Local-Regional News May 22

The Dunn County Fair will be a virtual fair this year. The Dunn County Board passed a resolution ordering the fair to consist only of 4-H and other youth-group related activities that can be conducted remotely and that all other elements of the fair shall be cancelled. Fair organizers said in a statement that the safety of the guests and participants are their highest priority. It will be the first time in 134 years that the fair will not be held. Information on the alternative plans for the fair will be posted on the Dunn County Fair website. The Fair is expected to return in July of 2021.

The Durand-Arkansaw School Board has approved a video graduation ceremony. Durand Arkansaw School Superintendent Greg Doverspike says while the district could have held a ceremony, it would have been under social distancing and limited public access requirements.  All seniors will be receiving a copy of the ceremony on DVD.

The Plum City School District will be holding graduation ceremonies tonight. The District will be airing a graduation video tonight starting at 7pm on the districts Facebook Page. Meanwhile the Mondovi School District is still planing on having a graduation ceremony July 11 at 2pm at the football field. The District will also be holding a graduation parade through Mondovi on May 29^th starting at 4pm.

The Pepin county Board has approved an interim Highway Commissioner. The board appointed Brent Bauer to be the interim commissioner to replace Kris Quandt who has resigned as commissioner effective June 4^th. The County Board will now work on finding a new highway commissioner.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told Wisconsin participants in a virtual roundtable discussion what can be done to help rural communities during the coronavirus pandemic.  Biden, Wisconsin Congressman Ron Kind and others discussed strategies Wednesday.  The group talked about providing aid for community health care centers, bringing adequate testing to less-populated areas, and coming up with an economic relief plan to boost farmers and small businesses as they try to recover financially.

 A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday names 21 state and local Wisconsin officials, alleging that local stay-at-home orders are unconstitutional.  Governor Tony Evers is among the officials named.  The plaintiffs are 17 Wisconsin residents who are taking aim at the local orders that went into effect after the state Supreme Court blocked the statewide Safer at Home order.  Dane County Executive Joe Parisi responded in a Thursday statement saying officials will vigorously defend common sense provisions based on public health guidance to protect people from COVID-19.

The Minnesota State Fair board of managers will meet today to discuss the status of the 2020 fair.  Fair officials have not said yet whether the 2020 Great Minnesota Get-Together will be canceled as a result of COVID-19.  General Manager Jerry Hammer said in April that the health and safety of fairgoers and vendors is always a top priority.  Since 1859, the Minnesota State Fair has only been canceled due to the Civil War, World War 2 and the 1946 Polio epidemic.  The 2019 State Fair drew a record crowd of more than two-point-one million visitors.

 Minnesota's unemployment rate jumped to eight-point-one percent in April and the state shed 360-thousand payroll jobs due to COVID-19.  Oriane Casale (OR'-ee-ahn kuh-SAL') with the Department of Employment and Economic Development indicates that number is probably too low because of the fast economic drop and other factors.  Casale won't hazard a prediction on what May's unemployment number might be "but what I will say is that we would anticipate our unemployment rate to be more in line with what we're seeing nationally."  The U-S jobless rate rose to 14-point-seven percent last month.

As the state's farmers continue to reel after the closures of Wisconsin's largest meat packing companies, efforts are being made to keep their livestock in the food supply. UW-Extension Meat Specialist Jeffrey Sindelar says groups are looking for buyers for all of those animals that would have gone to the major meat packing companies.  He says that the UW is even stepping up at its own processing facilities to try and handle the surplus.

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development reports 140 thousand applications for unemployment benefits are on hold right now. The state agency says it has just opened a new call center to speed up the investigation of those claims. Secretary Caleb Frostman blames the situation on an unprecedented number of claims and staff levels which were inadequate to handle the volume of cases. Frostman says about 125 adjudicators are dealing with the situation now, 100 are about to be brought onboard, and an external vendor will add 200 more to help deal with the backlog

The Wisconsin Elections Commission has delayed a decision on mailing absentee ballot applications to voters who haven’t asked for one.  The commission is expected to bring the matter up again when it meets next week.  Mailing a ballot to every registered voter in the state would cost more than two million dollars.  Democrats and Republicans on the commission disagree on how many people should get the applications.  President Trump has threatened to pull federal funding from states which took the same approach.

 For the first time in 20 years, Triple-A will not issue a Memorial Day Weekend travel forecast.  Triple-A Minnesota spokeswoman Meredith Terpstra says they usually use economic data to create that forecast and it's been undermined with the COVID-19 shutdowns.  She says they expect to make travel projections for the late summer and fall, assuming states ease travel restrictions and businesses re-open.  She expects many people to travel locally or in a neighboring state this Memorial Day weekend.

The Walz administration says it will implement new state employee contracts with a July 1st raise because the Republican-controlled state Senate could not legally strip out negotiated raises by passing a bill in the closing days of the legislative session.  House Deputy Republican Leader Anne Neu calls it “irresponsible” to give raises to those employees when the state has its largest unemployment since the Great Depression and a massive budget deficit.  The head of the Teamsters Local 320 says the union will never re-negotiate a tentative agreement under political threat.

The University of Wisconsin says Dane County’s reopening plan does not take Badger football off the table for the fall. Scott Manley with Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce tweets that Dane County’s slow-rolling, phased-in plan to reopen the city bans sporting events larger than 250 people until there is a coronavirus vaccine. A U-W spokesman says that doesn’t apply to the Badgers. Manley says Dane County’s plan is a massive overreach. UW Athletics officials say they're waiting for guidance from the NCAA before deciding what to do about fall sports.

The Lake Geneva City Council is doing what it can to make this holiday weekend as normal as possible during the coronavirus pandemic.  By a narrow four-to-three vote, the council decided to re-open the beach.  There are strong emotions on both sides of the question.  City officials in Lake Geneva say two beach employees have quit their jobs rather than run the risk of getting sick while dealing with the crowds.