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There will be less parking in downtown La Crosse, but there will be more places to sit and eat. City leaders unanimously approved a plan yesterday to switch on-street parking spaces into outdoor tables for downtown restaurants. The idea, Downtown Mainstreet, Inc.’s Robin Moses says, is to help restaurants who cannot seat that many people inside. Those restaurants can apply for on-street tables now, they will be able to seat people outside til mid-November.

Milwaukee’s Democratic National Convention will be here and gone in a flash. DNC planners yesterday said they will meet for just two hours each night starting August 17th. The convention ends on August 20. That means the total convention time will be about eight hours. Most of the convention will happen online. Planners yesterday did say that Joe Biden’s vice presidential pick will deliver a speech from Milwaukee on the 18th. Biden himself is supposed to speak from Milwaukee the

About 40 thousand kids across Wisconsin do not have a high-performing school within ten miles. A new study from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty looks at what it calls high-performing school deserts. WILL says the shortage is worse in rural parts of Wisconsin, but there are issues in many communities. WILL’s Will Flanders says the study is evidence that more school kids need more school choices. Flanders says expanding school choice in the state will help kids who are stuck in poor-performing schools.

Governor Tony Evers declares a public health emergency today and issues an emergency order mandating the wearing of face coverings.  The order goes into effect on Saturday and requires face coverings for everyone when they are indoors except for in their home.  Exceptions will be made for people with health conditions or disabilities that would stop them from wearing a mask.

President Trump’s idea about possibly delaying November’s presidential election isn’t getting support on either side of the Wisconsin aisle.  Republican Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke tweeted out a “Hard NO” in reaction to the idea.  The president suggested earlier today that perhaps the election should wait until people can securely and safely vote.  Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin simply said the election is not going to be delayed and the American people are going to vote and take back our democracy. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is fining the University of Wisconsin-Madison for federal animal research violations.  The Wisconsin State Journal says today the fine of 74-thousand-dollars was issued in the spring as a settlement for nearly 30 violations concerning treatment standards.  The violations occurred between 2015 and 2019 and many involved incidents of injured monkeys.

An accident turns deadly in Sawyer County. It was a little after 9:30 on Thursday morning, July 29th, when the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a two vehicle traffic crash on STH 77/27 at the intersection of CTH T west of Hayward in the Town of Lenroot. Department responded.  Preliminary investigation indicates a vehicle driven by a 36-year-old female from Milwaukee was traveling east bound, left of center, and collided head on with a west bound car

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers is ordering face masks to be worn statewide.  Under the order, which takes effect Saturday, people ages five and older are required to wear a face covering when indoors or in an enclosed space with anyone outside their household.  Face coverings are also strongly recommended if people are outdoors and maintaining physical distancing is not possible.  Evers’ order is in effect until September 28th.  Neighboring Minnesota put a mandatory mask order in effect last week.

Weekly jobless claims are down in Eau Claire County.  New numbers from Wisconsin Workforce Development show a slight drop in weekly claims from the previous week.  Ongoing claims, which reflect the unemployment rate in the county, are up slightly.

Wisconsin workers with disabilities are now eligible to receive federal aid. The U.S. Department of Labor decided Monday to allow the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development to offer Pandemic Unemployment Assistance money to people with disabilities who lost their job during the pandemic. Those who qualify can receive payments of up to 370-dollars per week.