Northern Public Radio | By Jason Cregier
Published May 8, 2026
This interview was edited for time and clarity. Listen to the full conversation in the link above.)
Jason Cregier (JC): There has been a lot happening in southern Wisconsin lately, so we called on a newsmaker from the area to help break down some of the headlines. Alex Gary is a reporter for the Beloit Daily News and joins us now.
So, Alex, let’s dive right in. Beloit recently named a new city manager. Who is it?
Alex Gary (AG): The man’s name is Daniel Ortiz Hernandez. He has worked in several places around the United States, and that seemed to be the difference between him and the other finalists for the position.
The other finalist was the city manager for Whitewater, which is less than an hour from Beloit, and he had only worked in Wisconsin.
So, it was an interesting choice. Hernandez came from California, worked in Iowa and worked in Texas versus someone who knew the state of Wisconsin and how it operates. I thought it was an interesting decision for Beloit’s city manager position.
JC: The last time we talked, we discussed the possibility of a data center being built near Beloit. Since then, there is also talk about a liquefied natural gas plant coming to Beloit. How are people reacting to that news?
AG: They call it LNG, for liquefied natural gas. It was proposed in early 2025 — or maybe late 2024 — and it has been going through the approval process.
Environmentalists oppose it, but it was not generating much controversy until the data center proposal came along. Now environmentalists are tying the two together, saying, “Look what they’re doing out there.” They built a much bigger power plant in 2020, were approved to add more megawatts to the plant in 2025, and now they want to build an LNG plant.
Read full article here.