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• State gets stimulus money for high-speed rail
• Will pig see his shadow? Will spring be late?
• Tax revenues down, but Doyle says budget adjustment not needed
• Attorney: Appeals court ruling gives 'green light to corporate looting'; more state briefs
• Tax credit fuels job creation at River Falls NELA firm

The White House did not forget the rest of Wisconsin when it awarded funding for a new high-speed passenger rail line from Milwaukee to Madison.

Officials on Thursday announced a $1 million feasibility study on extending the line westward from Madison to Minnesota's Twin Cities.

There's been some disagreement on exactly where the line should go. One proposal would locate it along I-94 and I-90 near Wisconsin Dells and Eau Claire. Others want the line to go from Madison to La Crosse, and then along the Mississippi River to serve Minnesota cities like Winona and Red Wing.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin has been awarded $810 million in federal stimulus money to create tracks and new depots for a high-speed rail line opening in 2013 with stops in Milwaukee, Brookfield, Oconomowoc, Watertown and Madison.

Another $12 million would speed up Amtrak's existing train from Milwaukee to Chicago. The tracks would improve enough for the train to move at 110 mph, instead of the current 79.

The projects are among 13 announced by President Obama Thursday, using a total of $8 billion in stimulus funds.

A pig in Dane County will announce his winter weather forecast three days before Groundhog Day.

The Cottage Grove Lions Club normally holds a breakfast Feb. 2. But this year, they're bringing in a small pig named King Arthur and holding the event three days early.

The goal is to increase attendance at the breakfast. They're hoping at least 800 people will show up and be curious enough to see if King Arthur sees his shadow.

If he does, it could mean six more weeks of winter. If not, he'll predict an early spring.

Meanwhile, the community of Sun Prairie - which is also in Dane County - is starting its annual Groundhog celebration on Saturday, complete with a ball Saturday night.

But the star of the show, Jimmy the Groundhog, will not emerge from his hole until the actual Groundhog Day next Tuesday.

Gov. Jim Doyle says he will not ask lawmakers to adjust the state budget, even though revenues will be $220 million less than expected.

New projections show the state will have $56 million in its general fund at the end of the budget period in June of 2011. That's much less than the $275million balance the governor and Legislature were counting on.

Doyle said he'll make $200 million in spending cuts that were authorized when the budget was adopted last summer. He's not saying what will be chopped yet, but the governor said he'll try to protect public schools and avoid more layoffs of state employees.

Doyle said everyone will feel a little pain, but "We're not going to see the kind of destructive actions seen in other states."

The lower revenue projection is mainly the result of $92 million less in cigarette tax money than was expected. Also blamed was Minnesota's decision to end income tax reciprocity - in which people who work across the border file tax returns only in their home states.

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau says Wisconsin will lose out on $91 million from that agreement in the current budget period.

Assemblyman Robin Vos, R-Racine, said the numbers prove that the Democrats couldn't tax their way out of the current fiscal mess. But Democratic finance co-chairman Mark Pocan said the overall projections are positive, and the budget is not bleeding from the recession like it had been.

A state appeals court in Madison rejected the notion Thursday that two business owners paid themselves too much while their company was going under.

The Fourth District Appellate Court threw out a jury's order that Daniel Virnich and Jack Moores pay back $6.5 million from what they paid themselves at Communications Products Corporation of Lancaster.

The two took $10 million from the firm over several years. In the meantime, the maker of stereo parts was failing to pay its bills, and the business went into receivership after it defaulted on a $100,000 bank loan.

An attorney for the receiver, Robert Kasieta, said Thursday's ruling gave a "green light to corporate looting."

Business experts were watching the case closely because of its possible ramifications for other firms.

The Supreme Court took the case a year ago, but it deadlocked on the issue and kicked the case back to the appellate court for another review.

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Waitress charged for prank against unruly customer

Prosecutors say a Madison waitress tried to get back at a belligerent customer by putting a message on the Internet that he was looking for gay sex.

Karin Ibele, 25, and her friend Rachel Brazee, 25, are both charged in Dane County with misdemeanor counts of sending abusive computer messages and disorderly conduct.

According to authorities, Ibele got her customer's name from a credit card he used to charge his meal, and then she and Brazee gathered information about him on the Internet before advertising on craigslist last spring that he was looking for late night sex.

The customer learned about the ad when another man responded to it.

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Senate votes to mandate CO detectors in homes

Wisconsin senators voted Thursday to require all one- and two-family homes to have carbon monoxide detectors.

The measure was passed on a voice vote, and the Assembly was expected to take it up later.

The bill would require CO detectors on every level of a house, including the basement. But they would not have to be placed in attics or storage areas.

There's no penalty for not complying. The new mandate would take effect in February of next year.

Officials who inspect new homes will check to see if the detectors are there. Owners and renters of existing buildings could ask for inspections.

Also Thursday, senators voted 21-12 to raise the amount of income and assets criminal defendants can have in order to qualify for a public defender.

Commerce Secretary Dick Leinenkugel visited River Falls Thursday afternoon to announce $108,000 in economic development tax credits awarded to NELA Ternes Register Group, a company that moved its U.S. headquarters in summer 2009 from Minnesota to the Whitetail Ridge Corporate Park in River Falls.

NELA brought over 62 employees with it and has committed to creating 20 more jobs.

"This announcement is further evidence that Wisconsin has some of the strongest economic development tools in the country," said Governor Jim Doyle in a news release. "I am proud to welcome NELA Ternes Register Group to our state, and we will continue to work hard to make sure companies know that Wisconsin is definitely open for business."

Germany-based NELA is the largest register and plate automation company in the printing industry. Register systems include in-line punching and bending systems for newspaper and commercial printing, plate automation, and plate transportation systems.

The $1.85 million project includes the remodeling of the former 53,000-square-foot Hal's Millwork facility in River Falls to accommodate the company's operations.

The tax-credit announcement coincided with NELA's open-house event and a visit from its German parent company's CEO, Frank Neumeister. He thanked visitors and reiterated NELA's commitment to the community by presenting charitable donations to both the River Falls Relay for Life and the Food Pantry.

NELA offered tours of its remodeled building and refreshments for guests who included city staff, City Council members, people from the St. Croix and River Falls EDCs, area businesspeople, and representatives from the River Falls Chamber of Commerce, UW-River Falls, Chippewa Valley Technical College and Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College.

For details about NELA, visit www.nela-usa.com and check the Feb. 4 print edition of the River Falls Journal.