Craft brewers push for tax breaks

Thursday, March 28th, 2013, 11:53pm

Wisconsin microbrewers are hoping for a tax break from Capitol Hill, but bigger beer companies may be pushing cuts for every brewer across the board.

Wisconsin Brewers? Guild President Jeff Hamilton is in D.C. for the week, attending a craft brewers? conference and lobbying on behalf of the state?s small-scale brewers.

Part of Hamilton?s push to lawmakers is for the Small Brewer Reinvestment and Expanding Workforce, or Small BREW Act.

If passed, the bill would reduce the federal tax per barrel of beer produced from $7 to $3.50. That tax applies to up to 60,000 barrels. The Small BREW Act would also cut $2 from the tax rate for each barrel over that 60,000 mark.

In addition, the bill expands the amount of beer a microbrewery can produce to still be considered for the tax breaks. If the bill did pass, a brewer could make as much as six million barrels of beer and still fall under the bill?s benefits.

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Road salt lingers in Madison’s watersheds, drinking water

Submitted by Yilang Peng, Madison Commons Reporter

Wednesday, March 27th, 2013, 5:43pm

Road salt lingers in Madison’s watersheds, drinking water

Report: Decades of salt use causes chloride levels in watershed to rise

Every winter, George Dreckmann, the public information officer for the Streets Division, faces numerous complaints from the public about bad road conditions, asking the department to use more salt in their communities.

"It is our policy to not apply salt to residential streets to protect our lakes and groundwater," responded Dreckmann to one resident's complaint via e-mail.

The road salt, also known as sodium chloride, doesn’t simply vanish after winter.

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Snow cover delays Madison leaf and garden waste collection

Submitted by Channel3000 Web Staff

Tuesday, March 26th, 2013, 12:24pm

The city of Madison is delaying collection of leaf and garden waste, citing persistent snow cover in many Madison yards.

"The vast majority of Madison yards are still covered by snow," Madison recycling coordinator George Dreckmann said. "It makes no sense to start collecting material is residents cannot begin cleaning up their yards."

The leaf and garden waste collection was scheduled to begin April 1, but will be delayed to April 15.

Drop off sites will open extended hours starting Saturday. The sites, located at 1501 W. Badger Rd., 4602 Sycamore Ave., and 402 South Point Rd. will be open seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday evenings until 8 p.m.
Regular brush collection will begin on April 1 as scheduled.

"We expect that we will see a lot of brush that resulted from last year's blizzard," Dreckmann said. "Residents can bring brush to the curb and place it on top of the snow, if necessary, and we can pick it up."

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Webster, Doty, King St. intersection to be reconstructed

Submitted by Tabatha Wethal, Channel3000.com Community Reporter

Friday, March 22nd, 2013, 6:09pm

Webster, Doty, King St. intersection to be reconstructed

Months-long downtown streets project to begin next week

The city Traffic Engineering Division has two construction projects planned for the Outer Loop that will begin next week, according to the city.

City Traffic Engineer David Dryer said in a news release that construction is projected to last about seven weeks for work on Fairchild and Mifflin streets and more than three months for work on Webster Street.

Fairchild Street & Mifflin Street

Reconstruction of Fairchild Street between Mifflin Street and West Washington Avenue will begin on Monday, according to the city and Raymond P Cattell Inc.

Traffic will be reduced to one lane on this block until the completion of the project in mid-May.

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Traffic to be rerouted off a block of Dayton

Submitted by Tabatha Wethal, Channel3000.com Community Reporter

Friday, March 22nd, 2013, 5:46pm

2-day closure begins Monday, city says

The 1300 block of W. Dayton Street will be closed Monday and Tuesday due to a construction project, according to the city.

The City Traffic Engineering Division said the two-day closure downtown is due to the disassembly of a construction crane.

The city said access to the Union South parking ramp will be maintained from the east.

The traffic engineering division encouraged motorists to use alternate routes to avoid delays Monday and Tuesday.

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Four Madison School Board candidates hold forum

Submitted by Channel3000 Web Staff

Friday, March 22nd, 2013, 8:27am

Without one candidate who dropped out and another who didn't show up, four Madison school board candidates held a forum Thursday on Madison's north side.

Retired Madison police lieutenant Wayne Strong faces low-income housing provider Dean Loumos in District 3. The winner of the April 2 election will replace retiring board member Beth Moss.

Current board president James Howard is running for re-election in District 4 against legislative aide Greg Packnett, who didn't come to the forum.

And T.J. Mertz is running unopposed in District 5 after Sarah Manski, February's primary winner, dropped out. Mertz will replace Maya Cole, who's retiring.

Loumos and Strong both named the achievement gap as the district's biggest challenge.

Loumos said administrators needed to be more flexible, and ask outside entities like Dane County for resources.

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No traffic allowed on section of West Mifflin Friday

Submitted by Tabatha Wethal, Channel3000.com Community Reporter

Thursday, March 21st, 2013, 5:26pm

Madison traffic engineering division said part of West Mifflin Street will be closed Friday for about 8.5 hours.

West Mifflin Street between North Broom and North Henry streets will be closed from 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m. The closure id due to the moving of a construction crane, the division said in a news release Thursday.

The division said motorists are encouraged to use alternate routes to avoid delays.

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