Star Tribune
Rochester to get new $5M swim park
Rochester’s going to keep its pool access at Silver Lake Park thanks to a $5 million proposal that would see the city slightly raise property taxes to pay for a new pool.
The Rochester City Council Monday voiced support for the proposal to build a new eight-lane, 25-meter pool, turn the current pool into a splash pad and build a new bathhouse. The new pool will be up to 4 feet deep; it’s designed with swimming classes in mind.
The project will be paid with a combination of sales tax money from a 2012 referendum and a 0.5% property tax increase to cover borrowed funds. City officials say it will take eight years to pay off the project bonds; the increase is expected go toward park maintenance after that.
“We’re going to get good value for what we’re investing in,” Council member Mark Bransford said.
Parks officials have sought to replace Silver Lake’s pool for years. The splash pad was first part of a 2016 parks system plan, then included in a master plan for Silver Lake Park renovations in 2022. Yet aquatics advocates are concerned shutting down Silver Lake Park’s pool would hamper efforts to hold swim classes.
The pool at Silver Lake is one of only two outdoor pools in Rochester. The new aquatics center at Soldiers Field Memorial Park is set to wrap up construction this spring and open in June.
Council members urged city staff to tweak the project by pursuing grant funding or potentially making the pool bigger, but city staff say swim advocates approved of a smaller pool at Silver Lake Park.
Council member Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick called the smaller pool “grossly inadequate,” arguing kids living on the east side of town won’t have the same kind of access as kids near Soldiers Field.
“I believe that in 10 years, we’re going to be coming back to do this process again,” Kirkpatrick said.
“This is an area that swings back and forth depending on the election cycle, and it’s an area that really can deliver those decisive votes for candidates in a statewide election,” said Anthony Chergosky, a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse political science professor. “If the Harris-Walz ticket can develop a brand that helps them stop the party’s slide in rural Wisconsin, then that will massively help their path to victory.”
Both presidential campaigns have spent considerable time in Wisconsin. Trump recently visited the state four times in a span of eight days. Harris held rallies in La Crosse and Green Bay earlier this month, and Walz made stops in Eau Claire, Green Bay and Madison. Walz told a crowd gathered at a “Students for Harris-Walz” event in Eau Claire that “it’s very realistic to believe that this race will be won going through Wisconsin.”
Though both campaigns have made frequent visits to the Badger State, their stops appear to be geared toward shoring up their respective bases, retired GOP strategist Brandon Scholz said.
“I think Tim Walz’s job right now in Wisconsin, from what he’s saying and where he’s going and what he’s doing, is, ‘let’s make sure 99 percent of our voters turn out, because we need every single one of them because of how close Wisconsin is,’” Scholz said. “To date, neither he nor Harris have communicated a message to bring in those undecideds, ticket splitters.”
Ryan O’Gara is one of those undecideds. The 47-year-old Christian conservative lives in the village of Downing, some 20 miles northwest of Menomonie and home to about 230 people. O’Gara said he sees mostly Trump signs around his town, but he isn’t a fan of either nominee and likely will sit out this election.
Asked what he thought of Walz, O’Gara referred to him as “far-left.” He said he disagrees with allowing gender-affirming health care services for minors. Walz signed a bill into law last year making Minnesota a refuge for people seeking gender-affirming care.
But then, they were Lutherans.
Read the original article
“It’s time for a hostage deal and cease-fire that ensures Israel is secure, all hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination,” Walz said on this year’s anniversary of Hamas’ 2023 attacks on Israel.
Polls indicate Minnesota will likely break for Harris, but in states where margins will be much tighter, some protest voters are choosing to vote for Harris despite their reservations.
Roman Fritz of Oconomowoc, Wis., voted early for Harris on Wednesday, he said, even though he remains deeply frustrated with her stance on the war.
Neither he nor Engelhart want to see Trump win. The Uncommitted National Movement has been trying to carve out a middle ground between opposing Trump and supporting Harris, with leaders saying a Trump presidency would be worse for Palestinians, and warning that votes for third-party candidates could result in a win for Trump. But the group declined to offer its endorsement to Harris.
Similarly, Fritz said, he did not feel he should talk his friends into voting for Harris, especially Palestinian American friends who have lost loved ones in Gaza.
“I do want her to win,” Fritz said, but, “I’m not going to campaign for her.”
