KATHERINE SVITAVSKY
BNSF rail update To appease opponents of their plans to build a second, four-mile-long railroad track next to existing track in order to fulfill increased demand for rail transportation, Burlington Northern Railway has communicated a list of items it is willing to offer the City of La Crosse in hopes of the City agreeing to not dispute BNSF’s ownership of the land on which the planned expansion will take place. While BNSF has publicly expressed confidence that the company owns the land instead of the City, the company also wishes to move forward with the project as quickly as possible, resulting in a list of incentives the City is currently considering. Newest to this list is remodeling the city-owned Forest Hills Golf Course, perhaps in response to concerns that the course would cease to exist if the expansion took place. The current offer presented to the city includes not only the golf course upgrade but also paying for a special foam trailer and out-of-state training for around 50 firefighters for disaster control, covering the cost of moving underground utility lines, upgrading several rail crossings, and building a passage under the railroad for golf carts and pedestrians to use. In addition, because expansion would happen on seven acres of marsh, BNSF is working with the Wisconsin DNR and Army Corps of Engineers on remediation obligations.
City includes gender identity as a protected status The La Crosse City Council voted to amend a city ordinance dealing with equal access to housing, city resources and facilities, and other public areas to include discrimination based on gender identity. Currently, exclusion based on sex, race, religion, color, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, legal sources of income, physical appearance, sexual orientation, political activity, familial status, and student status are all prohibited. While the State of Wisconsin does not protect based on gender identity, municipalities around the state are adding gender identity to their discrimination policies. Only four other municipalities have such ordinances, including Milwaukee, Madison, Appleton, and Cudahy. La Crosse is the second municipality in the State, after Cudahy, to do so unanimously.
Rental registration ruled legal La Crosse’s new rental registration program was deemed legal by a La Crosse County judge after the decision was postponed three times. 34 La Crosse landlords signed on to be a part of the lawsuit, originally filed in May, citing concerns that the City ordinance conflicted with State legislation. The program was disputed because it requires property owners to register their rental units with the city and pay a nominal fee for each unit’s application, and gives the City the authority to fine if a landlord is operating without registering their property. Registration is contingent upon proper inspection of the unit, and neighborhood advocates have supported the program because they believe having all rental properties regularly inspected contributes to safer housing for renters and less degradation of single-family homes in neighborhoods.
Voter ID law reinstated Wisconsin’s Voter ID law articulating what documents and identifications citizens need in order to vote was reinstated by the Chicago Federal Court of Appeals, meaning voters will need to provide state-issued photo identification such as a driver’s license in order to cast a ballot in November. The law passed in 2011 and has been in legal limbo for the past three years. Proponents of the law praised the ruling because they view it as making for more clean elections by discouraging voter fraud; on the flip side, this law has also been heavily criticized as an attempt to suppress the vote of students, racial minorities, and the poor because they might have a more difficult time obtaining a photo ID, which is needed if you do not have a current driver’s license. Opponents also point out that only around thirty prosecuted cases of voter fraud occurred in Wisconsin since 2008, according to testimony given in the appeal, and include anything from convicted felons voting to improperly collected signatures. While voters can use a driver’s license, students in the area cannot use their student ID cards, according to the law. Photo IDs can be obtained at the local DMV.
