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Health care workers call out lawmakers who want to throw out mask order
Frustrated at threats from Republican lawmakers to overturn Wisconsin’s statewide mask mandate aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19, a group of health care workers and supporters told reporters on the steps of the state Capitol on Thursday that the Legislature should set other priorities. The Thursday press conference was organized by nurses and the […]
Show halls seek financial aid in next COVID-19 relief from Congress
After going dark in the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic and anticipating no more public performances for the rest of 2020, independent concert venues mobilized this week to get public backing for federal legislation to rescue them financially. In Wisconsin, 72 independent venues have signed on to the effort, ranging from the Pabst and […]
Wisconsin National Guard mobilized again to help with Aug. 11 election
With the state in search of as many as 900 poll workers, Wisconsin National Guard members will be deployed to assist with the partisan primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 11, Gov. Tony Evers announced Wednesday. The number of Guard members to be deployed to support the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) hasn’t been determined. The mobilization […]
Raising again their Raging voices
It had been months since they felt they could get together safely. But on Tuesday, Aug. 4, a dozen Raging Grannies decided they could wait no longer to once more raise their voices in song for peace and justice. News of the federal incursion of militarized law enforcement agents in Portland, Ore., propelled them to […]
Evers says schools will make their own decisions for the fall
Gov. Tony Evers reiterated Tuesday that he has no plans to issue a statewide order forbidding schools from holding in-person classes this fall, despite statements to the contrary from Republican lawmakers. Asked at a media briefing Tuesday afternoon about a statement from Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) voicing suspicion that Evers would “flip-flop” on […]
Baldwin jobs bill gets endorsements from state workforce development groups
A U.S. Senate bill to create a long-term program of subsidized jobs for people put out of work by the COVID-19 pandemic has gained support from Milwaukee’s mayor and a collection of Wisconsin social welfare and workforce development organizations. “Millions of Americans are unemployed and struggling to make ends meet, so we need a bold, […]
‘How are we going to fix that? How are we going to move forward?’
Months after lawmakers — and even the state’s top economic development strategist — thought it would be waning, COVID-19 still threatens Wisconsin, as its economy struggles to recover. Industries are “reeling” — and so are other sectors of the state that are critical to its long-term success: education, child care and health care. As grim […]
CDC report: Voting in Milwaukee fell April 7, but COVID-19 cases didn’t rise
The April 7 election doesn’t appear to have sparked a surge in COVID-19 infections in Milwaukee, according to a new report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — but it also saw overall voter participation cut nearly in half and close to an 80% drop in in-person voting in the city […]
Battle lines harden over governor’s new health emergency, mask order
On the day before Gov. Tony Evers’ mandatory mask rule takes effect, reaction swiftly hardened Friday along predictable lines. More Republicans lined up to condemn the governor’s new health emergency declaration and the accompanying mask order, announced Thursday to curb the state’s renewed surge of COVID-19, which takes effect Saturday, August 1. Senate Majority Leader […]
Evers declares new health emergency, mandates masks statewide
With COVID-19 infections steadily rising by as much as a thousand detected cases per day, Gov. Tony Evers declared a new public health emergency Thursday, and with it, announced a statewide mandatory mask order to take effect Saturday, August 1. “A few months ago, Wisconsin was in pretty good shape. The numbers were improving and […]
Will pandemic school be a trade-off between safety and equity?
What are the choices that confront parents, school districts and communities this fall, as the first day of the school year draws near and the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of abating? Barely a month from the first day of the fall semester, some school districts are backing away from starting the year with in-person […]
Frostman: DWD is working to get SSDI claims in motion
Wisconsin workers who also collect federal disability payments and have lost work hours because of COVID-19 should start applying for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), and the state unemployment insurance system will work to move those applications along, the state’s labor secretary told the Wisconsin Examiner on Tuesday. Late Monday, the state Department of Workforce […]