The $320,000 parking lot overlay and rehabilitation of curb and walkway at both rest stops is expected to start in September.
Bridge work in Windom was the next closest state project.
MnDOT earlier announced federal stimulus package projects being undertaken by local governments, of which one was the replacement of the Highway 20 bridge over County Ditch 3 a mile and a half west of Okabena by the Jackson County Highway Department. That project has a price tag of $378,000 and construction is expected to start right away this spring.
Click here for a map and click here for a list of the state transportation projects funded by the federal stimulus program.
Click here for a list of the local transportation projects funded by stimulus money.
In We need solutions, not slogans, an LTE from DFL activist Phil Castrovinci published in the Rochester Post Bulletin, we read:
Just three months into his second term, right wing Republicans have begun their attacks on Rep. Tim Walz, as demonstrated by Mr. Klinger in your paper on March 4.
Shame on them.
Rather than come up with sound solutions for the devastating problems facing our country, they want to use funny names (like "Porkulus," coined by Rush Limbaugh) and associations with tired old rhetoric to describe Democrats (tax and spend).
Sadly, right wing ideologues have made it clear they are rooting for failure that seems to be their only hope.
Mr. Klinger, Rush Limbaugh and the other right wingers should take a deep breath and actually think about proposing solutions rather than partisan slogans.
Thank you to Rep. Tim Walz for standing up for Main Street rather than for the Wall Street banks. Walz voted to create jobs in southern Minnesota and he voted against spending billions on a Wall Street Bank bailout. Clearly, his priorities are to represent and fight for Southern Minnesota.
The comments that follow the letter are instructive, as the Republican line seems to be that none of the funding in the Recovery Act or Omnibus spending bill is destined for southern Minnesota. For ourselves, we can only hope that, whatever the passion that informs their denial, those Republicans slow down for the safety of the construction workers on Highway 14 (Omnibus funding) and I-90 (Recovery Act), as well as using the rest areas as needed when passing through Jackson County.Kudos to the Pilot and sister paper, the Lakefield Standard, for posting a pdf of the local projects. The Winona Daily news reports that Low I-90 project bids announced in the eastern part of the First. Local police hope for federal grants because they'll be losing state fudning, the WDN reports. The Money would come from the Recovery Act:
The departments are joining thousands of police forces nationwide vying for $1 billion in the stimulus bill to hire officers through the Community Oriented Policing, or COPS program. Winona police hope a COPS grant will pay to replace an officer position they expect to lose next month, while Goodview police say the grant could fill a longstanding need to expand patrols in that department.
The Rock County Star Herald reports in Luverne HRA gets $92,000 in stimulus money:
Luverne was among more than two dozen southern Minnesota communities to receive funds for the express purpose of modernizing and developing public housing.
In Luverne that translates to more money for maintenance and improvements at the Blue Mound Tower apartments.
Luverne HRA Director Marcia Linssen said the money will be a welcome addition to the capital improvement fund at the Blue Mound Tower.
"Every little bit helps," she said. "We're looking forward to finding good ways to utilize that money, either by upgrading apartments or by making improvements to the building itself."
She said Luverne's HRA has been receiving roughly $72,000 in federal funds for capital improvements, so the $92,287 will allow for extra or more thorough improvements.
HRA owns the Blue Mound Tower apartments, which were built in 1970.
"It's an old building, and there are always capital projects that need attention," Linssen said. "Whether it's air exchange issues, plumbing issues or structural issues."
The Mankato Free Press Dan Linehan reports in Politicians weigh in at Futures Summit:
An ambitious project to identify and seize economic opportunities in southern Minnesota sought advice Friday from hundreds of southern Minnesota leaders from the public and private sectors.
Using hand-held voting
devices, 250 participants winnowed six key industries to three:
bioscience, health care and renewable energy. It’s in these areas the
region has the best resources and opportunity to create jobs, they
agreed. The wider process is called the Southern
Minnesota Regional Competitiveness Project, led by the Southern
Minnesota Initiative Foundation. . . . . . .Next up was Margaret Anderson Kelliher, speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives and a Mankato native.
“This is not the southern Minnesota of the 1970s,” she said. No one here is looking back, Kelliher said. After her address, she said the best
economic strategy takes advantage of home-grown entrepreneurs, who are
looking at a range of factors, not just tax breaks. “Relocation is a bit of the Old World of economic development,” she said. Both Klobuchar, currently the state’s only
senator, and Rep. Tim Walz touted the recently passed $787 billion
stimulus bill as promoting similar goals. Walz acknowledged the bill essentially borrows from the future and said he doesn’t like deficit spending. But doing nothing was a worse option, and the only way out of the recession is creating growth, Walz said.
Read the entire article about the Summit at the MFP. A biobusiness in coming to Pine Island. The Post Bulletin has published more about the Elk Run project in Elk Run seems to have all the right stuff. along with companion articles, $1 billion in a 'pile' for Elk Run and Pine Island city administrator pleased with infusion of capital into Elk Run. There's even more in Much to be found under biotech umbrella and Interchange is necessary, but unfunded, piece of the project. URBAN LEGEND ALERT: Finally, loyal readers know we're always on the lokkout for false urban legends being circulated as if they are factual. The Worthington Globe has published an LTE attributing a prayer to the late Paul Harvey. The text instantly set our bull detector tingling; sure enough, it's an item at the Urban Legends Reference site. The praye, falsely attributed to both Harvey and Billy Graham, wasn't aired on radio, but rather delivered on the opening day of the Kansas State House in 1996. Photo: A waggish friend sent us this lolcats, recommending it as an allegory of First District Republican efforts to unseat Congressman Walz. We have some really funny friends. If you've stuck with us and read this whole post, you deserve a song. How about a little Anthony and the Johnsons:
