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Austin Transit Partnership OKs $190M spending plan for FY24

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:58 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Transit Partnership's board of directors approved Wednesday a $190 million spending budget for fiscal year 2023-24, with key focuses on light rail capital funding, CapMetro projects and anti-displacement funding efforts.Under the now-approved spending plan, $115 million will go toward the Austin light rail capital fund. That chunk of change breaks down into $11 million for right-of-way and real estate acquisitions, $58 million in professional services and $46 million allocated to administrative expenses like personnel, business support contracts and other materials. PROJECT CONNECT NEWS: What does the next year look like for Project Connect’s light rail development? Of that $115 million portion, $82 million extend from appropriations remaining from previous years, with $33 million marked as new appropriations.Approximately $23 million will go toward CapMetro project components. Those include:$4 million for McKalla Station$9 million for MetroRapid Expo C...

Blaine man cited for speeding hours before St. Anthony crash that seriously injured two, charges say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:58 GMT

A Blaine man who blew past a Ramsey County sheriff’s deputy at 120 mph before smashing into another vehicle Saturday night in St. Anthony was cited for reckless driving just hours before the fiery crash, according to court documents.Matthew Sukhram was impaired at the time of the crash, which seriously injured two people in another vehicle, investigators say. Sukhram, 19, was charged Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court with four felony counts of criminal vehicular operation and one count of fleeing police in a motor vehicle in connection with the crash at Minnesota 88 and 29th Avenue Northeast.The 21-year-old driver of the vehicle Sukhram crashed into and her younger brother were hospitalized and both diagnosed with bleeding on the brain. As of Monday afternoon, the woman no longer needed a ventilator to breathe, while the condition of the boy, who is either 10 or 11 years old, was described as “hour by hour,” the charges say.The boy was diagnosed with extensive internal injurie...

New defensive back Jack Henderson bringing Cajun spice to Gophers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:58 GMT

Jack Henderson grew up on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, ate all the gumbo and jambalaya his belly could hold, and he didn’t have to trek through any snow.The Mandeville, La., native left Southeastern Louisiana after three years at the FCS-level school to bet on himself with the Gophers in the Big Ten Conference, without much of his comfort food and the proper clothing to deal with winter upon his arrival in January.“It was a leap of faith in a sense, but I did have that confidence behind my game and behind my person that I could do it,” Henderson said Wednesday. “It’s awesome to see that it’s paid off.”Henderson led the Gophers in last Saturday’s game in Chapel Hill, N.,C. with 11 tackles and an interception in the 31-13 loss to North Carolina. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound nickel back continues a stretch of Minnesota’s defense having success with transfer players from the lower level.Last year, defensive tackle Kyler Baugh came in from Houston Baptist, and ...

Soup’s on! Here’s our 2023 list of all the places to get booya this fall

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:58 GMT

The air is getting crisp, leaves are starting to turn, and that can only mean one thing: It’s booya time!If you’ve never had this thick, rich stew, cooked over an open flame, our list of events is a great place to start. And if you’re a booya vet, use it to mark your calendar. Every organization’s booya recipe is a little different — so maybe get out there and try a few! These are mostly fundraisers run by volunteers, so you’re eating for a good cause.If your organization is holding a booya, please send your information to [email protected], and we’ll add it to our list.Sept. 23: Lord of the Lakes Lutheran Church, 25402 Itasca Ave., Forest Lake; booya, chili feed and bake sale; 10:00 a.m. until goneSept. 23: The Montgomery Lodge #258 Annual Booya at Sherwood Lounge, 1418 N. White Bear Ave., St. Paul; 10 a.m. until noon or gone. Lodge provides takeout containers.Sept. 24: Tom Reid’s Hockey City Pub, 258 W. 7th St., St. Paul; family-friendly event with live music. Noon to 5 p...

Baker A. Mitchell Jr.: The ancients knew how to educate children, why don’t we now?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:58 GMT

It’s understandable that many parents are upset about what is being taught in their schools. They should be even more upset about what’s not being taught (at least not effectively): English grammar, reading, writing, mathematics, logic, truth, goodness, aesthetics.Some are clamoring for the federal government to get more involved and establish national curriculum standards. But the government has been deeply involved in K-12 education since 1980, when the Department of Education was established, and education hasn’t noticeably improved.As proof, last year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress exams, which tested tens of thousands of students nationwide, confirmed that only about a third of fourth- and eighth-graders qualified as “proficient” in reading, math, civics and American history. In urban districts, 47% of fourth-graders couldn’t even read at a basic level.Much of the controversy over what’s being taught revolves around...

Redevelopment bylaw for Civic Square

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:58 GMT

By Nikki JamiesonSunny South NewsA public hearing for a redevelopment bylaw for downtown Coaldale will take place later this month.During their regular Sept. 11 meeting, Coaldale town council discussed a redevelopment bylaw for Civic Square.Bylaw 878-P-09-23 – or the Civic Square Area Redevelopment Plan bylaw – would act as a guide for the Town to use as itredevelops the Civic Square area. The area in question is located south of 20 Avenue, between 18 and 19 Streets.“Specifically, this ARP will focus on the lands containing the Civic Square Building, town-owned lands to the immediate south of this building, and a small number of lots to the immediate west of the Civic Square building,” said Hailey Winder, senior planner for the Town.According to a memo from administration to council, Coaldale has experienced significant economic growth and revitalization in the downtown area over the last five years, and the Civic Square ARP will provide a framework for the preservation or improveme...

Pause on renewables development addressing rural concerns: MLA Hunter

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:58 GMT

By Trevor BuschSunny South [email protected] province’s six-month moratorium on renewable energy projects has proven to be a controversial move for the UCP as they continue to defend the action, pointing to rural concerns about development of agricultural land, reclamation security and system reliability.Announced on Aug. 3, critics of the moratorium say it will cost millions in lost investment revenue and casts a chilling pall over the further development of Alberta’s renewables industry.Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter argues his government isn’t against renewable energy, and that the moratorium is about determining shortcomings in existing legislation and ensuring development isn’t detrimental to other industries, like agriculture.“We don’t have any regulations that are providing us with understanding how to move forward in a responsible way. And so we took the pause for six months to be able to actually get those regulations and policies in place, so that all stakeholder...

Standing room only for meeting with AHS to discuss ACC closure in Butte

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:58 GMT

By Erika MathieuSunny South NewsThe September 13 “community engagement session” with AHS in Picture Butte to discuss the decision to close the Ambulatory Care Clinic (ACC) in Picture Butte saw over 170 people in attendance.Town officials, residents, and local EMS staff say they were shocked on Aug. 10 to learn of AHS’s decision that the ACC at Piyami Health Centre was slated for closure Oct. 15. Following the announcement, AHS issued a media release informing residents of an upcoming public engagement session scheduled for Sept. 13, nearly one month after AHS announced the news of the closure.In attendance was Dr. Aaron Low, Zone Medical Director at AHS, Thomas Mountain, Senior Operating Officer (rural west) at AHS, and Suzanne Maynard, Director of EMS Operations for the South Zone.Dr. Low began the meeting by explaining, “sometimes people get confused between what is emergency care, urgent care and ambulatory care and what could be (dealt with) by a family physician.”Dr. Low said t...

Too old, too late to cut the mustard anymore

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:58 GMT

Dear Editor,Not everyone can write the Power Engineer’s 2nd class exam and pass it. I have worked in various Power Plants for 25 years. My first job was as 4th class engineer and had to work myself upward. I admit I was a greenhorn after graduating from Weyburn College. My instructor Jim Legget asked me to stand in front of class and read something from a text concerning a condensation tank and its process. I stuttered and was nervous at first but, later I learned the ropes. Hector Bourassa and I were selected to work at Boundary Dam near Estevan, Sask. because our marks were the highest. I was hired to commission a 4th Boiler-Turbine Generator. One would never believe that the Power Plant was so huge but still with the bells and whistles the operating engineers were able to run the plant safely. Just consider the boiler drum, it was situated 14 floors up and the combustion chamber was nine floors deep. They used natural gas and pulverized lignite coal to fire the boilers. They put ...

Gas tax hikes show Trudeau doesn’t care about affordability

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:58 GMT

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refuses to do the one thing that would immediately make life more affordable: cut gas taxes.The federal government makes you pay a fuel tax, a carbon tax, a second carbon tax and a sales tax every time you fuel up. In total, federal taxes add about 31 cents per litre to the price of gas, or about $20 extra to fuel up a large sedan.To add insult to injury, the feds and all six provinces east of Manitoba charge their sales taxes on top of the other taxes. This tax-on-tax adds about $2.65, on average, to the cost of fueling up a large sedan. If you fill up that sedan once a week, you’re paying about $140 every year just because of the tax-on-tax.That big tax bill is only getting bigger.Trudeau is cranking up his carbon tax until it hits 37 cents per litre of gas in 2030. The feds also recently imposed a second carbon tax through fuel regulations. When those fuel regulations are fully implemented in 2030, it’ll add up to 17 cents per litre to the price of g...