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‘We’re All In’ goes another round for small business aid
There’s a new short-term respite coming for small businesses struggling to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. A second round of “We’re All In” grants for affected businesses with under $1 million in annual revenues will be available soon. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC) will begin taking applications next week for 10,000 businesses grants […]
St. Croix County judge lets Evers health emergency and mask orders stand
Wisconsin’s statewide mask requirement, and the broader health emergency under which it was declared, have survived an attempt to throw them out. St. Croix County Circuit Judge R. Michael Waterman on Monday denied a motion seeking a temporary injunction against the emergency declaration as well as the mask order. In his ruling, Waterman rejected the […]
Report: Children’s health coverage continues to fall nationwide
The number of children in the U.S. without health insurance has risen throughout the Trump administration and jumped by 320,000 in 2019, the largest increase in more than a decade, according to a new report issued Friday. Wisconsin children fared better, according to data collected for the report, which was produced by the Center for […]
Senate Dems to GOP leaders: Come back in session
State Senate Democrats have called on the Republican leaders of the state Legislature to come back in session for the first time in 178 days and take up legislation in response to the state’s escalating cases of COVID-19. “Our state is in crisis, worsened by your inaction and by your desire to file lawsuits instead […]
As COVID infections hit a new record, the political standoff continues
As Wisconsin set a new record for the COVID-19 pandemic Thursday, the state government polarization over public health remained as entrenched as the coronavirus appears to be. For the first time since testing began for the virus, the number of newly confirmed cases in a single day reported by the state Department of Health Services […]
Report sets agenda for supporting Wisconsin caregivers
People who care for the elderly or for people with disabilities need help themselves, says a new report. If being a caregiver is their job, they need much better pay and benefits. If they’re volunteers caring for family members as a labor of love, they need stronger support — including financially. The recommendations come in […]
State will use backup facility for COVID-19 patients for the first time
As hospitals around the state report they are overwhelmed with patients, a backup facility at State Fair Park in suburban Milwaukee will begin taking COVID-19 patients next week. Gov. Tony Evers announced Wednesday that the Alternate Care Facility (ACF) will open Wednesday, Oct. 14, to receive patients who are less severely ill, most likely after […]
New order limits mass gatherings to reduce COVID spread
With COVID-19 infections three times what they were a month ago, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers instituted a new limit on indoor mass gatherings Tuesday in another effort to curb transmission of the coronavirus. The new order, issued by state Department of Health Services (DHS) Secretary-designee Andrea Palm under Evers’ direction, officially takes effect Thursday, Oct. […]
Lawyers argue for, against latest Wisconsin health emergency
Lawyers for the state of Wisconsin and for a conservative law firm that wants to throw out Gov. Tony Evers’ newest health emergency declaration related to the COVID-19 pandemic argued Monday over whether the order should be blocked immediately — and with it, the state’s mandatory mask requirement. Evers’ emergency declaration that took effect Aug. […]
Newspaper tells the stories of the victims in Kenosha protest shootings
The Washington Post has published an in-depth account of the Aug. 25 Kenosha shootings in which an Illinois teenager killed two men and wounded a third — going deeper than the heavily politicized narratives of the incident. The Post’s reporting about the third night of demonstrations following the police shooting of Jacob Blake focuses on […]
Lt. Gov. Barnes: To stop the spread, change our behavior
With public health almost entirely dependent on voluntary behavior and few enforced restrictions, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes telephoned Friday to get the word out: Wisconsin residents need to do what it takes to stop the spread of COVID-19. “We’re encouraging extreme caution for people across the state,” Barnes said in a phone interview. Compared especially […]
‘We need to have compliance’
With COVID-19 continuing to soar in Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers warned Wisconsin residents on Thursday that they need to stay home as much as possible. A little more than six months ago, he clothed the same preventive measure in an executive order that carried the weight of law. But since the state Supreme Court stripped […]