Advent Health continues to distribute the Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine to group 1A which includes Health Care personnel and residents of Long Term Care Facilities. Angela Jacobson, Director of Emergency Preparedness for Advent Health Durand says the facility is the primary vaccinator for Pepin and Buffalo Counties. Once phase 1A is completed, the next phase will include essential front line workers and those aged 75 and over.
The City of Durand has received nearly $30000 in grants from the state of Wisconsin to assist in covering expenses related to Covid-19. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says the money will help the city nearly cover all of its expenses. The City also received $18000 in grants that the towns of Durand, Frankfort, and Waterville wanted to be directed to the Ambulance and Fire Services.
The University of Wisconsin System's surge testing for COVID-19 will be ending in just a few weeks, and until then, UW System officials have their sights set on administering between 80,000 to 100,000 more tests. Since November, residents have been able to receive tests at UW Campuses including Stout, River Falls, and Eau Claire. UW-System Interim President Tommy Thompson urges all Wisconsinites to utilize this program and get a test, especially if you've spent time outside of your small circle this holiday season. Those testing sites are open through Jan. 23.
A man from northwestern Wisconsin faces a charge of first-degree intentional homicide. Clayton Lauritsen is accused of shooting another man to death on December 28th during a likely road rage incident. Investigators say Lauritsen admitted he shot 45-year-old Lauritz Robertson to death. Robertson died before he could be taken to a hospital. Barron County prosecutors filed the charges against the Cumberland man last week. His cash bond was set at 75-thousand dollars.
Congressman Mark Pocan says he won’t run for the U-S Senate in the 2022 election. The Wisconsin Democrat made the formal announcement Monday. He would be seeking to replace Republican Ron Johnson – who hasn’t formally made an announcement about his future but has said in the past that he didn’t plan to run for re-election. Pocan says he would be less effective if he gave up his seniority in the House to move to the Senate. He’s currently a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee and Pocan says his seniority means he can deliver results there.
Prosecutors in Kenosha County will not charge the Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake in the back seven times. District Attorney Michael Gravely said, "no Kenosha police officer, in this case, will be charged with any criminal offense based on the facts and the laws." Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Blake as he tried to enter his S-U-V. Blake's three sons were in the car at the time. Witnesses say Blake was trying to break up a fight between two women when officers approached him. Wisconsin state officials called out the National Guard in case there are protests over the decision not to charge Sheskey. Gravely also announced that no charges will be filed against Jacob Blake.
Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature are fast-tracking a COVID-19 relief bill opposed by Governor Tony Evers. The Assembly could vote on its as soon as Thursday, but the Senate following soon after. It would become the first piece of legislation passed this session. Evers is expected to veto because it isn’t the compromise he and other Democrats were seeking. They don’t like a provision giving the Legislature control over future federal COVID-19 funding and a second provision stopping local officials from closing businesses due to a spike in cases for longer than two weeks at a time.
The state’s public health officials are asking for patience while they are criticized for a rollout of the coronavirus vaccine that isn’t as organized or fast as it could be. Governor Tony Evers and officials with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services are defending the process so far. Effective Monday, more than 266-thousand doses of the vaccine had been shipped to Wisconsin and fewer than 86-thousand had been administered. Republican state Senator Alberta Darling says she wants to know what’s is causing the delay. She says Wisconsin’s Democratic governor is “on the verge of yet another disaster.”
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says the Wisconsin State Capitol is the “People’s House,” again. The Capitol building has been closed to the public since March 25th due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Department of Administration made that move. Lawmakers passed a joint resolution Monday, on the first day of the legislative session, re-opening the building to everyone. Vos says Democratic Governor Tony Evers can handle access to his office any way he wants, but the Legislature is “committed to public access and the safe re-opening of our state.” Capitol tours were canceled last March. Monday’s news release says nothing about when those tours might resume.
The Illinois teen accused in the deadly shootings of two Black Lives Matter protesters in Kenosha is pleading not guilty to all charges. Eighteen-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse made a virtual court appearance today (Tuesday) where he entered not guilty pleas to the homicides of Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum and the attempted homicide of volunteer medic Gaige Grosskreutz. The defense claims Rittenhouse was acting in self-defense when he shot the men protesting the Kenosha police shooting of Jacob Blake in late August. The final pretrial hearing for Rittenhouse is March 10th and jury selection is scheduled to begin March 29th.
Minnesota Farm Bureau president Kevin Paap says one of the things he's learned during the COVID-19 pandemic is the importance of reliable broadband, especially in rural areas of the state. Paap says "it was important before, but when you've got one, two parents working from home, you've got multiple children many times learning from home, we really understood the importance of high speed having that width in broadband." More than 150-thousand Minnesota households still don’t have access to high-speed broadband internet. Paap says we need to work together at the local, state and national levels to make sure everyone who needs it can get it.
There's a disagreement between Republicans and Democrats on whether the state should provide additional aid to workers and businesses affected by the pandemic. This is day one of Minnesota's 2021 legislative session. Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said, "I don't know that I expect another extension of unemployment benefits. We passed legislation in December to do that." Gazelka also said more help for businesses will be difficult due to a billion-dollar deficit. House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler says it's "pretty callous to think that we can just step back and do nothing because we think that our budget deficit will get in the way. We have to help people when they need it."
A half-million-dollar state grant will cover the cost of moving some coal piles located at the Port of Green Bay. Brown County is in the process of buying the former W-P-S Pulliam Plant property where the coal is located. The county wants to move the coal piles away from the downtown area as it works to expand the port’s economic activity. The W-P-S plant went off-line four years ago. The 40-acre parcel of land is located at the mouth of the Fox River.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says there will be two management zones for gray wolves in the state. The wolves were delisted as an endangered species Monday. The northeastern part of Minnesota will have more protections for the wolves, while the southern two-thirds will have more flexibility. State law allows anyone to kill a wolf that is threatening human life. Minnesota reportedly has the largest gray wolf population among the lower 48 states – about 27-hundred living across 40-thousand square miles in northern and central Minnesota.
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