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Minnesota high school football districts revealed
Minnesota high school football districts revealed

Yahoo

time08-07-2025

  • Sport
  • Yahoo

Minnesota high school football districts revealed

You know we are closing in on the start of the prep football season when new district information is released. Minnesota has posted district assignments for both the coming year and the 2026 season. Among the notable changes includes a move by Moorhead to the Metro West where they will battle against the likes of Maple Grove, Edina, Minnetonka and Eden Prairie. Advertisement MORE: Iowa native signs deal to play basketball in Japan Maple Grove and Minnetonka battled for the Class 6A state championship last year. Now, they will compete for a spot in the state playoffs as district rivals. Moorhead, meanwhile, were the 5A runners-up. They are making the move up to the state's largest classification beginning this season. Others moving up to 6A include Andover, Apple Valley and Rogers, as Buffalo, Burnsville, Coon Rapids and Rochester Mayo all transition to 5A. Stewartville, the two-time defending 3A champions, are moving up to 4A this season. The Minnesota State High School League, which released the districts, requires teams play a full district schedule to be playoff-eligible. After sub-district games are set, the schedule will be filled out and cross-over games between districts can be played upon permission being granted. Advertisement Here are the complete 2025 and 2026 districts and sub-districts for Minnesota high school sports. MORE HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS NEWS:

Western Sydney advocates criticise proposed budget, lack of art at Metro West
Western Sydney advocates criticise proposed budget, lack of art at Metro West

ABC News

time26-06-2025

  • Business
  • ABC News

Western Sydney advocates criticise proposed budget, lack of art at Metro West

While Sydney Metro was lauded for its architecture and design, Western Sydney lobby groups have voiced their fury that Metro West may not receive the same treatment. According to Business Western Sydney and the Committee for Sydney, an average of $700 million was spent on the eight upscale stations in central Sydney but the Minns government plans to spend about $400 million per station on Metro West line. The government has not yet disclosed any figures for the Metro West stations. A report commissioned by Business Western Sydney and the Committee for Sydney has argued the Metro West should not to be "a second-class project". The report features analysis from 40 experts in architectural design, infrastructure and finance. They concluded that the biggest costs for the stations "are not flashy finishes or artistic flair" and that public art "improves community engagement". "Cutting expenditure on public art will not materially reduce the costs of the Metro West stations," the report read. "Despite being seen as a luxury, investment in public art is usually a very small percentage of the overall budget. The report said "technical specifications for steel and concrete are what really shape budgets" and that the highest engineering standards are "not necessarily the most appropriate". The design of the city metro stations, which opened to the public last year, won the NSW architecture medallion at the Australian Institute of Architects' 2025 NSW Architecture Awards. Architecture companies, designers, public art experts and engineering firms shared the accolade. Transport Minister John Graham would not disclose figures for the stations so as to "not compromise taxpayer's interests" as contracts are being organised. "We're doing that business case work at the moment," he said. "That work's underway as we start to issue these contracts. That's good news for these communities along the route" Mr Graham confirmed the government were planning to control spending for the entire metro network. "We're planning to keep a tight grip on the costs of Sydney Metro across the board, that's true of the three lines," he said. "We did have billions of dollars of costs' blown out under the former government, and we simply can't afford to do that. "We do have to deliver these train services, but we've also got to have an eye to what taxpayers need as well." Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said Western Sydney residents were "entitled to stations that are as beautiful as those in eastern Sydney". "The government should be doing everything it can to make sure that it's not short-changing people in Western Sydney," he said. "I have to caution about reducing engineering standards. Safety and reliability are paramount — we want beautiful stations but I don't want unreliability." Parramatta Mayor Martin Zaiter blasted the government, questioning why "Western Sydney [is] always treated differently than eastern Sydney". "Let me be clear, we have today more people that live to the west of Parramatta that we do to its east," Cr Zaiter said. "Metro West should not be a second-class project in relation to design and user experience. David Borger, executive director of Business Western Sydney and former NSW Labor politician, said the group wanted to see stations in the west built to the same standards. "The new metro stations in the city really are cathedrals, and I guess what we're saying is we don't want chapels, we want cathedrals as well," he said on Thursday. "Good design doesn't cost a fortune, good design can be incorporated into the basic concept of each of these stations," he said. "A lot of the cost blowout has to do with engineering standards. "We've picked the highest, the least risky engineering standards from around the world, that probably has added hugely to the cost of metro, but the design itself is not that expensive." Eamon Waterford, chief executive of the Committee for Sydney, said their research found "targeting the architectural design of the public art and stations will not reduce the cost, but we will reduce the quality". He said that "you can reduce the engineering standards whilst delivering a long-term, 100-year project and reducing costs". "That doesn't come at the expense of design quality. It doesn't come at the expense of safety. It just comes at the expense of standards that are probably over-engineered."

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