U's plant pathology lab gets go-ahead A new lab at the University of Minnesota designed for the study of plant pathogens won federal approval this week, a necessary last step before researchers handle the germs that cause plant diseases such as sudden oak death and Asian soybean rust. Completed this spring, the $4.8 million Plant Pathology Research Center is one of four places at universities nationwide where researchers can safely study exotic plant pathogens. Airtight and designed to prevent the escape of any organisms under study, the research lab is expected to open sometime this summer.
MATT MCKINNEY
Wilsons Leather appoints interim CEO Wilsons the Leather Experts Inc. appointed Timothy Becker as interim chief executive. Becker is a principal at Lighthouse Management Group Inc., a "professional firm of turnaround specialists," the Brooklyn Park-based specialty retailer said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The company posted a loss of $77.5 million last year and is closing most of its mall-based stores. The company's previous CEO, Michael Searles, resigned in April. Wilsons also said Wednesday that Michael Sweeney resigned as chairman, and that director William Farley was appointed chairman.
DOW JONES NEWS SERVICE
Land holdings affect stock of Wisconsin bank Shares of Marshall & Ilsley Corp., Wisconsin's biggest bank, fell 7 percent after making Goldman Sachs' "conviction sell" list for a portfolio with twice the industry average of construction loans. Marshall & Ilsley shares fell 7.4 percent Wednesday, or $1.51, to close at $18.83. Three percent of Marshall & Ilsley's loans representing about $1.6 billion are in high-risk residential land in Arizona, analyst Brian Foran wrote. Arizona, along with California, Florida and Nevada, accounted for 89 percent of the rise in new-home foreclosures in the first quarter.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
