Construction will start Monday on a $9.85 million maintenance project to improve the Interstate 94 bridges over the St. Croix River, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Crews will replace the modular joints on both eastbound and westbound bridges. They also will make concrete surface repairs at the west abutments and piers, place a new polymer overlay on the bridge decks and replace pavement markings.

The westbound bridge will get complete spot painting of its bridge pin and hanger system while the sidewalk railing will be replaced on the eastbound bridge, according to WisDOT.

The project also includes the repair of the retaining wall on the Wisconsin approach. Crews will replace the block wall crossing under and adjacent to I-94 and parallel to the pedestrian path, WisDOT officials said.

Most of the work will be done in 2026, but some of the work, including the widening of the shoulders, will be done this fall and should be complete in mid-October.

During construction, the interstate will remain open to traffic, but motorists will encounter lane and shoulder closures during off-peak travel times.

In addition, work is expected to result in nighttime closures of ramps from eastbound I-94 to northbound Wisconsin 35 and southbound Wisconsin 35 to westbound I-94.

For more information visit projects.511wi.gov/i94stcroixriverbridges/.

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The college football season is only a month old and the coaching carousel has already started spinning — with UCLA, Virginia Tech and now Oklahoma State looking for new leaders.

Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck was a top candidate for the UCLA opening in February 2024, with a significant offer from the Bruins. But Fleck turned it down, and the Bruins went on to hire Deshaun Foster, who went 5-7 in his first year and was fired Sept. 14 after an 0-3 start.

The Pioneer Press understands there is nothing brewing between UCLA and Fleck this time around, but the fellow Big Ten program might not have the only nationwide opening during this cycle that could involve Fleck.

“His name’s going to come up at every job,” Gophers athletics director Mark Coyle told the Pioneer Press two days after the UCLA and Virginia Tech jobs opened. “I think that’s a good thing for Minnesota, because we have somebody that people want and people recognize what he’s done.”

There was little turnover among head coaches at the Power Four conference level a year ago, which has national reporters projecting this year to be much busier. Three schools already have a head start.

“I want him to stay here as long as he wants to be here because, again, (of) what he’s done with our program, on and off the field,” Coyle continued. “When I talk about P.J., I talk about (wife) Heather, too. She’s a big part of everything going on here, (for) which I’m grateful for both of them. They’ve been the ultimate change agent.”

Coyle has said similar things about Fleck over the years, and the AD has been trying to back it up in writing.

In July, Fleck received a one-year contract extension, which included increased retention bonuses but smaller buyout totals. He is set to make $6 million annually in a deal that runs through Dec. 31, 2030.

While Fleck has netted contract extensions on a nearly annual basis, one industry source told the Pioneer Press this latest one was a smart move from Coyle to try to stay a step ahead of the market.

The retention bonuses begin at $1 million this year and increase to $1.2 million in 2026. From there, the bonuses go up $100,000 each year to $1.6 million in 2030. Those annual sums are split evenly and paid on Sept. 1 and Dec. 31 each year.

Fleck’s salary, including retention bonuses, is now tied for 11th in the 18-team Big Ten, per documents the Gophers athletics department presented to the Board of Regents at its July meeting.

The retention bonuses are considered hooks to help keep Fleck in Minnesota, but Fleck’s buyout structure — the real teeth in keeping Fleck at the U — went down from his last deal. Combined, it’s in the same ballpark.

In the new terms, if Fleck leaves his contract, his buyout structure went down from $7 million to $5.5 million in Year 1; $5 million to $4.5 million in Year 2, $4 million to $3 million in Year 3 and incrementally downward from there.

“His buyout was just working with him, having conversations with him and his agent,” Coyle said. “He’s been here nine years. He’s been very loyal to us. We appreciate him.”

Fleck is 60-40 overall at Minnesota, with a 34-36 record in the Big Ten. After two tough, initial years in 2017-18, Fleck is 29-23 in conference play. He has produced winning seasons in three of the last four full seasons, while the Gophers’ NIL (name, image and likeness) budget pales in comparison to top teams in the conference and country.

“I fit at Minnesota,” Fleck said at Big Ten media days in July. “You know why I fit in Minnesota? Because I’ve always been able to do a little more with a little less. That’s my life.”

“We are not the highest paid roster in the Big Ten; I think all of you (reporters) know that; that is not a secret,” Fleck added. “But my job is to do more with less. That is my job, and I can find a way to do that with the right fit. I’m the right fit for Minnesota. I don’t give myself a new contract.”

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By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told world leaders Wednesday that the world is in “the most destructive arms race in human history” and called on the international community to act against Russia now, asserting that Vladimir Putin wants to expand his war in Europe.

“We are now living through the most destructive arms race in history,” Zelenskyy said at the U.N. General Assembly. “Ukraine is only the first and now Russian drones are already flying across Europe, and Russian operations are already spreading across countries, and Putin wants to continue this war by expanding it.”

Zelenskyy’s comments came a day after he met with President Donald Trump, who expressed support for Ukraine’s efforts and criticized Russia.

Trump said Tuesday that he believed Ukraine could win back all territory lost to Russia, a dramatic shift from the U.S. leader’s repeated calls for Kyiv to make concessions to end the war.

In a bleak view of today’s world, Zelenskyy said the reality today is that international law and international institutions like the United Nations cannot help nations survive.

“Weapons decide who survives,” he said. “There are no security guarantees except friends and weapons.”

The Ukrainian president said even being part of NATO didn’t prevent Russia from sending drones into Polish airspace and Russian fighter jets from entering Estonian airspace.

He said neighboring Moldova is defending itself again from Russian interference.

Zelenskyy said Georgia is already being lost and becoming dependent on Russia, and so is Belarus. “Europe cannot afford to lose Moldova, too,” he said, stressing that the country needs funding and energy support, not just “political gestures.”

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ROCHESTER, Minn. — A U.S. representative for Wisconsin is calling to “remove every single penny” of Mayo Clinic’s federal funding in response to an alleged employee’s comments about the fatal shooting of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

On Sunday Robby Starbuck, another conservative social media personality, made a post on the social media site X with three images: two screenshots of X posts by the same user, followed by a screenshot of that individual’s apparent LinkedIn profile, which appears to list Mayo Clinic as an employer.

The X account attributed to Collins has since been set to private, and Mayo Clinic no longer appears on his LinkedIn account.

One of the posts calls Kirk a “divisive, white, racist, sexist, homophobe, anti-Semite bigot,” while the other post reads “best actress in a faux Christian role” in a reply to another post that features a video of Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow and the new CEO of Turning Point USA, the conservative organization her husband founded.

“Their worker mocked Charlie Kirk and his widow Erika Kirk,” Starbuck wrote. “He must be fired if Mayo Clinic has actual values.”

Rep. Derrick Van Orden — a Republican who represents Wisconsin’s 3rd District, which borders Southeast Minnesota — reposted Starbuck’s X post, saying, “We will be working to remove every single penny of federal funding from the Mayo Clinic unless this is resolved.”

The Post Bulletin could not independently verify if the X user whose posts appear in Starbuck’s screenshots is a current or former Mayo Clinic employee. Mayo Clinic did not respond to the Post Bulletin’s request for comment.

Van Orden made a similar pledge to withhold federal funding from the City of Eau Claire following two city council members’ social media posts about Kirk, WXOW reported.

One day after the Mayo Clinic post, Van Orden introduced a short bill that would prohibit federal funding from being dispersed to “any entity that employ individuals who condone and celebrate political violence and domestic terrorism.”

Van Orden spoke about Mayo Clinic again during a Sept. 19, appearance on the Mid-Atlantic-based John Fredericks Radio Show, as first reported by Heartland Signal.

A caller asked about Van Orden’s posts: “Isn’t that going to hurt and potentially kill a lot of people if we take away medical services from organizations that you don’t like by cutting off funding?”

In response, Van Orden asked the caller if federal dollars should be sent to “organizations that are inciting violence.”

“You cannot tell me,” Van Orden continued, “that these people who are employing folks, that are receiving billions of federal dollars — you cannot say that the stuff, the vile things that they’re saying are not specifically geared towards intimidating or coercing a civilian population or influencing a government.”

Van Orden’s district includes several Mayo Clinic Health System locations, including hospitals in La Crosse and Eau Claire.

Mayo Clinic receives a significant amount of federal funding, namely through National Institutes of Health research grants. As of Sept. 5, the health system has 434 active awards worth around $302 million. It is the second-largest NIH funding recipient in Minnesota, after the University of Minnesota.

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