steinbring

From the Article:

Less than a month after buying roughly 170 acres in Racine County, Microsoft has acquired even more land for its $3.3 billion data center campus.

Microsoft purchased 70.9 acres of mostly vacant land in Mount Pleasant for $12.75 million, according to Wisconsin Department of Revenue online records.

The sale was recorded Tuesday. Like the 173 acres purchased last month, the land acquired in August is located along Louis Sorenson Road. It’s near the main data center development site, according to a project overview. The company also bought 32.1 acres on the road back in May.

From the Article:

Only four of the Wisconsin restaurants Guy Fieri visited on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” remain open, but they’re certainly worth a visit.

If you’re on the hunt for a diner to experience in Wisconsin, look no further than the restaurant “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” host Guy Fieri has already visited on his ever-popular Food Network show. In these episodes, which span culinary options throughout the entire United States, he visits for a meal and to chat with the owners as well as regulars. Wisconsin has been featured numerous times on what’s fondly known as the “Triple D” show. Even though some of those spots are now closed, here are four that remain open and are ready to serve you.

From the Article:

Amtrak's train line connecting Chicago to the Twin Cities through Milwaukee saw a successful first full month of service this summer.

Amtrak’s new Borealis line saw 19,400 riders in the month of June, giving the line a total of 26,000 riders since it launched May 21, according to a June performance report by Amtrak. The line saw 6,600 passengers over its first 11 days of operation in May.

The route is sponsored by the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois. A federal grant provides 90% of the first-year operating costs. The project represents a $53 million investment and includes track improvements in La Crosse and Minnesota.

The twice-daily Borealis was built as an expansion of the Empire Builder service which connects Chicago with the Twin Cities on its way to Seattle. Borealis’ 411-mile route takes about 7 hours and 20 minutes, compared with Empire’s nearly 8-hour journey.

The report also showed $1.9 million in operating revenue versus $1.8 million in operating expense for the line so far this year, giving the line adjusted operating earnings of $100,000.

This made it one of just two lines to have positive adjusted operating earnings for the year, along with the Berkshire Flyer.

However, operating earnings doesn't equate to profitability, according to Amtrak spokesperson Marc Magliari.

Magliari said that the report only measures direct costs for the line like employee salaries, fuel and payments to the railroads used. It doesn't cover things like depreciation, income tax expense and other factors.

Any earnings from the line would be split between the three states based on a cost-sharing agreement, Magliari said.

While what Amtrak has seen so far in terms of ridership is “very encouraging,” Magliarli said, the company is not actively considering adding more service in Wisconsin.

“We need more than 90 days of data to make these kinds of decisions, and we’ve not even gone into a slower travel season yet,” Magliari said.

Magliari said increasing how often the trains run would also be difficult. If the service were to expand, it would be likely through adding capacity to the trains, although that’s constrained by fleet size.

“We have a contract with these states to provide this much capacity and if there’s a need for additional capacity, we and the states will talk about that,” Magliari said.

In addition to downtown Milwaukee Intermodal Station, Wisconsin stops include Sturtevant, Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, Columbus, Portage, Wisconsin Dells, Tomah and La Crosse.

“The initial data is promising and reflects the hard work done by WisDOT, our partner states and Amtrak to bring this service to the people of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois,” Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary Craig Thompson said in an Amtrak press release. “We’re hopeful the more people that ride Borealis and like it, the more successful it will be.”

From the Article:

A judge refused Thursday to put on hold his ruling that allows disabled people in Wisconsin to be emailed absentee ballots at home in November’s presidential election in the closely watched battleground state.

Republicans asked the judge to not enforce his ruling while their appeal is pending. But Dane County Circuit Judge Everett Mitchell on Thursday rejected their arguments, saying putting his ruling on hold “would inflict significant harm on both the disability rights advocates and the public interest.”

From the Article:

The last coal-fired passenger steamship in the U.S. is attempting to become more green while maintaining its steam-powered charm as it travels to and from Wisconsin.

Last year, the SS Badger received a $600,000 federal grant to study alternative fuel sources beyond coal in efforts to make the ship zero-carbon.

The Badger connects Manitowoc to Ludington, Michigan, through a four-hour ferry ride across Lake Michigan. The ship first set sail on the lake more than 70 years ago. In 2016, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated the Badger a National Historic Landmark.

From the Article:

Vice President Kamala Harris has closed the polling gap with former President Donald Trump among Wisconsin voters, according to polls taken since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.

“What we’re seeing is that voters under the age of 50, independents and ethnic minorities, especially African American voters, are swinging back towards the Democratic party,” said Matt Taglia, a senior director at Emerson College polling.

Emerson’s poll is one of several that show Harris leading Trump when voters are asked to choose between the two. A survey conducted July 22-23 showed Harris leading Trump 51-49, within the poll’s margin of error.

When other candidates were included in the question, Harris and Trump were tied 45-45, with independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. getting 3 percent support and Green Party candidate Jill Stein at 1 percent.

“She changed the dynamics of the race substantially. She moved five points in the margin in Wisconsin, and so I don’t think we necessarily need to wait to see what changes are taking effect as a result of Harris on the ticket,” Taglia said.

Still, with an expected vice presidential announcement in the next several days and the Democratic National convention in less than two weeks, he said it will take some time to get a firmer sense of how the race has changed.

From the Article:

Wisconsin Republicans are asking voters to take away the governor's power to unilaterally spend federal money, a reaction to the billions of dollars that flowed into the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers was free to spend most of that money as he pleased, directing most of it toward small businesses and economic development, angering Republicans who argued the Legislature should have oversight.

That's what would happen under a pair of related constitutional amendments up for voter approval in the Aug. 13 primary election. The changes would apply to Evers and all future governors and cover any federal money to the state that comes without specific spending requirements, often in response to disasters or other emergencies.

Democrats and other opponents are mobilizing against the amendments, calling them a legislative power grab that would hamstring governors' ability to quickly respond to a future natural disaster, economic crisis or health emergency.

If the amendments pass, Wisconsin’s government “will become even more dysfunctional,” said Julie Keown-Bomar, executive director of Wisconsin Farmers Union.

“Wisconsinites are so weary of riding the partisan crazy train, but it is crucial that we show up at the polls and vote ‘no’ on these changes as they will only make us go further off the rails,” she said in a statement.

But Republicans and other backers say it's a necessary check on the governor's current power, which they say is too broad.

From the Article:

Starting next week, tens of thousands of high school students across Wisconsin will be directly admitted to Universities of Wisconsin schools without filing applications.

The admissions are part of a new program, launched in December, to boost admission on the state’s public university campuses.

Next week through September, students will start receiving emails letting them know they’ve been admitted. School districts across the state participating in the Direct Admit Wisconsin program shared student grade point averages and course credits with University of Wisconsin administrators for rising seniors. The program identifies if a student qualifies to be directly admitted to any of the 10 participating campuses.

UW-Madison, UW-La Crosse and UW-Eau Claire are not participating.

Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman said this week 50,000 students across 330 high schools are eligible under the program.

In recent years, enrollment across the UW system has declined. Historically, more than 30% of the state’s high school graduates enroll in a UW school but that number had dropped to 27% in 2020.

“These students have already demonstrated through their junior year of high school that they have the ability to succeed at one of our universities, and to put themselves on a path to a better life and to a better career,” Rothman said.

From the Article:

Wisconsin Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany is introducing a bill that would designate the Apostle Islands as the state’s first national park.

The proposal would redesignate the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore as the Apostle Islands National Park and Preserve. The country has 63 national parks, but Wisconsin currently lacks any such designation.

While some elected leaders and communities applaud the bill, the proposal is sparking concerns among local officials about its effects on tribal treaty rights, housing, workforce and infrastructure.

Tiffany, who chairs a House subcommittee on federal lands, said people are drawn to the lakeshore’s historic lighthouses, shipwrecks, sandstone cliffs and sea caves. During a hearing Wednesday, Tiffany said designating the Apostle Islands as a national park would increase tourism and attract more visitors to the area.

From the Article:

Anglers are now off the hook if they carry a firearm while fishing after the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has agreed to repeal a regulation preventing them from doing so.

The move follows a lawsuit filed by the conservative law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, or WILL, on behalf of Sheboygan Falls resident Travis Kobs. The legal group sued Acting DNR Secretary Steven Little last month over the 25-year-old rule that bars firearms and guns on waters and shores used for fishing.

The group’s complaint states any angler found in violation of the regulation could have been punished by a $200 fine plus court costs that would have pushed the total penalty past $500.

WILL argued the rule is an unconstitutional violation of Kobs’ Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms. Now, a settlement between the parties states Little intends to repeal the regulation “as soon as practicable and without delay.”

Skylar Croy, associate counsel for WILL, said it’s important to ensure unconstitutional laws and rules are removed from the books as quickly as possible.

“There is a constitutional right under both the state and federal Constitution to protect yourself using firearms,” Croy said. “That right doesn’t disappear just because you’re in the great outdoors.”

From the Article:

Researchers have discovered a new parasite in freshwater mussels after investigating hundreds of mussels that died along the Embarrass River in Shawano County six years ago.

The findings were recently published in the international, peer-reviewed journal Parasitologia. Researchers with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources were among agencies that collaborated to study the mass die-off in 2018. Biologists observed sick mussels lying on their sides on the surface of the river with open shells when they’re normally buried in the river bottom.

Researchers examined 29 mussels from six different species within the river. They then cut them in half and examined the organs of some samples to see if the mussels were healthy or diseased.

From the Article:

Milwaukee backers of the Republican National Convention coming to the city, who have predicted a $200 million economic impact from the event, said they weren’t fazed by former President Donald Trump citing an impact of over $250 million during his speech accepting the party's nomination.

Two leaders of the Milwaukee 2024 RNC Host Committee said Friday they don’t yet know the final estimated impact of hosting the convention and don’t rule out finishing higher than their $200 million prediction.

Here is what Trump said Thursday night at Fiserv Forum:

“By the way, Wisconsin, we are spending over $250 million here creating jobs and the other economic development all over the place, so I hope you will remember this in November. Give us your vote. I am trying to buy your vote – I’ll be honest about that.” Trump's remarks drew cheers from the audience, which included the Wisconsin delegation near the stage.

A reporter from Milwaukee CBS affiliate WDJT-TV (Channel 58) reported the teleprompter for Trump's speech said $200 million, indicating Trump deviated from the script. However, the audience at Fiserv Forum and on television, streaming and other platforms heard the $250 million figure.

Visit Milwaukee president and CEO Peggy Williams-Smith said Friday that her organization and the Host Committee's $200 million figure was based on the impact of previous national political conventions.

“I do not control what Donald Trump says,” she said. “I’m still going with $200 million.”

Williams-Smith said she’s awaiting financial reports on the convention’s impact before declaring a final dollar amount.

“Obviously with inflation, I can totally see that ($250 million) happening, but I’m not going to increase it right now,” she said. “My gut feel says it’ll be higher (than $200 million), but we have to wait and see.”

Tim Sheehy, senior adviser and past president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, said the convention met performance goals for attendance and impact on the local hospitality industry.

“I don’t know whether it’s $200 million or $250 (million),” Sheehy said. “Past conventions, it’s been around $200 (million). I don’t make this as a political statement, but inflation’s going to drive that up.”

Sheehy acknowledged that while the convention delivered revenue boosts for hotels and many hospitality and service businesses, it wasn’t a win for all businesses.

“I’m going to have to describe it as 'lumpy peanut butter,'” he said. “The reason I describe it as 'lumpy peanut butter' is I think the spread of exposure for Milwaukee nationally and internationally was fantastic.

“The lumpy part is not every business met the expectations that they had for the convention. That’s somewhat understandable,” he said.

Sheehy said convention guests faced challenges entering and exiting the security zone, which likely limited their access to businesses beyond the perimeter.

Williams-Smith said she was sad that not all businesses in Milwaukee did as well as their owners and managers thought they would, but she said the Host Committee never promised all businesses would benefit. She said activity picked up through the course of the week at bars and restaurants.

Before the convention started, the Host Committee announced raising over $85 million from businesses and organizations in Wisconsin and beyond. The sales pitch to local donors was that their contributions would boost the Milwaukee area during the convention week and lead to opportunities for more large conventions.

Sheehy, who worked on the fundraising campaign, said the final figure was about $87 million, and about $40 million of that was raised in Wisconsin.