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Walker: ‘of course’ I don’t want Harley boycott

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Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker made it clear Monday — he doesn’t want a boycott of Harley-Davidson. President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that it was “great” that “many” Harley riders planned to boycott the Wisconsin-based company if it moves manufacturing overseas.

While there’s little evidence to support such a boycott actually occurring, Walker released a statement Sunday that he wants Harley to prosper in Wisconsin.

And Monday he tweeted that “of course” he doesn’t want a boycott — and one of the best ways for that to happen is to do what the President has called for — get to no tariffs as soon as possible.

Marcus Theatres not showing ‘Slender Man’ movie at some Wisconsin locations

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Marcus Theatres locations in Madison and Sun Prairie do not plan to show the upcoming “Slender Man” movie, according to movie listings on its website.

Earlier this week a company spokesperson confirmed that the movie would not be shown at Marcus Theatres in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties.

The movie is about girls driven to kill on behalf of the online ghoul and is set to open in select theaters this weekend.

Two girls from Waukesha, Anissa Weir, and Morgan Geyser, said the fictional character was behind their May 2014 attack of classmate Payton Leutner. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier urged her on, according to investigators. A passing bicyclist found Leutner, who barely survived her wounds.

“Like many people across the United States, Marcus Theatres was deeply concerned and saddened when the Slender Man phenomenon touched Southeastern Wisconsin in such a profound way, changing the lives of many families forever,” a statement said. “After careful consideration, and out of respect for those who were impacted, we have decided not to play the upcoming Slender Man movie in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties. We will show the film at select other Marcus Theatres locations.”

Slender Man is a fictional character created by a then-28-year-old Floridian named Eric Knudsen. Slender Man first appeared on an Internet forum called “Something Awful” in 2009.

WIBA

State aid package could keep Kimberly Clark in Wisconsin

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State lawmakers could be coming back to Madison to try and keep Kimberly Clark in Wisconsin.

The company announced that they’ve reached a new agreement with their Union, and that they’re willing to work with the state to use an aid package to keep 600 jobs in Wisconsin.

The State Assembly had previously passed a package of aid that would provide 100 to 115 million dollars in incentives over the next 15 years.

The State Senate did not pass the bill before they adjourned this year.

Expera gets new owner

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Kaukauna-based Expera Specialty Solutions has a new owner.

The new owner is based in Helsinki, Finland.  The 615-million dollar deal is expected to be complete by the second half of this year.  

Expera has a total of 18-hundred employees working at mills in Kaukauna, De Pere, Rhinelander, and Mosinee.  No changes in operations are anticipated.

The Kaukauna paper mill has been operating for 135 years.

Phony money circulating in southeast Wisconsin

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Sheboygan police are raising a warning about some very realistic phony 100 dollar bills in southeast Wisconsin.

The bills are all 100 dollar bills with the same serial number of B03031062B.

Lieutenant Doug Teunissen says the bills are real enough to fool anti-counterfeit pens. “Some people are reporting that the pens aren’t alerting to the fact that they are fake, which means that they could actually be altered money. We’re unsure of that at this time.”

Teunissen says clerks should always be wary of receiving large bills for small payments,”While there still are people that pay with cash, it’s just not normal for most citizens to be carrying items like 50 or 100 dollar bills.”

He reminds employers to properly train their cashiers and workers and to make sure that they understand it’s okay to turn away sales when it comes to phony money. “That can quite frankly be an uncomfortable situation, especially for maybe an inexperienced cash register worker.”

Clerks should be looking for watermarks and other printing protections in any large bill, and make sure the manager’s informed if you think you’ve got a fake bill.

Wisconsin Farm Technology Days starts next week

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Wisconsin Farm Technology Days is only a week away from opening it’s three-day run just southwest of Marshfield, and Executive Director Scott Larson from the Marshfield Chamber of Commerce and Industry says it’s been in the planning stages for a year!

According to Larson who also sits on the event’s steering committee, “Farm Technology Days is Wisconsin’s largest outdoor agricultural show. We expect attendance to be at least 40,000.  You literally are creating a city out in the country.”

“And this is a community involvement event,” Larson explained.  “All of the people involved in this event at the local level are volunteers.  There is no paid staff at a local level here.  By the time the show is put on it will take up to 3,000 volunteers to actually execute the program.”

If you’re looking for a hotel room in Wood County you just may be out of luck, since Larson says they’ve all been booked for quite some time, and the boost to the local economy is going to be huge.  “What’s our economic impact from having an event like this?  Conservatively we estimate $2.5 million dollars from visitors coming to the show.”

And what’s on tap at the show?  Well, there’s health screenings, educational exhibits, great food, and Larson says the general public should love attending too.  “There’s something for everyone to see to there, and we really do encourage the general public to come.  This isn’t just for agricultural-based individuals to come out and see.  We do want the general public to come out.”

Farm Technology Days will be held at the Sternweis and Heiman Farms just southwest of Marshfield, and will run from July 10th through the 12th.

WSAU

Foxconn to open “innovation center” in Green Bay

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Foxconn Technology Group (Foxconn) today announced that it is expanding its new Wisconn Valley Innovation Network to Green Bay, Wisconsin as part of its initiative to foster and attract talent and connect with supply chain partners throughout the Badger state.

Foxconn has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase a landmark property in Green Bay downtown, with a closing on the property and opening of the innovation center by Foxconn anticipated later this year.

The innovation center in Green Bay will be part of a talent and innovation network for the AI 8K+5G ecosystem that Foxconn is creating in Wisconsin, and in the U.S.

More than 200 Foxconn employees are expected to work at the center, where they will focus on developing applications for AI 8K+5G display technology that Foxconn is creating.

The innovation center in Green Bay will serve a complementary role to Foxconn’s Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park and its innovation center in Milwaukee in cultivating a new class of vertical solution providers for advanced manufacturing processes and technologies, as well as for industries such as education, medical and healthcare, entertainment and sports, security, and smart community.

This move follows Foxconn’s recent purchase of a building in downtown Milwaukee that will serve as both the headquarters of the company’s innovation network in Wisconsin and it’s North American corporate headquarters.

Located at 301 North Washington Street in Green Bay, the iconic building, known as The WaterMark, is a six-story, 75,000 sq. ft. office building located at the heart of Fox River Valley and that was formerly home to H.C. Prange and Younker’s Department Store.

Foxconn broke ground Thursday on its multi-billion dollar electronics factory in Mt. Pleasant.

WTAQ

Trump and Walker trade praise at Foxconn groundbreaking

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President Donald Trump says Governor Scott Walker took the Foxconn ball and ran with it. At Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony for the Foxconn campus in Racine County, Trump said he handed off the deal to Walker.

“I gave it to Scott Walker. He literally didn’t have to make a phone call to me, for the last year and-a-half. He is an unbeliaavely talanted guy,” Trump said. He called Walker up on stage, where the Republican governor thanked the presdent for bringing the massive project to Wisconsin.

“You got the ball rolling. Foxconn would not be in America if not for you,” Walker told Trump. The groundbreaking included the president turning shovels of dirt with Walker, Foxconn chair Terry Gou, and House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Trump took credit for the deal that has Foxconn building the $10 billion campus, and promising up to 13,000 jobs. “I will tell you they wouldn’t have done it here except I became president, so that’s good,” he said. “This is one of the greatest deals ever. What this is going to do, and I don’t even know that anyone’s critical of it. I can’t imagine they could be.”


In fact, Wisconsin Democrats have been highly critical of the deal the state struck with Foxconn in order to leverage the project.

Trump also used his remarks to call out Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson. “Please build those beautiful motorcycles in the USA,” Trump said. “Don’t get cute with us. Don’t get cute.” Harley announced that week it would shift some production overseas in response to European Union tariffs, triggering a Trump Twitter tirade.

Trump visits Wisconsin amid swipes at Harley-Davidson

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A Twitter tempest is the backdrop to President Trump’s Foxconn stop. The president, in Wisconsin today for the ceremonial Foxconn groundbreaking in Racine County, on Wednesday ramped-up criticism of the iconic Wisconsin company, for offshoring some production due to retaliatory tariffs from Europe.

Marquette University economist Joe Daniels says that the president’s stance has put Harley in a most difficult position. “I’d hate to be their PR person right now. I’d had to be in their marketing department right now. They’re kind of caught between a rock and a hard place.”

This week the EU raised U.S. motorcycle tariffs from 6% to 31%. Harley says that would cost millions of dollars, which is why it plans to build those bikes overseas.

Harley, which makes most of its motorcycles at plants in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Missouri, opened plants in India and Brazil in recent years and is opening another in Thailand this year.

Speaker Ryan speaks out against tariff increases

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House Speaker Paul Ryan is joining the group of Wisconsin Republicans coming out against increased tariffs.

At his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Ryan says he considers tariffs the same way he considers taxes. “With taxes, like tariffs, some companies go overseas in order to penetrate foreign markets. That’s why we want to lower those barriers.”

Ryan points to the work Republicans made on tax reform to illustrate the reasons he’s trying to convince American companies to keep production domestic.

“There are unfair trading practices, no two ways about it, used by other countries. I think it’s in our interests to to use other tools to go after those unfair trading practices, but I think there are better tools than tariff increases.”


The statements come after Milwaukee-based Harley Davidson announced it was moving more of its production overseas to help beat import tariffs put in place in retaliation for Trump Administration tariffs imposed on the European Union.