A state appeals court has sided with the city of Madison in a dispute over property assessments with developer Terrence Wall, the Wisconsin state Journal reports. In a decision issued Thursday, the three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling in Wall’s favor. It ruled that the city’s 2019 assessment for the east side Madison’s Veritas Village apartment building — located at 110 N. Livingston St. — does not violate the Wisconsin Constitution’s uniformity clause, as was ruled by a Dane County judge in November 2022. The clause promotes tax uniformity by ..read more

Café Zupas announced that on Thursday, Dec. 14, the Salt Lake City-based restaurant chain will open its first Madison location near East Towne Mall at 4510 E. Washington Ave. Café Zupas will be holding a grand opening to celebrate the new location. The festivities will kick off at 10 a.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. After the ceremony, doors to the restaurant will open, and the first 100 customers in line will win free Café Zupas for a month. Five winners will also win free Café Zupas for a year. Next week’s opening will be the first Café Zupas location in the city of Madison, but the seco ..read more

The American Red Cross asks donors to set aside time to give blood or platelets for patients awaiting care over the holidays. From the record number of people expected to travel to seasonal illnesses and the potential for hazardous winter weather, it can be difficult for the Red Cross to collect enough blood for patients during the winter months. In return for December donations, the Red Cross will offer several opportunities: Those who come to give blood, platelets, or AB Elite plasma Dec. 1–31 will automatically be entered for a chance to win a $1,000 Amazon.com gift card and a 65-inch Omni ..read more

Wall Street slipped slightly today after rising Thursday to snap its first three-day losing streak since Halloween, the Associated Press reports. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both dipped 0.1%. On Thursday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to 4,585.59, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2% to 36,117.38, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.4% to 14,339.99. In Wall Street trading, big Tech stocks have helped power the market higher, led by a 5.3% leap for Google’s parent company, Alphabet. Big tech stocks are Wall Street’s most influential stocks because of the ..read more

It wasn’t so long ago that people who wanted an electric vehicle of some sort had to wait for factories to catch up with the backlog. Today, potential buyers are much more likely to find EV cars and pickup trucks sitting on dealers’ lots, waiting for a buyer. While EV sales are still growing faster than any other major automobile category in the United States, demand is slackening to the point that General Motors, Ford Motor Co., and Tesla are rethinking how quickly they retool factories to produce them. Producers are grappling with supply chain issues and competition within their own ranks, w ..read more

In both our annual Book of Lists and our December 2023 print edition, we published a listing of Dane County law firms that significantly underreported the number of local attorneys employed at DeWitt LLP. With 60 attorneys in its Madison office (plus two registered patent agents), and given that the firms are ranked based on the number of attorneys employed in their Dane County office, DeWitt should have ranked at the top of the list in both publications. We regret the error and invite you to review an updated list in our January 2024 print magazine ..read more

The nation’s employers added a solid 199,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate fell, according to the Associated Press, fresh signs that the economy could achieve an elusive “soft landing,” in which inflation would return to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target without causing a steep recession. Today’s report from the Labor Department showed that the unemployment rate dropped from 3.9% to 3.7%, not far above a five-decade low of 3.4% in April. The November job gain was a reminder that many employers continue to hire, though last month’s increase was inflated by the return of about 40,000 ..read more

Wisconsin’s 120 state-chartered banks continued to exhibit sound financial performance through Sept. 30, according to data released by the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI). At the end of the third quarter, total assets for Wisconsin’s state-chartered banks stood at $67.03 billion, down from $67.08 billion reported on Sept. 30, 2022. The net interest margin declined slightly at 3.20%, compared to 3.33% in September 2022. Net loans increased by 4.75% to $48.4 billion, up by $2.2 billion over the same time. In the 12 months ending on Sept. 30, 2023: The capital ratio remained ..read more

Wisconsin is up to fourth in state rankings for construction business climate, according to the 2023 Associated Builders and Contractors’ Merit Shop Scorecard. Only Georgia (1), Florida (2), and Arkansas (3), are ahead of Wisconsin, with Indiana (5) rounding out the top five. In 2022, Wisconsin dropped to 11th after ranking fifth in 2021. The scorecard, released yearly since 2015, ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on state policies and programs that strengthen career pathways in construction, encourage workforce development, and advocate for fair and open competition on ta ..read more

The Henry J. Predolin Foundation announced a grant of $925,000 to Edgewood College. With this grant, Edgewood College will provide approximately 135 students with Predolin Scholarships, serving all class standings, including transfer students. Over the years, Edgewood College has received a total of more than $13.4 million in support from the Predolin Foundation. Grants from the Predolin Foundation are made annually to support undergraduate students majoring in business, nursing, and science degree programs. In addition to Predolin Scholarships, past funds have been used to purchase equipment ..read more