Feb. 1, 2021 9:20p
From WGTD News:
Snow, then arctic cold. The National Weather Service is predicting several inches for Thursday afternoon and evening, although the event could begin with mixed precipitation. The cold weather is expected to arrive Saturday night, with single digit highs in the forecast for Sunday and beyond.
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The City of Kenosha is taking an optimistic stance on COVID-19 and is scheduling summer events that were canceled last year. The Outta Sight Kite Flight is scheduled for June 5-6 at Kennedy Park. The Kenosha Civic Veterans Parade is on for Sunday, June 27th, with the fireworks and accompanying festival scheduled to follow a few days later. Vaccine availability was a factor in the decision to proceed, according to a city spokesperson, as well as the fact that all of the events are held outside. This year's parade theme is titled "A Centennial Celebration: Women's Right to Vote." Parade participant applications are posted on the city's website.
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Plans are proceeding in Pleasant Prairie for a nearly $90 million mixed-use development for a 127-acre tract of land just south of Highway 50 and east of I-94. The Pleasant Prairie Village Board Monday night approved a new tax incremental district to help finance the project. It also cemented an agreement with the developer, Milwaukee-based Fiduciary Real Estate Development. The property will be developed in four phases, with construction beginning this year on 300 upscale apartments. Village Trustee Mike Pollocoff, a former village administrator, noted that the property's multiple owners and numerous wetlands had delayed development for decades. "It's a difficult piece of property for the developer to develop and it makes it a little more difficult to put the deal together but I'm glad we've come to this point," he said. Also Monday night, the board decided to schedule a closed session to discuss progress in developing the "village green" project. Staff has been working with a half-dozen different developers in an effort to essentially create a downtown-styled development from scratch.
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The news is not good for supporters of Racine Scholars Academy, a proposed charter school that would operate within the loose confines of Racine Unified. The school would feature a rigorous college-prep-styled curriculum that would heed core values and cultural competencies. Driving forces include Beverly Hicks, a retired RUSD elementary school teacher and former president of the local branch of the NAACP, and Milt Thompson, a former principal of Wilson Elementary in Kenosha and a co-founder of 21st Century Prep, a charter school in Racine that runs under the auspices of UW-Parkside. At a Racine School Board work session Monday night, district operations chief Shannon Gordon said the district has no space for the new school. "If the board wants to move forward with designating a school space for a potential new charter school, it really will require an action to close a third school to free up that building or campus for the new school," she said. The board already has voted to close a pair of elementary schools as part of the district's downsizing and modernization plan. Board member Mike Frontier accused Gordon of taking an obstructionist attitude, saying the new school was needed to help close the achievement gap. The board took no formal action on the matter Monday night--a formal vote will take place later this month.
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