Bram Sable-Smith, a WPR fellow embedded in the Wisconsin Watch newsroom, reports on national research showing that jobless Black and Latino workers have historically proved less likely than white workers to receive unemployment aid. Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development says it does not have race, gender, age or income reports available.

Today we draw your attention to the latest story from WPR and Wisconsin Watch’s Bram Sable-Smith exposing the numerous flaws in Wisconsin’s unemployment insurance system, leaving thousands of jobless state residents without financial support during the COVID-19 crisis. The report is based on interviews with 16 out-of-work Wisconsinites, including David Ficke, a Beaver Dam welder who lived out of his car for a time while waiting for unemployment insurance to kick in. He’s still waiting.

Wisconsin has received an F+ grade from the American Civil Liberties Union for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in prisons, the group said in a report released Thursday. The report comes despite criminal justice reform advocates’ calls for Gov. Tony Evers to cut populations at overcrowded prisons to protect vulnerable inmates.

The state Department of Health Services reported 464 new positive COVID-19 tests on Thursday, moving the state’s rate of positive tests slightly higher compared to previous days.

A new Brennan Center for Justice study documents a steep dropoff in voting in Milwaukee on April 7 due to polling site closures and concerns over the coronavirus. Those factors disproportionately affected Black residents, who have been hardest hit by the pandemic — combining to lower that group’s voter turnout by an estimated 15.9 percentage points, with poll closures playing the bigger role, Dee J. Hall reports for Wisconsin Watch.

Wisconsin has launched a new website to help residents get health insurance at a time when many have lost their employer-linked plans due to layoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic.