Overview
- Adams went to Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday to speak at a public meeting supporting a PNK Group proposal to build a data center on 209 acres of former paper‑mill land beside the Wisconsin River.
- The meeting drew a much larger crowd than expected, forcing organizers to move from an 80‑person room to a 248‑seat hall and prompting more than 50 protesters outside with signs.
- Attendees booed and heckled Adams and PNK's chief development officer Anton Voronkin, with residents shouting objections about water use, generators, noise, heat and sewer discharge.
- Voronkin acknowledged that PNK Group has not previously built a comparable facility, a point residents cited as a key reason for distrust of the project's technical and operational plans.
- No permits or final approvals have been reported; local leaders say more public review is required and the dispute links questions about environmental impacts to scrutiny of Adams' post‑mayoral consulting role and past legal controversies.