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State billionaires’ wealth skyrocketed during the pandemic
Wisconsin’s eight richest residents have seen their wealth grow by 50% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new advocacy group analysis reports. Their good fortune makes a strong case for provisions in the federal budget reconciliation bill that would boost taxes on individuals with annual incomes of more than $400,000, says Citizen Action […]
First contract talks will be next test for Colectivo, employees
After almost a year and a half fighting for union representation, Colectivo Coffee employees who organized the campaign now have a new challenge: getting their first contract. Their concerns will include proper maintenance for equipment in the Colectivo stores, the warehouse and the roasting operations, according to Hillary Laskonis, a Milwaukee Colectivo barista who became […]
COVID-19 appeared earlier in Wisconsin, elsewhere than previously thought
A Wisconsin woman who died in January 2020 is one of six people across the country whose deaths have been retroactively linked to COVID-19, suggesting the coronavirus turned up in parts of the country earlier than originally believed. The San Jose Mercury News reported that death certificates in six states “have been quietly amended to […]
State establishes $250M grant programs for local development, health care projects
Wisconsin will spend $250 million in pandemic relief money on two programs to help support housing, transit, child care and health care projects. The priority will be underserved communities in the state, Gov. Tony Evers announced Tuesday. Local and tribal governments will be able to apply for the grants, to be awarded in a competitive […]
With new tally, union gets majority vote at Colectivo Coffee
A majority of Colectivo Coffee employees in Wisconsin and Illinois voted in favor of union representation after seven additional ballots were counted on Monday. After nearly five months of delays, federal officials opened seven previously unopened ballots in the union representation election on Monday, all of them favoring the union. The result shifted the tally […]
Wisconsin rolls out new reward to encourage people get a COVID-19 vaccine
Wisconsin residents for whom a deadly pandemic wasn’t sufficient incentive to get a COVID-19 vaccination now will get a $100 reward for getting their first shot — but only for the next two weeks. Gov. Tony Evers and the Department of Health Services (DHS) announced Monday that people who receive the first dose of a […]
Advocates pitch for more reforms to boost health care access
Cancer and Congress catapulted Laura Packard into being a health care activist. Packard credits the insurance coverage she had through the Affordable Care Act with saving her life. When the Republican majority in the House of Representatives voted to repeal the health insurance law shortly after her 2017 diagnosis with stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Packard […]
People with weak immune systems can now get a third COVID-19 shot
As a COVID-19 resurgence drives home how vaccinations are helping prevent thousands of Wisconsin residents from getting sick, one vulnerable group of people is now eligible for some additional protection. The state Department of Health Services (DHS) is recommending that people with weaker immune systems get an additional shot to help bolster the vaccine’s effectiveness. […]
New data show the cost of forgoing the COVID-19 shot
Wisconsinites who weren’t fully vaccinated for the coronavirus were nearly three times as likely to get infected in July as fully vaccinated people, according to new state health data released Thursday. And those who were less than fully vaccinated were nearly four times as likely to need hospital care and more than 10 times as […]
After plant closing, company settles DOJ lawsuit for workers’ lost wages
As many as 140 former employees of a Merrill factory that made windows and doors will share in more than $650,000 to compensate them for the wages they lost when the company shut down in December 2019 without notice. Attorney General Josh Kaul announced on Thursday that the Department of Justice had settled a lawsuit […]
Right-wing law firm challenges new Dane County mask order
A law firm that has helped to block state public health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is now going after local restrictions as well. The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the mask order that Public Health of Madison & Dane County Director Janel Heinrich issued this […]
Dane County issues new mask requirement as COVID-19 climbs again
With local COVID-19 cases continuing to spread, Madison and Dane County officials announced a new mask mandate Tuesday aimed at curbing transmission of the coronavirus while urging people who haven’t yet been vaccinated to do so. The new order takes effect Thursday and will last for 28 days, said Janel Heinrich, director of Public Health […]