Tonight, I heard Wisconsin Railroad Commissioner Yash P. Wadhwa, PE,
discussing current railroad issues facing Wisconsin. He was remarkably
under-informed and sometimes entirely misinformed about Great Lakes Basin
Railroad – this should not surprise anyone as the state’s Railroad
Commissioner is a political appointed position that is little more than a
public relations dog-and-pony show.
He directly stated that GLBT acknowledges it will cost $12 Billion to
build – 50% more than Frank Patton has stated repeatedly at all public
meetings. Interestingly enough, during a question-and-answer period,
Wadhwa would not reveal what he is paid as Wisconsin’s Railroad
Commissioner. Wadhwa is a frequent contributor to the campaigns of Gov.
Scott Walker and other Republicans and ran unsuccessfully for the Assembly
in 2008.
Also – I am disappointed that some have tried to make Wisconsin Rep. Amy
Loudenbeck out to be a “hero” fighting GLBT. Nothing could be farther
from the truth. Not only has she not done a thing to directly challenge
GLBT in any meaningful way, but she is the Chair of a Study Committee on
the Preservation of Burial Sites. This is a sham committee that has
nothing to do with preserving burial sites.
In fact, the law she is championing will ALLOW construction projects like
Great Lakes Basin Railroad to streamline the process of developing burial
grounds. Southern Wisconsin has many mounds and pre-historic burial sites
that go back to at least the Woodland period (500–1000 CE). While she
will not admit it, without Loudenbeck’s work undermining current laws that
protect these sites, it would not be possible for Frank Patton to meet his
construction schedule because:
1. It is a sure-thing that evidence of Native American villages and
burials will be found in Southern Wisconsin.
2. Current laws demand construction be stopped and then an archeology
survey needs to be done to fully document the site, doing extensive
excavations to recover any artifacts.
While many believe that Loudenbeck is acting on behalf of Wingra Stone and
Redi-Mix, a Madison-based construction and concrete company locked in a
legal fight with the Ho-Chunk since 2014 over burial mounds located within
a Wingra quarry in Dane County, in fact she is also promoting a critical
piece of legislation that will enable Frank Patton to develop GLBT RR
without any responsibility for archeology preservation. Patton cannot
build GLBT in a timely manner and within his projected costs if he has to
follow current Wisconsin law.
Frank Patton has not been honest about GLBT – but be careful, he has
allies that are playing both-sides of the fence for their own political
gain who are:
1. Talking out of both sides of their mouths while working
behind-the-scenes to help Patton and the interests behind him.
2. Giving lip-service to local groups that want to stop GLBT. Loudenbeck
is a typical politician that grandstands in public with constituents, but
is actually working for business interests that are not even in her
district.
Bill Breitsprecher
Publisher, Great Lakes Basin Rail News & Views
608.556.2062 (cell)
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Bill Breitsprecher’s View: “ Frank Patton/GLBT RR Caught in Another Lie!”
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Bustos of Illinois Governor?
- Smith declined to comment on Harlan’s statements.
Above is from: http://www.galesburg.com/news/20160907/sources-bustos-possible-contender-for-governor
Walker follows Koch brothers’ agenda
Your Views: Walker follows Koch brothers’ agenda
letter to the editor
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
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Gov. Scott Walker has certainly done his part to advance the Koch brothers call for lower corporate taxes, less corporate regulation, restrictive management of elections, less oversight of industry (particularly in environmental areas) and more support for private education at the expense of public education.
The Manufacturers and Agriculture Tax Bill and the Enterprise Zone tax credit have cut $1 billion in taxes for “big” businesses in Wisconsin. This has been a budget disaster necessitating borrowing because of lost revenue!
Public school spending has been cut by the largest amount in state history while private school tuition was given a healthy tax break. Walker followed the Koch’s directive to attack UW faculty and kneecap the public university system with funding cuts and tuition freezes.
The environment came under attack with the passage of a mining bill that swept away environmental protections and authorized harm to wetlands and precious ecological sites. Regulations were relaxed on phosphorous discharge, shoreline zoning, landfills and high capacity wells.
Campaign finance laws were diminished while restrictions on voting were enhanced. Secret redistricting was completed out of the public’s eye and the election and ethics watchdog agency, GAB, was abolished.
Walker has proven his willingness to make Wisconsin a Koch subsidiary and in the process help two unelected billionaires in their effort to control the U.S. government and ignore the well-being of 300 million Americans.
JERRY HANSON
Elkhorn, WI
Above is from: http://www.gazettextra.com/20160907/your_views_walker_follows_koch_brothers8217_agenda
Powell email advising Clinton on personal email released
Former secretary of State Colin Powell advised his successor, Hillary Clinton, on how to circumvent federal records requirements in a newly released email exchange about how best to handle communications over digital devices.
The email, dated two days after Clinton was sworn into office in 2009, was released by Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. Cummings also included documentation showing that, during his tenure, Powell had sent classified emails over his private AOL account - but as of July, had still not responded to a request to contact his service provider to retrieve them.
"I had an ancient version of a PDA and used it," Powell said in the exchange with Clinton. "If it is public that you have a Blackberry," he said, "it may become an official record and subject to the law."
"Be very careful," warned Powell. "I got around it all by not saying much and not using systems that captured the data," he said.
The exchange shows that Powell gave Clinton “a detailed blueprint on how to skirt security rules and bypass requirements to preserve federal records, although Secretary Clinton has made clear that she did not rely on this advice," said Cummings. It "also illustrates the longstanding problem that no secretary of State ever used an official unclassified email account until the current secretary of State," said Cummings.
Republicans are pressing for additional investigations into Clinton's use of a private email server after FBI director James Comey declined to press criminal charges, even as he concluded that Clinton was "extremely careless" in her use of a private server. The email corroborates what Clinton told the FBI about Powell's advice to her, according to transcripts of her interview released last week.
In both 2014 and 2015, the State Department asked Powell to provide all of his records that were not in the agency’s record-keeping system. In March of 2015, Powell said during an appearance on ABC’s This Week that he no longer had emails from his personal account: “I do not have thousands of pages somewhere in my personal files," he said.
As of July, Powell still had not responded to a request to contact AOL. The Powell emails containing classified information had been identified by the agency's inspector general in February.
"The Republican obsession with Secretary Clinton has reached a fever pitch, and they have been using taxpayer resources to single her out in a desperate and abusive attempt to hurt her presidential campaign," said Cummings.
"If Republicans were truly concerned with transparency, strengthening FOIA, and preserving federal records, they would be attempting to recover Secretary Powell’s emails from AOL, but they have taken no steps to do so despite the fact that this period — including the run-up to the Iraq War — was critical to our nation’s history," said Cummings.
The release also shows the nature of Clinton's original solicitation for advice, dated Jan. 23 of 2009: "What were the restrictions on your use of your blackberry? Did you use it in your personal office? I've been told that the DSS personnel knew you had one and used it but no one fesses up to knowing how you used it! President Obama has struck a blow for berry addicts like us."
Powell has disputed the suggestion that he played a role in Clinton's decision to use a private system. “The truth is she was using it (her personal email) for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did," Powell told the New York Post in August. "Her people have been trying to pin it on me," he said.
Above is from: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/powell-email-advising-clinton-on-personal-email-released/ar-AAiCTsx?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Belvidere alderman proposing new city police station
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By Susan Vela
Staff writer |
Purchase this Photo
The Belvidere-Boone County Public Safety Building on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016, in Belvidere. MAX GERSH/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER/RRSTAR.COMBy Susan Vela
Staff writerPosted Sep. 4, 2016 at 12:00 PM
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The Belvidere-Boone County Public Safety Building on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016, in Belvidere. MAX GERSH/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER/RRSTAR.COM -
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By Susan Vela
Staff writerPosted Sep. 4, 2016 at 12:00 PM
BELVIDERE — Alderman George Crawford’s proposal for the city to build its own police station separate from the Boone County Public Safety Building could get snuffed quickly.
For several weeks, health problems have prevented the 4th Ward alderman from making formal presentations to the Committee of the Whole about the benefits of the department and its 43 officers having their own home.
Also, some elected officials, including Boone County Sheriff Dave Ernest, are promising firm opposition.
“I’m very surprised and somewhat confused,” Ernest said. “Working together (and) being a partner only makes sense. These days, the regional approach is much more preferred. Ultimately, all our resources are being cut. It’s nice to be able to share those.
“We have to live within our means.”
The county spends about $1.5 million a year, with roughly half of the dollars coming from city coffers, for maintenance, operation and staffing required for the 41-year-old Public Safety Building, 615 N. Main St.
It houses the Belvidere Police Department, Boone County Sheriff’s Office, Boone County Coroner’s Office and a dispatch center that serves both the city and county.
Crawford said he’d rather the city have its independence, especially as it pertains to the dispatch center.
“It would be better with our own police station," Crawford said. "I’m not saying totally break away from the county. We could pay them to use 911."
Crawford’s proposal is preliminary. He hasn’t chosen a location. There are no designs. He’s not sure how much it would cost.
Even if the city moves into the planning stages, Budget and Finance Officer Becky Tobin said the city can't afford to build.
“We would not have the means," she said. "We would have to sell bonds in order to fund something like that.”
Crawford has at least one supporter on City Council.
“I thought it would be a good idea,” said Ald. John Sanders, 5th Ward, declining further comment.
Others prefer a more cautionary approach.
“I want to see his information first,” Ald. Clayton Stevens, 1st Ward, said.
Boone County and Belvidere have severed other government partnerships. Boone County Board members voted 8-4 in February to give the city a 90-day notice to pull out from a decades-long agreement to jointly plan for economic development and other planning and zoning matters.
Belvidere Police Chief Jan Noble said he’d prefer the Boone County Public Safety Building expand than the city build a police station.
Now, the police agency’s patrol division and community policing coordinator are downstairs. The administrative, investigative and support staff portions are upstairs. Half of the sheriff's 119-employee staff work out of the courthouse basement.
“We have a very fragmented control of our employees,” Noble said. “We believe it could stand greater improvement. We just need more room.”
But in 2008, voters twice rejected tax increases to support a Public Safety Building expansion.
Boone County Administrator Ken Terrinoni said he’ll take a wait-and-see approach.
“It would be premature to comment,” he said. “We really need to visit with Belvidere officials and see what their goal is by proposing this.”
Susan Vela: 815-987-1392; svela@rrstar.com; @susanvela
Above is from: http://www.rrstar.com/news/20160904/belvidere-alderman-proposing-new-city-police-station