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Wisconsin’s Taylor goes to Indianapolis in Round 2 of NFL Draft

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Jonathan Taylor

Two-time Doak Walker award winner Jonathan Taylor is the third running back off the board in the 2020 NFL Draft.  The former Wisconsin Badger was selected by the Indianapolis Colts with the ninth pick in the second round, 41st overall.  The Colts traded up to select Taylor, sending a fourth round pick to Cleveland for the rights to the selection.

Taylor became the first FBS player to rush for at least 6,000 yards in just three seasons.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire of LSU was the first running back off the board, with the final pick of the first round to the Kansas City Chiefs.  The Detroit Lions made De’Andre Swift of Georgia the second running back off the board with the 3rd pick in round two, 35th overall.

Taylor averaged 6.3 yards per carry last season, racking up 2,003 yards and 21 touchdowns.  For the first time in his career, Taylor became a part of the Badgers passing game out of the backfield, catching 26 passes for 252 yards and five touchdowns.

Taylor finished his career in Madison with 6,174 yards and 50 rushing touchdowns in his three seasons.

Packers trade up, select QB Jordan Love

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Jordan Love – Photo Courtesy of Getty Images

Nobody really expected the Green Bay Packers to pick Aaron Rodgers back in 2005, but when he fell to them at #24, Ted Thompson made the move that would shape the team’s future for years to come.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst is hoping to find lightning in a bottle again after trading up from number 30 to number 26 in a trade with Miami to select Utah State quarterback Jordan Love.  The Packers traded their fourth-round pick to Miami to move up to select Love.

Love is 6’4, 224 lbs and has the ability to be the Packers quarterback of the future.  But he’ll have some time to watch and learn under Aaron Rodgers.

Love left Utah State a year early.  He threw for 3,567 yards and 32 touchdowns with just six interceptions in 2018.  Last year, his numbers dropped to 3,402 yards, 20 TD’s and 17 interceptions as Utah State struggled.

Gutekunst repeatedly said before the draft that if the right quarterback was available when they picked, he wouldn’t hesitate to make the move.  Obviously, it wasn’t lip service.

With the trade, the Packers now have eight picks left, including single picks in the 2nd and 3rd rounds on Friday night.

Agriculture groups asking state for direct to farmer payments

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Citing the “crushing economic destruction” that the COVID-pandemic has inflicted on the industry, a coalition of Wisconsin agriculture groups have asked the administration of Governor Tony Evers to direct $50 million federal dollars to direct farmer payments.

Those industry groups are Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, Dairy Business Association, Wisconsin Soybean Association, Wisconsin Pork Association, Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association, Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association and Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association.

Wisconsin Farm Bureau President Joe Bragger said they’ve provided numbers from each agriculture sector, to show the need.

“What we’ve pledged to do is to work with the governor, work with our Department of Ag, Trade and Consumer Protection, and really provide some numbers to spell out how bad it is for the farmers out here, and the economic losses that we’ve experienced,” Bragger told Brownfield Ag News on Wednesday.

The Journal Sentinel reported that the governor’s office could not immediately be reached for comment on the request.

The federal coronavirus relief package known as the CARES Act designated $1.9 billion to help Wisconsin’s economy.

Bragger said it’s critical “to show the losses that agriculture is experiencing. And we don’t want agriculture left, and our farmers left out of this.”

He added that those direct payments are needed now. This is the most expensive time of year for farmers, as they get into planting, so we’ve got to make sure that they’re able to do that.”

That urgency echoes comments made by U.S. Representative Ron Kind, who has introduced legislation to address the impact of the pandemic on small and medium sized farms in Wisconsin.  “Once these family farmers go, we’re not getting then back,” the La Crosse Democrat said.

Evers rips Republican effort to block ‘Safer at Home’ extension

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Governor Tony Evers WRN image

Governor Tony Evers said Tuesday that the Republican effort to block his extended “Safer at Home” order through the Wisconsin Supreme Court sends a clear message.

“Legislative Republicans are telling those . . . four-thousand six-hundred plus people in the state of Wiscnsin who have contracted COVID-19, and the families of those 242 people that have died, “‘we don’t care about you, we care about our political power,'” Evers said during a call with reporters.

The Supreme Court, which has a 5 to 4 conservative majority, gave the state Department of Health Services until next Tuesday to respond to the lawsuit, and Republicans until two days after that to respond to DHS.

Evers believes the justices are “in a position to make the right decision,” regarding the legal challenge to the extension, which has been ordered by acting Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm.

“They understand the importance of science, they understand the importance of making sure that the people of Wiconsin are safe,” he said “And frankly, they understand that by delaying efforts, people are going to die.”

Speaker Robin Vos (WRN image)

Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald argue Evers “Safer at Home” is too restrictive on areas of the state with far fewer cases of COVID-19 than in Madison and Milwaukee.

Palm last week extended the order until May 26th. GOP leaders contend that will drive many businesses under, and leave the state’s economy in shambles.

Tuesday saw 121 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin, another 41 hospitalizations, and 12 deaths, according to the daily update by DHS.

 

 

 

Evers signs COVID-19 legislation following Senate passage

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Sen. Fitzgerald in teleconference session

The Wisconsin state Senate, on a 31-to-0 vote Wednesday, passed a COVID-19 bill approved Tuesday by the Assembly.

Governor Tony Evers also signed the bill Wednesday.

“This bill isn’t perfect, and it might be first bill of a number that we are going to have to pass in the legislature,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau).

Senator Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse), asked Republicans to take the prospect of further action seriously.

“I implore this body, I implore this legislature, to know that we need to come back. That there are going to be things and issues that we need to continue to address.”

The measure new goes to Governor Tony Evers, who will need to sign it before Friday, so the state can access $2 billion in federal assistance.

Evers signed the bill but said it “falls short of what is needed to address the magnitude and gravity of what our state is facing, but I am not willing to delay our state’s response to this crisis.”


The legislation has more than 50 individual provisions, including eliminating the one week waiting period to collect unemployment benefits, prohibiting co-pays for COVID-19 testing, and relaxing some regulations on health care workers.

The Senate session on Wednesday was done with Shilling and Senate President Roger Roth in a Capitol conference room. Members participated remotely from their homes or Senate offices.

State Assembly to meet virtually on Tuesday to pass coronavirus relief package

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The State Assembly is poised to meet virtually on a Coronavirus relief package.

A number of state representatives will be digitally taking part in Tuesday’s session, while some members will be making the trip out to the Capitol to take part in person.

The basic part of the bill would supplement a sweeping federal aid package that’s set to come to Wisconsin. It will eliminate the one week waiting period to apply for unemployment, delay late fees on tax payments, and modify how many hours students have to be in school to graduate.

Republicans had tried to add language to the bill that would give the Joint Finance Committee unfettered access to cutting the state budget, but that language has apparently been removed from the bill after Governor Tony Evers threatened to veto the package. 

Karokfsky defeats Kelly in Wisconsin Supreme Court election

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Dane County Circuit Court Judge Jill Karofsky has defeated incumbent Justice Daniel Kelly for a ten year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Karofsky’s win narrows the court’s conservative majority to 4-3.  The next race for Supreme Court is in 2023, when Chief Justice Patience Roggensack’s term ends. If any justice steps down, Democratic Governor Tony Evers would appoint a replacement.

Karofsky was elected in Dane County in 2017. Kelly was appointed to the high court in 2016 by then-Governor Scott Walker to complete the term of Justice David Prosser, who retired.

First UW COVID-19 patient receives plasma transfusion from recovered patient

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A COVID-19 patient at UW Hospital in Madison has received the first transfusion of plasma from a patient who donated it after recovering from the virus. Gary Dalgaard of Sun Prairie and his wife are both donating plasma.

“There’s so many people out here doing so much, people in the medical field that are doing so much for the rest of us. It’s nice to feel that we can play some small roll in giving back and helping a little bit.” Dalgaard said.

The UW School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) and UW Health are part of a nationwide effort to study whether plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 given to patients who are seriously ill with the disease can help shorten the duration or severity of their illness.

William Hartman is a UW Health anesthesiologist heading the convalescent plasma study at UW.  Hartman said that as of Monday, about a dozen people who have recovered from COVID-19 have donated plasma through the American Red Cross in Madison, to be used treating patients at UW Hospital.

“I don’t want to overplay what it is we’re doing here,” Dalggard said. “I’m just giving blood, it’s all I’m doing. It’s not a kidney or whatever. It’s a pretty minor thing that we’re doing here, that I’m doing here. Just trying to help out.”

ACLU of Wisconsin files suit to reduce prison population during pandemic

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Photo: WI Dept. of Corrections

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin wants fewer inmates in state prison during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit to that effect in the Wisconsin Supreme Court Friday. The organization claims that’s needed to avoid a dangerous outbreak that would further strain the state’s health care capacity and put public health at risk.

“Right now Wisconsin’s overcrowded prisons are a ticking time bomb that threatens the health of all Wisconsinites, especially people of color who are disproportionately impacted by mass incarceration,” said Chris Ott, ACLU of Wisconsin executive director. “The very modest steps taken so far by state officials are simply not enough to prevent an outbreak that would strain our hospital system, endanger public health, and claim thousands of lives. State officials have the power to avert this catastrophe – and they have to act now.” 

The suit, filed on behalf of two inmates with pre-existing conditions, state criminal defense lawyers, and Disability Rights Wisconsin, asks the court to order Governor Tony Evers and the Department of Corrections to reduce the prison population to a level where social distancing is possible, with priority to the elderly and those with conditions that increase their risk of COVID-19 complications and death.

According a press release announcing the lawsuit, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections holds almost 23,000 adults in facilities with a design capacity of 17,815, thus exceeding their capacity by more than 30%. 

The ACLU says so far DOC has reduced that population by just 1.3%, leaving tens of thousands of people incarcerated in overcrowded conditions where social distancing and other mitigation measures recommended by public health experts are impossible.

The lawsuit notes that an outbreak of COVID-19 in Wisconsin prisons could overwhelm available hospital beds and ICU units in communities where prisons are located.

Evers asks DNR to close 40 state parks and recreation areas

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Governor Tony Evers on Thursday directed the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to close 40 state parks, forests, and recreation areas. This, in an effort “to protect the health and safety of Wisconsinites,” as many parks have experienced heavy attendance the first two weeks of April, and consequent lack of social distancing.

Affected parks, forests, and recreational areas will close at the end of the day Thursday, and will remain closed until further notice.

Public health officials determined the situation has reached a point where public safety in the parks and surrounding communities takes precedence over keeping these locations open. If the public does not follow social distancing guidelines or vandalizes property, more state parks may have to close.