Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit newsroom that focuses on government integrity and quality of life issues, and we always provide our news for free.
You can read all of our coronavirus/COVID-19 coverage by signing up for our Wisconsin COVID-19 Update newsletter, and please consider becoming a member to support our nonprofit journalism.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ Safer at Home strategy faced scrutiny in the state Supreme Court on Tuesday, with justices in the court’s conservative majority expressing deep skepticism. The justices heard oral arguments over video conference in the Legislature’s legal challenge of the far-reaching order that seeks to slow the spread of COVID-19. Ed Treleven covered the story for the Wisconsin State Journal, and we have excerpted key quotes from the arguments below.
We also highlight Wisconsin Watch’s examination of the upcoming May 12 election for the 7th Congressional District — when election workers will again try to keep themselves and voters safe during the pandemic. University of Wisconsin-Madison student journalists Francisco Velazquez and Chelsea Hylton along with Wisconsin Watch managing editor Dee J. Hall reported the story as part of an investigative reporting class Hall teaches.
Top Stories
Wisconsin Eye
State Supreme Court justices and lawyers for both sides appear by video conference during arguments over the state Legislature’s lawsuit concerning Gov. Tony Evers’ Safer at Home measure.Conservative justices appear skeptical of authority for Safer at Home extension to battle coronavirus — Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin set to hold more elections during coronavirus pandemic, as clerks scramble to ensure safety — Wisconsin Watch
Watch out for absentee ballot mailings — because they may not help you vote — Wisconsin Watch
Coronavirus in the U.S.: An unrelenting crush of cases and deaths — The New York Times
All Wisconsin nursing homes to receive COVID-19 tests — Journal Times
Wisconsin unemployment claims top half a million as coronavirus upends the economy — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Madison sees $30 million budget shortfall, more spending cutbacks due to COVID-19 pandemic —Wisconsin State Journal
What are we missing? And how are you coping? Help us provide critical information and accountability by filling out this form or emailing us at tips@wisconsinwatch.org
Government updates
Wisconsin Department of Health Services
U.S. Centers and Disease Control and Prevention
Live updates
Live coverage from USA Today-Wisconsin reporters
Live coverage from Wisconsin State Journal reporters
Quotable
Some key quotes from today’s Supreme Court oral arguments over Gov. Tony Evers’ Safer at Home order. You can watch the arguments in their entirety here.
“If Safer at Home is enjoined with nothing to replace it, and people pour out into the streets, that the disease will spread like wildfire, and we’ll be back in a terrible situation with an out-of-control virus with no weapon to fight it — no treatments, no vaccine, nothing … People will die if this order is enjoined with nothing to replace it.”
Assistant Attorney General at Wisconsin Department of Justice Colin Roth
“This case is not about whether a lockdown is a good idea … The Department therefore needs to do what it should have done in the first place: Sit down at a table with the very body whose powers it exercises and which created the department in the first place: the Legislature.”
Ryan Walsh, an attorney for the law firm Eimer Stahl, representing the lawmakers in the case
“(The surge in COVID-19 cases) was due to the meatpacking — that’s where Brown County got the flare … It wasn’t just the regular folks in Brown County.”
Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack, appearing to downplay the severity of Brown County’s COVID-19 outbreak, which makes the Green Bay metro area one of the nation’s fastest-growing virus hotspots.
Data to note
The state Department of Health Services on Tuesday announced health care-related goals Wisconsin must meet to begin gradually reopening the economy under Evers’ “Badger Bounce Back” plan. Data to measure Wisconsin’s progress toward these goals will be available on Friday, the department said, and full details can be found here.
The Evers administration has now announced all key criteria to evaluate under the reopening plan. Below is the full set of metrics. More information can be found here.
Resilient Wisconsin
People helping others and showing resilience during this time of anxiety. Send suggestions by tagging us on social media — @wisconsinwatch — or emailing us: tips@wisconsinwatch.org.
‘We did not expect him to make it:’ Veteran hospitalized with coronavirus for 50 days gets sendoff celebration — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Access to some stories listed in the Wisconsin COVID-19 Update may be limited to subscribers of the news organizations that produced them. We urge our readers to consider supporting these important news outlets by subscribing.
The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (wisconsinwatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.
