by jboullion | Dec 6, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Jessica Vanegeren in The Dunn County News:
MADISON — Train boosters in Wisconsin aren’t the only ones frustrated with Gov.-elect Scott Walker’s promise to kill the proposed rail link between Madison and Milwaukee: so are our neighbors to the west.
“Obviously, if we don’t have a willing partner, it makes it more difficult to move forward,” says Dan Krom, director of the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s passenger rail office. “We all have our state politics to deal with, and the fact Wisconsin is in the middle (between Minnesota and Illinois) is a problem.”
If Wisconsin refuses to get on board and Walker turns away $810 million in federal stimulus money to pay for rail service between Milwaukee and Madison, it is unlikely Minnesota would see its largest metropolitan area connected to the proposed nine-state Midwest rail line anytime soon.
by jboullion | Dec 6, 2010 | Uncategorized
Living Activism Night at The Coffee House
631 N. 19th Street Milwaukee, WI 53233
Sun. Dec. 12 – Living Activism Night presents a benefit for URBAN AGRICULTURE hosted by Godsil and friends featuring music from the wonderful band EMBEDDED REPORTER. Free-will donation with all door $ going to the benefited org. Be generous! 7pm
by jboullion | Dec 3, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Rod Stetzer in The Chippewa Herald:
EAU CLAIRE — Chippewa Falls has a lot at stake if the high-speed rail project from the Twin Cities to Chicago finally gets a green light.
Two of the final 10 routes being considered for the passenger train traveling up to 110-mph would go through the city, while two would go through Eau Claire (one route would go through both Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire).
But the fate of the project is unclear, in part because of Gov.-elect Scott Walker’s pledge to reject federal money for a line between Madison and Milwaukee.
Wisconsin and Minnesota are each contributing $300,000 toward the rail study, with the federal government paying $600,000. The Minnesota Department of Transportation is administering the federal grant.
Chippewa Falls City Planner Jayson Smith summed up Wednesday’s informational session in Eau Claire, a meeting that drew a standing-room only crowd at the Best Western Trail Lodge.
“This is just an initial study,” Smith said, pointing out that Wednesday’s session was only part of the process.
On Tuesday, Smith noted, the Chippewa Falls City Council will be invited to the Gateway Coalition, a group that will look at several factors, including the increasing volume of traffic on Interstate 94.
The high-speed rail study is inching along. A decision on the final route for the project won’t come until July 2012, said Charles H. Quandel of the Chicago consulting firm of Quandel Engineering Services.
