Saturday, July 14, 2018

John Barr (1943-2018) Warren High School class of 1960


Source:   Warren Times Observer

1960 Dragon yearbook


1967 Warren City Directory

  • Barr John  M (Ruth S) v-pres Celebrations Unlimited r20 Timothy av

1983 Warren City Directory

The popularity of John as a baby name is graphed here.  Let's take a look at daughter Kelly.
.

Kelly made her first appearnace in the 1940s and then rocketed into the top 100 by the late 1950s.  At her peak, she spent 15 years (1967-1982) in the top 25, her best year being 1977 at #10.  She is quickly losing favor so far in the 21st century.

Other members of the class of 1960
2018
Arthur Saxton.  (2/9/2018)

2017
Louis Musante.  (1/9/2018)
George W. Yaegle, Jr.  (12/1/2017)
Diana Lee Hagerman Smith. (6/5/2017)
Edward Grosch.  (6/3/2017)
Rita Fitzgerald Lindgren.  (5/25/2017)
Judy Charles Lobdell.  (5/2/2017)
James Johnson.  (3/6/2017)
William Ritchie.  (2/21/2017)

2016
Janice Carlson.  (5/9/2016)
William Irwin.  (3/18/2016)

2015
Patricia O'Neill.  (12/27/2015)
David Hollingshead.  (11/18/2015)
Marlene LeTrent Peterson.  (7/15/2015)
John Marymount.  (3/24/2015)
Kraig Werlin.  (2/1/2015)

2014
Mary Kays Frederick.  (12/9/2014)
Nancy Goodwill Bonavita.  (3/9/2014)
Mary Madeleine Graham Helmbrecht Haslett.  (1/6/2014)

There used to be houses on Orr Place in Warren PA


Photo by Retiring Guy

Sources:  Warren City Directory (1967, 1983)


Arrow marks approximate location


Friday, July 13, 2018

Make that 21



Twenty Times the JonBenet Ramsey Murder Has Been Solved.  (Westword, 7/19/2016)
Over the past two decades, publications such as the Globe, the National Enquirer, In Touch Weekly and more have claimed to have solved this terrible crime many times, announcing these scoops with a certitude that would be a lot more amusing if they didn't deal with the horrific murder of a child.

Clifford Corey (1943-2018) Warren Area High School class of 1961



1961 Dragon yearbook

1967 Warren City Directory
1983 Warren City Directory
  • [county section] Corey Clifford rStar Rt Irvine
  • [county section] Corey Jane rStar Rt Irvine
  • [county section] Corey Josephine M r18 N Main Clarendon

The popularity of Clifford as a baby name is graphed here,   Let's take a look at grandson Corey.


Corey made a tentative appearance in 1949, then spiked into the top 100 in the late 1960s. He spent a total of 28 years (1969-1986) in the top 100, peaking at #55 in 1989.

Other members of the class of '61:
2018
Patricia Finley Nuhfer.  (2/26/2018)

2017
Theodore Donaldson.  (1/1/2018)
Larry Gardner.  (10/27/2017)
Karen Jewell Ahlgren.  (4/9/2017)
Robert Berlin.  (3/22/2017)

2016
James Zaner.  (6/3/2016)
David Thomson.  (4/20/2016)

2015
William Anderson.  (3/10/2015)
Barbara Gorton O'Bier.  (1/3/2015)

2014
Charles Grinnen III.  ((7/15/2014)
Ronald Hultman.  (6/24/2014)
Patricia Martin.  (2/17/2014)


Sickened customers not lovin' it at McDonald's


Illustration source:  News-Medical.net

Reported in the 7/12/2018 Milwaukee Journal Sentinal article:
Well, Donald Trump has been taking this country on a backward route.  Cyclospora is a parasite more commonly found in developing countries, but in the past several years, several outbreaks connected to contaminated produce have occurred in the U.S. Symptoms of Cyclospora infection include watery diarrhea, loss of appetite and weight, cramping, bloating or increased gas, nausea, fatigue, and low-grade fever.

Thursday, July 12, 2018

UPDATE. Perhaps Mark Green and Scott McCallum put in a good word for Ron


Multiple times, it would seem.


Sources:
  • Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
  • Madison.com, 7/12/2018
  • Scott Walker's piggy bank.  WEDC’s 2011 loan to Green Box was one of several problematic deals from WEDC’s early years that gained attention after a 2015 Wisconsin State Journal report on a separate failed $500,000 loan to Building Committee Inc. that was later written off. WEDC’s uncollectable loan balance grew from $1.3 million in December 2014 to $11 million as of December 2016, according to the most recent Legislative Audit Bureau review of the agency.


Original 7/21/2015 post, "Oh, That Pesky Vetting Process", starring Scott Walker:, starts here.


As reported in More trouble than jobs at economic agency Walker championed.  (The Olympian, 7/21/2015)

*That's my take, and I'm stickin' with it.

Other 'they don't vet' posts:
Vet (verb): Not in the Scott Walker administration vocabulary.  (7/14/2015)
We've seen this happen before -- an administration too lazy to be bothered with a vetting process.  (3/19/2015)
Cheerleader Regina Millner ("She's a Big Republican") Defends Scott Walker in Regents Appointment Flap.  (6/14/2013)
WEDC public information officer resigns after 1 month on the job. (5/9/2013
It's called vetting.  (6/24/2011)

When it comes to U.S. presidential election history, Donald Trump's pants are on fire



GOP candidates who won Wisconsin's Electoral College votes since 1952:
  • 1956 - Eisenhower
  • 1960 - Nixon
  • 1968 - Nixon
  • 1972 - Nixon
  • 1980 - Reagan
  • 1984 - Reagan
Wisconsin definitely liked Ike.


Sources

Staples closing will leave another hole in Nakoma Plaza


Photosby Retiring Guy

Staples to close on Verona Road.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 6/30/2018)
In 2017, the Massachusetts-based retailer was purchased by Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm, for $6.9 billion. At that time, Staples had 1,255 stores in the U.S. and 304 in Canada. Staples had tried to merge with Office Depot but the deal was rejected by a U.S. federal judge on antitrust grounds in 2016, Fortune reported.


MC Sports, which occupied the space at left, closed its Madison store in early 2016.

1962 Hill Farms office building demolition UPDATE: Structure still being gutted


Photos by Retiring Guy


6/3/2018 update,  "Office building annex is demolished", starts here.


And the 10-story structure is being gutted.




4/10/2018 update, "1962 Hill Farms state office building fenced in as demolition gets underway", start shere

Photo and video by Retiring Guy




11/19/2017 update, " Hill Farms DOT building, old and new", starts here.

Photo by Retiring Guy

At some point in the not-too-distant future, I'll be looking directly at the facade of a 7-story building.  Big changes proposed for this parking lot.

Above photo taken at point of red arrow.


4/24/2017 update, "New Wisconsin DOT building looks massive, and even more massive, from this angle", starts here.


 Photos by Retiring Guy



4/23/2017 update, 'DOT building looks mostly finished from this angle", starts here.

1964 building in foreground.  Ready-for-2018-occupancy building (and parking ramp) in background.


 The east side of the new building, complete with construction trailers and crane.

Photos by Retiring Guy


4/18/2017 update, " From this angle, new Wisconsin DOT building and ramp has an almost finished look", starts here.

Photo by Retiring Guy


2/2/2017 update, "...from afar, up close", starts here.

Hoyt Park panorama


Zooming in a bit.  Taller cluster of buildings, left to right:  current DOT building, new DOT building under construction, Venture apartments, Weston Place (a.k.a. the Ghost Condo).


About as close up as I can get and keep the building in the frame.  The new building contains 600,000 square feet of space compared to 368,000 square feet in the current building.  The finished project will result in the moving and consolidation of 29 state offices.


Green arrow shows the approximate point where the first 2 photos were taken.


1/16/2017 latest pics update starts here.

Through the windshield.  Approaching from the west on University Avenue.

Two views from the parking lot on the east side of the complex.




12/22/2016 update, "Cladding of the new Wisconsin DOT building begins", starts here.


Photos by Retiring Guy

Stepping back to include the parking ramp in the frame.


11/10/2016 update, "Late afternoon sun illuminates new DOT office building", starts here.

Photo by Retiring Guy

10/22/2016 update, "View of new DOT building construction from reserved executive parking spaces", starts here.



Wisconsin Department of Administration State Building Program

Photo by Retiring Guy


10/3/2016 update, " Gray cloud looms over new DOT building, which, in turn, looms over University Avenue", starts here.


9/12/2016 update, "New DOT building in Madison is looming large", starts here.










9/2/2016 update, "New DOT building in Madison with rabbit ears", starts here.

With new Hill Farms building to open in 2018, state preparing to consolidate Madison offices.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 6/13/2016)
The plan reduces by 15 the number of state leases in privately owned buildings scattered throughout Madison, saving taxpayers more than $3 million a year in rent, maintenance and energy costs, according to the Department of Administration. 
In moving and consolidating 29 offices, the state will occupy 86,000 less square feet of office space. It also will reduce its leased office space by 178,637 square feet — about 17 percent of its total leased space in Madison, excluding the university. That includes nearly 103,422 square feet Downtown.


8/5/2016 update starts here.

From across Sheboygan Avenue.


From the parking lot on the Segoe Road side of the parcel.


The obligatory video update.




7/19/2016.  Even more progress on the parking ramp.







6/24/2016.  Further progress on the parking ramp.



June 9, 2016.  Quite a bit of construction progress in less than a month.






May 19, 2016, update starts here.

It's been 2 weeks since my previous visit.




May 3, 2016.  Latest video installment shows a week's worth of progress.




4/25/2015 update starts here.

Walls rising above ground.


The foundation walls are going up.  (The shadow of the current DOT building looms over the scene.)




2/16/2016 update, "Construction of new state office building underway at Hill Farms", begins here.,

Rendering:  WI Department of Administration

Finance committee gives final OK to new Hill Farms state office building.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 10/16/2015)
The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee approved the sale of 13.9 acres of the Hill Farms site between Sheboygan and University avenues and 4.4 acres at 801 W. Badger Road, both of which would be developed privately as part of a master agreement with developer Smith Gilbane. The committee voted 14-1 with one member absent. Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, cast the lone no vote.

Project specifics:
  • Cost:  $186,000,000
    • $150,000,000 office building
    • $  36,000,000 parking ramp
  • Size:  9-story office building encompassing 600,000 square feet


The current, 57-year-old Hill Farms building houses the Department of Transportation.

All photos by Retiring Guy

A view from across Sheboygan Avenue





At this point in the construction timeline, excavation is underway.



The original 7/10/2014 post begins here.

State lists properties that are good prospects to sell.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7/1/2014)

What's under considerationExcess acreage near the Department of Transportation's headquarters, which sits on prime commercial real estate in Madison.

Which excess acreage?

Along University Avenue?


Not likely, as there is no direct access from University.

Off Sheboygan Avenue, west of the DOT building?


Visitor parking.  Not that it couldn't be relocated.

Along Segoe Road?


If I were a developer, this would be my choice.  It's closest to Hilldale Shopping Center. And the parking lot appears to be underused.

Other State Buildings for Sale posts:
The Knapp House.  (7/2/2014)
Wiscraft Industries.  (7/4/2014)
Northern Wisconsin Center.  (7/6/2014)
Ethan Allen School.  (7/7/2014)
Badger Road State Office Building.  (7/8/2014)