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+ARTS, page 7 Wednesday, October 30, 2013
New owner purchases the Orpheum Theatre By Patricia Johnson the daily cardinal
The battle for ownership over the Orpheum Theatre between Frank Productions and Gus Paras ended Friday when Paras, who also owns The Comedy Club on State, purchased the historic auditorium. Paras redeemed the property prior to the sheriff’s sale Nov. 5 by striking a deal with previous Orpheum co-owner Eric Fleming to compensate the Monona State Bank for Fleming’s outstanding building loans as well as drop a separate pending lawsuit Paras held against Fleming. The theater was temporarily under the bank’s ownership after it foreclosed on the property last year and chose Frank Productions to manage the theater until the sheriff’s sale. Earlier in October, the city denied Frank Productions’ request to pay fines the previous owners
accumulated from building code violations, which would have settled the previous owners’ debts. Paras was able to incur the costs of those fines as well as purchase Fleming’s $1.7 million half share. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said he is “thrilled … the Orpheum is in good hands,” and will remain a “tremendous resource for the campus community.” He noted his excitement in Paras’ plan to revive the Orpheum as the multi-purpose entertainment destination it once was by offering live music, wedding receptions, comedy shows and movie screenings in addition to commissioning previous co-owner Henry Doane to reopen an in-house restaurant and bar. Frank Productions had been using the theater to present live concerts during its temporary
management and was planning to bid on the property Nov. 5 to continue promoting musical productions, according to Frank Productions co-owner Fred Frank. Regardless of the unexpected transfer of ownership, Frank is hopeful about the Orpheum’s future. “We’re glad to have a local Madisonian purchase the theater,” Frank said. “We’re hoping to continue to have live entertainment in there.” Frank Productions has performances booked through February, which Paras has offered to accommodate. There is also a possibility Frank Productions and Paras will be able to make arrangements in the future to allow Frank Productions to host shows in the theater, however Frank said his company not yet agreed to a concrete plan about its involvement in the theater beyond February.
jane thompson/the daily cardinal
City planners hear what community members hope to see hope to see in a future public market.
City kicks off public market planning process with community participation By Morgan Haefner the daily cardinal
The city of Madison kicked off a project Tuesday to create a permanent public market that would feature diverse food, music and art for the Madison community. Community members gathered at the Overture Center to hear the project’s consultant, Project for Public Spaces, present its plan. Phase one includes four months of brainstorming and community outreach. According to PPS Senior Vice President Steve Davies, public
markets are aimed at reaching public goals, operating in public spaces and serving local businesses. To start the process of collecting input, community members wrote their wishes and concerns for the project on sticky notes and posted them on poster boards. “Our hope and our job is to help you realize your hopes and dreams in a realistic, doable way,” Davies said. City Food and Alcohol Policy Coordinator Mark Woulf said high turnout made the meeting
a success. “Tonight is exciting because it feels real,” Woulf said. “This is important, and I’m excited because it’s the first time for the public to really influence where this project goes.” Woulf said feedback from stakeholders leaned toward broadening the market from a standalone, retail business to an aggregator and distributor of public services. For instance, stakeholders suggested the market host
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jane thompson/the daily cardinal
Olivia Wick-Bander represents the MultiCultural Student Coalition in an appeal against the Student Services Finance Committee.
Multicultural group appeals to judiciary By Tamar Myers the daily cardinal
The MultiCultural Student Coalition appealed to the Student Judiciary Tuesday, accusing the Student Services Finance Committee of legal issues including due process violations. SSFC denied MCSC funding eligibility in late September partly because of what SSFC members said were intentional policy violations. In an internal appeal directly to the committee Oct. 21, SSFC voted not to give MCSC an additional hearing. ASM bylaws say appeals should go first to SSFC and then to the Student Judiciary. In revised standing rules passed earlier this year, however, SSFC mandated that appeals should go straight to the Student Judiciary. MCSC representatives highlighted the resulting discrepancy between standing rules and bylaws as an example of a
violation in due process rights, saying the organization received different information from various sources about how appeals should be submitted. SSFC Chair David Vines said he acknowledged the incongruity when MCSC members brought it to his attention, and as a result, he gave the organization an additional week to submit a new brief. MCSC also contended SSFC members were not sufficiently educated about a 2012 intentional policy violations from the Committee on Student Organizations. CSO froze MCSC funding for a year, stating the organization purposely submitted contracts in way that allowed them to bypass a required bidding process. Vines said MCSC disregarded the chance to inform members about the policy violation in its
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New bill could take Milwaukee police, fire union’s collective bargaining rights State Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, introduced a bill Tuesday that would revoke collective bargaining rights for Milwaukee’s police and firefighter unions. Act 10 eliminated collective bargaining rights and benefits for most unionized public employees in Wisconsin and created public unrest in 2011 that prompted a recall election in 2012. Milwaukee’s police and fire departments currently maintain their bargaining rights, but Carpenter said in a statement cutting their rights would decrease the city’s spending.
Police and fire department expenses account for 59 percent of Milwaukee’s budget, according to the statement. Carpenter said 70 percent of his district thinks public safety unions should be treated the same as other public employees and have their collective bargaining rights removed. “Until all collective bargaining rights are restored, giving specific unions superior status under the law violates a sense of fair play and equality under state law,” Carpenter said in the statement. Carpenter did not return a request for comment by the time of publishing.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”