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Author: Kelly Tyrrell

Department of Health Services officials announced Wednesday a Wisconsin resident has a confirmed case of Zika virus infection.

Channel3000.com

Department of Health Services officials announced Wednesday a Wisconsin resident has a confirmed case of Zika virus infection. DHS has been working on this issue with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local health departments, health care professionals, the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Entomology Department, according to the release.

New bike bridge to offer amazing infrastructure

Madison Magazine

Noted: In addition to the Habitat bike program, Pacific Cycle has partnered with the Wisconsin Bike Federation on various local rides and programs, including the UW-Madison Department of Human Oncology/Carbone Cancer Center on the first ever “The Ride”, scheduled for Sept. 16.

Black women to converge in Madison for leadership conference

Madison365

Noted: The keynote speaker for the event will be Gail Ford. Over the past 13 years, Ford has worked in non-profits and post-secondary institutions to advocate for systematic changes to better align K-12 education programming with college-ready expectations. In March of 2015, she was asked to serve as the Interim Assistant Director for the Pre-College Enrichment Program for Leaning Excellence (PEOPLE) at UW-Madison. Her work with youth and professionals afforded her the opportunity to attend First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Beating the Odds Summit” at The White House in July 2015.

Wisconsin trail cam project goes live

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: “Something like this has never been done before, not for such a large area,” said UW–Madison Professor of Forest and Wildlife Ecology Phil Townsend, a leader on the project, in a statement released Tuesday by the university. “The number of trail cams and the spatial scale we’re working on will make this project unique.”

Sumner Slichter worked as Feingold top aide for decades

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Sumner Pence Slichter was born Aug. 31, 1953, in Champaign, Ill. He came to Madison to attend the University of Wisconsin, where he graduated in 1980 with a degree in mathematics. He also played viola in the UW orchestra. Slichter Hall at UW was named after his great-grandfather, Charles Sumner Slichter.

Groups raise concerns about new overtime rules

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: At the level of state government alone, the nonpartisan Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau found that nearly 2,000 employees would be affected by the changes, increasing costs for state taxpayers by as much as $13.7 million per year. That estimate didn’t include potential costs for local governments or schools, the UW System, the Legislature or the state courts system.

In a letter to U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, UW System President Ray Cross said the rules would affect more than 5,000 UW employees in jobs such as student life, development, administration and academic affairs.

Badgers receive oral commitment from Minnesota forward

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin coach Greg Gard and his staff continue to add key pieces to keep the program competing at a high level nationally.

Nathan Reuvers, a versatile 6-foot-10 forward from Lakeville (Minn.) North High School, gave UW an oral commitment for the Badgers’ 2017 freshman class during an unofficial visit on Wednesday.

Chappell: Mayor, council politics derail African American presidency

Madison365

Noted: The spotlight remains on local governments when it comes to equity. Madison and Dane County are still reeling from the very damning Race to Equity report published nearly three years ago. Violence among people of color has reared its head recently. Tension between communities of color and police remain high. Incidents of hate and bias on the University of Wisconsin campus continue, to say nothing of the near-constant microagressions students there report.

UW’s Card named Big Ten’s best

Channel3000.com

UW senior Kelsey Card is the Big Ten Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year and Outdoor Field Athlete of the Championships. Card swept those awards for both the indoor and outdoor track seasons.

Increased number of ticks becomes bigger problem in Madison area

Channel3000.com

Noted: Researchers at UW-Madison have seen a spike in the ticks in the UW arboretum, increasing from around 40 in 2014 to 600 found last year.

“It’s a new risk for people to worry about for both themselves and for their families and for their animals,” said Susan Paskewitz, a UW-Madison entomologist.

Paskewitz is leading a group of students to find ways to reduce the risk of Lyme disease from ticks.

Madison company invents compound to make lithium ion batteries safer

Channel3000.com

Noted: Silatronix was founded by two UW-Madison chemistry professors, Robert Hamers and Robert West, after a hallway conversation in which the “two Bobs” sought to literally change the world.

“The safety issues are very real,” Hamers said recently in an interview in the company’s laboratory on the city’s east side, near the Madison College campus. “Our goal is to make lithium ion batteries perform better and be safer, and the way we did that is by inventing a new liquid called an electrolyte. It’s one of the three major components of the lithium ion battery.”

UW student Majeski signs NASCAR team deal

AP (via Channel3000.com)

UW student and 21-year-old Seymour resident Ty Majeski has formally signed on with a NASCAR team. Area media report Majeski is joining Roush Fenway Racing as a development driver, with expectations that he will make his ARCA Racing Series debut for Roulo Brothers Racing next month.

What it means to be mindful and how it can help your kids

Channel3000.com

Noted: According to Lisa Thomas Prince, there’s even research going on in Madison on the topic of mindfulness and children. She said prior research proves kids who can tap into their thoughts and feelings and “check in” can better focus their attention, lower their anxiety and maintain good physical health. In addition, adolescents who have participated in the Center for Healthy Minds courses have had an easier time sleeping and navigating social situations.

Wisconsin Republicans gather for annual state convention

Associated Press (via WKOW)

Noted: Gov. Scott Walker is taking swipes at University of Wisconsin faculty who have recently been passing no-confidence resolutions targeting the Board of Regents and system president Ray Cross.
Walker said Saturday at the state party convention that faculty are upset because changes to the law affecting tenure took away what he calls “job for life” protections. The faculty argue that’s a mischaracterization of tenure and that the law changes make it too easy to fire someone without justification.
Walker is also saying he “gets a kick” out of Democrats who talk about student loan debt. Walker asks why they didn’t support his tuition freeze at UW which has been in place for four years.

Thousands brave cold winds at UW–Madison graduation

WKOW TV

Over 47,000 students, parents and educators have braved chilly temperatures today at Camp Randall Stadium for commencement events for the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

The forecast had called for wind chills near 40 degrees and some of those attending reported seeing snow flurries and hail.

University of Wisconsin Odyssey Project graduates 27

Madison Times

Tamara Thompson Moore was at a crossroads in her life when she was pressured, she says, to apply for the Odyssey Project. Like many of this year’s grads, she knew people who had gone through the program and was familiar with its quality. A counselor at the Parental Stress Center long ago encouraged her to consider her own goals in life, as well as the needs of her children. At last she has done that.

UW-Madison encourages summer courses

Channel3000.com

For three years, University of Wisconsin-Madison officials have been working toward adding more summer courses to the school’s curriculum. “The campus is now moving toward not just having summer school, but having a summer term,” the associate dean for curriculum and global affairs for the School of Education, David Rosenthal, said.

How UW Army ROTC conducts cultural training

Badger Herald

Noted: Uli Schamiloglu, Middle Eastern studies program chair at UW, raised concern that without a substantive understanding of a region’s cultures, religions and values, role play exercises that have cadets dress up and impersonate locals may reinforce problematic stereotypes for students and future officers who may not have had other exposure to Islamic cultures. “My concern here is to what extent do these students have any real factual, concrete, even basic information about those cultures?” Schamiloglu said. “My guess would be that most are not familiar enough with those cultures to enter into role playing.”

Chappell: People of color shut out of common council leadership

Madison365

Quoted: “Madison has had African Americans in prominent leadership positions before — two police chiefs and I believe at least two school board presidents,” said UW Professor of Education Gloria Ladson-Billings. “However, none of that matters without the backing of other decision makers. The President of the United States is a Black man who has been stymied at every turn. More important than ONE person’s election or appointment is the mobilization of an electorate who will get behind the person and their agenda.”

Ticks that can carry Lyme disease becoming abundant in Madison

Wisconsin State Journal

When Susan Paskewitz,a UW-Madison professor of entomology, searched the UW Arboretum two years ago for immature deer ticks, the kind most likely to infect people with Lyme disease, she found 32. Last year, during the same amount of sampling at the same 17 sites in the Arboretum, she found 592.

UW’s Jenkins named first team All-Big Ten

Channel3000.com

Wisconsin Badgers third baseman Kelsey Jenkins has been named to the first team All-Big Ten softball team. Jenkins led the Badgers in hitting (.411), home runs (7), walks (48) and stolen bases (15) this season.

Pitcher Taylor-Paige Stewart was named to the second team.

Wisconsin’s Ashley Van Zeeland was named a Sportsmanship Award winner.

WISPIRG asks Culver’s to buy meat not raised on routine antibiotics

Channel3000.com

Quoted: “If antibiotics are eliminated from animal feed and only used by veterinarians to treat infected animals, we can prevent development of additional resistance and hopefully regain the use of antibiotics,” said Carol Spiegel, professor emerita at University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

According to Dan Schaefer, UW-Madison professor and department chair of Animal Sciences, the Federal Drug Administration is already accomplishing that mission through a new veterinary feed regulation that will take effect Jan. 1, 2017.

Soccer concussion concerns

WKOW TV

Quoted: “It’s interesting that parents are upset about their kids playing football but won’t be upset or worried about their daughter playing soccer,” says University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health senior scientist Tim McGuine. “We should be concerned about everything.”

That concern prompted McGuine and his colleagues to launch a new study into the effectiveness of soccer headgear.

Possible impact if Paul Ryan steps away from Republican Convention

WKOW TV

Quoted: UW-Madison political communication professor Mike Wagner believes unity is something Ryan wants, but currently he’s is in a difficult position. He says Ryan is being pressured to both support the presidential candidate and to also keep members of the republican establishment happy by protecting their majority in the house and senate.

“I think there’s a real question about what happens after this race if Trump loses,” Wagner says. “Paul Ryan has to be thinking about the future of the party.”

State officials to monitor for mosquitoes carrying Zika virus

Channel3000.com

Noted: The two species known to carry Zika do not currently live in Wisconsin because they can’t handle the cold, University of Wisconsin-Madison entomology professor Susan Paskewitz said.

But the species have been found in neighboring states, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recently released a map of their potential range, which includes parts of lower Wisconsin.

Scientists peel back the carrot’s genetic secrets

Reuters Africa

Scientists have gotten to the root of the carrot, genetically speaking. Researchers, including lead scientist, University of Wisconsin horticulture professor and geneticist Phil Simon, said on Monday they have sequenced the genome of the carrot, an increasingly important root crop worldwide, identifying genes responsible for traits including the vegetable’s abundance of vitamin A, an important nutrient for vision.

 

Burke inks deal with New York Riveters

NBC15

Wisconsin women’s hockey defenseman Courtney Burke is taking her talents to the Big Apple, as the 2015-16 UW captain signed a deal with the National Women’s Hockey League’s New York Riveters on Thursday.

A Miracle for Mother’s Day

WKOW TV

Quoted: “We know living kidney transplant donation has the best outcome in terms of functioning immediately, less complication,” Dr. Maha Mohamed said. “As well as long term kidney transplant function,” she added. Dr. Mohamed says in the years to come, simpler chains and universal donors will be a real thing. “I don’t see a reason why not, honestly, it’s called desensitization where we can transplant patients across immunotechnology barriers to give them an opportunity at life,” she said.

Four to be inducted into Madison Sports Hall of Fame

Channel3000.com

Noted: Marc Behrend was the goaltender for two national championship teams at the University of Wisconsin in 1981 and 1983, winning the tournament MVP award both years. Karen O’Malley-Crowley also lettered three years in basketball at the University of Wisconsin. Dennis Tiziani also was the men’s and women’s golf coach at the University of Wisconsin.

Thousands more flee fast-spreading wildfire in Canada

Fast-moving wildfires spread farther across the Alberta oil sands region on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of three more communities south of Fort McMurray and the work camps north of the city. Thousands of people who fled the flames earlier in the week had to evacuate for the second time in three days. UW-Madison’s SSEC helped interpret satellite imagery of the fires.