RACINE - The City of Racine Common Council on Wednesday night, Aug. 5 voted 11-2 to extend the city's coronavirus emergency declaration until the end of the year.
The city's "Safer Racine" business restrictions were also put on the consent agenda and passed at the virtual meeting on Wednesday.
"The directives are replete with factual errors, unclear requirements, very serious legal issues and a lack of due diligence," the report says.
What's more, the tight deadlines imposed by the commission to meet the directives — which include producing potentially thousands of pages of documents and hundreds of hours of videos — have distracted the Police Department from fighting crime and from preparing for the Democratic National Convention, set to occur in Milwaukee in two weeks, the report says.
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday activated the Wisconsin National Guard to assist as poll workers in Tuesday’s primary. It’s the second time this year the Guard has been called on to assist with an election during the COVID-19 pandemic due to severe shortages of poll workers.
Evers
Evers said a “yet-to-be determined” number of Guard members will mobilize to state active duty to support the Wisconsin Elections Commission and municipal clerks across the state with the upcoming election.
Guard members will report on Monday to municipal clerks to assist with polling place setup and to work as traditional poll workers. Guard members assisting with the state’s COVID-19 response will not be diverted to support polling places.
“The Wisconsin National Guard has played a critical role in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and this mission is no different,” Evers said in a statement. “Time and time again the Guard has stepped up to help their neighbors, friends, and communities, as they will be doing on election day by helping to ensure that every Wisconsinite can vote safely without fear for their health
DOVER — For months, state-run veterans homes have fought to keep coronavirus away from their vulnerable patients. Now, five months after new protocols were put in place, veterans at a Racine County nursing home have fallen sick with the coronavirus.
Sixteen cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Union Grove, which includes a 24-hour skilled nursing facility for veterans and their families at 21425 Spring St. in the Town of Dover, the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs reported Wednesday.
The first two cases, both of veterans living in the home, were confirmed earlier this week and announced Tuesday. After those two residents, both of whom reportedly were experiencing COVID-like symptoms, tested positive, two staff members and a contracted medical professional also found out they had contracted the novel coronavirus. By Wednesday, everyone in the facility was being tested, leading to the discovery of 10 new cases among residents (bringing the total of residents sick with the coronavirus to 12) and a third staff member testing positive.
MADISON — Forty-seven out of 63 GOP members of the Wisconsin Assembly have co-signed a letter delivered to school district superintendents across the state that calls on districts to have in-person schooling this fall despite the pandemic.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, has indicated that he would not attempt to force any school districts to have in-person classes, preferring to let local districts make decisions for themselves, but the legislative leader and his fellow Republicans have continued pushing for in-person options to be offered rather than exclusively virtual learning this year.
Adam King, a Vos staffer, said in an email to The Journal Times that “Speaker Vos believes every district should do what is best for their students but supports in-person learning ... This letter offered ideas and continued a conversation that Speaker Vos and local superintendents were having throughout the pandemic.”
RACINE — With historic high water levels, erosion has continued to eat away the shoreline of Lake Michigan.
Its latest victim is the bluff near Zoo Beach where there is a walking path just east of the Racine Zoo, overlooking the lake.
After the heavy rainstorm on Sunday, Robert O’Brien noticed on his Monday run that the bluff between Zoo Beach path and Lake Michigan was severely eroded.
By Tuesday afternoon, when he visited again, it was practically gone. Even more concerning, the ground under the path was exposed.
The Racine Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services had the pathway partially blocked. Tom Molbeck, director of Parks, Recreation and Services, said he and his staff would make a decision on whether or not to completely close it by this morning.
Path restoration is included in the scope of one of the projects the city is planning with help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in response to the damage caused by a storm on Jan. 10-12. The erosion along Zoo Beach, according to Molbeck, was due to a combination of storms the city has experienced since January
Various products including salads sold at some Walmart, Kroger and H-E-B stores in five states are included in a new public health alert because they contain recalled onions.
The Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued the alert Wednesday night for ready-to-eat meat and poultry products that contain “onions that have been recalled by Thomson International Inc. due to concerns that the products may be contaminated with Salmonella Newport.”
Thomson International of Bakersfield, California, on Saturday recalled all red, white, yellow and sweet yellow onions shipped from May 1 through the present out of concern they might be affected, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
The onion recall came after health officials announced they were investigating a salmonella outbreak tied to red onions, which has caused nearly 400 cases reported in 34 states this month.
(CNN)As Lebanon's investigation intothe devastating blast in Beirutcontinues, officials have pointed to a possible cause: A massive shipment of agricultural fertilizer that authorities say was stored in the port of Beirut without safety precautions for years -- despite warnings by local officials.
Documents newly reviewed by CNN reveal that a shipment of 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate arrived in Beirut on a Russian-owned vessel in 2013. The ship, named the MV Rhosus, was destined for Mozambique -- but stopped in Beirut due to financial difficulties that also created unrest with the ship's Russian and Ukrainian crew.
Once it arrived, the ship never left Beirut's port, according Lebanon's Director of Customs, Badri Daher, despite repeated warnings by him and others that the cargo was the equivalent of "a floating bomb."
The likely cause of the huge blast in Beirut on Tuesday appears to have been the highly reactive chemical ammonium nitrate.
Lebanon’s prime minister, Hassan Diab, said 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded after lying unsecured in a warehouse for six years, tallying with reports that a ship carrying a similar quantity of the chemical had unloaded its cargo at the port in 2013. It remains unclear what caused the chemical to ignite.
Ammonium nitrate is a common industrial chemical used mainly for fertiliser because it is a good source of nitrogen for plants. It is also one of the main components in mining explosives.
It is not explosive on its own, rather it is an oxidiser, drawing oxygen to a fire – and therefore making it much more intense, according to Gabriel da Silva, a senior lecturer in chemical engineering at the University of Melbourne.
However, da Silva said, it ignites only under the right circumstances, and these are difficult to achieve. “You need extreme circumstances to set off an explosion,” he said.
While ammonium nitrate can in fact put out a fire, if the chemical itself is contaminated, for example with oil, it becomes highly
explosive. “I think that’s what’s happened here,” said da Silva.
Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Za'Darius Smith was facing a charge of marijuana possession and speeding until last week, when he pleaded guilty to a lesser speeding charge and the Racine County District Attorney's office decided to drop the drug charge.
PAUL SPINELLI, Associated Press
RACINE COUNTY — Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith was facing a charge of marijuana possession and speeding until last week, when he pleaded guilty to a lesser speeding charge and the Racine County District Attorney’s office decided to drop the drug charge.
Racine County Sheriff’s deputies stopped Smith on Sept. 29 for reportedly driving 81 mph in a 60 mph zone on Interstate 94 near the ramp to Highway 20 just outside Mount Pleasant. Smith was reportedly returning to Green Bay with teammates Rashan Gary and Kingsley Keke after a trip to Chicago, according to reports and court records.
Deputies reportedly found three hollowed-out cigars filled with marijuana and a vaping cartridge in a duffel bag in the rear of the SUV, reports said. All three players were briefly placed in handcuffs, but police released them after giving Smith the two citations, according to reports.
The citations appeared in Wisconsin’s online court records system as being filed Oct. 21 and Oct. 30. One is for speeding on a freeway, 20 to 24 mph over the limit, and the other is for possession of marijuana or synthetic marijuana. Smith pleaded guilty to speeding 10-11 mph over the limit and the possession charge was dropped
Hello, my sweet-ums! How are you? Are you still weathering the pandemic, or have you gone completely bonkers yet? Personally, I've gone bonkers. I don't know how much more of Junior's antics I can take. If he doesn't return to in-person schooling next month, I'll have to move out. COVID-19 scares me, but Junior frightens me beyond belief. Why are teenagers so nuts? Since Doctor Fauci recommended wearing goggles to protect the eyes, Junior has worn a gas mask whenever he goes out. I don't want to be seen in public with him.
Thank God for Señor Zanza. He is the balm for my wounds. What a class act!
In general, the news of the day is depressing. There is so much misleading information out there on the coronavirus that I don't know what to believe. This pandemic has turned everything topsy-turvy. I doubt that my business will ever recover fully. Speaking of my business, her's a video that could ruin it:
Of course, I never do "cold readings." My readings are very warm, almost hot. And how did those women write notes with their feet? Now there's a skill you don't see every day.
I'm cutting my blog short today because I have so many chores to do. The house is a mess and there's a huge pile of laundry to do. Oh my.
I love you all. Each and every one of you. Thank you for reading my blog.
madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com Please be sure to respect one another. It's our best hope for peace. ________________________ Please donate:paypal.me/jgmazelisIf you don't like PayPal, send me a note at madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com and I'll send you my street address so you can send a check or money order. Thank you.
Gov. Tony Evers, left, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, right. Journal Sentinel Files
Gov. Tony Evers says he is leaving it to individual school districts on whether they should have in-person classes this fall as Republican legislators continue to press him on the issue.
Schools are due to reopen soon as Wisconsin and the nation fight the coronavirus pandemic.
During a Tuesday conference call with reporters, Evers said he has been in touch with school districts across the state and is "pleased with conversations" the school leaders are having with their communities.
"The process is going well, so I'm looking forward to having further conversations and seeing how things go going forward," he said. "Clearly, the virus is not in a position right now to say exactly what it's going to be like September 1st."
MADISON - Kanye West has reportedly hired a petitioning firm to get the 2,000 valid signatures needed to appear on the November presidential ballot in Wisconsin.
West hired the firm Let the Voters Decide, which sent 45 people to Wisconsin to get the signatures by the 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline, according to New York Magazine.
Wisconsin is not the only state, or even swing state, West is making a last-minute effort in to get on the ballot.
The rapper is making similar attempts in Ohio, Arkansas and West Virginia. In some states, such as Vermont and Colorado, it is not necessary for candidates to petition their way onto the ballot.
Kanye West and his wife, Kim Kardashian, have been all over the entertainment news lately. Kanye reportedly suffers from a number of disorders, including anxiety and bipolar disorder. The rapper's on-again, off-again "candidacy" is a poor joke. He's unstable. Kim is reportedly considering divorce.
BEIRUT -- Massive explosions rocked downtown Beirut on Tuesday, flattening much of the port, damaging buildings and blowing out windows and doors as a giant mushroom cloud rose above the capital. Witnesses saw many people injured by flying glass and debris.
An Associated Press photographer near the port saw people lying injured on the ground, and hospitals called for blood donations, but exact casualties were not immediately known.
Miles from the scene of the blast, balconies were knocked down, ceiling collapsed and windows were shattered.
The cause of the blast was not immediately clear. It came at a time when Lebanon is passing through its worst economic and financial crisis in decades.
Absolutely aghast at these visuals from Beirut. Sending love and prayers to the Lebanese people 🇱🇧❤️pic.twitter.com/7g7xFvJT6w
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