Includes interview with Greg Nemet, a professor at the La Follette School of Public Affairs.
Why renewable energy is seeing a new dawn
National Geographic
May 14, 2021
Research
Report says Wisconsin should outsource unemployment services after pandemic failures
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
After a year fraught with unemployment payment delays, high rates of unemployment denials, call center headaches and other issues, a new University of Wisconsin report suggests the state should outsource at least a portion of its unemployment system.
The report by conservative UW economics professor Noah Williams detailed areas the state lagged behind most other states as the wave of unemployment claims swamped the state’s Department of Workforce Development last year.
Milwaukee-area Muslim community celebrates Eid al-Fitr, end of Ramadan with outdoor festival, fun for
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Rawan Hamadeh of Brookfield, who just finished her freshman year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was at the festival surveying people about their vaccination status.
“There are a lot of rumors being spread about the vaccine and how safe it is,” Hamadeh said. “Our goal is, if they aren’t vaccinated and they don’t want to be vaccinated, to try to educate them and inform them that there is nothing in the vaccine that can harm you.”
Wisconsin regulators approve Xcel microgrid pilot
Wisconsin State Journal
Pioneered by researchers at UW-Madison, microgrids — which can include a combination of generators and batteries — are designed to function as self-contained systems that can seamlessly disconnect from the larger system, functioning as islands during power outages.
Setting the record straight: There is no ‘Covid heart’
STAT News
In January 2021, University of Wisconsin researchers studied 145 student athletes who had Covid-19 and found myocarditis in only 1.4% of them, none of whom required hospitalization. In March, a group of sports cardiologists reported on nearly 800 professional athletes who had tested positive for Covid-19. Less than 1% of these athletes had abnormal findings on cardiac magnetic resonance scans or stress echocardiography. None of these athletes had cardiovascular trouble when they returned to play.
Campus life
Developers may raze church, store, houses, bar for 10-story housing project Downtown
Wisconsin State Journal
The push for housing around UW-Madison continues with a developer now forging a plan to raze a small church, a former Italian deli, two houses and Buckingham’s Bar and Grill for a 10-story building with housing, retail space and parking on the 800 block of Regent Street.
State news
Wisconsin transgender athletes face ban from women’s sports under proposed bills, which would affect few, if any, sports officials say
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A pair of bills being advanced by Wisconsin Republicans that bar transgender athletes from participating in school sports for girls and women would directly affect very few — if any — athletes, according to high school and collegiate sports officials.
‘The day we have been waiting for’: COVID-19 cloud begins to lift as CDC issues new guidelines about going without masks
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: “I think it actually is the day we have been waiting for, the day we feel good and safe gathering indoors,” said Patrick Remington, a former epidemiologist for the CDC.
“The pendulum has really swung back,” added Remington, who directs the preventive medicine residency program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Now the benefits of gathering in person for fully vaccinated people clearly outweigh the risks.”
Community
Indoor mask order still in effect for Dane County, but ‘update’ expected next week
Wisconsin State Journal
Despite no immediate change in Dane County, the guidance is the “proof in the pudding” the vaccination effort is how the country returns to normalcy, said Dr. Jeff Pothof, chief quality officer at UW Health.
Health
UW Health doctors, parents discuss safety in daily life with unvaccinated children
NBC-15
Two UW Health doctors, who are also parents to two children, provided advice Thursday for families with children who are too young to be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, but want to know if a situation is safe for their unvaccinated children.
UW Health vaccine clinic targets underserved populations
WISC-TV 3
Jamie Perez spoke with UW Health’s Chief Diversity Officer Shiva Bidar about getting more vaccine access to underserved and minority communities.
WATCH: UW Health doctor’s sons get COVID vaccine as kids 12+ now eligible
WISC-TV 3
Dr. Bill Hartman has been on the front lines of UW Health’s vaccine trials since the process began last year. After months of encouraging others to get the vaccine, the Pfizer approval for kids between the ages of 12 and 15 allowed his sons, age 12 and 13, to get the vaccine today.
Wisconsin GOP leader cites bogus COVID info to nix request
AP
“I don’t know what research they are reading. But COVID-19 can clearly be transmitted via airborne spread,” said Patrick Remington, a former epidemiologist for the CDC and director of the Preventive Medicine Residency Program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
“It might not be the predominant mode of transmission, but it is clearly able to be transmitted via small particles through the air,” Remington said.
Athletics
Sixth-rounder Cole Van Lanen signs with Packers
NBC Sports
Van Lanen grew up and went to high school in Green Bay and then spent his college years in-state at the University of Wisconsin.
UW Experts in the News
Why Liz Cheney Matters
The New York Times
Provisions that target heavily Democratic areas — like Georgia’s limits on drop boxes — are particularly blatant. “The typical response by a losing party in a functioning democracy is that they alter their platform to make it more appealing,” Kenneth Mayer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin, has told The Times. “Here the response is to try to keep people from voting. It’s dangerously antidemocratic.”