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What is MARK Rail? Commission holds inaugural meeting | FOX6 News Milwaukee

Racine hosting inaugural MARK Rail Commission meeting Friday

From The Journal Times.com:

Holly Gilvary

RACINE — The Milwaukee-Area-Racine-Kenosha Passenger Rail Commission will hold its inaugural meeting in Racine on Friday.

The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. at Racine City Hall, 730 Washington Ave., in Room 207.

The Passenger Rail Commission was created through an Intergovernmental Agreement under Wisconsin statutes approved by the cities of Racine, Kenosha and Milwaukee.

The agreement authorizes the cities to work collaboratively on preliminary planning, public engagement and eligibility for federal rail-planning programs.

The Racine Common Council unanimously approved the formation of the commission in September.

Friday's meeting will focus on establishing the commission's organizational structure and beginning early coordination to explore the feasibility of future passenger rail service in Southeast Wisconsin, according to a news release from the City of Racine.

The commission's formation does not commit the cities to building rail infrastructure, launching service or making financial expenditures; rather, it provides a formal structure to support long-range evaluation, coordination and planning, the release said. Participation in the commission's early activities carries no local funding obligation.

The release said any future decisions involving investment, construction or service implementation would require additional technical analysis, public input and subsequent commission action.

Friday's meeting agenda includes a presentation of the commission's vision, mission and strategic goals for early-stage coordination; adoption of bylaws to establish the commission's internal governance framework; election of officers, including chair, vice-chair and secretary; review and approval of a Memorandum of Understanding with Metra, Chicago's metropolitan commuter rail service which currently services Kenosha, to support future planning discussions; and authorization to prepare an application to the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor Identification and Development Program, which provides federal planning support with no required local match.

For more information about MARK Rail, visit www.markrail.org.

From: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/government-politics/article_c3a19061-1132-4544-9230-2f1e09114bc7.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

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Public invited to discuss community safety during meeting Thursday at City Hall

From The Journal Times.com:

Annie Pulley

The public is invited to discuss neighborhood safety during a Community Conversation happening Thursday at Racine City Hall, 730 Washington Ave.

Journal Times file photo

RACINE — Racine residents are encouraged to share their ideas and experiences relating to neighborhood safety during a Community Conversation on Thursday. 

The Department of Community Safety and Payne Consulting organized the event, which will take place at 5:30 p.m. in Room 204 of City Hall at 730 Washington Ave. 

All residents are welcome to join and will receive a free meal and a $25 gift card for attending. 

Several Community Conversations have been held during previous months.

The goal, as expressed by department director John Tate II and Kimberly and Alonzo Payne, is to collect input from residents about their hopes and concerns regarding community safety. 

Register to attend by visiting www.tinyurl.com/RacineSafetyCC.

From: https://journaltimes.com/news/community/community-safety-event-city-hall/article_ba5c99de-7a9b-11ef-9fd0-3313693f935c.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

Bomb threat closes government buildings Monday, sheriff's office says

From The Journal Times.com:

ANNIE PULLEY

RACINE COUNTY — Bomb threats called in to the Racine County Communication Center and two Milwaukee news stations Monday reportedly threatened City Hall, the Racine County Courthouse and the Department of Motor Vehicles in Sturtevant.

The Racine County Communication Center received a 911 call Monday from an automated voice that reportedly made bomb threats directed at “various governmental buildings in Racine County,” according to a news release from the Racine County Sheriff’s Office.

Racine Police Department’s Public Information Officer Sgt. Kristi Wilcox also said she received two calls from Milwaukee news stations reporting that they received bomb threats targeting City Hall, the Racine County Court House and the DMV.

“Explosive K9s were dispatched to check these buildings for any kind of explosive devices. No explosive devices were found,” Wilcox said.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation said the Sturtevant DMV location was evacuated and closed Monday. Services remained available online.

Racine County closed the courthouse and the Law Enforcement Center “out of an abundance of caution” and evacuated all nonessential personnel, the RCSO release said.

Officers and explosive K-9 teams continued to sweep the buildings Monday afternoon, but reportedly had not found anything suspicious, according to the sheriff’s office.

“There are no known future threats to the public, and all county buildings and agencies are expected to resume normal functions and hours of operation tomorrow,” the release said. “The Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Bureau is actively investigating this incident.”

RCSO continues to investigate the origin of the call, according to Public Information Officer Lt. Michael Luell.

From: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-courts/bomb-threat-closes-racine-county-buildings/article_770d9124-79ce-11ef-b2ac-7731eae8c054.html#tracking-source=mp-homepage

Racine mask mandate reinstated, effective immediately

From Fox6Now:

RACINE, Wis. - The Racine Common Council voted to reinstate an indoor mask mandate during a virtual meeting Tuesday night, Aug. 31. The mask ordinance takes effect immediately.

Public Health Administrator Dottie-Kay Bowersox requested the ordinances and said just over 40% of Racine residents are fully vaccinated. Others say the policies would just set the city back.

Inside his store on Main Street in Racine, EYEopenerZ owner Ken Brown reflected on the pandemic's impact on his business.

"When all of your customers are locked up in their homes, it doesn't help to be essential if they're not coming out," Brown said. "It potentially just reduces the number of people who are going to want to come into Racine to do their shopping."

That is why Brown and a handful of others stood outside City Hall on Tuesday to show opposition to the COVID-19 policies just as the Common Council met virtually to consider them.

"This is onerous regulations, and it's completely unnecessary. Let us have our liberty. Let us have our freedom. Let people make their own intelligent choices," said Brown.

Group expresses opposition to COVID-19 ordinances outside Racine City Hall.

The health department's request for the new ordinances cited a low vaccination rate and high rate of transmission.

"It is necessary for additional prevention measures to be implemented to protect the health of the public," Bowersox said.

The reinstatement of the city's indoor mask mandate would apply to everyone ages 5 and older in public spaces – excluding private homes and offices not open to visitors. Not following mask policy could result in incremental fines starting at $25 for individuals and $50 for businesses.

"We're looking at mandating masks in public and private places with the result of revoking licenses and closing businesses. It's just too extreme," Alderman Henry Perez said.

"We have an obligation in our community to protect the vulnerable folks in our community," said Alderwoman Natalia Taft.

During Tuesday's meeting, the Common Council deferred a vote on weekly COVID-19 testing requirements for unvaccinated city employees, wanting to first meet and discuss the proposed ordinance's impact with staff and bargaining representatives first.

From: https://www.fox6now.com/news/racine-mask-mandate-resintatement-vote

City of Racine now requiring masks in city buildings amid COVID-19 spike

From TMJ4:

Photo by: KAROLINA GRABOWSKA KABOOMPICS

By: TMJ4 Web Staff

Posted at 10:14 PM, Jul 28, 2021

 

and last updated 10:14 PM, Jul 28, 2021

RACINE — The City of Racine is now requiring city staff and members of the public to wear masks while in city-owned buildings, regardless of their vaccination status.

Racine Public Health Administrator Dottie-Kay Bowersox said in a statement Wednesday the call was made after the CDC updated their guidance regarding mask-wearing, as the country sees a spike in COVID-19 cases, particularly of the delta variant of the virus.

Racine's mask policy goes into effect Thursday.

According to the city, the mask requirement includes:

• City employees while at work, indoors, if they are not alone in an individual office with the door closed
• City employees while traveling for work in City vehicles with more than one passenger
• Members of public when entering City facilities including City Hall, City Hall Annex, Fire and Police facilities, Community Centers, and other City building
• Members of the public engaged in programing and sports inside of City owned Community Centers

Bowersox said in a statement: "This is to deter the potential spread of the highly infectious Delta variant strain of the virus. Due to the recent increase in the number of COVID-19 positive cases, the CDC has placed the City of Racine in the “Substantial Transmission Category” defined by case rate over the last seven days. Currently, the City’s COVID-19 case rate is 73 per 100,000, which is a 900% increase over the last two weeks."

From: https://www.tmj4.com/news/coronavirus/city-of-racine-now-requiring-masks-in-city-buildings-amid-covid-19-spike

Milwaukee mask mandate ends Tuesday | FOX6 News Milwaukee

Racine reopening public buildings beginning June 1

From CBS 58:

RACINE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The city of Racine announced Friday, May 28, it is reopening all city buildings to the public beginning Tuesday, June 1. However, there will still be safety precautions in place. 

Everyone including guests and employees must wear masks when inside the buildings. Also, the public drinking fountains will be either disconnected or only used for filling water bottles. 

“With a majority of City employees vaccinated and an increasing number of City residents getting vaccinated, we are confident we can re-open City buildings. Safety measures have been implemented to minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in each department,” said Dottie-Kay Bowersox, Public Health Administrator for the City of Racine.

More safety measures the public should expect to see when entering City buildings include:

• Community members who enter or engage in services within City buildings shall be responsive and compliant with City Departments’ risk-mitigation plans. Those plans may vary based on department or building. Failure to comply with those plans may result in community members being asked to leave.
• City employees will also be required to wear masks when inside City buildings, and City contractors and vendors are required to follow the same policies as City employees.

“I am happy to be able to open City buildings to the public once again after more than a year. Making sure a majority of our staff was fully vaccinated was key to re-opening our buildings. I hope that more and more community members will also get vaccinated so that we can lift the safety measure we have in place. I look forward to having a summer where our residents can enjoy our community centers, browse the Library, or come visit the Clerk’s office to get register to vote,” said Mayor Cory Mason.

From:  https://www.cbs58.com/news/racine-reopening-public-buildings-beginning-june-1

Things You'd Never Hear From Ratcine City Hall!

 CFD Battalion Chief arrested, charged with DWI

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Charlotte Fire Department Battalion Chief Michael Gerin has charged with driving while impaired.

Gerin was arrested Saturday night by the Pineville Police Department. He was given a $2,000 unsecured bond.

“Firefighters with the Charlotte Fire Department are expected to conduct themselves to the highest professional standards on and off duty and will be held accountable when they fail to do so,” Fire Chief Reginald Johnson wrote in a statement. “At no time will this department tolerate behavior that violates the law or our community’s trust.”

According to a release put out by CFD, the incident is under investigation and is considered a personnel matter.

“Professional accountability is a priority for our members, and they are always expected to maintain this standard,” the release stated.

This is a developing story.

See more: https://www.wbtv.com/2021/03/21/cfd-battalion-chief-arrested-charged-with-dwi/

Mason brothers’ risky Racine COVID test lab

Empower Wisconsin | Sept 15, 2020 

MADISON — The City of Racine City Hall Annex has been transformed into a laboratory where city employees work with a highly contagious virus that has killed nearly 200,000 people in the U.S. — more than 1,200 in Wisconsin. 

And Racine city officials don’t seem at all concerned about the potential safety and liability hazards. 

Sources with backgrounds in biotech tell Empower Wisconsin city leaders and Racine citizens should be very wary of the dangers of a COVID-19 experiment they say has no business being conducted on city property.

Coming home

In July, mainstream media outlets began doing feature stories on Christopher Mason’s research. Mason, associate professor and systems biology wunderkind at Weill Cornell Medicine, is looking for a faster way to test for COVID-19. Mason also just happens to be the brother of Racine’s liberal Mayor Cory Mason, a fact that raises some conflict of interest questions. The scientist, the stories note, came home to turn his hometown into a cutting edge laboratory in the fight against a relentless and deadly pandemic. 

Professor Mason is working alongside Alison Kriegel, PhD, associate professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Mason, despite promising otherwise, did not return Empower Wisconsin’s multiple requests for comment, nor did he answer questions directly put to him in an email. 

As Fox6 explained in late July, the researchers established a mobile lab in the Racine City Hall Annex. They have employed city firefighters to collect “a few milliliters of saliva from city employees taking part in the study.” 

“We’re cooking the saliva at 95 degrees for 30 minutes to essentially kill the virus. And then from there, we’re testing it,” Chief Brian Wolf of the Racine Police Department, told the news outlet. 

The idea, officials say, is to limit the chance for spread within the lab.

Read more: https://empowerwisconsin.org/mason-brothers-risky-racine-covid-test-lab/