERE. No doubt there'll be more to say tomorrow...

Overall, the value of 11 major newspaper companies has dropped $23 billion in the past six months, according to an industry blog, Reflections of a Newsosaur. Now, don't you feel guilty for having taken two papers from that newsrack when you were a kid? Here's the chart they prepared. As always, click to enlarge:
Update, 7/2: OK, it's now the tomorrow we were talking about yesterday. LEE opened badly, dropping to $3.19 a share before climbing back to around $3.40. More speculation came from an article in the San Diego Reader, where Don Bauder wrote about "Newspapers' debt dilemma." Here's what he had to say about Lee:

Lee Enterprises... was supposed to feast on its collection of smaller papers with little competition... But Lee piled up a lot of debt to buy a big paper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, along with too many smaller ones. In its most recent quarter, Lee lost $713 million. In the quarter a year earlier, it had made $11.2 million. A year ago, the stock was above $20; now it’s around $4. The dividend yield is above 17 percent. Obviously, that won’t remain. “Lee Enterprises’ financial health is poor,” says analyst Tom Corbett of Morningstar, a stock-rating firm. “Lee has assumed a substantial debt load from its earlier acquisitions, and the company is closing in on the upper limits of its debt covenants.” That is a polite way of saying that it could default on its debt.

As have other reporters, Bauder notes that some other newspaper chains are in worse shape than Lee. He cites Gatehouse Media, an upstate New York chain:

GateHouse’s stock has plunged 85 percent. It’s now below $3. Astonishingly, the company has not dropped its dividend. The yield is almost a staggering 33 percent. I asked the company’s vice president of investor relations, Mark Maring, if he gets any questions about that yield. “Every day,” he joked. Don’t expect that dividend to last.

As LEE climbed to $3.38 this afternoon, its dividend yield is 22.3%. GateHouse Media, at $2.41 per share, is holding at 33.2%...

Career Industries collects items for soldiers in iraq

Careers Industries’ Racine and Burlington CARE (Careers Advocates Representing Everyone.) committees are collecting items for the soldiers in Iraq, now through Aug. 1.

Items needed are travel-size personal care items such as deodorant, non-aerosol shave gel, shampoo, hand lotion, toothpaste and brushes, hand sanitizer, and Carmex SPF 15.

Non-perishable snack items in their original packaging are also being collected. Examples are canned chips and dips, crackers, chicken or tuna salad kits, microwave popcorn, single bag coffee, hard candy, or canned beef stew.

Other needed items are white socks, small travel games, batteries for small electronics, new and used DVDs and CDs, books, writing tablets and envelopes.

Donations for the soldiers can be brought to the Racine facility at 3502 Douglas Ave or the Burlington facility at 161 Industrial Dr. weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Careers Industries enriches the lives of people with disabilities through work, care and community. For more information about the collection, call Nicole Herman at 752-4100. For more information on Careers Industries, go to their website.

Supreme Court rules that county can outsource social workers

Below is County Executive Bill McReynolds' statement on the state Supreme Court ruling that the county can outsource its social workers rather than use union employees. The ruling allows the county to save money by paying its social workers less, and is a significant loss for the social workers' union. McReynolds, certainly no fan of unions, "expressed pleasure" at the ruling.

Here's the statement:

RACINE COUNTY EXECUTIVE PLEASED BY WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT DECISION IN FAMILY COURT SOCIAL WORKER CASE

Racine – Racine County Executive Bill McReynolds expressed pleasure at today’s Wisconsin Supreme Court decision in a case involving social workers for the Racine County Family Court. The Court rejected a challenge by the union representing county social workers, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 10, to using contract social workers instead of county employees.

Said McReynolds: “The Supreme Court’s decision recognizes two very important principles. First, the Family Court Commissioner, as a member of the judiciary, has broad powers with respect to selecting staff members. Second, in public employment cases, arbitrators must consider all relevant laws, including those that may affect the applicability of collective bargaining agreements.”

“But,” McReynolds added, “What’s more important is that this is a victory for the people of Racine County and for the hard-working social services professionals who work for the Family Court Commissioner.”

To provide social worker services for families, the Family Court Commissioner can decide whether to hire county employees or contract with independent individuals. In 2004, the decision was made to contract with persons who had provided these services as county employees, but who were eligible, by age and length of service, to retire under the Wisconsin Retirement System.

The shift to contracting with these retirees was intended to ensure that Racine County families would continue to have access to the services of dedicated, experienced social service professionals, but at the same time, to save Racine County taxpayers some employee compensation costs. The union objected.

A state arbitrator found for the union, but that decision was overturned by a Kenosha County circuit court judge who heard the case because all Racine County circuit court judges recused themselves. That circuit court decision was reversed by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals; and, in turn, today’s Wisconsin Supreme Court decision reverses the Court of Appeals.

McReynolds observed: “This case was brought by the union; it was not supported by the individuals who retired and then provided contracted services. This decision, rejecting the union’s position, is good news for those retirees and for the people of Racine County.”

140+ bands, floats and groups in July 4 Parade

You don't have to take USA Today's word for it, you can see Racine's Fourth Fest parade for yourself this Friday. We're confident it will live up to pre-billing as one of the best in the country.

This year's July 4 parade has 140 bands, marching groups and floats scheduled!

The parade will march a 2.6 mile route, from its starting point at Goold and Main Streets. Marchers will head down Main to 14th Street, then west to the Golden Rondelle.

The pre-parade will begin at 8:15 a.m., with the parade itself starting at 9 a.m. Don't forget, fireworks on the Lake Michigan shoreline, near North Beach, will begin about 9 p.m. to end Independence Day with the proper bang!

Fourth Fest president is Jim Deibler of Sew'n Save; Mr. Fourth Fest, selected each year by the parade committee in recognition of volunteer efforts to make the parade a success, is Mark Chaffee. Honorary parade marshal will be Brewers' bullpen catcher Marcus Hanel, a 1989 graduate of Horlick High School and a resident of Racine (with his wife and three young kids).

Theme for this year's parade is "A Day at the Circus.” In keeping with that, of course we need clowns. Here are five, including trainer Janis Kaser, retired Ringling Bros. Circus clown "Sneakers." Also pictured are Paige Macemon who wanted to be a clown, and had to have her mom, Heather Macemon, join to bring her to the workshop... and along came grandma, Shari Poulsen -- three generations. Then we have Sister Alice Rademacher, a nun who happened to have a costume her mother had made her quite some time ago that she wanted to put to good use.

Our 72nd annual Independence Day Parade is sponsored in part by Racine on the Lake, CNH, Johnson Bank, Twin Disc, SC Johnson, In-Sink-Erator, Time Warner Cable, Modine Manufacturing, Tommy’s Chicago Dogs, Norco Inc., Central States Mortgage, Bank of Elmwood, Purath-Strand Funeral Home, Racine Dental, Andis Company, Great Northern Corporation, Putzmeister, Ace Stamping, The Blood Center of Wisconsin, and Wal-Mart.

The fireworks along the Lake Michigan shoreline are sponsored by Frank Boucher Chevrolet, and a special ground-display of fireworks is sponsored by the Hispanic Business Professionals Association. Educators Credit Union is sponsoring the barrel campaign, where parade-goers can donate to help offset expenses.

After the break we've listed the complete parade marching order:

1 Fourth Fest President - Jim Deibler
2 Golly Giants Stilt Walkers
3 Agerholm-Gross Det. #346 Marine Corps League
4 Racine Concert Band
5 Mayor Becker & Mayor Hector Alveraz Conteras,
Zapotlanejo, Mexico
6 La Tapatia
7 Hispanic Business and Professional Asociation
8 Dignitaries from Sister City Zapotlanejo, Mexico
9 Miss Latina Racine Scholarship Corp.
10 Mr. Fourth Fest - Mark Chaffee
11 Honorary Parade Marshal - Marcus Hanel
11A Koos for Kids - Britany Michna
12 Racine Youth Sports
12A Alderman David Maack
12B Alderman Anderson
12C Alderman DeHahn
12D Alderman Mozel
12E County Executive Bill McReynolds
12F Jim Ladwig - Register of Deeds
13 Racine County Clerk of Courts, Rose Lee
13A Miss Racine Scholarship Pageant, Laura Kuzia
13B Dream Girls USA & Miss Junior Racine
14 Congressman Paul Ryan
15 State Senator John Lehman
16 State Representative Robert Turner
17 State Representative Cory Mason
18 WRJN - Don Rosen
19 Racine Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps.
20 VFW Post 1391
21 S.E. Wisconsin Red Cross
22 First Team Troopers Color Guard
23 Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 767
24 336 Firefighters U.S. Army Reserves
25 Boys of 76 Colorguard
26 American Legion Post 310 Bronze Float
27 Rainbow Corner Childcare
28 Otto Last - Model T Ford
29 Racine 4th Fest Calliope
30 Honorary Society 40/8 ET
31 The Baby Boomers Bikers
32 Care Bear Child Care
33 The Martial Arts Center Inc.
34 American Professional Driving School
35 Lighthouse Brigade of Racine
36 Boy Scouts of America, SE Wis. Council Inc.
37 Racine Studio of Performing Arts
38 Harbor Light Yacht Club
39 Blood Center of Wisconsin
40 Debbie Hahn - Miniature Horses
41 Knights of Columbus 697/Assembly 207
42 Prospect Heights Community Living
43 Modine
44 Atonement Lutheran Church
45 Old Timers Athletic Club
46 Donald Dinges - 1946 Tractor
47 Celtic Nation Pipe & Drums Band
48 R/K CAA Head Start
49 Racine P.H. Club of Zembo Temple #70
50 Wisconsin Wildcats Sport Organization
51 Roma Lodge
52 Vittoria Colonna- Italian Women
53 Horlick High School - pom-pons
54 Horlick High School Student Government
55 Horlick High School Cheerleaders
56 Wisconsin Lutheran School
57 McMynn Tower Apartment
58 City of Racine Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Dept.
59 St. Patrick's Church
60 First Friends Animal Rescue, Inc.
61 Camp Anokijig
62 Milwaukee Alarm
63 Trinity Lutheran Church and School
64 Junior Lighthouse Brigade
65 Racine Chapter DeMolay
66 Job's Daughters International
67 Racine Bell City Lodge #18
68 Masters of Movement Arts
69 501st Legion- Midwest Garrison
70 Nerds on Site
71 Greg Mandala & Family
72 Leadership Racine Alumni Association
73 Alicia Villa Realty Inc.
74 Cancelled
75 American Diabetes Association
76 Wells Fargo Bank NA
77 Big Fish Bash
78 UW-Parkside Alumni Association
79 United Way of Racine County
80 Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-All Saints
81 Christ Church
82 Sturtevant Memorial Post VFW 9948
83 Church-Iglesia Canaan Temple de Restauration
84 It's All About Racine Radio Show - Mr. Racine Mark Eickhorst
85 American Legion First District
86 New Day Drum & Bugle Corps
87 U-Bake
88 Racine Area Soccer Association
89 Trinity Lutheran Church of Caledonia
90 New Star Discovery Contest
91 Jesus Alive Ministries Inc.
92 Johnson Family of Companies
93 The Ultimate Kid Fest Company, LLC
94 Park High School Pom-Pons
95 Park High School Cheerleaders
96 Racine Zoo
97 Racine Public Library
98 Hispanic Business Alliance
99 Penguin Players
100 Academy of Dance
101 Rocky Rococco Pizza & Pasta
102 Love Park Shrine Club Revolving Carousel
103 Racine Montessori School
104 Marie Oliver Realty
105 The Gospel Lighthouse
106 John Paul II Academy
107 Blue Star Mother's of Southeast Wisconsin
108 Boy Scout Troop 203 Drum & Bugle Corps
109 Racine Yacht Club Youth Sailors
110 Navy Club Ship 60 of Racine
111 Cancelled
112 Lincoln Lutheran
113 5th Street Yacht Club
114 Shadows of Life Band
115 Carthage College
116 Girl Scout Troop 5822
117 Caledonia Baseball/Softball
118 Gamma Alpha Omega Sorority Inc.
119 Designated Driver/Safe Ride
120 Southeast Gateway Group of the Sierra Club
121 Gentile Scion
122 Black Belt Karate Studio
123 Cancelled
124 Papa Murphy's
125 Cheryl McCrary & Heir-Born Praise Band
126 Century 21 Savaglio & Cape
127 Hunterz Bar & Grill
128 Racine Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution
129 The Junior League of Racine & Racine Kenosha Builders Assn.
130 Charles DeDyne
131 DeDyne Dance Group
132 Racine Raiders Football Club
133 Racine Gymnastics Center
134 Racine Moose Family Center #437
135 Racine Rotary West
136 Telstar Racing & Wayout Willard's Wild World of Motorsports
137 The World of Bridal Fashions "ANAHI"
138 Kilties Drum & Bugle Corps
139 Red Apple Elementary
140 Acme General Purpose Band

Bucket still a friendly puppy, despite mistreatment

Bucket is a 8- to 10-month-old male pit bull puppy.

He got his rather strange name when concerned citizens found him tied up on a highway with only a single bucket of water. His spirits were still good but his poor feet where in terrible shape: the hot pavement burned the pads off poor Bucket's feet. He is recovering well and does not hold anything against people even though someone treated him so poorly.

He is a happy, friendly pup, light brindle and white, who will need training and walks on soft surfaces until the skin grows all the way back on his feet.

He can be seen at Countryside Humane Society, 2706 Chicory Road, or call (262) 554-6699.

Countryside is full of very adoptable dogs, cats and kittens. Maybe it's time you stopped in to save one today.

Our last adoptable dog, Cody, a coon hound, has been adopted by a woman whose last hound died recently after 15 loving years. I'm told he now lives somewhere near me, but haven't heard him baying at the full moon yet...

Your incredibly shrinking 401k ...(unless you invested in Twin Disc or CNH)

Three-year comparison (click to enlarge)

The stock market, once again, is not for the faint-of-heart.

Sad to say, the one sure-fire way to make $1,000 in the market -- start with $10,000 -- has come true for Lee Enterprises, the parent company of one key Racine employer, my old hangout, the Journal Times. (Full disclosure: I own none of the following stocks, and my own portfolio is nothing to brag about.)

Lee Enterprises shares fell to $3.81 this morning, a quick drop of almost 13% in the opening minutes. As I write this at about 10:30 a.m. it's "recovered" some of today's decline and has leveled off, back "up" to $3.97.

What a $4 per share price translates to is this:

If you had bought $10,000 worth of Lee stock five years ago, when it was selling at $38.13 per share it would be worth only $1,049 today.

If you had bought $10,000 worth of Lee stock one year ago, when it was selling for $21.16 per share, it would be worth $1,890 today. That's a decline of 81% in one year, 89% in five.

Lee is faring worst of all the local nationally listed companies I checked -- blame its industry more than its management -- but the situation for all of you whose 401k's are heavy in your employer's stock aren't doing much better.

--Marshall & Ilsley (parent of M&I Bank) hit $15.26 this morning -- it's back "up" to $15.50 -- compared to $48.03 a year ago, and $30.96 five years ago. That's a 67% drop in one year, and a 50% drop over five.

--Modine Manufacturing, at $12.92 today is off 32.9% from five years' ago, when it was at $20.16, and down 43% from last year's $22.60.

--Johnson Outdoors -- the only publicly-owned portion of SC Johnson -- is at $15.60 today, down 22.73% from last year's $20.39 on this date, but up 18.6% from its $13.15 per share price five years ago.

--Another local company with mixed results -- terrific over the past five years, not so hot this year -- is Case New Holland. CNH stock is at $33.85 as I write this. Five years ago it was selling for $9.65, a gain of 259%! This year, not so good: it's dropped 33% from its selling price of $51.09 on July 2 last year.

Racine has one real winner over both the five-year and one-year timeliness: Twin Disc. At $21.16 as I write this -- up 90 cents this morning! -- TWIN is still on a tear. Five years ago, the stock was selling for $1.83 per share. The five-year gain: 1,097%. In the past year, the stock has climbed from $17.97, a one-year gain of 17.75%.

Back to Lee. The blogosphere has been unrelenting recently, about the future of newspapers in general. The phrase "newspaper death watch" shows up more and more, as newspapers throughout the U.S. continue to cut staff -- about 1,000 journalists were laid off last week alone, One major publisher said recently he believed 19 of the nation's 50 largest newspapers were losing money, and he predicted that at least one major city newspaper would fold.

Lee is at the center of these death watch speculations, because of its $1.4 billion purchase of Pulitzer Newspapers three years ago. Total Lee capitalization -- share price times the total shares outstanding -- fell to $179 million today, an amazingly low figure, given Lee's ownership of 50 dailies and hundreds of weeklies and shoppers. At current prices, Lee would be a steal -- except for the fact that it still owes $1.3 billion for the Pulitzer purchase...

One area where Lee as an investment absolutely shines is its dividend. Thanks to the decline of the stock price, anyone who buys LEE now at $4 or so will receive a 19% annual dividend (19 cents per share, per quarter). But, although Lee has never missed a quarterly dividend in the almost 30 years I've followed the company, that dividend may be in jeopardy. The website Stockhouse, in an article about Gatehouse Media, a troubled New England newspaper owner (its stock has fallen from $19.60 to $2.79 in the past year), said it is "likely to suspend dividends and begin the sale of its properties." That's Gatehouse, not Lee. But the article concluded: "Newspaper chains McClatchy and Lee Enterprises may be facing the same fate." So if you're looking for dividends, caveat emptor.

The website 24/7 Wall Street recently rated Lee as having a 1 in 15 chance of filing for bankruptcy this year. (American Airlines was given a 1 in 2 chance; United, 1 in 4; Northwest, 1 in 5. General Motors, 1 in 30.) 24/7 wrote of Lee on June 9, when the stock was selling for 30% more than it is today:

LEE shares have dropped from a 52-week high of $24.97 to $5.57. The company wrote off $841 million in assets last quarter. Advertising revenue dropped almost 6% year-over-year, and that is almost certainly accelerating. Lee is sitting on almost $1.3 billion in debt and, before the end of the year, it probably will not have the operating income to cover debt service.

What to do? It's too late for advice, and if we had the secret we surely wouldn't post it here for free. We'll give the last word to Will Rogers, who sagely advised: "Don't gamble; take all your savings and buy some good stock and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don't go up, don't buy it."

Where in the world are Racine's sister cities?

Five, going on six... (Click to enlarge.)

The answer to our simple question depends upon when you ask it. Today, Racine has five sister cities, but later this week we will have six.

Except for Oiso, Japan, our sister cities are clustered in the Americas and Northern Europe. The two in Europe are Montelimar, France, and Aalborg, Denmark. In South and Central America, we have Forteleza, Brazil, and Bluefields, Nicaragua.

And on Thursday we will forge a formal sister city relationship with Zapotlanejo, Mexico.

The JT tells us all about the Mexican delegation's upcoming visit HERE.

Once we have six sister cities, we will pull ahead of Kenosha, which either has four or five, depending on which of two online resources you believe, and we'll be tied with LaCrosse. But we're still lagging behing Madison, which has seven. A list of all Wisconsin's sister cities is HERE.

One sold, one knocked down: A day's work for nonprofit transforming a Racine neighborhood

The Perez family at their new home.

One house was torn down. Another was sold. Both happened on the same day this month, in the same neighborhood under the guidance of Neighborhood Housing Services of Southeast Wisconsin.

For those who don't know NHS, it's basically an organization working to rebuild the Towerview neighborhood that surrounding SC Johnson Administration building from DeKoven Avenue north to the police station, and east from the lake to Racine Street on the west (those are my approximate boundaries ... NHS has a more precise layout of its service area).

The picture above is of The Perez family, who purchased a beautiful home on 11th Street. NHS purchased this two-family home for $63,827, and in a year more than doubled the value of the property. The Perez family bought the remodeled single-family home - NHS guts and refurbishes homes at a high level in hopes of inspiring neighbors to do the same - for $157,000 (though the appraised value is yet to be determined).

On the same day, NHS demolished a building at 1652 Mead St. to make room for new construction.

"It is assumed that tearing down taxable property is bad for the city, but you can tear down a house valued at $50,000 to make room for another valued it $150,000," said Rachel Westergren, community builder for NHS.

NHS is also working on a neighborhood plan for the Towerview area and runs classes for people interested in buying homes. The long-term goal is to convert more multi-family rentals back into high-quality single-family homes that people will buy, helping to stabilize a neighborhood that includes some of the richest (along the lake) and poorest properties in the city.

Here's a few more photos:

909 11th St. before the remodel.

1652 Mead St. being demolished.

Raiders open season on a scoring note

Shawn Kain (9): His first game as quarterback

Bryan Jennings Jr. (35) scored twice early

Kain threw for a TD... and ran for one as well

Coach John Mamerow in his first game at the helm

What's a football game without cheerleaders?

Sunset put on a show behind the bleachers

So did they win? I hear you asking... Well, the score at halftime was Raiders, 28; Rochester Giants, 0, which also was the final score. A perfect start for the Raiders' 56th season.

The JT's story is HERE.

Nero fiddled while Rome burned.Meanwhile, your Congressmen...

Take heart, all you General Motors employees in Janesville. Yes, you who will soon be on the unemployment line. Congress passed a bill Thursday just for GM.

While jobs disappear, the stock market tanks, the war in Iraq goes on and on and a gallon of gas tops $4 for those who can afford it, the U.S. House of Representatives took the time to designate next Monday as National Corvette Day.

We have no idea how Wisconsin Congressmen voted on this momentous measure, because the House was smart enough to eschew a roll call and tip its symbolic hat to America's chick magnet sports car by voice vote. House Resolution 970, which had 55 co-sponsors (none from Wisconsin), states:

Whereas the Chevrolet Corvette is America's first sports car;


Whereas the first production Corvette rolled off a Flint, Michigan, assembly line on June 30, 1953;

Whereas the Corvette is now manufactured in Bowling Green, Kentucky;

Whereas the Corvette is the most widely respected production sports car in United States history;

Whereas the Corvette is truly a symbol of American pride;

Whereas General Motors is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2008; and

Whereas the 30th of June would be an appropriate day to designate as `National Corvette Day': Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the United States House of Representatives supports the designation of a `National Corvette Day' to honor the Chevrolet Corvette.

OK, feel free to resume your whining about the economy, your job, the war, the price of gasoline and whatever else is bothering you. Just remember, Congress has gone home for the weekend.

A modest proposal for Unified and Parkside...*

Let's switch search firms.

The contracts Racine Unified and UW-Parkside had with their search firms both offer a second search free (as long as we pay expenses, of course) in the event a search turns to sh-- ... um, fails the first time around, as has happened in both cases.

We've already spent upwards of $100,000 on the two searches. One brought Unified three top candidates paid to leave by their last school district employers (and one who'd written his own letters of recommendation, and more, to get a previous superintendency) and then a superintendent-designee who left us standing at the altar without even a farewell kiss or a personal phone call. The other search gave Parkside a chancellor-designee with an amazing amount of questionable history who turns up under federal investigation a week before his inauguration. Wouldn't that have been an investiture to remember if the feds had come just a week later!

Is it just us? Are we modern-day embodiments of Al Capp's poor ol' Joe Btfsplk, who walked around with a thundercloud over his head, trailed by disaster?

From what we saw at Unified, these search firms "work with" a group of job seekers, and keep proposing them to various paying clients. In Unified's case, for example, at least two of the three finalists winnowed down from the list ProAct provided had been presented by the search firm to at least one other district client -- Toledo. After a while, the search firms must feel they have something invested in the applicants, because it's clear they're less-than-forthright about the warts uncovered in their backgrounds.

So, it stands to reason that if ProAct is again hired to find Unified a superintendent, and if EFL Associates is again contracted to find Parkside a new chancellor, both will dip into their usual well of applicants, and propose to us more of the same old, same old. Environmentally, this kind of recycling is fine, but in the academic milieu it doesn't seem to be working.

Which brings us to the genius of our proposal (what's the point of false modesty, eh?). If we switch search firms -- ask EFL to find us a new superintendent and ProAct to find us a new chancellor -- then both will have to start from scratch. Maybe this way they will both come up with competent candidates who won't bolt at the last minute.

Or maybe not.

Aw, hell, let's just throw darts at the phone book and be done with it...

* With apologies to Jonathan Swift. Hey, I'm not suggesting we eat any babies...

USA Today lists our parade among U.S.'s 10 Best

USA Today lists our Fourth of July parade as one of the ten best in the country. Here's what the largest circulation newspaper in the U.S. (2.25 million copies a day!) has to say about us:

Racine Fourth Fest Parade, Racine, Wis.

Located on the shores of Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Chicago, Racine hosts one of the largest Fourth of July parades in the Midwest. "This 71-year-old parade began as a collaborative effort between corporations and labor unions to set aside 'one day of peace' between workers and management," Steve Schmader, president and CEO of the Interational Festivals & Events Association says. "With nearly 200 units — equestrian entries, clowns, jugglers, floats, bands, firetrucks, antique cars, dignitaries and more — Racine's parade has grown to become a huge community and family-oriented celebration."

Interested in a longer trip? HERE are the rest of USA Today's recommendations.

Felner: The Neverending Story

Wish we could take credit even for the headline above, but it comes from the Page One Kentucky blog, which has been leading this story all week.

But wait, there's more!

People on the chancellor search committee at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside knew the man they recommended as a finalist got a no-confidence vote at the college where he was dean, but they didn’t tell the Board of Regents or the UW System president about it — raising more tough questions about the university system’s vetting process. --Journal-Sentinel

EFL Associates, the search firm responsible for finding Robert Felner for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, charged $70,000 in fees and expenses. We’re pretty much certain at this time that UW-Parkside is convulsing on the floor of its local dive bar and/or trying to drink the pain away. Can you even imagine? $70,000 and EFL didn’t turn up a damn thing?

We have uncovered information that (more than) suggests Robert Felner hired his girlfriend in January 2005 at an annual salary $20K-$30K higher than many tenured faculty -- and she had no (still doesn’t) terminal degree. She was a former high school assistant principal who now serves as co-principal on several grants in which Felner is the primary. Nearly everyone we have spoken with at the University of Louisville brings the relationship up because they say it’s indicative of greater problems (i.e, everybody hired while Felner was in charge happened to be young and blonde.)

We have also discovered that Felner threatened to leave the University of Louisville on several occasions and used written offers from other schools in order to obtain matching offers from the Provost. In 2006 Felner got an offer from Ohio State University that he claimed to be considering seriously. So seriously, in fact, that the University of Louisville gave him another raise and threw a giant party in his honor that included some interesting (to say the least) t-shirts sold to people who wanted to attend the event. --Page One Kentucky

Felner has been involved in at least one public flap involving research grants. In 2003 he resigned as dean of the University of Rhode Island's School of Education, blaming a state law for his departure. According to an account in The Providence Journal, Mr. Felner said he lost $15-million in research grants because of a cap on university staffing that prevented him from hiring enough employees to conduct the research. Calling the research a "missed opportunity," Mr. Felner told the newspaper: "Can you imagine Brown University turning down grant money?"

In the case of a failed search, consultants typically conduct a second search without charging a fee. (Jason) Meschke (president of EFL Associates) said his firm was contractually required to do so for the Parkside campus. "We are standing by the contract," he said. (Wisconsin University system spokesman David) Giroux said the system was considering the Parkside search a "teachable moment" -- Chronicle of Higher Education

The federal investigation into allegations of mishandled funds at the University of Louisville has led another university to review grant expenditures made by the dean at the center of the investigation. A spokeswoman at the University of Rhode Island, where Robert Felner worked from 1996 to 2003, confirmed today the school is reviewing his grant expenditures while he was employed there. --Louisville Courier-Journal

University of Wisconsin-Parkside officials knew as early as last Friday that there was a federal investigation into Robert Felner when agents showed up at the chancellor's office to take away boxes of paperwork he already sent here... David Giroux, a UW System spokesman, said officials weren't aware of the federal investigation until Felner informed the university in a phone call Sunday, two days after agents came to Parkside. Giroux said Parkside didn't inform UW officials of the investigation until Monday. --Kenosha News

Mogk serves up wine and politics

Congressional candidate as sommelier

John Mogk was keeping two conversational threads going last night.

One revolved around the four wines he was pouring at the Sommelier Wine Shop in Kenosha. "It's got a crisp taste, a little pucker on the tongue, some sweetness," he said, of one of the four bottles in front of him. The wines came from Trento, Italy, and Bad Wildungen, Germany -- the places his mother's, and father's families came from.

(Hey, as a political fund-raiser, meet-n-greet topic, it sure beat a stiff in a suit delivering a speech!)

The other conversation had more political substance: what he would do if elected to Congress in the 1st Congressional District in November.

Mogk is the latest Democrat seeking the opportunity to oppose Republican Paul Ryan, who has held the Congressional seat for 10 years. Ryan has incumbency, a huge war chest and a string of five easy victories behind him.

Despite all that, Democrats are eager to take him on in this presidential election year, a year in which all the recent Wisconsin polls show Democrat Barack Obama with a substantial lead over Republican John McCain. Marge Krupp announced her candidacy last June; Paulette Garin in January. By February, there were four: Dr. Jeffrey Thomas, Ryan's victim in each of the past four elections, is running yet again; and so is the man Thomas edged out in the 2006 Democratic primary, Mike Hebert.

And since earlier this month there are five: Call John Mogk Johnny-come-lately or accept his analysis that "there's still not a front-runner" among the earlier-announced candidates. "I started talking to people and getting encouraged to run. I'm really not being a spoiler. I think I've caught up with the other candidates already, in terms of people who are approaching me. Now, if we can just catch up on the money side."

Krupp has said she expects the race against Ryan to cost $2 million. Mogk thinks it will be about $750,000. Garin was somewhere in the high six figures. The other two Democratic wannabees -- Thomas and Hebert -- are famous for spending ... um, nothing. (They've never been elected, either.)

Mogk, 41, who was Kenosha Field Organizer for Kerry/Edwards in 2004, says he decided to run this year because "you never know what's going to happen tomorrow. You can say 'I won't run' because of Dr. Thomas, you can say 'I won't run' because Ryan has won before. Well, he's never had a challenge. And yet, he's not bringing more jobs into the district, there are things we could do with environmental issues..."

"I'm here to represent the people of the 1st District. Not the oil companies, not the party."

It's the people of the district who should set a Congressman's agenda, says Mogk (the "g" is silent). He ticks off issues in the order people mention them to him:

1. Universal health care.
2. Energy and gas prices
3. The economy and jobs.
4. Education.

"Everyone's going to pay $500 more a year for food," he says, just because of the extra costs in transportation and packaging. "And in Janesville, 2,400 people will be out of work" because GM's reliance on big cars has run into those high gas prices too.

Interestingly, Mogk says Iraq hardly comes up in discussions with potential voters. "I would like to see us get out as soon as possible, while protecting the troops," he says. But he also thinks the Iraqi people "want us to stay and help them create Democracy."

Most surprisingly (to me, anyway), Mogk says he agrees with Ryan's lone stand against earmarks. "If everybody in Congress keeps saying yes, we're going to be playing the same game. Eventually, the people will get behind me on this, even if I'm the only one."

Mogk says he has collected about 1,500 signatures; candidates need 1,000 "nominators' signatures" to get on the Democratic Primary ballot, and are permitted to submit up to 2,000. They usually opt for the larger number because anyone who signs more than one candidate's petitions is disqualified if there is a challenge. Deadline for submission is July 8.

More on Mogk HERE. His website is HERE.

More on Krupp and Garin HERE.

More on Thomas and Hebert HERE.

The first four appeared at the 1st District's annual convention in February. Read about it HERE.

Here are the four wines John Mogk was serving