Fond du Lac city officials are exploring a grant program designed to restore single family homes that have been cut up into separate apartment units. Community Development director Diane Benson says staff will propose spending $100,000 annually on the community housing program. "A lot of our older housing stocks have been converted to two and three family units and over time when these units are not reinvested in they experience […]
The Joint Finance Committee has voted to keep the Historic Tax Credit in place for the next biennium. Legislation sponsored last session by FDL Republican senator Rick Gudex increased the tax credit from 10 percent to 20 percent for qualified rehabilitation expenditures for certified historic structures. Gudex says the Historic Tax Credit also streamlines the credit approval process and decouples the credits from their federal counterparts, allowing flexibility for projects […]
The state Senate has passed a rollback of the state's prevailing wage law, which sets minimum salaries for construction workers on public projects. The Senate voted 17-16 on Tuesday to repeal the law for all local government projects like those done by school districts and municipalities, while keeping it in place for state projects. The changes also replace state salary levels for the federal prevailing wage scale. Republicans argued for […]
A Republican lawmaker from Beaver Dam says he supports a compromise In the state budget that would repeal the prevailing wage law for local governments. The state Assembly is scheduled to take up the state budget Wednesday. State reprentative Mark Born says he would have been fine with a full repeal of the prevailing wage law. "Compromise is sometimes the art in the legislative work and if this is what […]
A Democratic member of the legislature’s budget writing committee says the state budget has misplaced priorities. The state Assembly is scheduled to take up the budget Wednesday. State representative Gordon Hintz of Oshkosh there has been considerable public backlash to how the budget impacts public schools, the UW system, longterm care and natural resources. "There's been some attempts by the legislature to restore those things, but overall its a […]
A Ripon College political science professor says the economic crisis facing Greece may fortunately have only a small impact on Americans. The eurozone's top official says Greece would make a proposal to tap Europe's bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, as soon Wednesday. Professor Paul Schoofs says the Greek Prime Minister was hoping to gain leverage after the latest bailout package was rejected Sunday. "I think the rest of the […]
The public has a chance to weigh in on a proposed ordinance that would allow so-called pedal pubs in the city of Fond du lac. The item is on Wednesday’s city council agenda for public discussion. City staff says a specific ordinance is still being drafted and is not yet ready for council action. Pedal pubs, also known as quadricycles, are multi-person bicycles that can hold up to 12 riders […]
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — A man who prosecutors say is in the U.S. illegally is charged with trying to kill his ex-girlfriend after some weekend fireworks in Green Bay. Victor Pazcastellanos is accused of stabbing the 20-year-old woman multiple times after the two argued about their relationship Saturday night. The woman told police the two broke up last month because he was abusive. Brown County prosecutor Chris Plaunt says […]
LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — The construction of a portion of a major high-voltage power line connecting Minnesota and Wisconsin is on hold due to concerns about nesting by protected bird species. A 3-mile stretch of the line in an area near Onalaska that's owned and managed by the Mississippi Valley Conservancy contains 11 species of concern. Two of the bird species, Henslow's sparrow and Bell's vireo, are classified as […]