The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is released a report on the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the Momentum West region which includes (Eau Claire, Chippewa, Dunn, St. Croix, Pierce, Polk, Barron) – Hardest hit were the family businesses. Universities and large employers furloughed employees. Medical device manufacturers increased production but reported finding it difficult to hire new employees. Homeless shelters and rehabilitation and mental health facilities were short on beds due to social distancing. For the 7 Rivers Alliance (Buffalo, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Monroe, Pepin, Trempealeau, Vernon) – Manufactures reduced capacity are staying at reduced productivity. New automation required highly skilled workers, and the number of those highly skilled workers will not keep pace with need. Commercial property owners “report that there will be a glut of vacant office and commercial space, as people continue to work from home and businesses shed overhead. According to a June Business Impact Survey, businesses in Wisconsin lost over $22.2 million in income .
One Person in dead after a motorcycle vs SUV crash in Wilson Township Wednesday. According to the Eau Claire County Sheriffs Department, an 18yr old Thorp man was traveling southbound on Hwy H and was slowing and beginning to make a left hand turn off of Hwy H when the SUV was struck by a motorcycle traveling northbound on Hwy H driven by a 26yr old Fairchild man. The 26yr old was thrown from the motorcycle and died from his injuries. That accident remains under investigation.
The
3 day Independence Holiday weekend is here and Heidi Stewart from the
Pepin County Health Department is reminding everyone to be safe. Stewart
also reminds residents to remember the ticks are out in full force
and to make sure if your out in the woods to use a repellent and to
check for ticks when you return home.
More
charges are filed against an Eau Claire shooting suspect.
Twenty-two-year-old Kyler Baker was already being held in the
Chippewa County Jail for a shooting last month on Eau Claire’s
north side. Tuesday, fraud and forgery charges were filed
against him in Eau Claire County. Prosecutors say he opened a
checking account in April, deposited five bad checks in May, and then
withdrew 10 thousand dollars. Baker is scheduled to return to
court July 14th for a hearing about the forgery case.
A Rochester woman is pleading not guilty to trying to kill her five children. Thirty-three-year-old Farhio Abdullahi is demanding a jury trial for first-degree premeditated attempted murder. Abdullahi is accused of putting her kids in her car last October and filling it with exhaust fumes until some became ill. She was treated for mental illness last winter and found competent to stand trial two months later. No trial date has been set during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Democratic-controlled U-S House passed an infrastructure package aimed at improving infrastructure, roads and bridges and creating millions of jobs. Wisconsin Congressman Ron Kind voted for the bill saying “Especially during these difficult times, we need to support the spirit of American ingenuity and give Wisconsin workers, families, and communities the tools they need to succeed,” But Minnesota Congressman Collin Peterson voted against the Moving Forward Act Wednesday. Peterson complains that it was bogged down by unrelated spending we cannot afford. The Seventh District Democrat said he's "disappointed partisan politics and a one-sided process have stalled out a desperately needed infrastructure package." He says he's hopeful Senate negotiations will yield a more balanced approach.
A 22-and-a-half million-dollar federal grant will be used by scientists at the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute while it works with the C-D-C on COVID-19 studies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is conducting studies as it anticipates the return of SARS next winter. That could complicate the already-difficult situation with the coronavirus pandemic. Scientists will try to establish an effective means of assessing virus infections, develop testing procedures and improve diagnostics.
Friday will see the start of Operation Dry Water. It's a statewide effort to encourage sober boating. DNR wardens are also part of the stepped up effort over the July 4th Holiday weekend.
The Madison activist charged with extortion has made his first federal court appearance. Prosecutors say Devonere Johnson threatened two businesses on State Street with destruction if they didn’t give him and his fellow protesters free food and drinks. Witnesses say he entered Cooper’s Tavern last month using a bullhorn to speak loudly to customers while he was also holding a baseball bat. Johnson’s case is on hold while the court waits for a federal grand jury indictment.
Two people from Chicago have been arrested in Trempealeau County on Drug Charges. According to the Trempealeau County Sheriffs Department, deputies pulled over a vehicle on I-94 near mile marker 88 for a traffic violation. During the traffic stop, Canine Luke was brought in and alerted deputies to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle. A search revealed 388 grams of Heroin and 88 grams of crack cocaine with a street value of $60,000. 40yr old Jessie Brown and 40yr old Toraus Eason both of Chicago were arrested and taken to the Trempealeau County Jail.
U-S Senator Ron Johnson is co-sponsoring an amendment to replace Columbus Day with a Juneteenth federal holiday. The Wisconsin Republican said, "we support celebrating emancipation with a federal holiday, but believe we should eliminate a current holiday in exchange." Johnson says they chose to scrap Columbus Day so another day off for federal workers "does not put us further in debt." Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19th as the day slavery ended in the U-S. Supporters call it a "second independence day."
The
Wisconsin Supreme Court says it won’t hear arguments in the
controversial voter purge case until September. That seems to
indicate that questions about which names remain on the state’s
voter rolls won’t be answered until after the November presidential
election. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed
suit to force the Wisconsin Elections Commission to remove about 130
thousand people from the list of eligible voters. Most have
moved or failed to answer questions about their addresses that are on
the record. The justices say a ruling on the case likely won’t
be handed down before next year.
Minnesota Senator Tina Smith is touting the U-S-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement (USMCA) that went into effect today (Wednesday). Smith says it adds much-needed trade certainty for Minnesota farmers, businesses, and consumers who have weathered years of uncertain trade policies and are facing a challenging coronavirus pandemic. She says export markets are extremely important to jobs in Minnesota, and "thousands and thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity come because of international trade that our Minnesota businesses engage in." She says the U-S-M-C-A also provides important stability and market access for Minnesota agriculture and other Minnesota products.
A new law taking effect today sends 100-thousand dollars to farm safety efforts in Minnesota. Representative Jeff Brand from Saint Peter points to a number of fatal accidents in the last half of 2019 involving grain bins or carbon monoxide. He says, "Landon Gran passed away about a year ago now. He should be celebrating his graduation from high school, but unfortunately he met his end in mid-August to a grain bin sweep auger." Fifty thousand dollars goes for grants to farmers for safety measures and retrofitting, including modifications to prevent older tractors from rolling over. And there’s 50-thousand dollars for awareness and education. That includes designing a digital app that lets someone remotely power-off a grain storage facility and call for help.
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater wants its students to sign a coronavirus safety pledge when they return to campus in August. Chancellor Dwight Watson said the school wants those students to pledge they will wear a face mask and follow its coronavirus safety plan. Watson admits the university can’t control what students do while they are off-campus, but he says the pledge will apply to on-campus classes and residential buildings. All campuses in the U-W System are welcoming students back this fall.
HealthPartners is permanently closing five clinics in the Twin Cities, plus one in the Saint Cloud area, one in New Richmond Wisconsin and a drug-and-alcohol treatment program in Saint Paul. It comes as patients seek less care from brick-and-mortar facilities amid the COVID pandemic. HealthPartners says it is expanding video visits and other digital capabilities and although some jobs will probably be eliminated, most workers at closed clinics will shift to other locations.
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