Governor
Tony Evers direct the Department of Health Services to extend the
safer-at-home order until May 26th.
Pepin County Health Officer Heidi Stewart says testing capacity,
contact tracing and enough PPE Equipment available are needed before the order
could be lifted. There
are some changes to the order that do allow golf courses, and
greenhouses to open under certain conditions.
While
hospitals in Eau Claire are laying off or furloughing staff, Advent
Health in Durand is keeping all its staff in place. Angela Jacobson,
Director of Nursing and Emergency Preparedness at Advent Health says
the hospital has been planning for weeks to find ways to keep the
staff working. Both
clinics are also open normal business hours. If you need to see your
provider, you are reminded to call ahead. Advent Health also has
tele-medicine services available.
With
the safer-at-home order extended until May 26th,
schools will be closed for the rest of the academic year.
Durand-Arkansaw School Superintendent Greg Doverspike says that the
District will keep the virtual learning going for awhile. Doverspike
said that as long as the district is conducting the virtual learning
classes, the food distribution to students will continue.
A
Bald Eagle was rescued by a Pepin County Sheriffs Deputies on
Wednesday. The Sheriffs Department posted the rescue from Pepin
County Deputies Schwennsen and Kavanaugh after they responded to a
report of an injured Bald Eagle along Hwy 10. They were able to
safely capture the injured eagle that was unable to fly and transport
it to meet a volunteer from the University of MN Raptor Center. The
mature adult eagle was believed to have been struck by a vehicle.
The Sheriffs Department says eagles being struck by vehicles is
becoming a common occurrence in Pepin County. No word on the
condition of the eagle.
Republican
leaders in the Wisconsin Legislature say they will respond to the
extension of the governor’s Safer at Home order after they consider
their options. Assembly Republicans say their phones have been
“ringing off the hook” since Governor Evers announced he was
ordering people to stay at home as a way to battle the coronavirus
pandemic through May 26th. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and
Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke wrote in a joint statement:
“While everyone shares the goal of protecting public health, the
governor’s order goes too far.” Senate Majority Leader
Scott Fitzgerald says extending the order another month without a
plan for reopening the state is “simply unacceptable.”
The
Wisconsin Department of Health Services says it could be next week
before anyone who contracted the coronavirus on Election Day would
begin to show symptoms. Before the April 7th spring
elections, D-H-S Secretary Andrea Palm had warned that in-person
voting would lead to more coronavirus cases – and that would lead
to more Wisconsin deaths from the virus.
A
Missouri rancher has been bound over for trial on charges he killed
two Wisconsin brothers. Twenty-five-year-old Garland Nelson
made an appearance in Caldwell County District Court Thursday.
Prosecutors say 35-year-old Nicholas and 24-year-old Justin Diemel
went to Nelson’s farm to collect 250 thousand dollars he owed them
last year. Nelson is accused of killing the two and burning
their bodies, then burying the remains on his property. He made
his court appearance by video after having a preliminary hearing
delayed several times.
A
Dunn County woman is going to prison after being convicted of seven
charges including two counts of sexual assault of a child. Dunn
County Judge James Peterson sentenced Michelle Englin to 44yrs in
prison. In March of 2019, the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children tipped off police about accounts associated with
Wayne Englin that contained child porn. After an investigation they
found incidents of child sexual assault and abuse. Wayne Englin is
serving a 50yrs sentence.
--
Minnesota
Governor Tim Walz joined the governors of Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin,
Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky in announcing that they will work in
close coordination to reopen the economy in the Midwest region.
The governors say they will examine at least four factors related to
COVID-19 when determining it's best to re-open the economy. The
factors are sustaining control of the rate of new infections and
hospitalizations, enhanced ability to test and trace the virus,
sufficient health care capacity to handle a resurgence, and
best practices for social distancing in the workplace. A
stay-at-home order is currently in place in Minnesota through May
4th.
A
Webster woman facing homicide charges made a virtual court appearance
in Burnett County Court Wednesday. Tara Appleton is accused of
causing a man’s death last month. Police were called to the
home where she lived with Preston Decorah March 30th. Decorah
was found lying in the driveway with a head injury. He died the
next day. Appleton is charged with reckless homicide, homicide
by intoxicated use of a vehicle and hit-and-run involving death.
Truax
Field in Madison has been chosen by the U-S Air Force as one of the
new homes for its cutting-edge F-35A fighter jets. Wisconsin
Adjutant General Paul Knapp calls the decision great for the
115th Fighter
Wing based at Truax. Madison city leaders had adamantly opposed
the idea despite its projected 100-million-dollar boost to the
economy in Great Madison. The new jets will begin arriving at
Truax Field in three years. A 900-page environmental impact
statement had to be completed before a choice was made between
Madison and Montgomery, Alabama.
The
Department of Public Instruction will start sending about
five-and-a-quarter-million dollars in aid to Wisconsin school
districts starting May 1st. The money is to be used to help the
districts with the transition to distance learning – where students
learn at home. It is being taken from the Common School Fund
and comes in addition to another 38-million-dollar disbursement from
that fund. All of the state funding is coming in reaction to
the coronavirus pandemic which has shut down all classroom learning.
An
expensive computer system designed to streamline enrollment for
Medicaid and MinnesotaCare has experienced so many errors it has cost
the state 76 billion dollars. That figure represents federal
funding Minnesota has missed out on due to data errors. An
audit released Wednesday says the state needs to do a better job of
preventing those errors and monitoring who has access to sensitive
information. Problems with the computer system have forced
county caseworkers to manually review 37 percent of 624-thousand
cases over a 15-month period.
The
dairy cases at the grocery store will soon look a little different.
Arden Hills-based Land-O-Lakes announced a redesign of its iconic
logo which will not include the image of a Native American woman that
has been a part of their labels for decades. The company says
that the new packaging will include the phrase "Farmer-Owned"
in order to showcase its history as a brand founded and owned by
farmers. C-E-O
Beth Ford did not cite cultural sensitivity as the motivation for the
change in packaging. Land-O-Lakes
will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year.
The
dairy industry is struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic and there's
a push to get help from the federal government. Minnesota Milk
Producers Association executive president Lucas Sjostrum says they pitched a program called the Dairy CORE
program - CORE stands for coronavirus recovery. He says it
would essentially give producers a direct payment because different
parts of the country want different things. The immediate
payment would be based on March milk production. Sjostrum is
hoping the federal government will use money from the COVID stimulus
bill and said "every day that goes by with no action makes the
problem worse for the farmer." Sjostrum says House Ag
Committee Chairman Collin Peterson and the American Dairy Coalition
have endorsed the program.
Wisconsin’s
strip clubs are asking to get some of the federal stimulus. Lawyers
for establishments in Milwaukee and Middleton are suing the U-S Small
Business Administration to try to get some of the 350-billion dollars
available through the Paycheck Protection Plan. The clubs' owners say
dancers need paychecks too. The P-P-P excludes so-called gentlemen's
clubs from getting stimulus help
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