Federal program features Talk and Trek Tuesdays, Walking School Busses and Bicycle Rodeos Not so long ago, kids walked and biked to their neighborhood school as a matter of course. Now, there’s a federal government program that spends hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to prod students and parents to do what used to be second nature: bike and walk to …
Transparency
Winthrop Resident and Businesses Start Petition Drive to Force Vote On $70 Million Network
When Dale Malheim retired from the Army last year, he never planned to be on the front lines in his new hometown of Winthrop, Minnesota. But the more he learned about the $70 million proposed RS Fiber telecom network, the more he felt duty calling again. So Malheim began a petition drive to force a referendum, thus allowing Winthrop residents a chance to overturn the city council’s …
Freedom Foundation Analysis: Local governments spend millions to lobby federal officials
Taxpayer-funded lobbying eludes scrutiny due to state loophole A Freedom Foundation of Minnesota analysis of Lobbying Disclosure Act filings finds that Minnesota’s local governments spent more than $1.1 million to lobby the federal government in 2011, and at least $3.7 million since the start of 2009. The biggest spenders in 2011 were the City of Minneapolis ($180,000), Hennepin …