News – August 6, 2020

(Madison) Interim Madison Police Chief Vic Wahl says about 300 people were at a west side/Garner Park pavilion Tuesday night, when shots were fired. Wahl says MPD officers were on scene before the shooting started, but had no plans to break up the crowd, despite the gathering violating public health orders against large groups. Three people were injured by gunfire during the gathering in memory of Maurice Bowman, who was shot and killed in a shooting last month. Two men were arrested but investigators are not sure whether they were involved in the shooting.

(Fond du Lac) Police in Fond du Lac are investigating a shooting incident that occurred in the area of West 12th and Morris Street late Tuesday night. No injuries were reported, but police report bullets hit the side of at least two homes. Witnesses told investigators they saw a white sedan leaving the area just after shots were fired. The incident happened around 9:45 pm. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Fond du Lac Police Department.

(Watertown) A Watertown man who had illegal images of minors was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday. In April, Benjamin Plummer entered a no contest plea to three felony counts of Possession Child Pornography. An additional seven charges were dismissed but read into the record. Plummer had inappropriate images of minors among his files. The 40-year-old was also placed on extended supervision for three years.

(Milwaukee) Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden says he won’t be in Milwaukee for the National Convention. The announcement is yet another blow for the convention which has already seen its times and hours scaled back due to COVID-19 and concerns over spreading the Coronavirus. President Donald Trump has also stated that he plans to not attend the Republican National Convention to receive his nomination either.

(Juneau) Tomorrow (Friday) is the deadline to register for a UW Extension webinar on post-harvest grain storage systems. In next week’s workshop, farmers will be introduced to key concepts involving the construction, maintenance, and safety related to on-farm grain storage bins. The webinar will start at 9am on Tuesday, August 11 and run until 11:30am. To register prior to tomorrow’s (Friday’s) deadline, go to the Dodge County UW Extension website, a link can be found with this news story at DailyDodge.com.

(Wisconsin) Republican leadership in the state Assembly are directly lobbying school districts into reopening. That letter sent out to school superintendents was obtained by UpNorthNews. Signed by 47 Assembly Republicans, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Majority leader Jim Steinike, the letter tells superintendents that they have an obligation to educate students, and that virtual schooling may not meet that obligation in some cases. It also suggests that if districts don’t reopen to students the GOP will call for the Department of Public Instruction to examine greater open enrollment, which would divert school taxes away from individual districts.

(Madison) Governor Tony Evers continues to downplay claims that he’s going to order schools to close for the year. Evers says it’s not up to him which schools go entirely virtual, but people should expect some long distance learning. He says that while a number of large districts are already planning all virtual to start with, many smaller districts are not. Republicans have been accusing Evers of getting ready to close the schools with his emergency health order.

(Dodge County) Wisconsin health officials reported 884 positive coronavirus cases in Wednesday’s daily update, which is 5.2-percent of the 17,000 tests announced. There are 9,629 active cases in the state, a decrease of 80 from Tuesday. There were nine deaths reported by state health officials, for a total of 970. Dodge County has five deaths on record and 743 cases, an increase of 15 from Tuesday. County health officials are actively monitoring 145 people.

(Dodge County) Additional coronavirus cases have been reported at two Dodge County prisons, according to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Recently Waupun Correctional, which has had the most positive tests among inmates in the state, added one more case and now has 230; over 200 of those cases were reported in early June. The facility has reported 24 staff members to date with COVID-19, also most in Wisconsin. At nearby Dodge Correctional, the facility is reporting 13 positive tests along with three employees who have been confirmed to have COVID-19.

(Wisconsin) The Wisconsin Poison Center is warning people against using too much hand sanitizer. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says some products test positive for methanol contamination, which can be absorbed through the skin, and become life-threatening. The poison center says the number of calls for toxic exposure has gone up during the COVID-19 pandemic.