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The Eau Claire Marathon is virtual this year. It’s the Eau Claire Marathon 2.0. The race was supposed to be run at the end of September, but organizers were concerned with the large number of people who would’ve gathered to participate. They said it wouldn’t have been possible to comply with Eau Claire’s public health order.

A new city initiative will allow people to adopt the local parks in Eau Claire. Adopting a park means volunteer groups or individuals that apply will be assigned sections of parks to beautify. They’ll plant flower beds and remove invasive species from Owen and Phoenix parks. Once assigned, groups will be responsible for their section for two years. Eau Claire Parks and Recreation says anyone interested in volunteering can participate. 

A new report shows Wisconsin’s young adult voters could have major influence on the 2020 election. The Tufts University Report shows Wisconsin voters aged 18-to-29 are in the 100th percentile for voter turnout, or their likelihood to cast their ballot. The same age group also ranked the highest for competition between a democratic or republican vote. Wisconsin is a toss-up, according to the report. 

Another popular event has made the call to cancel. Festival in the Pines has decided to cancel the 38th annual event. Many considerations were talked about before making this decision and after watching the development of COVID-19 and wanting to keep vendors, volunteers, sponsors, and patrons safe, the decision was made to take the Festival off the calendar for 2020.

Wisconsin’s governor says parents should expect to send their kids to school this fall. Governor Tony Evers yesterday said there are concerns about going back to school during the coronavirus, but he said most schools in the state should open by September 1st. The governor is not saying if that means in-person or online classes. Evers says the decision about what the new school year will look like is up to local schools.

Just about everyone has their power back after the latest round of storms in the Chippewa Valley, but the same can’t be said about their trees. Yesterday’s storms knocked out the power and knocked down some trees across the area. In Augusta, high winds knocked a large tree into a house. There are no reports of any injuries because of the storms.

The numbers in Wisconsin’s latest coronavirus tally are bigger than we have been seeing in days past.  The Department of Health Services yesterday said a one-day record 964 people tested positive for the virus, and a one-day record 13-thousand-716 people tested negative. Those numbers actually drove the state’s positive test rate down by almost a full point to just over six-and-a-half percent.

It’s not a rule, but it IS a recommendation. Eau Claire City Council unanimously passed a resolution recommending and encouraging the use of masks when out in the community. CDC recommends wearing them and local health officials urge the same, saying a face covering is one of the ways to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. As it stands now, it is not a mandate. However, City Council does have the authority to make it one. In other local changes,

Tony Evers is creating a governor’s task force to improve broadband access.  With so many school districts depending on virtual learning in recent months and the possibility of starting the school year online, access to broadband is paramount for children.  The governor says broadband access is also critical to the state’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Wisconsin State Patrol says it is conducting aerial missions to catch speeders.  The effort gets underway this week with the patrol focusing on Fond du Lac and Outagamie counties.  The aerial surveillance will target Wisconsin 26 in Fond du Lac County on Thursday and I-41 in Outagamie County on Saturday, August 1st.