Dunn County solid Waste and Recycling has announced it will stop handling waste and recycling on January 1st. In order to save the program, Dunn County has proposed raising the costs to municipalities from $23 per person to $60 per person in 2021 to help cover the increasing costs. Twenty of the Twenty Six municipalities decided to opt of of the program. Starting in January municipalities in Dunn County will have to integrate their own services or have their residents find their own solution to disposal of items that are to be recycled and are not allowed in Wisconsin Landfills.
So far things are going smoothly for students and staff at Durand Arkansaw Schools. Durand Arkansaw School Superintendent Greg Doverspike says students have been doing a good job of social distancing in the hallways during class changes.
The Durand City Council will be discussing expanding the 3rd Avenue East reconstruction project to include all of Drier Street and Laneville Avenue. The Drier Street Project would included a new looped water mains to allow for back up service to the Laneville area in case of a water main break. Durand Mayor Partrick Milliren says the Lanevelle project would address replacing the road and other infrastructure. Milliren Says the city could use general obligation bonds or revenue bonds to help pay for those projects.
About half of all people who've tested positive for the coronavirus this month in Eau Claire County are tied to U-W Eau Claire. The city-county health department says 100 of the nearly 200 of the new coronavirus positives are either students or faculty. Local health officials say it's not surprising that more people are testing positive, nor is it surprising that more people are testing positive at the university.
Municipal clerks in Wisconsin have until next Thursday to mail absentee ballots to voters, but they can’t do that right now. The Wisconsin Supreme Court issued an order Thursday that no absentee ballots can be mailed until it says okay. Green Party presidential candidate Howie Hawkins had asked the court to make a ruling on the Wisconsin Elections Commission decision that he can’t be on the November ballot. The state Supreme Court says no ballots should go out until it rules what names can be listed.
After two weeks, the Wisconsin National Guard has completed its mission in Kenosha. Soldiers were there to help the city deal with protests and riots after the shooting of Jacob Blake. Five hundred helped keep things as quiet as possible. National Guard members from Arizona, Alabama, and Michigan arrived to help support local authorities. Governor Tony Evers says he doesn’t regret turning down a White House offer to send Department of Homeland Security troops. He says he had seen how that turned out in Portland, Oregon.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is canceling in-person classes and putting two residence halls under quarantine. While making the announcement, Chancellor Rebecca Blake pointed to a COVID-19 positive test rate that topped 20 percent the last two days. All in-person classes are canceled through Saturday, with remote learning getting underway Monday, then lasting two weeks. All students in Sellery and Witte Residence Halls have been ordered to quarantine in place. Despite a call to do so from Dane County Executive Joe Parisi, Blank decided the university has enough quarantine space to handle sick students without sending them home.
The University of Minnesota Athletics Department is cutting three men's sports programs due to financial and sustainability issues. U of M President Joan Gabel and A-D Mark Coyle announced that men's track and field, tennis, and gymnastics will be discontinued at the completion of their 2020-21 season, pending approval of the Board of Regents. The open letter said, "we determined that Athletics is no longer able to financially or equitably sustain 25 varsity programs." The U of M is also implementing a "Personnel Cost-Reduction Plan" which includes pay cuts and furloughs. COVID-19 and the cancellation of falls sports are blamed for a projected 75-million-dollar deficit.
A surge of positive COVID-19 test results has Public Health Madison and Dane County sending a disturbing message: If you live or work in downtown Madison, just assume you’ve been exposed to the virus. Health officials are urging those people to start monitoring themselves for symptoms. More than 900 cases were confirmed in Dane County in the last week alone and 70 percent of them involved U-W students or staff members. Doctors point out that the university community isn’t an island and members interact with the whole city.
Census officials in northern Wisconsin say they're lagging behind in getting responses from residents. Census spokesman Bob Giblin tells WJFW TV that Oneida, Price and Vilas Counties are all at under a 50 percent response rate so far. Giblin chalks that up to a lack of reliable internet access in the Northwoods. Door to door gathering continues, and residents are urged to either fill out their census online or talk with the census taker when they show up.
More than a half-million people in Wisconsin are waiting on their unemployment checks. The Department of Workforce Development says 693-thousand jobless claims are still being processed. Some of those claims date all the way back to March. D-W-D isn't offering an explanation for the delay, but in the past, it's blamed out-date computers and a flood of unemployment claims.
Flags will be flying at half-staff across Wisconsin Friday in remembrance of the nearly three-thousand lives lost in September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. Governor Tony Evers said, "on the 19th anniversary of September 11th, we pay tribute to the those who lost their lives, the survivors and surviving family members and loved ones, and the first responders, volunteers, and other countless heroes who responded during a time of great need." Friday is also the State Day of Service. Evers is encouraging residents to find service opportunities in their neighborhoods and communities.
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