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Teachers, grocery store workers, inmates, mink farmers, and bus drivers are all among those in Wisconsin’s next group to be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, but they are going to have to wait to get their shot. The state’s Department of Health Services yesterday settled on an expansive group for Phase 1b, over a million-and-a-half people are part of the group, that’s nearly one-in-three people in the state. But DHS said no one in Phase 1b should expect to get a

Tuition in the University of Wisconsin System is not going up over the next two years. UW President Tommy Thompson this week said Republican lawmakers have made it clear to him that they will not support a tuition increase. Thompson said he can’t afford to ‘lose’ in this year’s university budget, so he is going to leave the state’s tuition freeze in place. Tuition on UW campuses has been frozen since 2013.

As many as 20 families in Wausau could be paid 500 dollars-a-month for a year as part of a guaranteed basic income study. Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg says the city is one of two in Wisconsin selected to be part of the Mayors for Guaranteed Income study. In addition to getting 500 dollars a month, the families will need to track how they spend their money, where they spend it, and how far it goes. Mayor Rosenburg says she’s trying to figure

The back and forth over a coronavirus relief package in Wisconsin is heading back to the state Senate. Republicans in the Assembly approved the package yesterday, but because they added protections for businesses, schools, and churches the package has to be voted on once again. It’s not clear if Senators will agree. And it’s not likely that Governor Evers will sign the package with the changes that state representatives added.

Wisconsin’s finances just got a billion-dollars better. The state’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau yesterday released a new report that predicts Wisconsin will have an extra billion-dollars at the end of this current budget. Better than expected tax returns and a flood of federal money are driving the increase. Lawmakers who craft the state budget say the extra money will help shield Wisconsin from the economic downturn that other states are seeing because of the coronavirus.

A new CDC study says schools are essentially safe to reopen.  The study reports schools operating in-person have seen “scant transmission of the coronavirus,” especially when practicing social distancing and wearing masks.  The reports added, however, that some indoor athletics have led to infections and should be curtailed for now.  There has been a growing chorus of parent groups nationwide pushing for schools to open their doors.

The number of newly confirmed coronavirus cases today is 13-hundred and-one.  There have been 535-thousand total cases in the state since the beginning of the pandemic.  There were 54 additional deaths reported today, raising the death toll to five-thousand-753.  More than 336-thousand Wisconsinites have been vaccinated against COVID-19. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM WI DHS. On the global stage, the numbers continue to climb. There are now more than 100-million coronavirus cases around the world.  Johns Hopkins University says the U.S.

The next groups to receive the COVID-19 vaccine will include all staff in education and child care as well as medical and long-term care.  The Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced numerous groups today that will qualify to receive the vaccine beginning March 1st.  Officials say 911 operators, utility and communications workers, public transit employees, those involved in the food supply as well as retail workers and non-frontline healthcare workers are also eligible.  More information is available on the Wisconsin DHS website.

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire faculty and student research will be part of an International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Wednesday, Jan. 27. The event at 6 p.m., “Finding Matilda: Uncovering the Life & Death of a Jewish Lithuanian Poet,” is hosted by the Vilna Shul, Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture. The event will include a panel discussion of a 20-minute documentary film about little-known Lithuanian Holocaust victim Matilda Olkin. Dr. Harry Jol, UW-Eau Claire professor of geography, is part of the

Communicable disease, mental health, and other hot topics will be on thevirtual coffee table in February when Chippewa Valley health partners ask the public to pick their top health priorities. A series of online Community Conversations will allow residents of Chippewa and Eau Claire counties to weigh in on key health issues from home, work, or any other convenient location due to the pandemic. COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS Eau Claire County  Tuesday, Feb. 9, 12- 1:30 PM Tuesday, Feb. 9, 6-7:30 PM Wednesday,