Did politics help get golf course OK’d?
Opponents of Kohler Co. project claim Wisconsin DNR caved to pressure
Opponents of a championship-caliber golf course planned by the Kohler Co. along the shoreline of Lake Michigan say political interference played a role when a state agency approved a key permit to fill wetlands for the controversial project.
The Department of Natural Resources decided in January that Kohler could destroy ecologically significant wetlands on the Sheboygan County property, paving the way for what the company describes as a “minimalist” course design on the forested 247-acre property.
But a legal challenge now awaits a ruling by a state administrative law judge, Mark F. Kaiser, after a local group raised objections, including claims of “significant political pressure on the DNR” from a company whose executive chairman is a longtime political supporter of Gov. Scott Walker.
The group also pointed to the testimony from a wetlands expert, now retired from the DNR, who believes the state’s approval was improper.
A DNR spokesman said his agency followed the law and used science to allow
WASHINGTON – The White House backed down Monday from its threat to revoke CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press pass, after initially saying it was restoring the credential temporarily under court order.
“Having received a formal reply from your counsel to our letter of November 16, we have made a final determination in this process: your hard pass is restored,” the White House wrote Monday in a letter to Acosta, according to CNN. “Should you refuse to follow these rules in the future, we will take action in accordance with the rules set forth above. The President is aware of this decision and concurs.”
The letter detailed several new rules for reporter conduct at presidential news conferences, including “a single question” from each journalist. Followups will only be permitted “at the discretion of the President or other White House officials.”
“We have created these rules with a degree of regret,” said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. “We would have greatly preferred to continue hosting White House press conferences in reliance on a set of understood professional norms, and we believe the overwhelming majority of journalists covering the White House share that preference. But, given the position taken by CNN, we now feel obligated to replace previously shared practices with explicit rules.”
The White House suspended Acosta’s credentials Nov. 7, after a contentious exchange with Trump during a news conference when the president called Acosta a “rude, terrible person.”
In response, CNN filed a lawsuit – backed by several media outlets, including USA TODAY – demanding the return of Acosta’s credentials. On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, granted the request and ordered Acosta’s pass restored while the case plays out.
Kelly said the White House had violated Acosta’s Fifth Amendment right to due process by suspending his press badge without explanation or a chance for CNN to appeal.
Later Friday, the White House sent CNN a letter that said Acosta’s press pass would be revoked again as soon as Kelly’s order expired after 14 days. Sanders said the new rules are:
A journalist called upon to ask a question will ask a single question and then will yield the floor to other journalists.
At the discretion of the president or other White House official taking questions, a follow-up question or questions may be permitted. When a follow up has been allowed and asked, the questioner will then yield the floor.
“Yielding the floor” includes, when applicable, physically surrendering the microphone to White House staff for use by the next questioner.
Failure to abide by any of rules may result in suspension or revocation of the journalist’s press pass.
“If unprofessional behavior occurs in those settings, or if a court should decide that explicit rules are required to regulate conduct there, we will be forced to reconsider this decision,” Sanders said.
In an interview with “Fox News Sunday” that was taped on Friday, Trump said his staff was drafting those rules in response to Kelly’s ruling restoring Acosta’s credentials.