Stories you might have missed form across Wisconsin.
Sister Bay: Village receives grant for pedestrian/bike pathway.
Cyclists and pedestrians have had to use a busy stretch of State Highway 57 when navigating Sister bay. That dangerous practice will be over by this time next year. The Village recently learned it has been awarded a $906,000 grant form the Department of Transportation for an asphalt trail that will link the downtown area to a growing residential area and the Northern Door Children’s Center.The 10 foot wide trail will stretch 4,500 feet along the west side of 57 South. That will make for much easier travel than now when pedestrians have to walk on the shoulder of the highway. Discussions for the pedestrian/bike trail on this route began more than 20 years ago. Who says the wheels of government grind slowly? Full Story
Stevens Point: City passes resolution to be carbon neutral by 2050.
Stevens Point has become the latest Wisconsin City to pass a non-binding resolution saying it will be carbon neutral by 2050. The resolution was unanimously approved by the Stevens Point Common Council who claim the city will work toward 100% clean energy and carbon neutrality in all their operations. According to the non-profit Wisconsin Conservation Voters, Stevens Point joins a list of at least 24 government entities that have committed to reduce their carbon footprints. The resolution had wide support throughout the community, but Stevens Point mayor Mike Wiza told WPR that Stevens Point has done a lot to make itself more environmentally friendly, and questioned the need for the resolution. Full Story
Ripon: Little White School House travels to RNC.
Fun Fact for the politically uninitiated, Ripon is the birthplace of the Republican Party. The party of Lincoln was born in a one room school house that was built in 1853 and still stands on its original location in Ripon. It would be impossible to bring the original schoolhouse to Milwaukee for the RNC but thank goodness there is another option. Ripon High School students built a on-third sized replica of the “Little White Schoolhouse” for parades and city events and that schoolhouse is making its way to Milwaukee for the convention. In 1854, men gathered in the schoolhouse to oppose slavery expanding into the western territories. According to the Little White Schoolhouse museum, this meeting contributed to the naming of a new political party. The School house replica will give convention goers a chance to learn more about Ripon’s role in American History. The more you know, am I right? Full Story
Milwaukee: New Amtrak Line tops 18,000 riders in first month.
A month or so ago, we did a Spinning story on a new Amtrak line that would link Chicago to the Twin Cities via Milwaukee. Borelais was the first rail service expansion in Wisconsin in 22 years and there was some question about its potential success. If the first month’s ridership numbers are any indication, passengers are “all aboard” for this new venture. In the first full month of operations, Borealis trains between St. Paul and Chicago showed ridership of more than 18,500 passengers. Before its launch, estimates put total ridership at 232,000 for the FIRST year of full service according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. WisDOT Secretary Craig Thompson told the Journal-Sentinel “The initial data is promising and reflects the hard work done by WisDot, our partner states and Amtrak.” Full Story