Gun Play: The case of the West Allis man cited for carrying a gun in a holster while planting a tree in his yard cancelled has rallied gun advocates.

Brad Krause was found not guilty of disorderly conduct for openly carrying a gun. One target gun advocates have in their sights is actually Republican state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen. Last year, Rep. Terry Musser (R-Black River Falls) asked Van Hollen for an opinion on upholding open gun laws in the state. Musser was pushing because Wisconsin is one of two states that opposes concealed weapons.

The argument goes that if you can't carry a concealed gun in Wisconsin and you get cited for openly carrying a weapon, that would justify changing the law in favor of concealed weapons. Carrying open guns would be an interesting scene, indeed.

Meat Cutting: Reports are out that Smithfield Foods, owner of Patrick Cudahy, is axing 1,800 jobs and closing six plants, but the Cudahy plant will be spared any pain.

Hidden in this news, though, is the realization that the Cudahy plant has already cut its workforce by eliminating many of its temp positions, which affects minority employment. A main concern, according to plant sources, is that as many as 600 workers in Cudahy will lose their jobs if Smithfield's contract to make meats for Kraft Foods expires. Kraft is currently considering what to do with its meat.

Name Dropping: Tuesday's primary elections had fairly predictable outcomes around here, but there were some interesting names and stories on the ballot.

In Menomonee Falls, current President Randy Newman took 78 percent of the what little vote there was in his re-election battle against Jefferson Davis, who scored 17 percent. Davis is a former deposed and disgraced president who somehow thinks his political career will rise again. He will face off against Newman one more time in April.

New Berlin saw its current mayor, Jack Chiavatero, and ex-mayor Ted Wysocki get through the primary, with Chiavatero receiving substantially more votes than the ex-mayor. Paul Scheuble, the city's most prominent ex-hippie who has become its most perennial candidate as well, finished a distant third.

Wysocki could receive a major boost to his campaign if he bought a few cases of "I love Ted Wysocki" T-shirts now being featured on Amazon.com, with sizes up to 5-XL.

Scheuble made it through a school board primary, however, and will be on the April ballot for that post.

Field Patrol: This shouldn't prevent them from signing any Class A free agents, but the Brewers will be paying more to have Milwaukee Police as their security force in Miller Park. The city is seeking to increase the Brewers rate to have cops in the park from $45.22 an hour to $45.97 an hour. A letter to the Brewers from Police Chief Ed Flynn said the move is needed because "the original agreement has proven deficient."

There's Money in Trash: Another revenue source for the city will kick in next quarter and it's not from the stimulus package. The city wants to increase garbage pickup fees for some multi-unit apartment buildings by up to 19 percent.

There are about 2,660 such buildings in town and the city picks up trash from half of them. Building owners have the options of paying the city or using a private collector. The rate is supposed to increase every year. The costs vary based on whether the city needs a front loader or a back-loader for the job.

DPW officials estimate that 5 percent of property owners will opt out from the city pickup, but it will still bring in close to $1.5 million.

Stimulated into Action: The city is getting its act together in time to receive a little stimulus cash. A Common Council committee was to hear a plan to create an economic stimulus task force. The measure is being sponsored by Aldermen Willie Hines, Michael Murphy and Nic Kovac.

Ald. Bob Bauman offers some philosophy on what to do with the cash.

"It is important as we consider new funds coming into the city for infrastructure improvements that we recognize when to be fixing old problems and when to be investing in new solutions," Bauman said. "President Obama has even recently called attention to both high speed rail and other alternative infrastructure improvements, saying 'We should be using this money to help spur this kind of innovative thinking when it comes to transportation.'"

Don Sykes, head of the city's job training program, which spends about $14 million a year, recently told a council committee that he hopes his agency would get a substantial piece of the pie in order to invigorate youth jobs training programs.