Jay E. Caldwell

1 week ago | wjon.com | Jay E. Caldwell

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system has requested $25 Million from the State Legislature for one time uses. St. Cloud State is pursuing a portion of that money to demo some unused buildings on campus. SCSU Interim President Larry Dietz joined me on WJON. He told me today he isn't optimistic that they will receive money from the State to demo buildings or for a new chiller for the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

1 week ago | wjon.com | Jay E. Caldwell

Sauk Rapids-Rice voters in February approved a referendum question to build a new $17.7 million outdoor activity complex. It passed with 1,661 yes votes and 1,416 no votes. Storm Activities Director Phil Klaphake joined me on WJON. He says representatives from the city, school district, and community have had numerous meetings discussing what this new facility will look like. Klaphake indicates the meetings started about a month ago and since then they've narrowed their focus.

1 week ago | wjon.com | Jay E. Caldwell

Tariffs and the impact of those in the United States have been talked about quite a bit in recent months. St. Cloud State Economist King Banaian joined me on WJON to explain what has happened so far and what it means. He says the Trump administration has enacted 10% tariffs for some countries and 20% for others. The exception is China where 145% tariffs have been enacted. Banaian indicates it has been reported that the U.S. and China are talking with the hope that those will be reduced.

1 week ago | wjon.com | Jay E. Caldwell

Minnesota is into the 3rd wild turkey hunting season this spring. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON. He says final numbers for season 1 showed just a 75 bird difference as opposed to last season. The second season showed a harvest number of 3,649, which was nearly identical to the 2nd season last spring. Photo by sterlinglanier Lanier on UnsplashLast year set a new record for the spring turkey hunt with 16,714  birds shot. Schmitt says he shot his turkey Sunday morning.

1 week ago | wjon.com | Jay E. Caldwell

Earlier this month voters approved a pair of referendum questions. Question #1 asked for $50 million to make updates to Apollo High School including a safe and secure entrance, a storm shelter/gymnasium, fire safety upgrades, science labs, fine arts programming, among other improvements. Question #2 asked for $15 million to build an indoor multipurpose athletic facility on the Apollo campus with a full-size turf field and a walking track.