Viewpoints

The number of home sales in the four-county metro Milwaukee area increased by 26.5 percent in March, compared to March of 2011, the ninth month in a row of double-digit year-over-year home sale increases, according to the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors (GMAR).

U.S. Bank announced it plans to open four full-service locations inside local Walmart stores over the next two years.

BMO Harris Bank plans to close six of its Wisconsin locations, including three in the Milwaukee area, on June 29.

You've been thinking about starting your own company for quite a while. In fact, the ideas you jotted down on your laptop are haunting you each night as you wonder, “What if someone else does this first?”

Barack Obama and his Republican challengers don't agree about much, but they do agree the U.S. economy can't be turned around, and middle class prosperity saved, without a strong contribution from manufacturing.

Train manufacturer Talgo this week has begun the legal process of notifying its workforce and the state that it will lay off employees at its Milwaukee facility. The company has about 80 employees in Milwaukee.

Badger Meter Inc. will hold its 2012 annual meeting of shareholders at Racine Federated Inc. on Friday, April 27 at 8:30 a.m.

Polaris Industries Inc. plans to add 89 jobs in the western Wisconsin city of Osceola as it boosts production of Indian motorcycles.

The United Performing Arts Fund has announced its 2012 goal of raising $10 million by mid-June. The 2012 UPAF Campaign co-chairs are David J. Lubar, president and chief executive officer of Lubar & Co. and Carlene Ziegler, managing director of Artisan Partners Limited Partnership. Dollars raised by UPAF support 36 performing arts groups in southeastern Wisconsin.

The Brewers will pick up Friday right where they left off in 2011 - battling the St. Louis Cardinals.