Western
Wisconsin is coming together to help local dairy farmers. Area
restaurants started offering cheese curds and milk with each take out
order, others are making donations of Dairy Products to the Durand
Food Pantry. The Pepin County Dairy Promotion Committee purchased
100 gallons of milk for the Food Pantry. Committee Vice President
Kyle Danzinger says it was an eye opener the limits the food pantry
has on dairy. Eau
Galle Cheese also donated 50lbs of cheese curds to the food pantry
that will be given out during regular food distributions. Today from
4-pm, the Durand Food Pantry will have a special milk distribution of
the 100 gallons of milk.
The
Durand City Hall is closed till further notice due to the covid-19
outbreak. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says residents that do need
to meet with city staff can still do so, but they have to call ahead.
Even
though city hall is closed, all city services will continue to
function as normal.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has expanded the list of
symptoms of Covid-19. Pepin County Health Officer Heidi Stewart. Stewart
says the list was expanded because researchers found positive cases
of covid-19 with those symptoms. The new list of symptoms can be found on the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website.
One
local resident wondered how he could help dairy farmers and his idea
has resulted in cheese curds will be added to the lunches of
Durand-Arkansaw School District Students. Dave Schneider heard the
story of Ellsworth Coop asking farmers to retire early to lower the
milk supply and he wondered what a non-farmer could do to help. He
reached out to the School District with an idea. Purchase cheese
curds from Eau Galle Cheese and included them in the lunch of the
students. His idea was told to Karl Kurth at MH Insurance, and Karl
then recruited Prime Realty, Maxville Truck and Repair, and First
Choice Dairy Supply to purchase 150lbs of cheeses curds every week
till the end of the school year. The first 75lbs of curds arrives
Monday and will be included in the lunches the district is handing
out.
Some
Durand kids wanted to spread some cheer for their neighborhood while
many are staying safer at home due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Jessa Hayden, April Boigenzahn, Kaylie Besmer, Gavin Besmer and Ava
Schultz decided to grab the sidewalk chalk and decorate 13th
Avenue in Durand with hopeful messages and happy pictures. The kids
said they wanted to bring some happiness and smiles to everyone
during these challenging times.
La
Crosse County Judge Ramona Gonzalez has rejected a request for a low
bond for a man accused of shooting a police officer. Allen
Kruk’s attorney had asked that his client be released Tuesday so he
would avoid the risk of contracting the coronavirus while he’s in
jail. Kruk was charged last September with attempted
first-degree intentional homicide. The 35-year-old Kurk has
been in the La Crosse County Jail for the last seven months on a
50-thousand-dollar bond.
The
Mayo Clinic is partnering with a Lake City company to provide
personal protective equipment for Mayo employees dealing with
COVID-19. Pepin Manufacturing has an agreement with Mayo to
produce about 200-thousand face shields for the health care provider.
Mayo staff will be supplementing the employees of the Lake City
firm to assemble and package the masks over the next two weeks.
Around 35 to 40 Mayo staff have signed up to work the shifts.
Wisconsin
public health officials are worried that holding Tuesday’s election
in the middle of a pandemic will lead to a spoke of new coronavirus
cases in the near future. Doctors, poll workers, elected
officials and many voters had called for a delay in the spring
primaries. Voters who didn’t receive absentee ballots in time
were forced to choose between voting in-person or staying at home to
avoid possible exposure to the virus. Epidemiologist Kristen
Malecki told broadcast reporters holding the election ran counter to
all scientific evidence.
Governor
Tony Evers says some changes will have to be made before he gives his
approval to Republican-backed legislation aimed at dealing with the
coronavirus pandemic. The bill would give the Joint Finance
Committee the ability to make cuts to the state budget as it sees
fit. It would also eliminate a raise for state workers next
year if Wisconsin’s revenues fall dramatically. Evers says
that provision has to be removed before he would be willing to move
forward with the legislation.
Unemployed
Minnesotans are among the first in the nation to receive benefits
through the two-trillion-dollar coronavirus stimulus package.
The Department of Employment and Economic Development says
those currently receiving state benefits will automatically qualify
for an additional 600 dollars in federal compensation. DEED
Commissioner Steve Grove says the agency has already completed about
200-thousand applications for a total of 115-million dollars. The
week of March 29th is the first week for the extra payment.
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Wisconsin
Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe says problems with
delivery of absentee ballots from Tuesday's election appear to be on
the postal service, and not on the commission's MyVote website. Wolfe
says three tubs of ballots for Oshkosh and Appleton have been
discovered at a mail processing center in Milwaukee. In the Milwaukee
County Village of Fox Point, absentee ballots that were supposed to
be mailed to residents were bounced back to the Village Hall by the
postal service over a two week period.
Minnesota
Governor Tim Walz is extending Minnesota's stay at home order due
to COVID-19 from April 10th to May 4th. Data showed by the
governor puts Minnesota's COVID-19 rate at one of the lowest in the
nation - but Walz was quick to push back on viewing that in a
positive light. He said, "we cannot rest, this thing can
explode overnight if you don't take the proper precautions."
The latest order allows landscape and golf course maintenance workers
to resume operations. Bars and restaurants will remain closed
until May 4th. Health officials say they will not be prepared
to share models that informed this decision until Friday.
Dane
County officials have issued a public health alert after a recent
increase in suspected opioid overdoses. The alert is in effect
to increase community awareness about the growing problem.
Eleven people were treated at hospital emergency rooms for overdoses
during the last month. Authorities say they’re not sure what
is creating the growing number of overdoses.
Grocery
customers should allow a little extra time when they go to a Pick ‘N
Save or Metro Market store. Cincinnati-based Kroger is limiting
the number of people allowed inside its stores as a way to slow the
spread of the coronavirus. The number of people allowed in a
store at the same time will depend on how big the facility is.
The restriction is similar to those in effect at other big-box
retailers like Walmart and Target.
Authorities
in Marathon County report a stabbing has left one man dead and a
second one injured. Both victims were in their 20s, but their
names haven’t been released. Captain Greg Bean with the
Marathon County Sheriff’s Office says there were multiple people
inside the home at the time of the attack. The 9-1-1 call about
a domestic incident was received at about 8:30 a-m Tuesday. A
suspect is in custody after a police pursuit. He was finally
arrested several hours after the incident, but his name hasn’t been
released.
Minnesota
Secretary of State Steve Simon is asking the Minnesota Legislature to
give his office temporary expanded authority to help ensure safe
elections during the COVID-19 pandemic. He introduced his
proposal this morning at the Capitol (Wednesday). Simon is
pushing for expanded statewide mail-in ballots and absentee voting.
He said, "it takes 30-thousand poll workers in Minnesota to put
on an election, and if Wisconsin is any indication and if an election
happens during a pandemic, people will not want to do those jobs,
they will drop out, they will leave and they will quit."
The proposal also calls for a reduction in the number of polling
places and extra time for elections administrators to process
ballots.
An
Eau Claire-based taxi cab company is offering its customers sanitized
rides while they worry about the coronavirus. The Ride Jam says
it uses a special machine that kills COVID-19 and other viruses.
Owner Matt Boetcher says the company is doing this to
provide a safe and luxurious ride to every customer. Boetcher
says each car is cleaned before it picks up another rider.
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