Easter
is this Sunday and health officials are struggling to come up with a
balance between continued physical distancing and allowing people to
celebrate Easter according to their faith. Pepin County Health
Officer Heidi Stewart says health officials do understand its a
special time of year. As
of Thursday evening there was no guidance from the state division of
health regarding easter services.
Starting
next week, Advent Health in Durand will have two new services to
assist residents with health care needs during the covid-19 outbreak.
The tele-medicine app should be working allowing you to meet with
you doctor via zoom and according to Angela Jacobson, Director of
Nursing for Advent Health a virtual nurse will be set up to assist
any patient that tests positive for covid-19. She says the app will
work on your smart phone. The virtual nurse app will be available through the hospital's website or
by calling 877 VIRUS HQ.
Dunn
County Golf Courses will be allowed to open. The Dunn County Health
Department released a statement yesterday saying that the courses can
remain open during the Governor's Safer at home order. However all
clubhouses must remain closed, only members of the course are allowed
and all tee times must be called in ahead of time. The Dunn County
Health Department said the policy will change if courses or golfers
are not following the guidelines.
A
new policy at Menards bars anyone under 16 years old and dogs from
entering their stores. A Menards spokesperson says the move is
in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Customers who look
like they may be 15 or under could be asked to show identification as
well. Signs posted at the stores say children under 16 and pets
should remain in their cars because of the crisis. Prior to the
policy change, pet owners were allowed to bring their dogs into the
stores. The Eau Claire-based chain reduced hours earlier this
month to provide greater time for cleaning and sanitizing.
Menards has also been accused of COVID-19 price gouging by attorneys
general in several states.
A
civil lawsuit claiming cruel and inhuman treatment filed by a victim
of a sexual assault in 2017 against Dunn County, the Dunn County
Sheriffs Department and other law enforcement officers has been
ruled on. Barron County Judge Maureen Boye issued a ruling that Dunn
County and the sheriff's department had proper procedures in place and
dismissed them from the case. The only remaining person in the case
is Ryan Boigenzahn, who was found guilty of 2nd
degree sexual assault in the criminal case.
Wednesday
afternoon in Red Wing, drivers were able to fill up their tanks on
99-cents-a-gallon gas. A spokesperson for GasBuddy-dot-com
calls current prices “an unprecedented event,” pointing to one of
the biggest historical collapses in gas prices ever. Twin
Cities metro gas prices were about a dollar-59 cents-a-gallon, the
lowest they’ve been in nearly two decades. The statewide
average is a dollar-82.
Organizers
of the annual Spring Flood Run between the east metro and Winona
are cancelling this year's event because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Hundreds of Minnesota and Wisconsin motorcyclists were set to
ride along the Mississippi River Saturday April 18th. Money
raised from the run is donated to Gillette Children's Specialty
Healthcare. The event started in 1965 when a dozen people from
the Twin Cities rode to Winona to help sandbag during spring
flooding. The Fall Flood Run is still planned for September.
Long
time Democrat Senator Jennifer Shilling says she's stepping away from
the Legislature. Shilling says that after 20 years in office, it's
time to step back from her role in the Capitol. Her two children are
nearly grown, and Shilling says she'd like to spend more time with
them. Shilling was a state representative before being elected to the
Senate in 2011, and then named as Senate Minority Leader in 2014. She
says she's proud of her role in modernizing healthcare and pushing
for criminal justice reforms while in the legislature.
The
University of Wisconsin-Madison is suspending in-person classes for
more than 300 summer courses. That means the university is
expanding its online offerings. The change is being made due to
the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Thursday news released.
Online classes have been offered for the Summer Term for more than 10
years. School officials say the scholarship deadline for the
summer courses has been extended to May.
The
Minnesota Senate is approving 47-and-a-half-million dollars from the
COVID-19 Response Fund to purchase ventilators and N-95 face masks.
Majority Leader Paul Gazelka says the funding for the supplies is
ready and available, "and I encourage the Walz administration to
make these purchases as soon as possible, knowing that other states
and nations are needing the same items we do.” Expenditures
from the fund must be reviewed and approved by the legislature within
24 hours.
A
federal judge has ordered that Wisconsin voters be given an extra six
days beyond Tuesday's election, to submit absentee ballots. U.S.
District Judge William Conley said earlier this week he would not
postpone the election despite his misgivings about public health from
COVID-19 concerns. The deadline for voters to get absentee ballots to
clerks had been 8 p.m. on Election Day. Conley's order issued
Thursday extends that to 4 p.m. the following Monday, April 13, and
lifts the witness signature requirement for absentee ballots. He said
voters may state in writing that they could not safely get that due
to coronavirus fears. Conley's order also extends the deadline to
request absentee ballots to 5 p.m. tommorow/Friday.
The
Wisconsin Restaurant Association is letting people know where they
can go to find delivery, takeout or curbside services. It is
offering a database of open and closed restaurants around the state
of Wisconsin. More than one-thousand restaurants are listed to
help hungry people find places to eat while supporting local
businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. The information can
be found online at w-i-restaurant-dot-org.
Republican
legislative leaders would support a temporary waiving of the one-week
waiting period for people getting unemployment benefits. That
change is part of a state aid package in response to the COVID-19
breakout. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly
Speaker Robin Vos criticized the governor Wednesday for failing to
release more information about coronavirus patients in Wisconsin.
The state aid package would supplement the two-point-three billion
dollars coming to Wisconsin as its part of the federal stimulus
package called the CARES Act. Vos says he expects lawmakers to
meet soon to vote on passage of the state aid package.
The
2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee is being postponed
one month due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. The D-N-C
says the event originally set for July 13th to 17th is rescheduled
for the week of August 17th. It is expected to draw 50-thousand
people to southeast Wisconsin with the convention itself to be held
at Fiserv Forum. Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden
told Jimmy Fallon on the "Tonight Show" Wednesday that he
doubted the convention was going to be held in July and thought it
would be moved into August. D-N-C committee C-E-O Joe Solmonese
said, "I’m confident our convention planning team and our
partners will find a way to deliver a convention in Milwaukee this
summer that places our Democratic nominee on the path to victory in
November." Republicans still plan to gather August 24th
through the 27th in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The
latest Marquette Law School poll finds almost one-in-10 Wisconsin
residents have lost their job because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Another 22 percent say their hours have been cut or they are working
less. Poll takers found a majority of the respondents support
the way President Trump and Governor Evers are combating the virus.
The
U-S Census Bureau says Wisconsin and Minnesota are doing it again.
The two upper Midwest states are virtually tied at the top for the
nation’s highest share of households responding to the 2020
census. A little over 46 percent of the households in both
states had answered the short questionnaire as of Census Day,
Wednesday. The national average is 38 percent. Census
takes are scheduled to start knocking on doors May 28th, but the
coronavirus pandemic could delay that effort. Washington,
Calumet, Ozaukee and Waukesha counties have the highest response
rates in the country at just over 55 percent.
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