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Students, teachers, school staff, and parents are going to need masks when Eau Claire schools open next month. The city’s school board last night approved a mask requirement. Superintendent Michael Johnson says he knows some people can’t wear a mask, and he knows it may be tough for young kids to keep their masks on, but he says it’s necessary. Eau Claire schools are looking to start classes on September 1st. CLICK HERE FOR AN EASY LINK TO MORE INFO

Wisconsin’s dip in positive coronavirus tests is not expected to last. The state’s Department of Health Services yesterday reported just 404 new positive tests. DHS reported over six thousand negative tests. The low numbers are part of the weekly cycle that dips at the beginning of each week. Wisconsin’s daily positive-test-rate is just above five-and-a-half percent.

All signs are pointing to a record absentee voter turn-out this year. The Wisconsin Election Commission yesterday said more than 300 thousand people have returned an absentee ballot for this month’s primary election. That is three-times the number of people who voted absentee in the 2018 primary, and four-times as many as in the 2016 primary. WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe says the numbers hint that many more people will vote absentee in November. She is expecting more than two million people to

The National Night Out is the latest coronavirus related cancellation in Eau Claire. Planners yesterday said they are canceling this year’s event out of fear of spreading the virus. Eau Claire Police say they hope to find a way to have at least a few events or meetings this year. National Night Out is designed to get people out, to meet their police officers and neighbors in an effort to make neighborhoods safer.

The graffiti on the outside of Wisconsin’s Veterans Museum will come down this week. Crews said they plan to start cleaning the outside of the building tomorrow. Veterans’ groups have demanded for weeks that someone clean the building. The state’s VA says the work was delayed so they could figure out how best to clean the sensitive stone.

Today is the Cookie Monster’s favorite day of the year because it’s national chocolate chip cookie day.  The creation of the beloved cookie is credited to baker Ruth Graves Wakefield who accidentally made the cookies while working at the Toll House inn in 1938.  She was planning on making chocolate cookies but the chocolate she used did not melt, but instead left chocolate chunks and created the chocolate chip cookie.  Wakefield agreed to let Nestle use her recipe on the

A U.S. Marine from Oak Creek, Wisconsin is one of eight servicemen believed killed during a training mission in Southern California.  Private first class Evan Bath was officially identified as one of the missing this morning.  The training accident happened Thursday during an amphibious assault vehicle accident near San Clemente Island.  Private Bath was 19-years-old.

There is a little positive mood in the State Department of Health Services thanks to a big reduction in new COVID-19 cases.  Today officials reported 404 new cases.  There were 922 new cases yesterday.  The always important positivity rate of infection dropped a full four percentage points from yesterday’s  9.6-percent to today’s 5.6-percent. 

It is National Farmers’ Market Week and Wisconsin officials are urging people to support local farmers’ market.  Dozens of farmers’ markets across Wisconsin can be found through the Wisconsin Farmers’ Market Association.  Dane County alone has 24 farmers’ markets, there are five in Racine, six in Kenosha, eight here in area, and seven in Marathon County.

More than 330-thousand absentee ballots have already arrived at the Wisconsin Election Commission ahead of the upcoming primary election.  Officials say fewer than 77-thousand absentee ballots were collected in 2016.  About 102-thousand absentee ballots were sent out in 2016 compared to over 821-thousand this year.  People have until 8 p.m. on election night Tuesday, August 11th for the Election Commission to receive your ballot which can be dropped at a polling place or the clerk’s office.