Iran was hot topic in Baldwin-Thompson debate; Dry, warm winter predicted; more briefs

Talk about it

Last night’s debate between the Wisconsin U.S. Senate candidates spurred accusations that both made financial decisions which helped Iran’s effort to obtain nuclear weapons.

Democrat Tammy Baldwin and Republican Tommy Thompson both promised to fight Iran’s ability to get nuclear firepower and keep Wisconsin troops from having to do battle in that country.

But just before the debate, the Huffington Post said Thompson had investments in companies that do business with Iran. And Baldwin brought it up during the statewide broadcast from Wausau.

She said one of the companies made uranium for Iran. But Thompson said he only learned about the investments yesterday, and he sold them before taking the stage. He said he doesn’t agree with anyone doing business with Iran.

Thompson also went on the offensive. He challenged Baldwin for taking $60,000 in campaign money from the Council for a Livable World, which opposes U.S. sanctions against Iran.

Baldwin said she never heard of the group, even though its donation made statewide news yesterday. The Madison congresswoman she remembered voting twice – not four times – against tougher sanctions.

Baldwin said there were efforts by the Iranian people to promote democracy at the time, and she wanted those efforts to succeed without the U.S. cracking down.

The two also sparred over jobs, taxes, the federal deficit, health care and education.

They were allowed to challenge each other for most of the one-hour forum, which reflected the closeness of the race. Most independent polls have them in a dead heat. But an NBC-Wall Street Journal-Marist poll released Thursday put Baldwin up by four points, 49% to 45%.

Their final debate will be a week from tonight.

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Dry, warm winter predicted

Wisconsinites can expect another warmer and drier winter than normal, according to the latest outlook for December through February from the national Climate Prediction Center.

An El Nino pattern was developing in the Pacific Ocean, carrying the prospects for a rougher winter in the Upper Midwest. Mike Halpert of the Climate Prediction Center said the El Nino suddenly came to a halt in September. But there’s always a chance it can redevelop during the winter. An El Nino pattern collects warmer water in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in a re-positioning of the jet stream and stronger storms in many places. Halpert said forecasters have no idea why the previous El Nino stalled – but it was something rarely seen over the last 60 years of forecasting. While the forecast is drier, Halpert cannot say exactly how much snow Wisconsin might get – or where it will fall. He said last winter was much warmer than expected – and it set the table for the warmest year since records began being kept 118 years ago.

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Abuse victims’ attorneys target assets of local Catholic parishes

For the first time, local parishes are being targeted in the bankruptcy petition filed by the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese.

At a court hearing Thursday, attorneys for almost 600 people sexually abused by priests said they would try to tap parish assets to compensate the victims.

A committee for abuse victims and other creditors in the bankruptcy case said the assets and liabilities of parishes throughout the 10-county archdiocese should be consolidated. It would end the separate incorporations by the archdiocese and its churches, which were established over a century ago.

Greendale Pastor Alan Jurkus said the creditors’ strategy could backfire. He said Catholics have a fair amount of sympathy for the sex abuse victims, but that could change if the creditors start dragging the parishes into the case.

The victims’ committee also said there’s still a chance that the church can use insurance to compensate victims. They said the courts struck down the use of one policy, but two others could be available.

Bankruptcy Judge Susan Kelley said she was disappointed in the creditors’ new legal challenges. She said a negotiated settlement is still the best way to keep the church in business while fairly compensating the sex abuse victims.

The next hearing in the case is set for Oct. 31. The judge will decide whether the victims can sue to recover $35 million taken off the archdiocese books from a cemetery fund in 2005.

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State’s unemployment rate drops to 7.3%

Wisconsin added an estimated 1,400 jobs last month as the state’s unemployment rate fell .2 point to 7.3%.

Preliminary data was released by state officials Thursday afternoon, showing that 1,500 new private-sector jobs were created statewide in September, and governments throughout the state chopped about 100 jobs from their payrolls.

The numbers are based on a quick federal survey of 3.5% of employers and are subject to heavy revisions.

Thursday state officials revised the number of private sector jobs added in August by 3,100 for a total of 7,400 jobs created. The government workforce was revised upward by about 100 jobs for a total of 3,600 public jobs added in August.

Wisconsin’s current jobless rate is about a half-point lower than the national rate of 7.8%. All figures are adjusted for seasonal factors.

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Losing Newsweek’s business ‘negligible,’ says Wisconsin printer

Wisconsin’s largest commercial printer says the financial impact will be “negligible” when it stops printing Newsweek magazine at the end of the year.

Newsweek – an American institution for 80 years – said Thursday it would stop printing magazines and publish solely in electronic formats like the Internet and tablets.

Quad/Graphics has printed Newsweek for almost 35 years. But Quad spokeswoman Claire Ho said the magazine has struggled and reduced its print counts for a long time. She said her company’s work for Newsweek is “insignificant to our overall business.”

And Ho said no jobs would be cut at Quad/Graphics as a result of the move.

Ho added that Quad is “sad to see this venerable newsweekly end its print edition.”

She said the company’s Hartford plant prints Newsweek, and it’s also printed at Quad plants in Merced California and Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

But not all magazines are going the way of Newsweek. Just a few weeks ago, Quad announced a $900 million long-term agreement with Time Inc. to handle 85% of its total printing for 19 publications.

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Walker pledges to fix problems with Economic Development Corporation

Gov. Scott Walker promises “dramatic moves” to fix the financial problems in the state’s job creation agency.

The governor said he would submit a series of reform proposals to the agency’s board when it meets today.

Officials said this week that the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation never kept track of loans it made to businesses to help them expand their work forces.

As a result, up to 99 businesses are behind on an estimated $8 million in its loan payments to the state. That’s about 16% of the total amount of job-creation loans made by the public-private agency since it was formed in mid-2011 to replace the old state Department of Commerce.

The new department was Walker’s idea, and he said it’s just as important to be a “good steward” of tax dollars as well as help companies create jobs.

The governor’s office would not disclose his proposals until they’re presented to the board.

Corporation officials didn’t bring up the loan problems to a legislative committee when it held a hearing on the agency’s operations this week.

Panel co-chair Kathleen Vinehout called that “infuriating.” The Democratic senator from Alma said she’ll consider bringing those officials back to the panel. She’s certain that an ongoing audit of the agency will explore the loan problems.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, who recently joined the agency’s board, said most of the unpaid money apparently results from a single business loan.

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Associated announces closing of 10 Wisconsin branches

Wisconsin’s largest home-owned bank says it will close another 12 branches early next year.

Associated Bank says each facility is located within two miles of another, and customer traffic at the branches has been declining as more people bank electronically.

Ten of the branches are in Wisconsin – Sheboygan South, Oshkosh West, Wausau Rivers Edge, Appleton College Avenue, Eau Claire Southtowne, Hudson County Market, Manitowoc Harbortown, the Ledgeview branch at De Pere, Hammond, and Saukville.

The other two Associated branches to close are in Illinois at Lindenhurst and Peoria.

The closings are expected early next year. Then Associated – which is based in Green Bay – will have about 170 branches throughout its home state of Wisconsin.

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