Latest news with #Moldenhauer
Chicago Tribune
05-08-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Michigan City council tables data center resolutions
Multiple Michigan City residents voiced concerns about transparency with the city's council at its Monday meeting, specifically regarding a potential data center in the area. The Michigan City Common Council held a marathon meeting Monday night, with multiple resolutions on the table related to a potential data center in the community. Comments including concerns with water and electric usage, proximity to schools and health, and environmental impacts. 'You're facing a decision that could reshape the future of Michigan City for generations,' said Ashley Williams, Michigan City resident and executive director of Just Transition Northwest Indiana. 'I urge you to table … every subsequent resolution with Phoenix indefinitely and give this community an honest and transparent process. For God's sake, it is what they deserve.' Williams also asked council members if the investment is worth sacrificing their health and that of their neighbors, and if the project is worth sacrificing the city's future. Multiple residents claimed the city council wasn't transparent about when they would be discussing the data center plans. Council members asked questions about all resolutions considered and heard public comment. Councilwoman Nancy Moldenhauer, D-6th, said she wants to look at how a data center might impact noise and pollution in the area, specifically from diesel-powered generators. Moldenhauer would also like to see minimal environmental impact from any facility that's built in the community, she said during Monday's meeting. 'I ran on the promise to my community that I'm standing for health, well-being and quality of life for all people, not just the people living in Ward 6, but for every single resident of Michigan City,' Moldenhauer said. 'My commitment is to make sure everyone is safe and not being harmed by this. Anything we can do to go through these various layers of concern, I think would be beneficial to us.' All resolutions were tabled until the first meeting of September after motions by Councilman Vidya Kora, D-at large. Tabling resolutions would allow residents to ask more questions and get the answers they're seeking, he said. 'As a matter of fact, I want to do some research myself on the health effects of it,' Kora said. 'I understand the concerns that have been expressed, but at the same time, if we don't move forward with new technologies and bringing new opportunities, then we'll fall behind as a community. … If we take a little more time, and try to understand the effects of it, that's a reasonable thing.' Data centers proposals have garnered a mixed reception across Northwest Indiana — with projects going forward in LaPorte and Merrillville and getting rejected at the intial pitch stage in Burns Harbor, Chesterton and Valparaiso. One resolution — which was adopted June 3 — was on the table for public hearing Monday night. The resolution would designate a portion of the city as a Cooper Economic Revitalization area, according to the council's agenda. Other resolutions would grant Phoenix Michigan City Investors LLC tax abatements for the property, confirm the area as an economic revitalization area and approve a taxpayer agreement for 'Project Maize,' also known as a data center that would be located at 402 Royal Road. The current address is owned by Phoenix Investors, a Milwaukee-based company that deals in acquiring, developing, renovating and repositioning industrial facilities nationwide, according to its website. It is unclear who would operate the data center if the project is ultimately approved. In a July 14 statement, Michigan City Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch said city government officials were made aware of a potential data center development. Nelson Deuitch's administration and council members entered into non-disclosure agreements to review the concept in a confidential executive session. Nelson Deuitch's statement said the $800 million capital investment would come with 'limited job creation and no assurances of community reinvestment or substantial tax impact.' No formal agreement was reached at the time, Nelson Deuitch's statement said, and did not present binding commitments to ensure lasting benefits to Michigan City residents. 'No formal proposal regarding local incentives has been brought to the City Council for consideration, and at this time, there are no plans to pursue the project,' Nelson Deuitch said in her statement. 'Michigan City welcomes innovation and responsible investment, but our administration will always advocate for economic growth that is equitable, transparent and in the public interest.' Michigan City resident Paul Przybylinski shared his concerns with the data center, saying he has issues with language that would allow for 40 years of tax abatements. 'How much, in the end, is this going to be negative to the city?' Przybylinski asked during Monday's meeting. 'They already have tax credits from the state, but at the end of the 40 years, how much money are we going to be out?' Przybylinski is also concerned with the cost of the project, saying the number has only continued to increase. 'You are elected to represent us, and there needs to be transparency,' Przybylinski said to council members. 'There's been no transparency with this whole operation. … I am blaming the city council president for not making this more public.' State Rep. Pat Boy, D-Michigan City, spoke at Monday's meeting, asking how many employees will be hired, how city residents will benefit from the facility, how much water will be used, and how much electricity bills might increase because of the facility. 'I hope someone can address (my questions) sooner rather than later,' Boy said. Resolutions regarding the data center will be discussed again at the Michigan City council's first September meeting.
Hamilton Spectator
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Is it possible, with CHL players allowed to move to the NCAA, that everybody wins?
Nick Moldenhauer went 20th overall to the Ottawa 67s in the OHL priority selection draft in 2020. He never reported. At 16 years of age, the forward from Mississauga was forced to make a major life decision: Play major junior hockey or play in a lesser league to maintain his amateur status and NCAA eligibility. 'Being an Ontario boy, if I could have played in the OHL and then and gone to school after, I think I probably would have done that,' Moldenhauer said. He didn't have that choice, though, and chose the U.S college route. He played for the Chicago Steel of the USHL to maintain his NCAA eligibility, and played well enough to be drafted in the third round of the 2022 NHL draft by the Maple Leafs. Then he headed to the University of Michigan. After a summer that has included his third Leafs development camp, Moldenhauer will head back to the Wolverines and a roster bolstered by the first wave of college-aged players from the Canadian Hockey League. 'It's going to be an adjustment,' he said. 'Looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing how they fit in on the ice and in the room.' Gavin McKenna's long-rumoured move to the NCAA is official. Among Moldenhauer's new teammates: Departures like this are happening across the CHL because of changes essentially forced on the NCAA by lawsuits that argued American college rules on amateurism were outdated and draconian. 'Ultimately, this is going to improve the quality of hockey. It's going to improve the quality of our league tremendously,' OHL commissioner Bryan Crawford said, adding the NCAA also will be better with the addition of CHL players. 'Having players who maybe weren't ready for the NHL have a chance to prolong their development window in the NCAA, that's going to raise the quality. That ultimately is going to raise the quality of the NHL. To me, it's better for the families and the players. It's better for hockey as a whole. 'But it's a change that's going to have ripple effects through all of the levels of hockey.' The Penn State-bound McKenna is not alone. He's part of a wave of players capitalizing on a new, The biggest ripple? Gavin McKenna, a left winger widely expected to be the top pick of the 2026 NHL draft, announced this week he's leaving the Medicine Hat Tigers for Penn State. McKenna is reportedly being paid $700,000 (U.S.), though both the dollar figure and the source of the money are not confirmed. McKenna, like Auston Matthews going to Switzerland to play pro at 17, is somewhat of an outlier based on his elite talent level. Still, there are some financial incentives for Canadian athletes in any sport to choose the American college system. As of July 1, schools have been able to share revenue, up to $20.5 million, with their student athletes. The caveat: Not all schools have that big a budget, and schools aren't required to share. For hockey players at Division 1 schools, rosters are capped at 26, and schools are allowed to offer full scholarships to every player on the team (or as many as the budget will allow). There had been scholarship limitations and financial caps before. There is a third revenue stream, available since 2021, that largely benefits American-born football and basketball players. Athletes can lend their name, image and likeness (NIL) to companies for endorsements or video games. College hockey players are not typically in demand for that revenue stream, and Canadians studying in the U.S. would have to check the terms of their student visas before going down that road (though they would be free to pursue NIL deals in Canada). It's believed the colleges have found a workaround for hockey players, which may include being paid by Canadian companies, which is one theory about how Penn State lured McKenna. The biggest reason for the migration of older junior players to the NCAA is the quality of competition, especially for an 18-year-old who sees himself in the NHL one day, said Sean Hogan, executive director of College Hockey Inc., a non-profit organization that promotes U.S. college hockey. Despite a rugged reputation as NHLers, Mark and Dale Hunter say they value speed, skill and 'When you're 18 years old, (you think) you're an NHL player,' he said. 'In college, you have an opportunity to play against 23-, 24-, 25-year-olds. Grown men are preparing you to play against grown men at that next level. You won't really have that opportunity in junior hockey. As you get to 18, 19, even 20 years old in junior hockey, you're playing against 16- or 17-year-olds. And that's a big difference in terms of game speed and preparing you for that next level.' The pace of the season is also different. A college regular season is typically fewer than 40 games, with an emphasis on practice and skill development. The playoffs are short, with the champion crowned by early April. The OHL season is 68 games, with four best-of-seven rounds in the playoffs and, for the league champion, a trip in mid-May to the Memorial Cup. Despite the losses of talent to U.S. colleges, the CHL isn't panicking. It just had 21 players selected in the first round of the NHL draft and the league doesn't expect that number to drop, especially with the top 16-year-olds now all able to play in the CHL without losing their college eligibility. 'We certainly gained a number of top players from other leagues,' Crawford said. 'We're definitely in a much more enviable position in terms of attracting those players that had chosen to go a different pathway. 'We are the best development environment in the world for 16- to 19-year-olds. The challenge for us is really to make sure that we continue to be progressive and proactive and we maintain that standing, that we don't rest on our laurels.' Crawford didn't think there'd be a lot of draft-eligible players like McKenna leaving the CHL for a U.S. colleges. 'An elite player like Gavin McKenna is going to be successful anywhere,' Crawford said. 'But for the vast majority of players, going to the NCAA is not going to mean top-line minutes. It's not going to mean special-teams time. And that's not necessarily the best development environment for a player who has aspirations of playing at the next level.' Plus, Crawford said, the post-secondary scholarship money that is available to anyone who played in the CHL can be used toward a U.S. college. Hogan sees another advantage to the college system changes. 'This is very good for college hockey, but I think it's better overall for the landscape of hockey,' he said. 'One of the biggest challenges we have in hockey you don't see in other sports. We ask 15- and 16-year-old kids to move all over North America to pursue their sport. You don't see that in American football. Kids play at home. They play for their high schools.' Moldenhauer left Canada to play in the USHL. Now kids can stay closer to home until they're ready for college. 'The more that we can have a straight line for the player-development path, I think the better it is for hockey overall,' Hogan said.
