PARALYZED WOMAN USES HER MIND TO CONTROL ROBOT ARM

Using only her thoughts, a Massachusetts woman paralyzed for 15 years directed a robotic arm to pick up a bottle of coffee and bring it to her lips, researchers report in the latest advance in harnessing brain waves to help disabled people.

HUGE VERONA ROAD PROJECT TO BE 'RENAISSANCE' OF AREA 

Frustrating backups on Verona Road will be in the past, and it will be easier for local traffic to access businesses and other destinations while creating a better, safer flow for highway traffic. Those are highlights of one the largest road construction projects in Dane County history.

Traffic backups at Verona Road and Highway PD will be a thing of the past as part of the $175 million Verona Road project constructs an overpass over Highway PD, also known as McKee Road in Fitchburg. The improvements and easier access also will help business development, officials said.

 The long financial struggle surrounding the Hilldale Shopping Center appears close to an end.

A Boston area development company is poised to become Hilldale's new owner, if a judge approves the deal on June 4.

DNR LAND DEAL LARGEST CONSERVATION PURCHASE

The Department of Natural Resources says its agreement to buy 100 square miles of forest in northern Wisconsin would be the state's largest land conservation purchase.

TRUSTEES TALK TID EXTENSION

  Revitalizing downtown DeForest through extending a tax incremental district? At Monday night's meeting, DeForest Village Board trustees continued talks about extending both the life and boundaries of tax incremental district (TID) No. 1, which is forecasted to close much earlier than expected. 

Planning for the Imagination Celebration showcase of exhibits and performances is now under way. But at its heart is economic development. On June 21, musicians, artists and other creative people will fill the Waunakee High School Commons, inviting others to experience their work. 

Downtown redevelopment: Hovde Properties will give an informational presentation to Madison's Urban Design Commission on a mixed-use project with housing, commercial space, parking and city Fire Department administrative offices on the 300 block of West Johnson and Gorham streets at 4:30 p.m...

The city is a step closer to selling the second piece of the former Don Miller properties along East Washington Avenue for redevelopment.

Local developers John Schaefer and Mike Campbell have bought the former Thorstad Chevrolet property at 1702 S. Park St. but they don't know yet what they will build on the 13-acre site.

Fraud charges against the former president of a Middleton development firm were dismissed Friday after a judge ruled that prosecutors had not proven the likelihood that he had committed a felony.

Superintendent Dan Nerad's revised plan to raise achievement levels of minority and low-income students calls for $5.8 million in new spending next year and $55.6 million in new spending over the next five years, about half of the amount needed for an initial proposal released in February.

 In another bit of good news for the local building industry, Dane County housing starts rose in April compared with a year ago, though totals remain low historically. There were 81 building permits issued in April for single-family homes and duplexes, compared with 66 in April 2011, for a 22.7 percent increase, according to MTD Marketing Services of Menasha.

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