Midwest Regional News Update: March 16, 2007

ILLINOIS BILL WOULD BAR WAL-MART BANK
Illinois bill would bar Wal-Mart bank [Chicago Tribune]
Worried that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is hatching plans to become a major player in its industry, the Community Bankers Association of Illinois is pushing for the Illinois Senate to pass a bill that would effectively bar commercial companies, such as retailers, from chartering their own banks.

“It would prevent a commercial firm from building or attaching a branch to its commercial property,” Terry Griffin, Chicago-area vice president for the association, explained earlier this week. “We initiated the bill and got it sponsored.”

WAL-MART TRIES OUT ‘GREEN STORE’ IN MIDWEST
Meeting in Perrysburg will sort out zoning issues [Toledo (Ohio) Blade]
Officials from Perrysburg and Perrysburg Township have set a date for a joint meeting to resolve problems stemming from the overlap of zoning codes between the two neighbors. 

MISSOURI SITE FIGHT: DISCUSSING WAL-MART
They discuss traffic cameras, Wal-Mart [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
Red-light cameras, a new Wal-Mart, eminent domain and tax-increment financing were among the issues discussed Monday night at a forum of the six candidates for mayor...Nault said many residents have told him they oppose development of a Wal-Mart at Spencer and Mexico roads. The project is scheduled to get under way this year.

WISCONSIN SITE FIGHT: OFFICIALS SPEAK
Wal-Mart officials speak to residents in Berlin [Oshkosh (Wis.) Northwestern]
Wal-Mart officials outlined plans for the new 158,000-square-foot Super Center and gave residents an opportunity to ask questions during a two-hour-plus session Monday night moderated by Mayor Bobbie Erdmann.

ANOTHER MISSOURI SITE FIGHT: EXPECTED TO OPEN
Wal-Mart Supercenter in Collinsville is expected to open in June [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
A Wal-Mart Supercenter is expected to open by June at the new Collinsville Crossing, putting into place the final big piece of the city’s largest retail undertaking.

INDIANA SITE FIGHT: PETITIONERS FIGHT NEW WAL-MART
Petitioners Fight Lebanon Wal-Mart Plan [WRTV-Indianapolis, Ind.]
An opponent of a plan to build a Super Wal-Mart in Lebanon is collecting signatures against the proposal.Mark Smith said he has collected about 100 signatures against the plan, which would replace a smaller Wal-Mart currently operating in the city. The larger store would be 20 acres behind the existing store.

MISSOURI SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART IN BOWLING GREEN?
Wal-Mart in Bowling Green [KHQA-Keokuk, Mo.]
City leaders in Bowling Green are looking at plans for a new Wal-Mart store. A developer approached the city with the idea about a month ago. The store would be built on land directly behind the Dairy Queen. It would be about 99,000 square feet. The construction would also include a strip mall. 

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, March 16, 2007

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