Local-Regional News November 11

Pepin County has recorded its first death from complications of covid-19. In a new release yesterday, the Pepin County Health Department said a man in his 80's tested positive for covid-19 last week and died from complications of the disease. The health department will not release any further information. To date, 275 people in Pepin county have been diagnosed with Covid-19 wth approximately 70 currently active cases.

The City of Mondovi has a new budget for 2021. Last night the city council passed a budget that did not increase the city's portion of property taxes and would result in a decrease of about $14 per 100,000 in valuation. The council also decided to not approve a recommendation to change the building for the new waste water treatment plant and have a heavy duty rail crane installed the length of the building at an additional cost of $24,000. The current building plans have that crane for only ½ of the building.

The Mondovi School District is the latest district to stop in person learning and go to a virtual format. In a letter to families dated November 9^th the district cited the upward trajectory of covid-19 and an increased difficulty of providing a robust face to face learning experience as the reasons to start the virtual learning. Students have the rest of the week off while staff prepares for the virtual format, and students will be allowed to pick up curriculum on Friday. The virtual learning will begin on November 16^th and run until January 18^th.

Mayo Clinic Health System says its hospitals in northwest Wisconsin are full. A Tuesday afternoon news release said 100 percent of beds are full, and 300 workers are on work restrictions due to COVID-19 exposure, at the hospitals in Barron, Bloomer, Eau Claire, Osseo and Menomonie. Of those patients, 83 have COVID-19. Mayo Clinic Health System officials are (quote) "pleading for everyone’s help to wear a mask and follow all public health guidelines to limit the spread of this disease."

The Barron County Health Department is asking hunters making plans to travel to Barron County for the gun dear season to reconsider those plans. According to the health department , Barron County experienced 531 new cases of covid 19 in the last 7 days, and health officials are concerned the virus will spread among hunters at deer camps. If you do decide to go to deer camp, the department recommends wearing masks, limiting the number of gatherings with other groups, and avoid sharing plates, glasses or utensils.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is asking lawmakers for an additional one-point-six-billion dollars over the next two-year budget.  Deputy state superintendent Mike Thompson says the money would pay for initiatives in special education, equity, and mental health aid.  Although Thompson calls the budget request “realistic,” at least one budget official says state agencies will be doing well to get close to the funding they received this year.  State Representative John Nygren says schools are a priority, but he doesn’t want to raise taxes.

 A political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison says the Trump campaign’s challenge to the election result isn’t likely to succeed.  The president continues to question the ballot counting process.  Professor Howard Schweber says he doesn’t think there is a credible basis for any of the Trump campaign’s allegations because there has never been proof of widespread election fraud at any time in the last several decades.  Schweber says previous Wisconsin recounts have always failed to shift the outcomes for candidates challenging the votes.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has issued an executive order urging all state residents to limit their public interactions.  Evers delivered a statewide address Tuesday night telling people to essentially – stay home.  Wisconsin hospitals are running out of I-C-U beds due to the exploded numbers of COVID-19 infections.  Evers isn’t requiring the limits.  Calling the situation a “crisis,” the governor was emphatic while making his case on the same day the state set a new record with seven-thousand-73 positive test results.  The 66 deaths reported Tuesday are also a high-water mark for Wisconsin.  At the current rate of infection, the state's 128 available I-C-U beds would be filled in the next seven days.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced new restrictions today (Tuesday) meant to combat surging cases of COVID-19 in Minnesota.  Starting Friday, in-person service will be cut off at bars and restaurants at 10 p-m.  There will also be restrictions on bar seating and counter service and limits on bar games like darts and pool.  Wedding receptions and similar events are also facing new capacity restrictions with a limit of 50 people starting on November 27th, and going down to 25 people after December 11th.  The Walz administration is also recommending people limit their private gatherings to ten people, whether inside or outside, and to participants of no more than three households.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is urging hunters to submit deer samples for chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing.   Conservation officers are asking hunters to drop off the head of any deer one-year or older at a sampling station.  The D-N-R says testing is crucial to managing the always-fatal disease and they need Minnesotans to participate.  C-W-D testing is voluntary this year to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmissions among hunters.  Officials say every sample counts and it gives them information about where the disease is.  So far, 94-thousand-397 deer have been taken in  Minnesota this fall.

All 72 counties in Wisconsin have to complete their canvassing of the votes before a recount can be requested.  Only five have finished the job so far.  President Trump tweeted Monday that the recount effort “looks good,” promising his followers it “will happen soon.”  Counties have until a week from today (Tuesday) to finish their canvassing of the vote.  Wisconsin Elections Commission spokesperson Reid Magney says it’s likely some counties won’t be done until the last day.  Then, once the last county’s paperwork is submitted, the president has until 5:00 p-m the following business day to formally request the recount

 Republican lawmakers are demanding answers from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services over its failure to expand the SeniorCare program to include coverage for vaccines.  The law was changed last spring.  Those lawmakers call the delay an “unnecessary roadblock for seniors looking to protect themselves.”  The department says it has been waiting for some needed federal funding for the coverage.  The co-chairs of the Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee have written a letter to D-H-S Secretary Andrea Palm sharing their concerns.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is among those urging the U-S Supreme Court to uphold the Affordable Care Act.  The justices today (Tuesday) hear oral arguments on Republicans' push to abolish it.  Ellison says we're "fighting as hard as we can to make sure that an illness doesn't mean economic ruin and bankruptcy... to make sure that people get protection from pre-existing conditions -- particularly at this moment when COVID is biting so hard."  In 2017 Republicans eliminated the tax penalty for not having health insurance.  G-O-P states, led by Texas, argue with zero penalty that tax is unconstitutional and the entire Affordable Care Act should also be eliminated.  Democrats warn that more than 20-million Americans will lose their health care coverage if the A-C-A is overturned.

 Federal agents have intercepted more than 41-thousand dollars’ worth of counterfeit cell phone products at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.  Agents with the U-S Customs and Border Protection agency inspected the shipment November 5th.  Investigators say some inconsistencies, poor quality and incorrect packaging led them to check in with a specialist – who told them the items were counterfeit.  The C-B-P says in 2019 alone federal agents seized more than 27-thousand shipments containing bogus goods with a retail value of more than one-and-a-half-billion dollars.

Wisconsin Congressman Tom Tiffany says the federal decision to delist the wolf from the endangered species list is something the agriculture industry has been waiting for. The 7th District Republican says wolf kills of livestock is a problem.  Tiffany has introduced legislation that would put the wolf delisting into law. He's seeking co-signers and expects the bill to get hearings early in the new House session.

 The COVID-19 pandemic is not expected to have an impact on turkey supplies for Thanksgiving.  Minnesota is the nation's top turkey-producing state.  Sarah Anderson of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association says producers have grown smaller birds for  the market this year to accommodate what are expected to be smaller family gatherings.  Anderson says the 2015 bird flu outbreak helped turkey growers prepare for this pandemic.  She says there should be plenty of turkey at local grocery stores for the Thanksgiving holiday.