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Wisconsin Republican party takes $2.5 million hit from cyberattack

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A cyberattack has resulted in more than two million dollars being stolen from the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

RPW Chairman Andrew Hitt said suspicious activity was first noticed a week ago, and the FBI  was notified after party officials confirmed $2.3 million was missing. Hitt said hackers lifted the cash by manipulating information in e-mails and invoices to vendors the party was using on the presidential campaign.

Hitt said the national party had warned state parties about potential cyberattacks, but  “Unfortunately, one slipped through the cracks.”

UW COVID-19 clinical trial likely to resume next week

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Clinical trials for a COVID-19 are expected to resume next week at the University of Wisconsin. The UW got the go-ahead last week to re-open its clinical trial of AstraZeneca’s investigational COVID-19 vaccine.

Thirty-six participants – who got the first of two shots before the study was paused on September Sixth – kept getting checkups and blood draws throughout the pause. They’ll now have the option to get their second dose. Enrollment is expected to resume over the next several weeks.

The UW study team will begin contacting people who’d said they were interested in participating.

SCOTUS rules against extended deadline to count Wisconsin mail-in ballots

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Absentee ballots in Wisconsin are due back by 8 p.m. on Election Day, with no exceptions.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday night to rejected a request from Democrats and voting rights groups, to extend the deadline for counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day in Wisconsin.

The court’s Republican-nominated conservatives prevailed in the 5 to 3 decision, with  Democratic-nominated liberals dissenting.

Conservative justices said it’s the job of state legislatures, not judges at either the state or federal level, to make decisions on state election rules. Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature has not met since April.

The court’s liberal justices argued for dramatic action by courts, in order to ensure the right to vote during the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic.

 

Prohibition on utilities disconnection extended by PSC

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Wisconsin’s prohibition on all utility disconnections has been extended until April 15th.

That means companies can’t shut off utilities like water, electricity, and heat. The ban was set to expire November 1st when the Wisconsin Public Service Commission voted two-to-one on the extension.

Initially, it didn’t include water service – but, when commissioners were told there were plans to shut off service to more than nine-thousand customers, the disconnection order was changed to include water.

The administration of Governor Tony Evers has invested $15 million to help customers pay their heating bills this winter.

WEDC denies tax credits to Foxconn for 2019

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State trade officials say Foxconn will not be getting any tax breaks, for work done in 2019. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation announced on Monday that Foxconn had failed to meet its contracted goals for qualifying for those state aids.

The original contract, touted by President Donald Trump and then Governor Scott Walker, would have given the Taiwanese tech firm $4 billion to build a top of the line LCD plant in southeast Wisconsin.

Since then the company has repeatedly scaled back its plans, and WEDC Secretary Melissa Hughes said the company won’t see any more funding unless they come back to renegotiate a contract with the state, the Journal Sentinel reports.

According WEDC, Foxconn has hired only 281 people eligible for tax credits and has made only $300 million in capital expenditures, not fulfilling the goals set out in the contract signed by Foxconn and the state.

The Journal Sentinel reports that in April, Foxconn stated publicly that it had hired enough workers to be eligible for tax credits.

Madison voters ask judge to clarify legality of ‘Democracy in the Park’

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Five voters are asking a Dane County judge to rule that Madison’s “Democracy in the Park” events are legal, despite Republican claims that they are not

Poll workers collected absentee ballots in city parks last Saturday and will do so again this weekend. A Republican attorney, without citing a specific law being broken, claimed that was illegal.

The Cap Times reports that the voters filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Dane County Circuit Court.

Three of the voters turned in their absentee ballots at the event last weekend. The other two wanted to do so this weekend but worry a Republican lawsuit may invalidate their ballots.

Madison City Attorney Mike Haas has disputed Republican claims that the event constitutes in in-person early voting, which doesn’t begin until October 20, because are merely being collected and not distributed.

An attorney for the voters said “nothing about the program is illegal or even questionable.”

Trump weekend rallies set for COVID-19 ‘hot zone’ cities

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President Donald Trump

President Trump’s weekend campaign rallies will take place in cities designated as “red zones” by the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

A draft report from the task force says Wisconsin is “in the red zone” when it comes to coronavirus cases. Among the dozen cites in the “red zone” are Green Bay and La Crosse, where the president has airport rallies on Saturday.

The White House Task Force is urging Wisconsinites to social distance “to the maximal degree possible.” Governor Tony Evers suggested that the president not come, or require those attending wear masks.

Thousands attended a Trump rally Wednesday night in Duluth.

Civil engineers give Wisconsin infrastructure a ‘C’ grade

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Wisconsin’s infrastructure has received a mediocre grade. The Wisconsin Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers 2020 Report Card gives the state an overall grade of ‘C’ – or mediocre – in 13 categories of infrastructure.

Water and energy infrastructure systems have received significant investments but roads and transit received the lowest grades in the report, each earning a ‘D+.’

Those roads cost drivers 6 billion dollars annually from vehicle wear and tear, wasted fuel due to congestion and costs of crashes.

The full report can be found at infrastructurereportcard.org/state-item/wisconsin/

Seehafer News/WOMT

Wednesday COVID-19 numbers: 8 deaths with positive test rate above 11%

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Wisconsin had 8 more deaths due to COVID-19, and a positive test rate above 11 percent on Wednesday.

The Department of Health Services reported 1,408 — or 11.5 percent – of 12,196 new test results came back positive. The seven-day average of daily reported positive cases rose to 1,340, up from 886 a week ago.

With 48 new hospitalizations, there are currently 342 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, 95 in intensive care.

Wisconsin’s death toll from the global pandemic is 1,228.

Pence and Harris campaign in Wisconsin today

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The vice presidential candidates are in La Crosse and Milwaukee for Labor Day.
Republican Vice President Mike Pence plans to visit Dairyland Power Cooperative in La Crosse and deliver remarks on President Trump’s job creation record.

Democratic Senator Kamala Harris will tour the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Training Facility and speak about Joe Biden’s commitment to workers and organized labor. She also attend a roundtable with Black Milwaukee business leaders.