Kiger's Notebook

Eggs and Issues - the final conflict

The Rochester Area Chamber is gearing up for the final round of Eggs and Issues for this political season.

Interesting things get said at these things. And there will be eggs for Brad Trahan.

It will run from 8:30 a.m to 10:30 a.m. on May 7 at the Ramada Hotel & Conference Center (Formerly Best Western Apache)

Local legislators invited to attend include: Sen. Kiscaden, Sen. Senjem, Rep. Bradley, Rep. Demmer, Rep. Liebling, and Rep. Welti.

Cost is $15 for Chamber members and $30 for non-member.

Xillix: FDA OKs Mayo Clinic

Here's something from the Thursday shareholders meeting of a company called Xillix Techonologies Corp. in British Columbia.

The company is touting a positive report from the Federal Drug Administration following an inspection of Mayo Clinic for its part in a Xillix study.

Here's part of what the company had to say:

Xillix Technologies Corp., a world leader in fluorescence endoscopy for the early detection of cancer, today announced the results of its annual and extraordinary meeting of shareholders held today in Vancouver.

During the meeting, President and CEO, Cynthia Roney, provided an update on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's review of the Company's Pre-Market Approval Supplement for Onco-LIFE(TM). As part of the PMA Supplement review, the FDA recently inspected the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, which was the largest U.S. enrolling center in the Onco-LIFE lung cancer study.

"We were pleased to hear that the FDA proceeded with this inspection, which is common for PMA's, and we were delighted to learn from the Mayo that the auditor was satisfied with his review," said Roney.

"Our discussions with the FDA this week confirmed that they will be requesting minor clarification on a few points, but that they had no other concerns. Considering the successful audits at both the Xillix manufacturing facility in Canada and the recent positive Mayo audit, together with feedback from the reviewers to date, we are pleased with this progress and we eagerly await the FDA's decision on U.S. approval."

Red Wing 'boots' up statues

Red Wing is launching a citywide statue campaign this summer in the mode of St. Paul's Peanuts statues Austin's concrete hogs to celebrate Red Wing Shoe Co.'s 100 anniversary. The statues, of course, will be boots - four foot high left boots.

This follows Red Wing Shoe officials touring Hormel's Spam Museum to get ideas for their own museum.

They realize, like Hormel, they have a recognizable brand that with some marketing could help their communities struggling economy.

Here's some from the statue plan announcement:

More than 30 large (4’tall) Red Wing boot statues will be on display in recognition of the Red Wing Shoe Company’s 100th anniversary. Over 50 local businesses and organizations are sponsoring the boots and will decorate and display them as their way of showing thanks for the important role the Red Wing Shoe Company has played in the local community over the past century.

The boot unveiling will take place at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 4, at Red Wing Shoe Company’s corporate headquarters at Riverfront Centre, 314 Main Street in Red Wing. F.A.S.T Corporation that created the boot statues will present the first four of the 30 boots to kick off the start of the public art project.

The custom boot statues are the creations of Jim Schauf, owner of F.A.S.T. Corporation, located in Sparta, Wisconsin, who has over 20 years experience as a premier manufacturer of fiberglass statues and amusement park figures.

Battling with the King

Here's the deal on what is going on at the five Rochester Burger Kings and the ones on Kasson, Winona and Apple Valley. It seems the franchisee Girish Dharod of Road Corp. is in a standoff with Burger King who has terminated his franchise contract and blocked some of his supplies.

Here's some of what I wrote on this for today's paper:

If you think fighting city hall is tough, try going up against a king — in this case, Burger King.

A dispute between Road Corp., the Rochester-based company that owns and runs the five Burger King restaurants in Rochester along with those in Kasson, Winona and Apple Valley, and the fast-food giant’s corporate office has been heating up for a while.

Now Burger King has pulled Road Corp.’s franchise contract and cut the restaurants off from BK supplies. That means hamburgers, fries and sodas come in generic cups and wrappers at the restaurants. The grills are still hot, and the Burger King signs and menus are still up, and Whoppers are still being served, however.

“We’re not closing,” says Girish Dharod, Road Corp.’s owner. “This is my business as far as I’m concerned.”

Burger King has a different view.

“It is our position that they had no right to operate any BK restaurants after Dec. 31, 2004,” said Joe Gerbino, manager of external communications for Burger King in Miami, Fla.

The dispute is over Dharod’s plans to sell the eight restaurants he owns. He said the corporation wants to control who he sells them to, and he wants more options. He expects the restaurants to remain as Burger Kings, no matter what buyer takes over.

Corporate executives declined to discuss details, but it did confirm the situation. “The franchise agreement was terminated,” Gerbino said.

Allstar open, Automen gone

I have been getting questions about the Volvo, Saab and BMW repair shop– The Automen at 3850 U.S. 14 East in Rochester. I finally got around to checking it out.

The Automen has closed for good. In its place, Allstar Auto Repair of Rochester opened on March 7.

It is a similar business with a focus on repairing imported vehicles. It is owned by Tom Bute,

He says that even though the focus is on imports, they will also work on domestic vehicles.

"We find that most people that have an import have a domestic, too," Bute said.

He has three on staff.

As for Automen, it was owned by Mark Mathis.

Onyx sues Olmsted County

Here's an interesting press release to start the day with. Trash hauler Onyx is suing Olmsted County. We'll have more on this in today's print edition. Until then, this is how Onyx describes the situation and itself (I'm not sure what "an acquisition-oriented, fully-integrated" means):

An Olmsted County waste hauler, Onyx Waste Services Midwest, Inc., filed suit today against Olmsted County in U.S. District Court - Minnesota District, claiming almost $400,000 in overbillings since June 2004. The lawsuit maintains that Olmsted County has increased the contractual disposal rate in violation of the current contract between Olmsted County and Onyx.

“Onyx is disappointed that this matter has resulted in litigation,” Onyx Region Manager Chris Rooney said.“However, Onyx brought this matter to Olmsted County’s attention over five months ago and thought negotiations with Olmsted County were moving in a positive direction. Unfortunately, after months of negotiations, Olmsted County has taken the position that it is not interested in negotiating this matter further.”

Onyx Waste Services Midwest, Inc., an affiliate of Onyx Waste Services, Inc. is an acquisition-oriented, fully-integrated solid waste services company providing solid waste collection, transfer, recycling and disposal services to more than 800,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in 12 states.

Century Square ground breaking

I popped out to the ceremonial groundbreaking (Where do all those gold shovels come from?) for Century Square out by Century High School and Kindercare.

The project is spearheaded by the tireless Ken Dewan and his project manager, Nathan Hartung of Counselor Realty. Hartung promises news of tenants signing in the very near future.

A handful of brave folks faced a biting wind (I was the dope without a coat) to watch Dewan, Mayor Ardell Brede and a the minster of the adjacent church to scoop up some semi-frozen soil. A warmly dressed city council member Bob Nowicki and Mitch Glynn of Leo's Pizza Palace looked on. Glynn is building his second Leo's in the development and is keeping his eye on hungry hordes of Century high school students. He is launching a lunch buffet with that in mind.

We got the story on this in today's paper. Here's some from Bob Freund's article:

For the past couple of years, the land near the northwest corner of Viola Road and East Circle Drive has been a work with little apparent progress to passersby.

Today, developer Ken Dewan and his investment group unveil plans for Century Square, a neighborhood business center.

The initial tenant will be the second Leo’s Pizza Palace in Rochester. But “I’m close to signing some deals with some other services,” including at least one casual restaurant, Nathan Hartung, real estate agent and project manager, said this week.

The real estate group, called Vidya Investment Properties L.L.C. of Rochester, owns all but one of the available lots in the area between Viola Road and 26th Street Northeast, which is the entrance drive.

Dewan is the majority investor in the group, with others from central Minnesota and Chicago.
The group made a door-to-door survey of residents in the Century Hills subdivision and found demand for a strip-style service complex, Hartung said.

Except for a Kwik Trip convenience store, there is no commercial development for a mile or more in any direction. The Kwik Trip’s traffic shows it at busy times, such as at noon. “You can simply see the demand” by being in the store, Hartung said.

Bruegger's to go downtown

Here's a scoop on Bruegger's bagels from Matt Russell's On The Menu column in today's paper.

Bruegger’s recently signed a lease to open a location in the Mayo Clinic subway area and is planning another possible location in south Rochester, according to Jenny Bush, a manager at the chain’s 102 Elton Hills Drive N.W. location.

Bush said details haven’t been finalized, but the downtown subway location could possibly open in four to eight weeks. Bruegger’s is also looking at a possible location in the area of Kohl’s in south Rochester, but “that’s down the road,” she said.

“It could be a year,” Bush said. “I guess that depends on the turnout at the subway.”

Bruegger’s, which specializes in bagels and bagel sandwiches, closed their location at Crossroads shopping center off South Broadway earlier this year. The chain also recently remodeled its Elton Hills location, the only Bruegger’s now open in Rochester, to give the dining room a more inviting feel.

Viking to build Nissan its own digs

Rochester’s “auto row” will soon add a new showroom to its lineup as Viking Pontiac-Nissan-GMC builds Nissan is own facility.

An 18,000-square-foot building with a showroom and service center will be constructed south of the dealership at 4646 U.S. 52 North, says Viking General Manager Grant Osgood. Work should start soon.

He estimates the facility – which will be called Nissan of Rochester – will open in the fall.
“We’ve been ramping up for this for awhile,” Osgood said.

The Nissan staff will include about 15 to 20 people “by the time we’re done,” says Osgood. He anticipates hiring one or two new employees. Viking has 70 employees overall.

Beside showcasing the Nissan brand, this move will also open up space in the current Viking building, Osagood said. “This makes sense for us.”

Jim and Barbara Lupient, who own Viking, will own Nissan of Rochester. They also own Saturn of Rochester at 2955 48th St, N.W.

Mayo opens Dubai office

Mayo opened its office in Dubai on Sunday. The really wild thing is seeing the photo which shows a room decor and furniture well-known to any Rochester patients. It is identical to the exam rooms here.

Anway, here's part of a story on this from AME Info Web site. We'll be doing a take soon. It is also worth noting that AME Info says all of the info for the stories in the section where the Mayo story is posted are "primarily provided directly by the companies appearing or PR agencies which are solely responsible for the content."

Mayo Clinic Middle East regional office sees first patients

The Mayo Clinic Middle East Regional Office, located in Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), began seeing patients earlier this week.

The new Mayo facility, which opened on 24 April 2005, focuses on cardiovascular outreach services. Specifically, it is dedicated primarily to diagnostic and non-invasive therapy.

The Mayo Clinic Middle East Regional Office is part of 'Mayo Clinic's commitment to explore new models of care that can best meet the needs of patients in the Middle East,' said Hugh Smith, M.D., chair, Mayo Clinic Board of Governors. 'We believe the services provided in this office will complement local and regional cardiology practices already in Dubai. This new effort represents Mayo Clinic's commitment to providing ongoing care supported by research and education to patients residing outside the United States.'

Joseph (Youssef) Maalouf, M.D., Mayo Clinic heart specialist fluent in both English and Arabic, is the lead Mayo physician at the Mayo Clinic Middle East Regional Office. Dr. Maalouf and a team of Mayo Clinic support staff will evaluate patients with heart conditions seeking further evaluation, diagnosis and follow-up care. He will also be working closely with local physicians who see patients in the region.