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Not even the Marshfield Health System is immune from the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. The hospital system yesterday announced that it is furloughing some workers. The furloughs will not apply to frontline healthcare workers, but there is no word as to just who will be sent home or from which hospital. Marshfield says it has had to reschedule non-emergency procedures, and close some clinic locations because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Kids in Altoona, like the rest of Wisconsin, can’t go to school. So teachers in Altoona decided to bring the school to them, kind of. Teachers drove through Altoona yesterday to parade for their students. Teacher Erin Lynees says it’s a way to show kids that they are still connected, even though school is on-hold.

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in Wisconsin has risen by at least seven from yesterday.  The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says there have been 99 deaths from COVID 19 in the state.  But the DHS didn’t include two victims later reported in Milwaukee County which would bring the total to 101 deaths.  The state had an increase of 178 positive cases reported in the last 24 hours.

The Eau Claire County Parks & Forest Department announces that the Lake Altoona water level will begin to be raised to normal summer elevation beginning on Monday, April 20th. It has been determined that ice-off conditions now exist on the lake. Lake front property owners will have through April 19 to do any lake front improvements to their property before the level begins to rise on April 20. It is expected the lake level will be back to the normal

Senator Bernie Sanders is bowing out of the Democratic presidential race.  That clears the path for former VP Joe Biden to become the party’s nominee.  Speaking from his home state of Vermont, Sanders thanked supporters and said he’s proud that he was able to bypass a “corrupt” campaign finance system to fund his campaign.  The 78-year-old Sanders has long-called himself an independent “democratic socialist.”  He also ran for president in 2016, but lost to Hillary Clinton.

Eau Claire is getting some funding from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The department is giving parts of a 100-million-dollar transportation fund that will improve roadways and general transportation to every city in the state. The report from the department shows Eau Claire will receive OVER $850,000 that will be distributed over four-payments throughout the year. Chippewa Falls is also receiving 170-thousand-dollars in funding.

There’s less traffic on the road after Governor Evers safer at home order. Data from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation shows a drop in the average overall vehicles on Highway-53 in Eau Claire from 42-thousand the week of March 8th to nearly half that, two weeks later. In Chippewa County, the traffic drop was similar, down from more than 12-thousand vehicles in mid-March to around eight-thousand in the end of the month.

Viterbo University is opening its residence halls to medical workers next week. The school just finished its second week of online classes and the campus is mostly empty with students back home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vice President of Student Affairs Rick Trietely says last week the school got a request from three organizations to offer housing for non-coronavirus infected healthcare workers and first responders. The school says it will open two-floors in the Bonaventure Residence Hall on April

Time has run out to send in an absentee ballot. A U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday night threw out a lower court ruling to extend the absentee ballot deadline to April 13th. The new ruling said all absentee ballots must have been submitted last night or postmarked yesterday to be counted, though they can arrive at the office as late as April 13th. The Eau Claire County dropbox is now closed.

It is going to be almost a week before voters in Eau Claire know who won yesterday’s elections. The state’s Election Commission says local clerks cannot count their votes until next Monday. There may not be that many votes to count. Turnout in many places in the Chippewa Valley was light yesterday. In Eau Claire, the city’s clerk said yesterday afternoon’s turnout was just 34-percent. Wisconsin’s National Guard commanders say their work on Election Day was a success. Over 24-hundred