Latest news with #JohnLucas
Otago Daily Times
02-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Legal review delaying Lake2Lake
It may be some time before any work is done on the extension to the Lake2Lake trail in Southland. The Fiordland Trail Trust said last month it had opted to pause the construction work from Patience Bay to Sinclair Rd as it was waiting for a decision from the Department of Conservation about an amendment for which it applied in December. The trust worked with a specialist herpetologist in October and, during this time, part of the vegetation was also cleared. After finding no evidence of the Southland green skink, which triggered the need for a plan, the trust sought an amendment with Doc to allow construction to the originally consented 3m trail formation, Mr Boniface said last month. "We proceeded to construct from Patience Bay up to Sinclair Rd within the conditions that the wildlife permit set for us and we have got to a point where we have applied for an amendment to those conditions to enable us to build a safe two-way trail," he said. "We have not had that approval. There are some complications around the Wildlife Act being challenged ... and I think our application for the amendment has been caught up in all of that." Department of Conversation Te Anau operations manager John Lucas confirmed the application had been assessed. But a court decision had thrown a spanner in the works. "There is likely to be a delay due to the recent High Court decision requiring a review of Wildlife Act legislation. The Fiordland Trail Trust application to construct a 3m trail on Public Conservation Land requires permission issued under the Wildlife Act for the disturbance/killing of wildlife." The decision referred to a case over Mt Messenger in the North Island. The High Court ruled the Doc permit for the Mt Messenger bypass project, which allowed the killing of protected wildlife, was unlawful. Doc said in a recent statement the decision had implications for other projects that involve potentially incidental killing of wildlife. While the ruling does not require immediate cessation of activities for existing Wildlife Act authorisations, operators must now take all reasonable steps to avoid harming wildlife.— APL
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UW-Madison under second investigation by Trump administration amid federal DEI crackdown
For the second time in a week, the federal education department placed the University of Wisconsin-Madison on a warning list. The department said Friday it had opened an investigation into UW-Madison and 44 other universities nationwide over alleged racial discrimination. The notifications came exactly a month after the department issued sweeping guidance threatening to pull funding from colleges that do not eliminate all considerations of race from policies and programs. The investigation focuses on universities' partnerships with the PhD Project, a nonprofit promoting diversity in the workforce by helping underrepresented students earn doctoral degrees in business. The department said the program limits eligibility based on race, and colleges partnering with the organization are engaging in race-exclusionary practices in their graduate programs. 'Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin,' Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. 'We will not yield on this commitment." UW-Madison had not yet been formally notified of any complaint related to the PhD Project, university spokesperson John Lucas said Friday shortly before noon. If a complaint is received, the university will cooperate with any investigation. The PhD Project did not immediately return a request for comment. The department warned UW-Madison and dozens of other institutions on Monday about potential enforcement action it may take if they fail to protect Jewish students. UW-Madison was put on the list because of an investigation opened in early 2024 after a conservative news outlet filed a complaint. Both warnings are part of the Trump administration's broader crackdown on higher education. Columbia University has become the poster child, seeing $400 million in grants and contracts canceled. The administration has also attempted to deport Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil. He is a legal permanent resident who took a leadership role in the pro-Palestinian protests at the university last year. The education department slashed half of its staff earlier this week. That included at least 243 employees in the Office of Civil Rights, which enforces the antidiscrimination laws at the heart of the UW-Madison investigations. Gov. Tony Evers joined other states Thursday in suing over the department cuts. They argue the gutting of the department effectively prevents it from carrying out responsibilities it is charged to do by Congress. (This story was updated to add new information.) Kelly Meyerhofer covers higher education in Wisconsin. Contact her at kmeyerhofer@ or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: University of Wisconsin-Madison under federal investigation over DEI
