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Senator Smith talks sustainability and tourism in La Crescent

Published

2 years ago

June 1, 2022

The Apple Capital of Minnesota made a connection with the nation’s capital, by hosting U.S. Sen. Tina Smith for an official visit.

Smith spent an hour with Mayor Mike Poellinger and other La Crescent city leaders on Wednesday, discussing energy-saving programs and tourism projects.

The Democratic Senator wants to see D.C., pay attention to innovative actions in towns such as La Crescent.

“In the Senate, a lot of times people think about small towns, rural America as places of deficit, they don’t have this, they don’t have that,” Smith told reporters. “What I find when I come to these communities is an incredible amount of creativity and assets, that they just need a little bit of help from the federal government and from state and local governments to help to build that out.”

Smith said residents of both Minnesota and Wisconsin will be able to benefit from federal spending coming to the La Crescent area.

Smith discussed sustainability programs, such as the GreenStep Cities effort that La Crescent is participating in. She also viewed progress on a pedestrian bridge that will be part of a regional trail system.

Earlier on Wednesday, Smith traveled to Winona to tour the Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center.

Sen. Tina Smith inspects work on a pedestrian bridge with La Crescent Mayor Mike Poellinger (left) on June 5, 2022.

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.