August 26, 2021

Illinois governor issues mandates on COVID vaccines, masks indoors

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker doubled down Thursday on his efforts to deal with a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic’s delta variant as schools reopen by requiring all educators from kindergarten through college to be vaccinated along with higher education students and all health care workers in the state.

Additionally, Pritzker imposed a statewide mandate requiring the masking of people age 2 and above in indoor locations as the variant has led to increasing hospitalizations among younger people and the unvaccinated, along with increasing reports of “breakthrough cases” among those who are vaccinated.

“Let’s be clear, vaccination is the most effective tool we have for keeping people out of the hospital and preventing deaths. Nearly all Illinoisans who are hospitalized with COVID are the Illinoisans who are not vaccinated. And those hospitalizations are only increasing,” Pritzker said.

Citing an increase of intensive care unit usage that has multiplied by seven and data showing that from January through July 98% of positive cases, 96% of hospitalizations and 95% of deaths are among unvaccinated people, Pritzker said, “You don’t need to be an epidemiologist to understand what’s going on here. This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

Read more: https://www.bakersfield.com/ap/national/illinois-governor-issues-mandates-on-covid-vaccines-masks-indoors/article_9c7c42b5-1a77-58f2-afe4-7dc91265ffb5.html

August 26, 2021

SD Gov Lashes Out At Right Wing Host After He Claims She Only Has "Hype" Because She Is "Very

SD Gov Lashes Out At Right Wing Host After He Claims She Only Has “Hype” Because She Is “Very Attractive”


“No use for these Republicans who have made themselves useless. No use for Kristi Noem. Kristi Noem is a very attractive woman. So, she’s got that going for her. As far as I can tell that’s the only reason she was ever looked at as some sort of 2024 potential front runner.

“The hype and everything that she’s gotten from conservative media is entirely based on the fact that she’s an extremely attractive woman, which she is. But, you know, you put 50 pounds on her and another 20 years, I don’t think she gets any of the hype.

“Because outside of that, she’s just your standard, sort of, corporatist establishment Republican who’s not interested in doing anything.” – Daily Wire host Matt Walsh.

https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1430698133516861443


https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1430721303653322756


https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1430905470085042190



https://www.joemygod.com/2021/08/sd-gov-lashes-out-at-right-wing-host-after-he-claims-she-only-has-hype-because-she-is-very-attractive/
(no more at link)

August 26, 2021

Colectivo is set to become the largest unionized cafe in the U.S. Its owners aren't pleased.

Milwaukee-based coffee shop chain Colectivo Coffee may soon become the country’s largest unionized café, after newly counted ballots brought the previously tied union vote results to 106 to 99 on Monday.

In response, the chain’s owners took to social media to express their displeasure. In an open letter posted Monday afternoon, they criticized the process and said they were “disappointed," prompting many on the platforms to call the company anti-union and hypocritical.

Employees in all of the chain’s shops — which include locations in the Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago areas — were eligible to cast votes in March, following months of organizing efforts backed by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 494. The initial vote deadlocked 99 to 99, with the company and the union challenging a total of 16 ballots, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in April.

On Monday, the National Labor Relations Board opened and counted the ballots it had deemed eligible. All were in favor of unionizing.

Read more: https://madison.com/ct/news/local/colectivo-is-set-to-become-the-largest-unionized-caf-in-the-u-s-its-owners/article_7c4f37cb-4efd-5959-9374-5299a7525dc6.html

August 26, 2021

Colectivo is set to become the largest unionized cafe in the U.S. Its owners aren't pleased.

Milwaukee-based coffee shop chain Colectivo Coffee may soon become the country’s largest unionized café, after newly counted ballots brought the previously tied union vote results to 106 to 99 on Monday.

In response, the chain’s owners took to social media to express their displeasure. In an open letter posted Monday afternoon, they criticized the process and said they were “disappointed," prompting many on the platforms to call the company anti-union and hypocritical.

Employees in all of the chain’s shops — which include locations in the Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago areas — were eligible to cast votes in March, following months of organizing efforts backed by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 494. The initial vote deadlocked 99 to 99, with the company and the union challenging a total of 16 ballots, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in April.

On Monday, the National Labor Relations Board opened and counted the ballots it had deemed eligible. All were in favor of unionizing.

Read more: https://madison.com/ct/news/local/colectivo-is-set-to-become-the-largest-unionized-caf-in-the-u-s-its-owners/article_7c4f37cb-4efd-5959-9374-5299a7525dc6.html

August 26, 2021

Editorial: Ron Johnson is a crook

Ron Johnson is not the only con artist in the U.S. Senate. But he stands out as the senator whose grifting costs taxpayers — in Wisconsin and nationwide — the most.

Just last week, The Washington Post reported, “Sen. Rand Paul revealed Wednesday that his wife bought stock in Gilead Sciences — which makes an antiviral drug used to treat Covid-19 — on Feb. 26, 2020, before the threat from the coronavirus was fully understood by the public and before it was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization.”

“The disclosure, in a filing with the Senate, came 16 months after the 45-day reporting deadline set forth in the Stock Act, which is designed to combat insider trading,” explained the Post. “Experts in corporate and securities law said the investment, and especially the delayed reporting of it, undermined trust in government and raised questions about whether the Kentucky Republican’s family had sought to profit from nonpublic information about the looming health emergency and plans by the U.S. government to combat it. Several senators sold large amounts of stocks in January or February of last year, prompting a handful of insider-trading probes.”

One of those senators, Georgia Republican Kelly Loeffler, was booted from office earlier this year by the voters of her state after she dodged questions about multi-million dollar stock trades that were initiated shortly after she received a briefing in January, 2020, on the severity of the burgeoning coronavirus pandemic.

Read more: https://madison.com/ct/opinion/editorial/editorial-ron-johnson-is-a-crook/article_9001d5cd-65d6-533b-9283-5453c28ec301.html

August 26, 2021

Sens. Baldwin, Klobuchar push voting rights bill in Madison

Two Midwestern Senate Democrats made their case for a sweeping federal elections bill on Wednesday, meeting with voting rights advocates for a roundtable discussion at the Urban League of Greater Madison.

“Right now in the wake of Trump’s big lie, voter rights are under attack across the country, including here in the state of Wisconsin,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin. “Voting rights are the foundation of our democracy, and our democracy works best when all of our voices can be heard.”

Baldwin joined Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, along with Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell, Urban League president Ruben Anthony, Souls to the Polls executive director Rev. Greg Lewis and Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, to discuss the For the People Act.

Klobuchar said she’s optimistic about the bill’s future, despite no signs of the Republican support it would need to pass without changing the Senate’s filibuster rules to allow passage on party lines.

Read more: https://madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/election-matters/sens-baldwin-klobuchar-push-voting-rights-bill-in-madison/article_9265eae0-dfa4-5078-98ff-887acd40cf81.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

August 26, 2021

Chicago workers must get COVID vaccine by Oct. 15, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announces

All city of Chicago workers must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 15, though employees can apply for medical or religious exemption, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Wednesday.

The move follows numerous private businesses and cities across the country which are implementing similar mandates, as has Cook County and Chicago Public Schools.

“As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, we must take every step necessary and at our disposal to keep everyone in our city safe and healthy,” Lightfoot said in a statement. “Getting vaccinated has been proven to be the best way to achieve that and make it possible to recover from this devastating pandemic. And so, we have decided to join other municipalities and government agencies across the nation, including the U.S. military, who are making this decision to protect the people who are keeping our cities and country moving.”

Workers who wish to be exempt for medical or religious reasons must get approval from the Department of Human Resources which will consider the requests on a case by case basis, the city said.

Read more: https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/chicago-workers-must-get-covid-vaccine-by-oct-15-mayor-lori-lightfoot-announces/article_37debbbd-0dd7-55d7-87f6-7c03e048abcd.html

August 26, 2021

Rittenhouse lawyer: Defense donors none of state's business

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — An attorney for the Illinois teen accused of killing two men and wounding a third during a protest in Wisconsin last summer says he doesn't know who donated to his client's defense and therefore cannot produce any names.

Attorney Mark Richards was responding to a motion filed by prosecutors last week requesting a list of people who donated cash to help Kyle Rittenhouse, who is accused in the shootings in Kenosha last summer.

Following Rittenhouse's arrest, conservatives who portrayed him as an American patriot contributed millions of dollars to his legal defense fund and enabled him to post $2 million bail.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said he needed to make sure people in the potential juror pool in Rittenhouse's trial aren’t among those donors.

Richards said in his response filed Monday that it's none of the state's business who pays him to defend Rittenhouse, and that Binger’s concern can be addressed during the jury selection process, when potential jurors can be questioned on whether they have donated to the defendant or bought merchandise from the family’s website, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in a story published Tuesday.

Read more: https://lacrossetribune.com/news/state-and-regional/wi/rittenhouse-lawyer-defense-donors-none-of-states-business/article_e64319e1-db70-5792-907d-03b2db799c71.html

August 26, 2021

South Dakota court may unseal investigation of billionaire Sanford

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Supreme Court Tuesday weighed whether to unseal a search warrant and affidavits in an investigation into billionaire banker-turned-philanthropist T. Denny Sanford for possible possession of child pornography.

The court documents are sealed and refer only to “an implicated individual," and attorneys did not name Sanford as they made their arguments. However, one person briefed on the case by law enforcement told The Associated Press that the hearing involved Sanford and a legal effort by media organizations to unseal court records in the investigation. The person demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.

The attorneys at the hearing also matched the lawyer representing Sanford, former South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, and those for two media outlets — ProPublica and the Sioux Falls Argus Leader — that reported last year Sanford had been investigated for possession of child pornography.

Sanford has not been charged with any crime.

The 85-year-old is the state's richest man, worth an estimated $2.8 billion, but has vowed to “die broke,” and his name adorns dozens of buildings and institutions in South Dakota and beyond.

Read more: https://lacrossetribune.com/news/state-and-regional/mn/s-d-court-may-unseal-investigation-of-billionaire-sanford/article_66aa7b65-53ff-50f4-b6cc-8ab83e9735f2.html

August 26, 2021

Every eligible Wisconsin school district is providing all students free meals this year. Except

Every eligible Wisconsin school district is providing all students free meals this year. Except Waukesha.


At nearly every Wisconsin public school, all students will be able to eat free meals this academic year, same as they did last year under a federally funded program responding to the pandemic.

But not in Waukesha.

Administrators had opted into the program last year but school board members intervened and hit the brakes this time around.

"As we get back to whatever you want to believe normal means, we have decisions to make," Joseph Como, president of the school board, said in a meeting. "I would say this is part of normalization."

Board member Karin Rajnicek said the free program made it easy for families to "become spoiled." Darren Clark, assistant superintendent for business services, said he feared there would be a "slow addiction" to the service.

Read more: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/education/2021/08/25/waukesha-students-there-really-no-such-thing-free-lunch/5573671001/
(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)