Author

Erik Gunn

Erik Gunn

Deputy Editor Erik Gunn reports and writes on work and the economy, health policy and related subjects, for the Wisconsin Examiner. He spent 24 years as a freelance writer for Milwaukee Magazine, Isthmus, The Progressive, BNA Inc., and other publications, winning awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, beat coverage, business writing, and commentary.

Welding sparks

Work-Share takes off with federal COVID-19 changes

By: - May 26, 2020

A state program that allows Wisconsin employers to keep more people working during business downturns, with the help of the unemployment compensation system, has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the Work-Share program, employers who might otherwise lay off workers to cut expenses during a slowdown can keep some staffers working on part-time schedules. Employees […]

Workers wearing face masks (By cotton bro via Pexels) in front of a fake Mona Lisa wearing a face masks all dressed in white

Worker safety takes center stage in pandemic

By: - May 22, 2020

COVID-19 infections continue to dog workplaces, challenging local and state health officials while sickening employees. In Kenosha, an unconfirmed number of infections among workers at Amazon’s two facilities located northwest of the city’s downtown have vexed the county health agency. And on Thursday, a coalition of advocacy groups urged Wisconsin lawmakers to adopt a series […]

State announces $100M in aid for nursing homes, other health services

By: - May 21, 2020

Nursing homes, home health and community health services and emergency medical services will share in $100 million in federal aid tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Tony Evers announced Thursday. The funds are the latest announced from Wisconsin’s allotment under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The money is intended to […]

Wisconsin farm cornfield and landscape -- Image by David Mark free use from Pixabay

CARES funding announcements show governor is moving on

By: - May 21, 2020

Putting aside a legislative impasse over reconfiguring the state’s defunct Safer at Home order, Gov. Tony Evers this week has been rolling out a series of initiatives to aid sectors of the state economy damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. On Wednesday afternoon, the governor’s office announced $50 million in direct payments to Wisconsin farmers and […]

Urban apartment building

Strapped renters get state help from COVID-19 funds

By: - May 20, 2020

In the latest distribution of Wisconsin’s share of federal COVID-19 relief aid, low-income Wisconsin renters who have lost income because of the pandemic will get financial help to pay back rent, security deposits, and related assistance. Gov. Tony Evers announced the $25 million Wisconsin Rental Assistance Program, funded from the state’s allotment under the Coronavirus […]

Testing

Evers announces $1B COVID-19 response; OCI tells insurers tests are free

By: - May 19, 2020

Wisconsin is putting more than $1 billion in federal funds into testing for COVID-19 infections, contact tracing to track the spread of the disease, and other measures to respond to the pandemic, Gov. Tony Evers announced Tuesday. The $1.17 billion investment comes from Wisconsin’s share of the funds spent by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, […]

Hundred-dollar bills

State unveils grants for small businesses affected by COVID-19

By: - May 19, 2020

After 19 years of growth, including an expansion that grew their workforce to about 50 people, LuLu Café & Bar in Milwaukee hit a wall when COVID-19 came to Wisconsin. “We were open seven days a week for lunch and dinner,” says Cameryne Roberts, who co-owns the establishment with Sarah Jonas. “Since the whole shutdown, […]

Carcasses in a meat processing plant

Baldwin continues focus on meat industry

By: - May 15, 2020

In the latest of several actions by Sen. Tammy Baldwin to pressure the federal government for closer regulation of the meatpacking industry, the Wisconsin Democrat signed on Friday to a letter calling on Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to address worker safety. The letter, authored by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and signed by 29 Senate Democrats, […]

American Players Theatre scene

Spring Green’s American Players Theatre cancels its Summer 2020 season

By: - May 15, 2020

American Players Theatre is canceling its Summer 2020 season of plays because of continuing concern over the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced Friday. “Right now we’d like nothing more than to be together and gather and take care of each other, but the only thing we can really do is stay apart to keep each […]

Road sign reads Save Lives Now Stay Home #COVID19

Evers: Stay the course, but voluntarily

By: - May 15, 2020

The legal authority to enforce Wisconsin’s Safer at Home order was ripped away by Wednesday’s 4-3 state Supreme Court ruling. On Thursday, the Department of Health Services (DHS) and Gov. Tony Evers vowed to press ahead with a voluntary approach to reopening the state’s economy while seeking to curb the virus responsible for COVID-19. “We […]

"We Love Obamacare" by LaDawna's pics is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Wisconsin joins brief to support Affordable Care Act before Supreme Court

By: - May 14, 2020

Wisconsin once helped lead a lawsuit to throw out the Affordable Care Act, but on Thursday the state Department of Justice announced it was joining a friend-of-the-court brief urging the Supreme Court to keep the law intact. “This effort to take down the Affordable Care Act threatens to cause severe damage to public health and […]

Wisconsin Capitol and the Forward statue wearing a protective face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo credit: Nazan Gillie

Wisconsinites respond to Supreme Court tossing out Safer at Home

By: , , and - May 13, 2020

Late Wednesday afternoon, at the request of Republicans in the Legislature, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned Gov. Tony Evers’ Safer at Home plan, which was ordered by Department of Health Services (DHS) Secretary-designee Andrea Palm. Responses came flooding in from local government, elected officials, businesses and groups responding to the chaos created by the late-in-the-day […]