La Crosse Loggers owner appointed to baseball group aimed at helping the Brewers stay in Wisconsin

The owner of the La Crosse Loggers baseball club has been appointed to a statewide coalition aimed at keeping the Milwaukee Brewers from moving out of Wisconsin.

Former Wisconsin state Sen. Dan Kapanke is among the sports and business leaders named to the Home Crew Coalition by Gov. Tony Evers.

Other members of the group include the president of a Milwaukee tourism organization and the head of a state realtors association.

The stakeholders were announced to be working to find a bipartisan solution to keep the Brewers in the state “for the next generation,” said the group’s leader, Omar Shaikh, a Milwaukee-area restaurant owner and developer.

A plan by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers to tap some of the $7.1 billion budget surplus, giving the Brewers $290 million to renovate the stadium in exchange to extend its lease through 2043 in Milwaukee, doesn’t appear to have traction with the GOP-controlled state Legislature.

They said they’re working on their own, better deal, but no details were provided.

“I’m not sure the amount of time he’s asking the team to stay here is correct,” Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told reporters. “I think the deal that he cut is not a very good one for the taxpayer.”