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It’s your paper! Friday, April 10, 2020 • Vol. 7, No. 2 • Fitchburg, WI • ConnectFitchburg.com • $1
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Kathy Bartels 608-235-2927
KBartels@StarkHomes.com
Fish Hatch, McKee work dominate construction season
Inside Making the most of being shut in Page 2 Election continues despite late confusion Page 3
City will see completion of subdivisions, corporate buildings
Mayor gets emergency spending power Page 3
KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
Star begins community helpers listing
In recent weeks, much of the usual springtime activity has been halted. Playgrounds and parks that would normally be teeming with children as the weather has warmed are closed, and traffic on many of the city’s main roads is noticeably reduced. Businesses whose parking lots are
There won’t be many road projects in Fitchburg this year, but three planned across the city could cause major disruptions. A rebuild of McKee Road to cap the seven-year Verona Road project and two projects reconstructing Fish Hatchery Road and part of McKee will reduce lanes for travelers throughout the next few months. The state Department of Transportation is entering its last year with the Verona Road project, which has plagued Fitchburg travelers with slow commute times to Madison the past few years as it widened the highway to three lanes and built an overpass at McKee Road and an underpass at Williamsburg Way. This year, that project includes rebuilding part of McKee Road in Fitchburg, after months of construction and lane changes damaged the road near the overpass. It will be widened to three lanes each way from Fitchrona Road to Commerce Park Drive. In conjunction with the state’s project, the city will reconstruct a portion of McKee Road from Commerce Park Drive to Seminole Highway. Fish Hatchery Road reconstruction, from the Beltline in Madison to Brenden Avenue started April 1. The project has been split into two phases to be completed over two years. The state will also repair bridges on U.S. Hwy. 14 from McCoy Road to Hwy. 138, south of the city. Bridges at Hwy. 138 and McCoy Road will be replaced, and the bridge deck overlay at County Hwy. MM will be repaired. The only other road in the city slated to be resurfaced is Irish Lane between Syene Road and Hwy. MM on the east side, which is set to be reconstructed, city transportation project engineer Bill Balke told the Star.
Turn to COVID-19/Page 9
Turn to Construction/Page 17
Page 6
Photo by Kimberly Wethal
Absentee ballots are counted on election day, held on April 7, at City of Fitchburg’s District 3 polling place in the Community Center.
In quarantine Page 8
Sports Panthers’ title shot blocked by WIAA Page 11
Schools Oregon, Verona begin virtual learning Page 15-16
Business Promega producing COVID-19 testing material Page 19
JIM FEROLIE Fitchburg Star editor
T
he experiences people in Fitchburg and the rest of the country have had the past month would have been practically unimaginable just weeks ago. As the novel coronavirus swept from Asia to Europe and then America, the United States took the world lead in confirmed cases of COVID-19 by a nearly 3-1 margin. That highly contagious respiratory illness has to date claimed the lives of more than 83,000 people, with 95 percent of those deaths coming after the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic March 11. Since then, efforts to stop the virus, which spreads through airborne particles, forced schools and many Fitchburg businesses to close temporarily, events large and small to be cancelled, parks to be restricted and people to stay in their homes under most circumstances. Many of those things were already happening before the governor’s March 24 executive order put the power of the state behind them all. Though some hoped for a quick shutdown and a return to business as usual, by the end of March, it became
The Fitchburg Senior Center closed its doors to visitors from the public mid-March as the county and state imposed restrictions on public gatherings. The senior center is still offering services for residents, such as meal delivery and mental health help, just not from its physical location. clear that we’re all going to be stuck in our semi-quarantine for several weeks or more. By the second week of April, the sight of people wearing face masks had become commonplace and a fight over whether to postpone a statewide election came to a head, with a steady stream of voters at Fitchburg polls that had taken on a vastly different look.
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April 10, 2020
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Fitchburg Star
Fitchburg residents stuck at home A community finds ways to pass the time EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
As a healthcare professional, Patty Marsh still drives to work while most Fitchburgians remain isolated at home, forced to adapt to new routines and livelihoods amid the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been no leaving for a night out on the town, sitting down with a friend over some coffee engaging in conversation or visiting loved ones. And all social events have been either postponed or canceled. Marsh, who works at an increasingly busy children’s hospital in an outpatient setting, told the Star via Facebook two weeks ago she hears from families frightened by the crisis. Other Fitchburg residents — people who are unemployed or have had to set up makeshift work spaces — are stuck at their residences as they practice social distancing to curb the spread of the disease. That may be the case for Marsh when she isn’t performing the essential duties of her rolel. Life has ground to a screeching halt. The public is doing its part to flatten the curve of the disease, which the World Health Organization declared a pandemic March 11. The Star received stories like Marsh’s on a Fitchburg (WI) Citizens Facebook group post — people who are trying to build a new semblance of normalcy. Some say they’ve adapted to working virtually and others engage in arts and crafts. More said they distract themselves by reading, cleaning, keeping the kids entertained, working out and checking on loved ones. Heather Carson Dipko, a
commenter on the post, told the Star her family celebrated St. Patrick’s Day two weeks ago. “We read our St. Patrick’s Day books, colored shamrocks and put them on our windows,” she said. “We had a leprechaun trap and made shamrock shaped sugar cookies. In between that, I try to do some home organization projects.” Another commenter, Silvina Arata said she was working from home as a tax accountant. “This is my busiest month,” she said. Kim Smith commented she was looking for items to donate and in doing so, took an unexpected walk down memory lane. “I hooked up my old tape decks, VHS player and dug out some old records,” she said. “I’m looking at things I haven’t seen in 20 plus years.” Rich Eggleson said he sits at his computer and frets about the impact the pandemic has had on the newspaper and entertainment industries. He said he wishes for the return of manual typewriters and teletype machines. “I am still performing inspections for the City of Fitchburg, but with some major adjustments regarding the public,” commenter Jack Pearson said. “City staff overall has been outstanding and we are all trying to assist each other in any way possible, especially with election stuff going on. Nancy Arnold commented she’s found solace in workouts, both live and recorded. As for Marsh, she said she’s thankful she still has a job to go to and feels for those who have differing circumstances. “(These are) crazy times we are living in,” Marsh said. Email Emilie Heidemann at emilie.heidemann@wcinet.com or follow her on Twitter at @ HeidemannEmilie.
Photo submitted
To provide a visual for what the family is doing while they isolate at home, Tiffany Roltgen emailed the Star photos of her children drawing with sidewalk chalk. The end result is geometric and colorful. From left is Stella, 7, Addy, 9, and MacArthur, 4, of Fitchburg.
Festa Italia 2020 canceled because of COVID-19 Organizers will not reschedule McKee Farms Park event this year NEAL PATTEN Unified Newspaper Group
Festa Italia has become a casualty of COVID-19. The festival, which celebrates Italian and Italian American culture, has been canceled for 2020 because of concerns about the spread of coronavirus, which causes the illness. It has been held each May for the past 15 years at McKee Farms Park, 2930 Chapel Valley Road. The Italian Workmen’s Club of Madison, which plans and facilitates Festa Italia, announced the cancellation in a press release Thursday, April 2. “The coronavirus has impacted our nation, state a n d l o c a l c o m m u n i t y.
Cancellation of our event is the responsible thing to do in order to protect the health and safety of our members, volunteers, vendors, suppliers, partners, sponsors and certainly our guests,” Antonio Re, IWC president, wrote in the press release. Originally scheduled for May 29-31, the three-day event will next be held June 4-6, 2021. “Festa Italia began over 40 years ago as a small Greenbush neighborhood b l o c k p a r t y o n R eg e n t Street, and has grown to become one of Dane County’s premier ethnic festivals,” David Rizzo, chair of the Festa Italia committee, wrote in an email to the Press. The Italian Workmen’s Club of Madison was founded in 1912 and is one of the oldest active Italian Clubs of the United States, according to its website. Contact Neal Patten at neal.patten@wcinet.com
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During COVID-19, BPNN is open and offering curbside pick-up. Please consider a monetary donation or sign up to volunteer. Visit www.bpnn.org to learn more.
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April 10, 2020
Spring election
Voting proceeds despite pandemic RENEE HICKMAN Unified Newspaper Group
Election Day continued as planned Tuesday, April 7, despite the ongoing threat of COVID-19. In Fitchburg, a steady stream of people walked into the city’s four polling places to vote in person, while others placed their absentee ballots in the drop box at City Hall. Voters, many of them wearing masks, stayed six feet apart while poll workers administered the election and counted absentee ballots behind shields of plexiglass. Sanitizing was a common sight – after checking in, voters were asked to use hand sanitizer, and tables and machines were wiped down regularly. So far, the city has 8,966 ballots, both from in-person and absentee ballots, city clerk Tracy Oldenburg told the Star Tuesday afternoon. The overwhelming majority of those are absentee ballots, totaling 7,392. As of 5 p.m. on April 2, Oldenburg said the city had sent out a total of 8,226 ballots to residents. In an effort to halt the possible spread at voting sites of the novel coronavirus, which causes the highly contagious COVID-19 illness, Gov. Tony Evers issued Executive Order No. 74 on Monday, April 6, which would have postponed the election until June 9. But by late afternoon that same day, the Wisconsin Supreme Court had overturned the order on a 4-2 vote, stating that Evers lacked the authority to move the vote on his own. More changes came that evening when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled a previous extension of the absentee ballot deadline by a federal judge. That extension would have allowed state clerks to accept ballots postmarked or returned at any time up to 4 p.m. on April 13. After the 5-4 court ruling, absentee ballots had to be postmarked or hand-delivered to municipal clerks by the close of polls at 8 p.m. April 7. But, many Wisconsinites had yet to receive their ballots due to a slowed postal system. In
On the Web To see more spring election coverage, visit:
ConnectFitchburg.com her dissent, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said of these voters, “Either they will have to brave the polls, endangering their own and others’ safety. Or they will lose their right to vote, through no fault of their own.” In their opinion, the majority wrote that, “when a lower court intervenes and alters the election rules so close to the election date, our precedents indicate that this court, as appropriate, should correct that error.” Monday’s chaos only made the task of planning for the election more difficult for municipal clerks. In the weeks prior to the election, fears about COVID-19 caused thousands of poll workers to cancel their scheduled shifts. On a press call with the Wisconsin Elections Commission on Monday, administrator Meagan Wolfe said those who voted Tuesday wo u l d e n c o u n t e r s o m e changes. Measures taken would vary somewhat from site to site, but might include tape indicating where people should stand for proper social distancing, hand sanitizing and new procedures for checking photo IDs. “You’ll see social distancing built in at every step of the process,” Wolfe said. Other notable changes to typical Election Day sights included the presence of members of the Wisconsin National Guard at some polling sites. They would be filling in for volunteers who canceled, Wolfe said on Monday, and would be in plain clothes and serving in the communities they are from. No results will be released until Monday, April 13. The Wisconsin Elections Commission has stated that voters requested a record high number of absentee ballots this year – more than 1 million statewide a week before the election. — Reporter Kimberly Wethal contributed to this story.
Fitchburg Star
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City declares emergency, limits activities KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
Next week, Alders will consider whether or not to give Fitchburg’s mayor the power to spend up to $250,000 on emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The budget amendment, which requires a two-thirds majority of the Common Council is up for discussion at the Tuesday, March 24, meeting. Mayor Aaron Richardson declared a state of emergencyfor the city Monday. The council is also expected to vote March 24 whether to ratify that declaration, which gave city administrator Patrick Marsh the right to limit non-essential city activities to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community. The revised financial procedures up for vote Tuesday make the mayor the highest level of administrative authorization. “It is the Mayor’s intention to encourage all items that can, to wait until after the emergency,” a memo from the city administrator, finance director and attorney states. “He also does not intend to approve any policy
items without Council approval.” The emergency declaration also encourages residents to abide by the state and county mandates, which at the time of publication, was to avoid gatherings of more than 50 people. That number has since been dropped to a limit of 10 people by Gov. Tony Evers after the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the number. It also also urges landlords to exercise compassion and discretion with tenants who struggle to make rent payments as a result of their health or employment being impacted by COVID-19. Individual municipalities cannot prevent landlords from evicting tenants, as all law regarding renting was put into state hands with legislation passed in 2011. The emergency funds budget amendment would allow administrators to enact requests already made, including additional hours for staff to process and mail absentee ballots, IT consultant services and faster internet services for city employees who are working from home. “While the current expectation is that the full $250,000 will not be needed, it is prudent to proceed with
authorization of a higher amount to allow a significant cushion to quickly address unexpected needs,” the memo reads. With the budget amendment, a revised purchasing process for emergencies would take effect, changing who needs to sign off on purchases. Currently, all purchases require approval by the council, but for emergency items, the mayor or the acting mayor would be the only one required to sign off on the item for it to be initially purchased. If the item is not within the current operating budget, the council would need to pass a budget amendment for the purchase at a later date. The memo states city staff have done their best to identify urgent needs in all departments, but it acknowledged that unanticipated expenses could arise. “In the event of an emergency that requires immediate action, we expect staff (in consultation with the Mayor and City Administrator) to make the appropriate decisions to address the immediate situation using their best professional judgement,” the document reads.
Mayor gets emergency spending power KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
Mayor Aaron Richardson will have the power to authorize spending for up to $250,000 for emergency costs related to COVID-19. With the ratification of his declaration of an emergency from last week, the Common Council unanimously both granted Richardson the power to authorize emergency expenditures related to COVID-19 during its meeting March 24 and the budget amendment required to do so. The budget amendment allows $250,000 from the city’s reserve fund to be spent on emergency costs including increased payroll for employees assisting the clerk’s office with absentee ballots, IT consultant hours to get city hall employees working from home and faster internet for those employees. Five of the city’s eight alders
attended the meeting in person, while the remaining three – Alds. Anne Scott, Shannon Strassman and Janell Rice – opted to attend via video conference, as did the majority of city employees who spoke during the meeting. It allowed the alders who attended in person to spread out and maintain the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines of being six feet apart from one another, for the most part. The declaration also approved city administrator Patrick Marsh’s right to limit non-essential city activities to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the community. Fitchburg has since closed its City Hall, senior center and the library, and committee, commission and board meetings will be cancelled during the public health emergency, unless Richardson deems any of them necessary. Council meetings are considered essential to the city and will continue
to be held the way the March 24 meeting was, with city staff and alders given the chance to call in. With the budget amendment, a revised purchasing process for emergencies changes who needs to sign off on purchases. Normally, all purchases require approval by the council, but for emergency items, the mayor or the acting mayor would be the only one required to sign off on the item for it to be initially purchased. If the item is not within the current operating budget, the council would need to pass a budget amendment for the purchase at a later date. Richardson pledged to brief the council at least once a month on the emergency expenditures he approves, if not more frequently. “We don’t know how long this is going to last, and we don’t want it to be two or three months, and have it be, ‘Oh, this is all of the stuff we did’ – that’s not right, either,” he said.
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City in brief Council approves emergency paid leave
The Fitch-Rona EMS and City of Fitchburg fire department is still looking for Personal Protective Equipment for its staff as it responds to emergencies. Fire chief Joe Pulvermacher told the Common Council on March 24 that after he and EMS chief Patrick Anderson put out a joint call for supply donations earlier in the week, they received 30 cases of N95 masks, which cover the nose and mouth and are recommended for personnel interacting with patients who could be sick with COVID-19. Pulvermacher added the departments are still in need of additional face shields, surgical masks and patient gowns.
City staff will be paid regardless of if they work through April 1. The Council approved a paid emergency leave policy for employees starting March 16 and ending at the start of April, a stretch of two weeks that finance director Misty Dodge called an interim time before federal leave becomes available on April 2. The emergency leave is intended for any city employees who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, are caring for someone who has the illness, are experiencing symptoms or are quarantined or isolated, Dodge said. “Ultimately, we don’t want our employees to have to choose between getting a paycheck and coming into work when they’re sick and potentially infecting the rest of our workforce,” she said.
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EMS, fire look for protective supplies
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April 10, 2020
Opinion
Fitchburg Star
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Community Voices
To adapt quickly, stay focused and be grateful W e learn how to adapt in hard times by watching what others have gone
through. Think back to the stories you’ve heard from your family. When my parents bought their dairy farm in Brooklyn in the 1970s, they had just moved from Chicago to live their dream and had a steep learning curve ahead of them. One day they saw a cow in distress; having no idea what the problem was, they ran to a neighbor for help. It took my parents years to live down the fact that the cow was simply having a calf. During the ice storm of ’76, we had no electricity, heat or water for eight days, and roads were closed. Out in the barn the whole day,
my parents had to dump milk because no one could get out to pick it up. A cousin watched us four kids, all under 5, keeping us warm with Konopacki our gas oven. We got through it, and how we move and adapt through COVID-19 will create the stories we get to share when this is all over. We’re facing unprecedented challenges as a community, nation and world. We are in new territory with the scope, timeline and other unknows this has brought. The first thing we must do is focus. Avoid distractions and guard
your mindset. Stress can pull you into fuzzy thinking and worry cycles. Set aside your news feed and visit it only as needed to stay up to date with important information; watch for when you are stuck on repeat. Think about where you want to be when this has passed. Figure out what areas of life is this forcing you to examine and decide how you can take action on the things you can control and let go of the stress of those you can’t. I made the decision to close my chiropractic office except for working with acute patients while coronavirus cases slow down in our community. I really struggled to make this decision. But when I let it be, this time is a gift for me to pause, take a deep breath, and get
laser focused time to work on an office re-brand project and future efforts that have been waiting for more of my attention. I’m trying to be aware enough to not follow the stress prompts I feel that tell me to rush around and do more. I’m being thoughtful about how I direct my energy and time. It’s been a chance for me to be grateful; it was a shock to realize how fortunate I’ve been in my life. For the first time, I experienced going to a store and not having everything I wanted. It is humbling to reflect on how this is a way of life for many in the world. I’m so proud of our community: healthcare workers on the frontlines, the people working around the clock to make sure we have groceries stocked, our emergency
responders and local companies like Promega, which is working on COVID-19 test kits. I’m inspired by stories of generosity, neighbors helping neighbors, lifting spirits and coming together. I saw a quote recently that fits with our worldwide COVID-19 concerns: “We don’t always have the privilege of agreeing with what life puts in front of us.” That is true, but we do have a choice about how we respond. I am grateful to be a part of this community, and I wish everyone health and resourcefulness as we get through this together and create the stories of how we adapted together. Dr. Laura Konopacki is the owner of Body Wave chiropractic in Fitchburg, and she has training in pediatrics and functional neurology.
Being a journalist during pandemic challenging
Friday, April 10 • Vol. 7, No. 2 Periodical Postage Paid, Verona, WI and additional offices. Published monthly on Friday by the Unified Newspaper Group, A Division of Woodward Communications, Inc. POSTMASTER: Send Address Corrections to The Fitchburg Star, 133 Enterprise Drive, Verona, WI 53593.
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I
’ll never forget the day this pandemic became real for me. It was just another Friday in the office, and the closures started rolling in. First, it was just community events that were postponed or canceled. Next, Gov. Tony Evers issued an order closing all Wisconsin public and private schools. That was the last time I visited my office – March 13. I had read an article a few weeks earlier that concluded it wasn’t a matter of if, but when COVID-19 was going to hit the United States. Expert epidemiologists and scientists told us to prepare for significant disruptions to our livelihoods. So as the world began changing suddenly, I sat in my desk, head in my hands, wondering if this is how it all ends. Then, my fight or flight response took over, and my fingers started typing story after breaking news story about how this was affecting our communities. That’s how it’s been the past few weeks. My body is governed by a journalist, who is in turn, governed by an overwhelming sense of duty. The human in me is nowhere to be
found right now, other than likely cowering in a corner, paralyzed and sickened by fear. How visceral it is to be a Heidemann journalist and an editor with an anxiety disorder during an unprecedented global event of this scope. I’m shaking even as I write this. The following week came the business and local government closures. In real time, my favorite coffee shops went dark – those were the places where I had found the most inspiration. The local businesses I’d already written about suddenly had uncertain financial futures. Worse, there’s nothing to occupy these business owners and employees as they sit at home, forced to wallow in the uncertainty and find creative ways to weather this storm. Their livelihoods – and mine – were indeed disrupted. They were ripped from us. And now we grieve them until we once again find some semblance of “normal.”
Will there be the V-shaped rebound most economists are hoping for after this is over, or did some establishments lock their doors for the last time? My heart breaks and stomach churns for the business owners who face this, as they are the blood that pumps through small Wisconsin towns, cities and villages. I can’t even begin to describe the depth of my sorrow for our health care workers, grocery store clerks, janitorial staff and other people deemed essential during this crisis. They, and the communities we serve, are what drives the stories me and my staff write. Our newspapers are buried in COVID-19 coverage for now, but what about a month or two down the road? It’s hard not to go down that rabbit hole. My work is a welcome distraction from the temptation of reading articles from national news outlets – how COVID-19 ravages one’s body, how some experts say it might take 18 months to find a vaccine and the dire impacts this has had on an already fragile economy. At least my work in local
journalism involves finding the stories where people help one another. Those glimmers of hope seem to be few and far between, even as I desperately search for them on my own time – in contacting the people I love and appreciating that the sun is out. That’s another rabbit hole I can’t let myself enter. I had just started to heal from the trauma of losing two loved ones last year, and I now have to face the possibility of losing more. My father, who has been my rock and who keeps me grounded during hard times, has bronchial asthma. This makes him, by definition, someone who is at a high risk of contracting a severe COVID-19 infection. But as long as I am able to hear his laughter– or his voice at all – on the other side of the phone, I will be able to weather this storm. I don’t really have a choice. Emilie Heidemann is the Unified Newspaper Group community and business editor. She is also the Oregon Observer government reporter.
My experiment in solar energy satisfying
Y
ou might have noticed a spike in the number of houses in Fitchburg that have solar panels on their roofs in recent years. Maybe you have been considering installing some on your home, too. After all, solar not only helps fight climate change; it lowers your monthly energy bills. My family had solar panels installed on our house in late 2017, and so far, my experience with solar has generally exceeded my expectations. It has been maintenance free. In fact, I have not spent a dime yet on maintenance. Solar appear to be both a great investment and the responsible thing to do. Our 6.3 kilowatt power system has produced approximately $1,120 and $1,070 in savings in 2018 and 2019, respectively. This translates to a payback of approximately 9.4 years. And solar panels are durable, generally lasting 30-35 years. That’s much longer than a typical roof lasts, which was a concern I initially had. But our insurance company indicated that if there were hail damage, the removal and replacement of the solar panels would be covered as part of the shingle replacement. I also discussed it with an area roofer, who said the shingles beneath the panels would not likely need replacement due to their protection from the panels against hail damage.
first or second sunny day above 25 degrees. Some people ask about solar when trying to sell our home. I view our solar investment as something that will one day help us sell our home, even if we don’t end up staying in the house through the payback period. On average, a buyer would be paying approximately $90 less per month on their Thus, the panels could more likely to be kept utility bill with our system than if the house in place, and shingle replacement work would didn’t have solar. take place around the perimeter of the solar Most importantly, I feel proud that we panels. invested in renewable energy to do our small I also wondered about snow accumulation part to reduce our family’s carbon footprint. blocking the panels (snow shading), as solar production can be limited by that and cloudy Our system has reduced our carbon footprint days. But over each of the past three winters, by the equivalent of planting over 680 trees. This also is a handy feature of our app, I was pleasantly surprised by how few days which has showed that our solar array has snow shading actually blocked energy proeliminated discharging over 12,350 kilograms duction on our home. of CO2 into the air we breathe, which would It is easy to track functionality, solar have been the case using MG&E’s primarily production and energy usage through the coal-generated electricity. SolarEdge app. I found that our total days If the shingles on your house are due to be with blocked solar production due to snow replaced soon, it’s better to wait until after shading was limited to 10 days during the they’ve been replaced to install solar panels. 2017-18 winter, 19 days during the 2018-19 Otherwise, I hope you will consider exploring winter, and 20 days during the 2019-20 winthe solar option in the next couple years. ter. Chris Jimieson is a member of Fitchburg’s This is because snow cover on the ground Resource Conservation Commission and does not correlate closely with snow shading a geological engineer at SCS Engineers in on your roof, especially if you have full expoMadison. He lives in Swan Creek with his sure on a south-facing, pitched roof. Snow wife and their 11-year-old son. typically slides off our solar panels with the
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April 10, 2020
Fitchburg Star
5
COVID-19 response
Two Johns make it right Madison area Home Depot managers provide supplies for Fitchburg Senior Center volunteers NEAL PATTEN Unified Newspaper Group
Photo submitted
Johhny Chowaniec, the store manager of the east side Madison Home Depot (left) and Jonathan Rudolph, the store manager of the west side Madison Home Depot (right).
“These managers are amazing community minded guys and we are so fortunate they thought of us.” Mandi Miller, volunteer program manager and nutrition site manager at Fitchburg Senior Center Miller admitted that while it is “not a great idea for the volunteers to be outside,” the center is doing what it can to help them stay safe, which is why the donation from the Home Depot managers has been so helpful. Starting last week, the center cut the number of distribution days by half to minimize contact with recipients of the food relief, but is delivering twice as many meals on the
days it still delivers. Miller has begun to find younger volunteers and is making her older volunteers stay home. “We have so many seniors who are food insecure, we already feel awful we can’t do more as a staff, so it would be weird if we weren’t still doing Meals on Wheels,” she said. The masks and gloves have also been put to use protecting the volunteers sent out to get groceries for shut-in seniors. For their part, Rudolph and Chowaniec are humble about their donation. “I’m leery about talking about donations because when you’re doing the right thing, you don’t want to make a big deal about it, it’s just the right thing to do,” Rudolph said. “I’m never looking for recognition. I just want to take care of the community,” Chowaniec agreed. Neal Patten, community reporter, can be contacted at neal.patten@wcinet.com
Photo courtesy of Fitchburg Historical Society
Anna Fox and her father, Philip R. Fox.
COVID-19 isn’t Fitchburg’s first pandemic RICH EGGLESTON Special to the Star
COVID-19 isn’t the first pandemic that people have felt in Fitchburg, and it almost certainly won’t be the last. Before science even learned how to tackle disease – before there was even a state of Wisconsin – deadly illnesses regularly visited the land. Smallpox took a toll here in the 1770s, according to research by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Physician Edward Jenner’s vaccine would not come along until 1796. In the early 20th century, smallpox was still around. In 1915, a smallpox outbreak in Madison filled the city’s hospitals and swamped the doctors and nurses at St. Mary’s Hospital. In 1918, the flu pandemic spread across the country from Fort Riley, Kansas, competing for headlines with World War I. Public gatherings were prohibited, non-essential businesses were advised to close and parishioners were admonished to stay away from their churches. The flu that year claimed nearly 8,500 lives in Wisconsin, but none at Edgewood High School, then known as the Sacred Heart Academy. It was there that
City launches ‘critical assessment’ form for seniors in need
Unified Newspaper Group
If Fitchburg seniors need assistance to stay home and reduce their risk of contracting COVID-19, the senior center wants to know about it. The Fitchburg Senior Center launched a Critical Needs Assessment form this
There are multiple ways to fill out the form, which either senior citizens or caretakers can fill out, or let senior center staff know what needs are required – online, by phone, fax or mail. The form is on the senior center’s page of the city’s website, fitchburgwi.gov, or it that can be printed and either emailed or faxed, at 270-4296, to the senior center. The senior center can be reached by email at fitchburgseniorcenter@fitchburgwi.gov. Email reporter Kimberly Wethal at kimberly.wethal@wcinet.com and follow her on Twitter @kimberly_wethal.
City of Fitchburg
UW Health consolidates clinics
Notebook: Council approves basic emergency plan
EMILIE HEIDEMANN
KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
City of Fitchburg fire department chief Joe Pulvermacher has been working for months on a basic emergency response plan that outlined the hierarchy of authority for the city and the role of emergency operations. But the plan became a priority for the Common Council to pass at its Tuesday, March 24, meeting as the number of cases of COVID-19 in Dane County, and across the state and the nation, continued to rise. The Council approved the basic emergency response plan unanimously, with little discussion.
Pulvermacher called the plan a “road map” that allows for emergencies to be approached in a consistent way in the future. “It outlines what we do in an emergency, and how we respond,” Pulvermacher said as he spoke to the Common Council via video conference. “It provides a little bit of scope as to how we coordinate not only our local resources, but then how we work in an escalating situation, moving up the chain with the county, the state and the federal government.” Email reporter Kimberly Wethal at kimberly. wethal@wcinet.com and follow her on Twitter @ kimberly_wethal.
Unified Newspaper Group
UW Health is consolidating its primary care clinics to keep staff safe during the COVID-19 health crisis. This means Fitchburg’s UW Health clinic for family medicine at the Odana location, 5543 E. Cheryl Pkwy. has temporarily closed, effective Monday, March 23. The move is intended to accommodate patients who have urgent medical needs that require in-person care, while at the same time supporting social distancing
goals, the release states. Patients can contact their usual clinic location with questions, to request prescription refills or to schedule a visit via phone or video. The following primary care locations will remain open for in-person and essential visits: • 20 S. Park • Beaver Dam • DeForest Clinic • East Clinic • Odana Clinic • Portage Clinic • Verona Clinic • West Clinic • Wingra Clinic • Yahara Clinic
• Driveways • Floors • Patios • Sidewalks Phil Mountford 516-4130 (cell) 835-5129 (office)
THANK YOU!
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Weekly Lawn Mowing | Openings Available Military & Senior Discounts Bill Jollie 608-206-2834 • jollietree@aol.com
PAR Concrete, Inc.
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week, where senior citizens or their caregivers can tell staff what services they might need from home, in light of Gov. Tony Evers’ March 24 Safer at Home order. Those services might include help with feelings of depression or isolation, home-delivered meals, medication pickup, grocery delivery or assistance with personal care. The senior center is closed to the public to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, an illness that’s especially dangerous to older citizens. The form is intended to help the center continue to serve seniors.
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Form asks what services seniors need to be safe amid COVID-19
Fitchburg physician Dr. Philip R. Fox cared for stricken students and nuns. The students and staff were quarantined for a month, but all recovered. The people at Edgewood never forgot the contribution of Fox. At his daughter, Anna Fox’s 103rd birthday celebration, a delegation from Edgewood paid its respects. In 2018, the Fitchburg Historical Society marked a century since that influenza outbreak with a look at the influenza virus by Professor Mary Hayney of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Pharmacy School. Hayney said there had been other outbreaks in the intervening years, with the greatest potential for catastrophe in 2009. Perhaps historians will someday study the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and how it affected our behavior. Submitted by Rich Eggleston, former journalist who retired in 2012 and president of the Fitchburg Historical Society from 2003-2007.
Tina’s Home Cleaning, LLC
608-513-3638 tinashomecleaning@gmail.com
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Johnny Chowaniec and Jonathan Rudolph have more in common than just their first name – they also share the same job and spirit of giving. Rudolph, the store manager of the west side Home Depot in Madison, and Chowaniec, the store manager of the east side Madison Home Depot, made a surprise donation to the Fitchburg Senior Center last month. Each brought a bucket of supplies, including masks, gloves, rags and disinfectants, to help safeguard the health of volunteers at the center. The pair had a relationship with the center dating back several years to when volunteer program manager and nutrition site manager Mandi Miller reached out to them to donate a refrigerator and freezer from their stores. However, the donation last month was not something Miller requested or expected. “They just showed up one day. These managers are amazing community minded guys and we are so fortunate they thought of us,” Miller said. The donated supplies are now being used by Meals on Wheels volunteers, who are continuing the home meal delivery program, despite the senior center building being closed due to COVID-19. Miller said the main volunteer base for the program is older adults, who are among the most vulnerable for contracting the novel coronavirus illness.
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April 10, 2020
ConnectFitchburg.com
Fitchburg Star
Fitchburg listing connects helpers, those in need Form submissions will be posted online, in Press With increasing restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the communities Unified Newspaper Group serves have asked us to help them help their neighbors.
Our answer is to create a signup list for people in the Fitchburg area who are able to help their neighbors in this time of cri- To fill out the helpers form visit Unified sis. Among the basic services we Newspaper Groups website below: encourage people to offer or ask http://www.unifiednewsgroup. for are grocery shopping, picking com/communityhelpers/ up medications or dog walking. If you are able to be a “helper” or a person who is in need, please All participants who are willing to share their information fill out the form on our website.
On the Web
Fitchburg bars, cafes and restaurants offering to-go and delivery NEAL PATTEN Unified Newspaper Group
publicly will have their names, contact information and services offered published on our website and in the Star. Participants who wish to remain private will have the information put on a spreadsheet and emailed to people who have asked for help. If you’d like to be a helper or need help but do not have access to the internet, contact the Unified
Newspaper Group office directly at 845-9559. Unified Newspaper Group makes no claims as to the ability or honesty of the people who submit their names for these forms. We are connecting people as a public service only. This list will be discontinued once the COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted.
Badger Prairie Needs Network
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Mod Pizza
Available: Carryout, curbside, Please email ungbusiness@wcinet. com if you’d like to be added to this delivery Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. list.
Barriques
Moo-Yah
Available: Carryout, curbside, delivery Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., SunBenvenuto’s Italian Grill day-Thursday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., FriAvailable: Carry out, curbside pick- day-Saturday up, delivery Noodles And Company Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Available: Curbside, delivery Buffalo Wild Wings Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday-Saturday Available: Pickup, delivery Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Available: Curbside pickup Hours: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Curry In The Box
Oasis Café
Available: Carryout, delivery Hours: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. MonAvailable: Carryout, curbside, day-Friday; 8 a.m. to noon Saturday delivery Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday-Friday; 4-9 p.m., Saturday; Pancheros Available: Carryout, delivery 4-8:30 p.m., Sunday Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. MonDairy Queen day-Saturday; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday Available: Drive-through Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The Flying Hound Available: Pickup, delivery Hours: noon to 8 p.m. Saturday-Thursday; noon to 9 p.m. Sunday
Funk’s Pub Available: Carryout Hours: 3-8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday
Glass Nickel Pizza Co.
Pancake Café
Available: Carryout, delivery Hours: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Thirsty Goat Available: Carryout, delivery Hours: 3-7 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday; 3-8 p.m., Saturday
Panera Bread
Available: Carryout, curbside, Available: Carryout, contactless delivery delivery Hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. MonHours: 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. day-Saturday; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday Friday-Saturday
The Great Dane Pub Available: Carryout, delivery Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Haveli Indian Restaurant Available: Carryout Hours: 5-9 p.m.
Hy-Vee Market Grille Available: Carryout Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Jimmy John’s
Rolling Pin Bake Shop
Available: Carryout, curbside Hours: 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday; 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday
Tapatios Thai Noodles Available: Carryout, delivery Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday-Monday (closed Tuesdays)
Liliana’s Restaurant
Available: Curbside pickup, deliv- Yahara Bay Distillery Available: Curbside ery Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. MonHours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and day-Friday 4-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday Available: Carryout, delivery Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday-Sunday
Me And Julio Available: Carryout, delivery
Badger Prairie Needs Network temporarily serving Fitchburg residents Decision made due to hardship caused by COVID-19 NEAL PATTEN Unified Newspaper Group
In response to COVID-19, Badger Prairie Needs Netw o r k , 1 2 0 0 E a s t Ve r o n a Ave., Verona, is providing food relief for Fitchburg residents.
While its regular service area is confined to residents of Verona Area School District, the food pantry has expanded to include all of Fitchburg. “In order to serve everyone in need, BPNN has relaxed its boundaries to support our surrounding c o m m u n i t i e s ,” t h e f o o d bank states on its website. Currently, the pantry is only offering curbside pickup of pre-packaged food relief kits and is unable
to accommodate special dietary requests or needs. T h e d i s t r i bu t i o n h o u r s are 10 a.m. to noon Mond a y - Tu e s d a y a n d F r i d a y ; 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday. BPNN is closed on Wednesdays and Sundays. For information about pickup, visit bpnn.org/ covid-19-updates.html or call 608-848-2499. Neal Patten can be contacted at neal.patten@wcinet. com.
Available: Carryout, delivery Hours: 4-8 p.m.
Toppers Pizza Available: Pickup, delivery Available: Carryout, contactless Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Fish Hatchery); 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. (McKee) delivery Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Little Caesars Pizza
Photo by Neal Patten
Pouring rains arrived on Thursday, March 19, the first day of the curbside pantry, but 83 households were still provided for at BPNN.
Closed: Atomic Koi Cocktail Lounge Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream Laredos Monkeyshines Bar And Grill Quivey’s Grove Surya Cafe Tuscany Grill
Fitchburg man arrested after chase on U.S. 14 EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
A Fitchburg man has been arrested after what police say was a 1.5-mile chase reaching speeds up to 90 mph on Friday, March 20. Police recommended seven felony charges, including eluding, false imprisonment and what would be a fifth drunken driving offense, for Wayne J. Jaskulke, 55, after what started as a report of domestic battery at the Bel Aire Motel in the Town of Mazomanie, according to a news release from the Dane County Sheriff’s Office. He had not been charged as of Sunday, March 22, according to online records. An uninvolved hotel guest reported the incident at 8:31 p.m. Friday and identified
Jaskulke, according to the release. Police said he fled the scene in an SUV and headed east on U.S. Hwy. 14 toward the villages of Black Earth and Cross Plains, where Cross Plains police attempted to stop his vehicle. The suspect drove his SUV through the Monona Bank parking lot, over the lawn and launched over the retaining wall of the bank, according to the release. It said he later jumped out of the vehicle, fled on foot toward a residence in the Town of Cross Plains, where he was apprehended by a deputy behind an outbuilding. The victim of the domestic had several injuries, and received treatment from medics at the scene, according to the release. Email Emilie Heidemann at emilie.heidemann@wcinet.com or follow her on Twitter at @HeidemannEmilie.
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April 10, 2020
Fitchburg Star
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COVID-19 response
Cancellation of FitchRona Art Crawl a loss for artists Three artists share how they are affected NEAL PATTEN Unified Newspaper Group
Seventeen artists who were prepared to set up work spaces in more than a dozen Fitchburg and Verona businesses during the annual FitchRona Art Crawl, ended up staying home that weekend. The event, scheduled for March 27-28 and organized by Yahara Bay Distillery, was canceled due to concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus, as well as many businesses along the crawl being closed due to not being considered essential under Gov. Evers “Safer at Home” order. Whether helping artists sell prints, or making connections for commissions, the event for many artists was an indispensable way to kickoff a circuit of spring and summer shows and festivals. Despite economic and networking losses, several full-time artists who were scheduled to participate are remaining positive in the wake of the art crawl’s cancellation. Mark Kerttula, an airbrush artist based in Watertown, participated in the FitchRona Art Crawl for the first time last year. He was set to return to Liliana’s Restaurant in Fitchburg. “The exposure for me to get out into Madison was by far the best thing that could have happened in an area of the state I’m not too familiar with,” Kerttula said of his experience last year. This year would have been the third time Madison-based artist Christy Grace participated in the crawl. A watercolor painter who makes diorama and shadowbox-style art, Grace said the prize money from winning second place the year before helped pay for her to further her artwork and career. Now, not having income flowing in from the Fitchrona Art Crawl and other art shows and shops she sells at is difficult. Grace said she plans to turn to online platforms to sell her work. “Art is one of the things that falls out of people’s budgets during an economic crisis,” Grace said. “So now I’m shifting gears, finding new ways to sell my art.” Despite losing income from cancelled shows and closed shops, Grace sees a silver lining. “I’m grateful for the opportunities and connections I have had in the past. This pandemic will create more stories to tell through art. It’s both challenging and inspiring,” she said.
Art as an essential business Kerttula said he relies on commissions for income instead of selling prints. His canvases are typically the sides of motorcycles, cars and snowmobiles, or helmets for all the above. NASCAR affiliated clients have been one of his main sources of income over the years.
Photo submitted
Airbrush art by Watertown-based artist Mark Kerttula.
Photo by Kimberly Wethal
Artist Christy Grace begins to paint the background of her shadow box at The Purple Goose during the Fitch-Rona Art Crawl on Friday, March 22. Grace won second-place in the two-day art competition.
Photo submitted
Sara Meredith is a woodblock artist based in Madison.
He said that for his airbrush art, live demonstrations are a crucial way to generate business, as it helps people understand airbrush art better. “A lot of my work could be mistaken as photographs instead of paintings,” Kerttula said. He relies on events like the FitchRona Art Crawl to educate people on what he can do with airbrush art. “The loss of that exposure is less devastating than it is psychologically a real bummer,” Kerttula said, “The financial loss isn’t as impactful as getting people to see your work.” He has gotten to be friends with people on Facebook who watched him work last year. He said last year, one couple stayed and watched him work for a whole day. “In my opinion, I am an essential business, because I’ve got to sell art to make a living. We artists are all going to feel this devastation,” he said.
Photo submitted
Woodblock art print by Madison-based artist Sara Meredith.
Sara Meredith would have been participating in the Fitchrona Art Crawl for the first time this year. As a full-time artist and mom, she said she hasn’t had time to break down the economic impact the shutdown has had on her, as she’s been too busy homeschooling her children. Meredith said there are no safeguards in place for artists to make up the months of income they’re losing. “Like any small business, I work on a month to month basis. I have been doing art full-time for five years and had just started breaking even,” Meredith said.
“March was supposed to be a really big month for me and now I have nothing.” Meredith said April and May are traditionally when art sales start to pick up for her. Two other shows for her art were canceled in March. She is joining other artists to advocate for emergency grants for artists, seeking legislation to support artists, stating many won’t be able to create art full-time anymore because of the economic impact of the coronavirus. Even so, she is hopeful many will pull through. “Artists are better equipped to change quickly because we are creative, rolling with the punches is part of our skills,” she said. “As an artist you are well aware of your failings and are equipped to move on quicker. I’m hopeful we can help each other out and find interesting sources of income.” Meredith said not connecting with people is a bigger loss than income. She enjoys the personal interaction with others that she does not have working from home, and was looking forward to demonstrating cutting and painting woodblocks for a live audience. Still, Meredith said, negativity isn’t going to fill the economic gaps for artists, and situations the pandemic is posing should be used for creativity that she and others can learn from. “Art is a way to make people feel better and that’s an opportunity being missed,” she said. “But we have to stay positive. There’s lots of innovation happening right now, maybe there are new types of art that will come out of this.” Neal Patten, community reporter, can be contacted at neal.patten@wcinet.com.
Artists are rolling with the punches
Madison-based woodblock printmaker
Memorial United Church of Christ
Join Us During Holy Week Online Visit our website: Memorialucc.org for details
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• Contemplative Prayer • Virtual Office Hours • Easter Service April 12 at 10am
8
April 10, 2020
ConnectFitchburg.com
Fitchburg Star
From spirits to sanitizer Yahara Bay meets a new demand in the COVID-19 age NEAL PATTEN Unified Newspaper Group
Photos submitted
From left, Lt. Kristy Schnabel, Paramedic Nichole Newton, Firefighter Cal McCreary, Firefighter Brandon Reiter, Firefighter Paramedic Jesus Villagomez, Lt. Rob Kunze stand in front of of the hearts decorating the doors of Fire Station No. 3.
We’re in this together The City of Fitchburg Fire Department and the FitchRona EMS have decorated their doors with hearts as a part of the nationwide effort to bring joy and happiness as COVID-19 causes uncertainty and fear for people. Firefighters and EMS paramedics decorated the doors of Fire Station No. 3 on Syene Road with the hearts, and the phrase “We’re in this together!”
The doors of Fitchburg Fire Station No. 3 are decorated with hearts as a way of spreading uplifting feelings during uncertain times.
County deputies arrest teens driving stolen vehicle 100 mph. Village of McFarland police then used road spikes to stop the vehicle on Terminal Drive. After the vehicle was stopped, the three teenagers fled on foot, and City of Madison Police used drones and two K-9’s to locate and arrest them. DCSO plans to recommend felony charges of operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent for the teenagers and misdemeanor obstruction charges to the district attorney. The news release reminds citizens to lock their homes, garages and vehicles, despite other things being on other people’s minds at the moment. -Mackenzie Krumme
Photos submitted
Yahara Bay drove around the county donating its hand sanitizer to local first responders and law enforcement.
Yahara Bay Distillery donated a case of its hand sanitizer to the Verona Police Department. it with someone who does need it,” Forde said. “We’re doing everything we can to help everyone we can.” As the donations were unannounced, some of the recipients were confused. “We just dropped it off and some people were like ‘do we have to pay you or will you invoice us?’” Forde said. Forde said that he will continue to allocate some of the sanitizer to donate,
but he has a long list of private clients. “We’ll keep producing as fast as we can, but until we can get ahead of demand, it’s going to be a scramble,” Forde said. “We’ll continue donating where we can, but also selling for the business to remain sustainable for the long haul.” Forde said many companies are increasing production of related products, including bottle and bottle
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Dane County Sheriff ’s Deputies arrested three teenage boys who were found driving a stolen car from Fitchburg on Tuesday night. Deputies found the two 14 year olds and a 15 year old driving the stolen vehicle, a 2013 Ford Escape, on Hwy. 51 near Pflaum Road in the City of Madison, according to a news release from the department. The vehicle the three boys were driving has been stolen from Fitchburg on March 21, according to the release. The deputy attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver fled south toward the Village of McFarland for approximately four miles, reaching speeds of
A few weeks ago, when stores began to see hand sanitizer shortages, Yahara Bay Distillery began to bottle 140 proof vodka and jokingly referred to it as a “hand sanitizer.” One of the bar managers had been using a bottle of high-proof vodka with a spray nozzle attached to sanitize the bar, partially in jest to lighten the mood as the COVID-19 pandemic loomed. However, after a local radio personality enjoying a drink in Yahara Bay’s tasting room asked if he could get his own bottle, the bar manager realized the distillery had a potential new product on their hands. That product has already been donated to several organizations and sold to private clients, and to ensure a supply of ingredients, the company is even recycling stale beer. Before creating the new product, Yahara Bay stuck with producing just the high-proof vodka, as it was not registered with the Food and Drug Administration to produce hand sanitizer. Even though the “sanitizer” was just bottles of vodka, the demand poured in and Yahara started selling pallets of it. Some of the early production of the high-proof alcohol went to the State of Wisconsin, to be used at polling stations Tuesday, April 7. Then, on March 18, the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau allowed distilleries to make true hand sanitizer, as long as the recipe followed the World Health Organization’s regulations and formulation. Essentially, that meant adding hydrogen peroxide and glycerin into the mix. The first batch was sold out before it was bottled. Nels Forde, general manager of Yahara Bay, said the distillery then had first responders contact the business for the hand sanitizer. Forde said that as soon as the distillery had a few dozen cases produced, he drove around delivering bottles to police departments, fire stations, Agrace hospice and emergency medical services. Deliveries were made to Fitchburg, Verona, Sauk City, Jefferson and other communities. “I said, let’s just run around and get it to people who need it and if they don’t need it, they’ll share
cap makers and label printers. Even alcohol is becoming difficult to source, but Forde has found a solution in the form of a constant supply of stale beer. Frank Beverage Group, a beer, wine and spirits distributor based in Middleton, has been collecting unsold kegs of beer from area bars and restaurants that have closed down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Forde said every distributor around the country has stockpiles of unusable beer. “Frank has all this beer that has expired or is about to expire. We can put it in our stills and turn it into hand sanitizer, literally turning lemons into lemonade. Frank was creative in contacting us to partner,” Forde said. The distilled beer becomes a neutral spirit and does not have an odor or flavor. While Yahara Bay has laid off a few part-time b a r t e n d e r s , Fo r d e s a i d most of his full-time staff have remained on payroll. “We needed help, and staff pivoted along with our production, and helped where we needed it. The tasting room staff was moved into bottling. We’ve all been busy,” Forde said. He’s keeping his staff safe and maintaining social distancing by running two eight-hour shifts with small crews, producing hand sanitizer 16 hours a day. “Give it a month or two and you’re going to have plenty of supply, but right now it’s difficult to get all the ingredients blended up and out to people,” Forde said. Neal Patten, community reporter, can be contacted at neal.patten@wcinet.com
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April 10, 2020
Fitchburg Star
9
COVID-19: Virus is highly contagious, with long duration before symptoms can appear Continued from page 1 usually full are now empty, and paper signs hang in the windows of businesses – either apologizing to customers for being closed, or attempting to get attention because they’re still open. Many restaurants and bars have converted their dine-in business to carryout, curbside and delivery. The forced closure of all nonessential businesses – though there’s a long list of exemptions – has put many people out of work and created worry over the economy at all levels of government. On March 27, with the economy slowed drastically, President Donald Trump signed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which will send money to individuals and businesses to get through the crisis, with the unanimous support of the U.S. Senate. State and county government also chipped in with relief funds, eased regulatory requirements and other assistance. Dane County increased its total allocation to the Small Business Pandemic Support Grant Program from $250,000 to $800,000 in a matter of days after receiving hundreds of responses. And the Madison Community Foundation distributed $4 million to area nonprofits to prepare for extreme needs or make up for sharply limited fundraising efforts. In Fitchburg, mayor Aaron Richardson declared a city emergency March 16, and the Common Council ratified that decision March 24 and gave him executive powers. That allows him or his staff to spend up to $250,000 for emergencies. Through April 7, he’s authorized about $5,000 on postage and some staff overtime, though the cost hasn’t yet been calculated, Richardson told the Star on April 8. While many other local governments in Dane County suspended their meetings for weeks to comply with the governor’s Safer at Home order, Fitchburg used a combination of in-person and videoconference attendance March 24. Meanwhile, City Hall is closed to the public, as are the library and the senior center, though exceptions are being made for city meetings while it remains safe to do so.
Rapid changes
In five days last month, the coronavirus went from a curiosity that many people in Fitchburg and elsewhere shrugged off to a national emergency and even a source of terror. It gained the attention of most Americans the evening of March 11, when the NBA suspended its season after a player tested positive for the virus. Two days later, almost all major American professional and college sports were canceled and a handful of high-profile positive tests, including actor Tom Hanks and several other basketball players, made the spread of the virus more tangible. In Wisconsin, all schools were either closed or soon to be closed by March 15 and high school sports and other school activities canceled. On March 17, state orders prevented restaurants, bars, churches and many other businesses from functioning by restricting to 10 the number of people allowed to gather. By the time Evers announced his plan to sign the “Safer at Home” order on the morning of March 23, more than 10,000 people had signed a Change.org petition asking for it. While some people violated or pushed the limits of the governor’s orders to avoid all gatherings outside of immediate households and any non-essential travel or work functions, most people in the area seemed to take the warnings seriously. As stores got more stringent about social distancing, they posted signage urging customers and employees to take more health precautions. People in general continued to exercise outdoors and enjoy the sunshine, sometimes socializing by having conversations from their front lawns.
Highly contagious
What’s made the coronavirus so scary and prevalent is how easily it spreads. Because of a long duration between contracting and showing symptoms – often as much as two weeks, and sometimes not at all – people can carry and transmit it to many people without knowing it. The virus typically is most deadly to older people and
How it spreads The virus that causes COVID-19 is thought to spread These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people mainly from person-to-person. who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs. Between people who are in close contact with one anothSome recent studies have suggested that COVID-19 may er (within about 6 feet). be spread by people who are not showing symptoms. Through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks. — CDC.gov those with underlying health conditions, but its greatest impact has come when the number of cases overloads the health care system, requiring far more ventilators and intensive care beds than hospitals can provide. That was most evident in Italy, where more than 10 percent of the more than 135,000 infected had died by April 7. In America, the death rate is far lower, with just over 12,000 dead among the 400,000 who have contracted it, but experts projected the peak was still a couple of weeks away. In Dane County, more than 300 cases had been confirmed as of April 7, and of the more than 2,500 cases across the state, more than 100 have ended in death. As the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that people can pass the virus by simply speaking to one another in close proximity, it recommended people wear face masks – even homemade cloth ones – any time they go in public, which for most people was to work or the grocery store.
Political battles
Meanwhile, American politicians continued to fight over how to provide hospitals and communities with the resources necessary to combat the spread of the disease. They debated projections that COVID-19 could claim 200,000 or more American lives this year and how much our efforts to stay at home and practice social distancing might pay off. Closer to home, a legal battle raged at an ever increasing pace in the days leading up to the April 7 election, leaving many to wonder whether they could – or should – vote in person, whether the absentee ballots they requested would arrive in time or even whether votes they sent in would be counted. The state Supreme Court overruled the governor’s executive order to postpone the election to June, just 14 hours before polling places opened, and the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a federal order to extend voting to April 13. Polling places in many cities were consolidated because election volunteers were in
Cover your face Recent CDC guidance suggests covering your mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when around others. You could spread COVID-19 to others even if you do not feel sick. Everyone should wear a cloth face cover when they have to go out in public, for example to the grocery store or to pick up other necessities. Cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance. The cloth face cover is meant to protect other people in case you are infected. Do NOT use a facemask meant for a healthcare worker. Continue to keep about 6 feet between yourself and others. The cloth face cover is not a substitute for social distancing. – CDC.gov short supply, leading the gov- shields separating voters from ernor to order the National poll workers. Unified Newspaper Group Guard to work the polls. Fitchburg, however, kept all four reporter Kimberly Wethal conof its sites open, with plastic tributed to this story.
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Ask the Fitchburg
INSURANCE
DENTIST
Q. What should I do if I have a dental appointment in the next few weeks? A. We miss you! And we would love to see you in the office, but...
608-535-3075 • Fax: 603-430-1970 Patricia.cardarelle@libertymutual.com
PHYSICAL THERAPY
Q. Is Stellar Rehab open? A. Stellar Rehabilitation IS open, following all Federal, State, Local and Company guidelines to
provide excellent care in our clinics. Stellar’s clinics are sanitized daily and after each appointment, each employee is screened and records their temperature daily and maintains the highest level of precautions to ensure staff and clients are safe during their visit. Each client is also screened and their temperature is taken/recorded prior to any visit. However, we also understand that this is not an option for everyone and/or some clients do not feel comfortable leaving their homes. In that situation, Stellar Rehab can continue to follow those same Susan Armstrong, MPT precautions AND come to you! There is no more important time to be able to stay in your home, safely. We can provide in-home nursing and therapy services through our partnerships, can assist Physical Therapist with obtaining the proper physician referral, verify insurance coverage, and arranging times that are convenient with your schedule, providing options for treatment and self-help instructions. If you are in need of in-home nursing and/or therapy services, let us help!
Comprehensive Therapy Services 1049 N. Edge Trail • Prairie Oaks (608) 845-2100 • Verona, WI 53593 • www.stellarrehab.com
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Stellar Rehab has been honored to provide 16+ years of the highest quality services to those in our communities. We will help you to find the correct solution for your health care needs. Contact us at 608-845-2100 or info@stellarrehab.com for more information.
REALTOR
Q. Should I sell my home this Spring with all that’s going on? A. As the COVID-19 “stay at home” order remains in effect for the next few weeks, several clients have asked me if now is a good time to sell their home. There is no doubt that dynamics have changed due to COVID-19 but early signs since the outbreak show that there is still strong Buyer demand in Fitchburg. Also, the Governor’s Stay at Home order that lasts until April 24 deems real estate as an “essential service”. During these extraordinary times, Sellers still have the ability Shawn Pfaff to market their home to Buyers through exclusive showings, video open houses combined with a strategic internet marketing campaign. That is why now more than ever it is important to work with a Realtor who understands the current conditions of the local market and has the technological and creative skills to still take advantage of our “Seller’s Market” in Fitchburg. And of course, safety and public health comes first during these times! Please visit shawnpfaff.firstweber.com to find out the value of your home and discuss ways to strategically market your home.
(608) 628-3275
2985 Triverton Pike Dr., Ste. 200, Fitchburg, WI 53711 pfaffs@firstweber.com • www.shawnpfaff.firstweber.com
CREMATION SERVICES Q. I have been reading your “ask a pro” article for months. I would really like an answer as to why this is beneficial. I’m in my 70’s and feel great. A. What we offer is really not just for you. It’s for those you love and will be leaving with responsibilities and hard decisions when that time comes. It’s a loving final gift to those you love most. We do not have to meet face to face to set up your pre-need. In such trying times it’s only natural to consider our final wishes.
Cremation Society
VETERINARIAN
Q. Find the silver-lining while sheltering at home: using this time to engage with our furry friends. A. In these uncertain times it is more important than ever to prioritize our health and the health of those around us, both physical
and mental. How fortunate we are if our only grievances include the (in)convenience of working from home, improving personal and household hygiene practices, and maintaining an adequate level of mental stimulation during the day. If we’re lucky, a free and easy mood-booster might be curled up right next to us. As we’re grasping for structure and normalcy, why not form a new-normal, daily routine? Spend those minutes you’d be commuting out walking your dog, instead. Explore new parts of your neighborhood and “socialize” by greeting other dogs and dog parents from a safe distance—and help your pup master basic commands like “sit,” or “stay” in the process. Walk your usual route in the opposite direction or add some detours and see how the familiar becomes entirely new. Take more breaks throughout the day and feel the mood-boost five minutes of playing with a pet can achieve, you’ll both be thankful you did. Importantly, while most veterinary clinics have been able to remain open, some new protocols might be in place—familiarize yourself with those and be prepared in the event of an emergency. Now more than ever, don’t hesitate to call your local veterinarian. Stay safe!
1350 S. Fish Hatchery Road Oregon, WI 53575
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Jodi Johnston • 1-608-438-7437 E-Mail: jjohnston_4@charter.net
Affordable, Simple & Dignified www.cremationsocietyofmadison.com
(608) 835-0551
SENIOR CARE
Q. I am looking forward to getting out on my bike with nicer weather right around the corner but I usually get neck pain when I ride. Would chiropractic or massage help with this?
during Covid-19?
A. The Novel Corona virus is the ubiquitous word in recent days as the growth of
We believe that home remains the safest place for you or your loved one, as indications show that the virus is spread more quickly in larger group or public settings. Possible exposure will remain the lowest for those who are able to stay in their homes with limited outside contact. For this reason, we feel fortunate to be able to provide care that can keep people at home and limit their exposure through personalized care and support. James Rudolph President & CEO
A. Whether you are riding a recreational bike, road bike, or tri bike the
neck is forced into a position that puts pressure on the posterior portion of the cervical spine. This position also forces the neck to remain in a Jill Unwin, Lee Unwin, state of continued contraction that can cause joint and muscle soreness. DC, CCEP BCMT, CSCS Chiropractic adjustments will help maintain healthy joint mobility and function. This will help alleviate pain and will prolong your years of cycling. Therapeutic massage will help reduce muscle soreness and any restrictions in the neck caused by that continued contraction. Along with regular chiropractic and massage, exercises would be prescribed to help increase strength and mobility in your neck and upper back. Contact us today and we’ll keep you riding pain free!
We are following updates and procedures from the CDC, State Department of Health, local and county authorities, the Home Care Association of America, and other agencies and resources.
102 N. Franklin Street • Verona, WI 53593 (608) 848-1800 • unwinchiropractic.com
We are vigilant about our need to help protect our staff and clients from illness be it the flu, COVID-19, or any other communicable disease. The following are some of the protocols and procedures we have in place. • Our staff is trained in infectious disease control. • Our caregivers should not care for those who exhibit signs of or have been tested positive for the virus as a safekeeping measure for themselves and for their other clients and families. • Our caregivers have an established protocol to stay home if they are ill with any sickness so as to not infect any of our clients or their family members. • Our staff follows hygiene procedures directed by the CDC, including vigorous and frequent handwashing with soap and water, use of sanitizing gels (with 70% alcohol level or higher), use of disinfectant wipes to frequently wipe down surfaces, proper coughing and sneezing techniques, disposal of any items that may have virus or bacteria, and much more. • If any of our staff or their clients should show signs of COVID-19, we will report, isolate and quarantine, as necessary, abiding by national and local guidelines. • Rest assured your loved ones will always be safe with Comfort Keepers.
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CHIROPRACTOR
Q. Can I still receive my needed home visits from Comfort Keepers this virus rises around the world. Comfort Keepers is dedicated to compassionate and healthy care and has been actively monitoring the progression of the virus and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
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105 N. Main St., Verona • MainStreetDentists.com
A. Yes, even during Covid-19, we can still help you with all your insurance needs. Liberty Mutual Insurance does have accident forgiveness and violation forgiveness. We also provide new car replacement, so when you purchase a new car and it gets totaled you will get a year newer car with 15,000 less miles. It is a great benefit that Liberty Mutual provides that some carriers do not offer. If you would like to discuss these kinds of coverages in more detail, please give me a call.
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(608) 845-6127
Patti Cardarelle
Sales Representative
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due to the Covid-19 emergency, the office will only be able to see emergency patients until April 30, 2020 (or when we know it is safe for everyone). Drs. Kate & John If you have an appointment between now and April 30th, and have Schacherl, D.D.S. not been contacted, please give us a call at 608-845-6127 after April 30th and we’ll get you back on the schedule. In the meantime, check your email and our Facebook page for office updates at facebook.com/mainstreetdentists. We can’t wait to see you again!
Q. Do I have accident forgiveness?
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MORTGAGE BANKING Q. How can I improve my credit score? A. Having a balance of at least half of your credit card limit can reduce your credit scores from 10-15 points. If you max out your credit cards you can expect a 60-100 point drop. The best rule of thumb in regards to revolving credit cards is to carry a balance less than 30% of your limit. Also, don’t close your credit cards as it reduces your total spending limit, which can also drop your scores. Kathleen C. Aiken
579 D’onofrio Dr., #10, Madison, WI 53719
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117 King St. • Stoughton, WI 53589 608-873-6755 kathy.aiken@associatedbank.com
If you would like to join our Ask the Professional Section, contact Donna Larson at 845-9559 to find out how!
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Sports
Adam Feiner, sports editor
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Mark Nesbitt, assistant sports editor 845-9559 x237 • sportsreporter@wcinet.com Fax: 845-9550
Friday, April 10, 2020
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Prep sports
Play suspended throughout state School closures due to COVID-19 puts spring events in flux ADAM FEINER & MARK NESBITT Sports editors
Big Eight Conference and Badger Conference spring sports are being pushed back again due to the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Tony Evers’ “Safer at Home” order began March 25 and is effective until at least April 24 to safeguard against the spread of the virus. The order prohibits all nonessential travel and only essential businesses remain open. School districts across the state are still closed indefinitely. Jeremy Schlitz, the athletic director at
Madison Memorial High School and Big Eight spokesperson, said the earliest conference schools would begin practice is now April 27. Games would start May 7 at the earliest. Badger South Conference members Madison Edgewood and Oregon have canceled or postponed all of their spring sports events until April 28. Big Eight members Verona and Madison West have canceled or postponed all athletic events until May 1. Evers initially issued an executive order March 13 to close schools and suspend all spring sports activities from March 18 until April 6. Public Health Madison and Dane County issued a county-wide directive on March 15 to close schools on March 16 to contain the spread of the virus and eliminate gatherings of 50 or more people.
Photo by Mark Nesbitt
Foxboro Golf Club in Oregon was one of the state’s courses that closed when Gov. Tony Evers issued a “Safer at Home” order on March 25. The Oregon boys golf team typically plays its home duals at Foxboro.
Oregon girls basketball
Abrupt end for Oregon’s championship hopes Panthers grateful for state run despite tournament cancellation ADAM FEINER Sports editor
Every year, five high school girls basketball teams in Wisconsin end their seasons with a win. Their prize is a state championship trophy and other honors bestowed upon them by their school. But this is no ordinary year. Oregon and 15 other girls teams in Wisconsin ended their seasons with a victory, though the sudden end might feel like a loss. The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association said in a press release late Thursday, March 12, that all remaining games of the State Girls Basketball Tournament, including Oregon’s state semifinal, and the rest of the boys basketball tournament have been canceled. “Once things settle down, that’ll be the silver lining,” Oregon coach Adam Wamsley said of ending the season on a win. “I’m so proud of how the team has stuck together and been so close throughout the process. It’s going to be tough to replicate a group that close. I’m certainly going to miss them.” The decision to cancel the tournaments came as a response to evolving concerns over the spread of the coronavirus. “I want the student-athletes and their coaches to know that your school leaders, the WIAA Executive Staff, our committees and the Board of Control have done everything imaginable to try to provide and
Photo by Adam Feiner
Fans welcome the Oregon girls basketball team back to the high school on the afternoon of Friday, March 13. The Panthers were set to play in their first state game in 40 years, but the tournament was canceled by the WIAA due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus. preserve these opportunities for you,” WIAA Executive Director Dave Anderson said in the release. “However, we want and need to be responsible in helping the global and state efforts to stem the tide and spread of this virus.” Oregon (21-5) secured the program’s third state berth and first since the second of back-to-back appearances in Division 1 in 1980. The fourth-seeded Panthers were scheduled to play top-seeded Hortonville (25-1) in the Division 2 semifinals at 1:35 p.m. on Friday, March 13, at the Resch Center in Green Bay. The winner would have played three-time defending state champion and
second-seeded Beaver Dam (23-3) or third-seede d P ewa u ke e ( 2 1 - 5 ) i n the state championship on Saturday, March 14, at 6:35 p.m. “It’s tough, but we still have so much to be proud of,” Oregon senior point guard Izzie Peterson said. “Being conference, r eg i o n a l a n d s e c t i o n a l champs is amazing. We kept telling ourselves that we would have brought a gold ball back if we had played.” The state semifinals in Divisions 3 and 4 took p l a c e T h u r s d a y, M a r c h 12. Oregon met as a team at 7 p.m. that night, and Wa m s l e y l e a r n e d t h e WIAA was going to meet after the second Division
4 semifinal to discuss the possibility of canceling the remainder of the tournament. Oregon coaches and players found out about the cancellation via Twitter at 11:15 p.m. and gathered in a hotel room to comfort each other. “The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do as a coach wa s g o i n t o t h a t h o t e l room and tell them the season was over,” Wamsley said. “There was so much emotion.” Instead of playing in their first state game in 40 years, the Panthers arrived home on the afternoon of March 13 to hundreds of fans at the high school. “ I ’l l n eve r f o rg e t a l l of the people lined up
t o w e l c o m e u s b a c k ,” senior guard Liz Uhl said. “I won’t necessarily remember every moment from every game, but I’ll remember the relationships with my coaches and teammates.” The news was bittersweet for fellow senior guard Kaitlyn Schrimpf, who was set to play in another state tournament. She was a member of Oregon’s girls soccer team that won last year’s Division 2 state championship. “I care so much about soccer, but basketball is w h e r e m y h e a r t i s a t ,” Schrimpf said. “It was such a special opportunity to get to state in the sport I love. We’re disappointed we didn’t get to play, but
it’s amazing that we got that far.”
Badger South All-Conference
Uhl and Schrimpf headlined the Badger South All-Conference Team as first-team selections. Uhl was named the conference’s Most Valuable Player after she averaged 14.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 3.1 steals per game this season. Schrimpf averaged 11.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Peterson (8.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.0 apg and 1.2 spg per game) and junior Megan Bloyer (5.3 ppg and 6.0 rpg) received honorable mention notice.
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Verona boys hockey
Six Wildcats earn all-state honors Entire first line for Division 1 state champions honored by WCHA MARK NESBITT Assistant sports editor
The postseason honors for the state champion Verona boys hockey team keep rolling in. The Wildcats had six players named to the D i v i s i o n 1 Wi s c o n s i n H o c key C o a c h e s A s s o ciation All-State team. Senior forward Cale Rufenacht, junior defenseman Nathan Jurrens and junior goaltender Kaden Grant headlined the group with first-team honors. Rufenacht led the team with 60 points (29 goals, 31 assists). He scored nine postseason goals, including a game-tying tally in the Division 1 state championship against Notre Dame de la Baie. Rufenacht and Sun Prairie senior forward Kaden Brunson were named co-Big Eight Conference Players of the Year. J u r r e n s r a c ke d u p 3 6 points (13 goals, 18 assists) and anchored a defense that recorded 11 shutouts in 29 games. Grant allowed just 1.33 goals per game and posted 10 shutouts. He stopped 60 of 61 shots in the two state tournament games, finishing the season with a .942 save percentage
Photo by Mark Nesbitt
Verona senior Cale Rufenacht (left) skates past Notre Dame de la Baie’s Callan Budinger in the Division 1 state championship. Rufenacht scored nine postseason goals and had a team-high 60 points on his way to first-team all-state honors. and 589 saves. Juniors Walker Haessig (forward), Leo Renlund (forward) and Josh Osting (defenseman) were honorable mention selections. Haessig racked up 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists) on the season and scored the game-winning goal in the Wildcats’ 1-0 double-overtime victory over Chippewa Falls in the state semifinals. Renlund had 42 points (12 goals, 30 assists) and
scored the game-winning goal in the state title game. Osting tallied 30 points (six goals, 24 assists) on Verona’s first line. T h e Wi l d c a t s ( 2 5 - 4 ) won their fourth consecutive Big Eight Conference championship by going 14-0. Joel Marshall was named the conference’s coach of the year. Verona also received the Division 1 Section 2 Academic All-State award.
Verona junior Kaden Grant was also named first-team all-state after he finished the season 24-4 with 10 shutouts. Photo by Adam Feiner
Junior hockey
NA3HL team coming back to OIA this year ADAM FEINER Sports editor
Oregon Ice Arena will once again be home to a Tier 3 junior hockey team. The Oregon Tradesmen will begin play in the 2020-21 season, the North American 3 Hockey League announced Wednesday, April 1. “We are excited about the addition of the Oregon Tradesmen to the NA3HL,” NA3HL Commissioner Blake MacNicol said in a news release obtained by the Observer. “They are backed by a tremendous and solid ownership group led by Janesville Jets owner Bill McCoshen. We are confident this team will be a success because of the strong focus on the ladder of development that NA3HL teams share with the NAHL. The team fits perfectly into the NA3HL’s Central Division footprint and I’m sure fans will enjoy the level of play on the ice and the rivalries that will be formed within the landscape.” The Tradesmen are owned by Madison Hockey Partners LLC, which is made up of McCoshen, Eric Petersen, Ben Cowan and Larry Clemens. The group is reviving a dormant NA3HL team, the Evansville (IN) Junior Thunderbolts, that folded after the
Photos submitted
The Oregon Tradesmen will wear white jerseys during home games at Oregon Ice Arena.
“We are confident this team will be a success because of the strong focus on the ladder of development that NA3HL teams share with the NAHL. The team fits perfectly into the NA3HL’s Central Division footprint and I’m sure fans will enjoy the level of play on the ice and the rivalries that will be formed within the landscape.” NA3HL Commissioner Blake MacNicol 2018-19 season. Oregon Ice Arena previously housed the league’s Wisconsin Whalers, who moved to Wyoming in 2019. Don Babineau will serve as the Tradesmen’s head coach. He was
the coach and general manager of the Coulee Region Chill last season and previously coached the Euless (TX) Stars. Clemens, who is the varsity boys hockey coach at Oregon High School, will be the goalie
The Oregon Tradesmen will wear navy jerseys during road games away from Oregon Ice Arena. coach. He’s held the same position with Janesville since the team’s inception in 2009. Cowan will be the team’s vice president. The NA3HL, one of two USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III junior leagues, is planning to play its 11th season in 2020-21. More than 130 NA3HL players committed to continue their hockey careers at the collegiate level in 2019. “The Oregon Tradesmen will help us build out our integrated player development and advancement model from youth all the way to the NAHL,” McCoshen said. “This unique model will provide 18 and 19-year-old players an opportunity to develop and advance to the NAHL while
developing 20-year-old players for NCAA Division III or ACHA Division 1 opportunities. The relationship with and proximity to the Janesville Jets will help us attract quality players immediately.” The Tradesmen will be the fourth Wisconsin-based team in the league’s Central Division, joining Coulee Region (La Crosse), the Milwaukee Power and Wausau RiverWolves. Oregon will also face the Peoria (IL) Mustangs, Rochester (MN) Grizzlies and St. Louis (MO) Jr. Blues in divisional play. Tradesmen players will also have opportunities to learn skilled trades in partnership with local unions as part of their off-ice development program.
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Women’s swimming
Nelson, national championships shut down ADAM FEINER Sports editor
After four days of stellar performances at the Big Ten Championships, Beata Nelson turned her attention to the NCAA Division I National Championships. After her final swims as a senior at the University of Wisconsin, she’d turn her focus to the 2020 Olympic Trials. In a matter of 12 days, Nelson’s collegiate finale was canceled and her Olympic dreams put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. “It was business as usual in the week leading up to the (national championships) meet,” Nelson said. “But when we saw the NBA suspended its season, we knew college sports were next.” Soon after the NBA made its decision March 12, Wisconsin swimming coach Yuri Suguiyama sent a message to the group going to the national championships to meet at the UW Natatorium. He said in a text the team was going to have a meeting instead of practice. Suguiyama explained to his team the Big Ten’s decision to cancel all of its events going forward, meaning Nelson and the Badgers would not compete at the national championships. “We came to the pool and walked in together, and knew right away that it wasn’t a good update,” Nelson recalled. “It was still really shocking. As a senior, it was really devastating and a hard pill to swallow. But after the initial shock, we understood the gravity of the situation and knew this was way bigger than a swim meet or graduation.” The NCAA also announced March 12 that all remaining winter and spring championships were canceled because of the evolving public health threat. The women’s swimming national championships were scheduled to begin March 18. On March 30, the NCAA Division I Council voted to grant spring student-athletes an extra year of eligibility, but not those in winter sports. Nelson’s career at UW was officially over.
Leaving a legacy in Madison
Nelson emerged as one of the best collegiate swimmers in the country after a stellar junior season. The 2016 Verona grad was named the 2019 NCAA Female S w i m m e r o f t h e Ye a r b y SwimSwam.com after winning three individual national championships. She was the only collegiate swimmer to accomplish the feat in 2019. Nelson won the 100-yard backstroke (49.18), 200 backstroke (1:47.24) and 200 individual medley (1:50.79). She broke the NCAA records in the backstrokes, becoming the only woman to break the 50-second mark in the 100-yard event six times in a career. She became the second woman in NCAA history to break the 1:51 mark in the 200 IM. No other swimmer broke an NCAA record in more than one individual event in 2019. Nelson won four titles and six total medals at her final Big Ten Championships, making her a nine-time Big Ten champion and first-team all-conference
“As a senior, it was really devastating and a hard pill to swallow. But after the initial shock, we understood the gravity of the situation and knew this was way bigger than a swim meet or graduation.” Beata Nelson honoree. She joined fellow senior Megan Doty and sophomores Lillie Hosack and Alana Palmer in the first-place 800-yard freestyle relay. The quartet’s NCAA qualifying time of 6:55.84 broke the previous school record of 6:57.54, set at last year’s Big Ten championships. Nelson broke the Iowa pool record in the 200 individual medley by nearly three seconds in prelims, then won her second straight title in the event in the finals. Her NCAA qualifying time of 1:51.66 broke her own pool record and her Big Ten record. Nelson finished the meet by winning the 100 and 200 backstroke titles for the third straight year. Her NCAA qualifying time of 49.85 seconds in the 100 back was just shy of the Big Ten and pool records, which she broke a day earlier in the 400 medley relay. She won the 200 back with a pool-record time of 1:48.73. Nelson, Hosack, Palmer and junior Kelsi Artim placed second in the 400 medley relay with an NCAA qualifying time of 3:29.08. “I was excited about where the team was headed,” Nelson said. “We had a great come-together moment at the Big Ten Championships. We left a couple divers home, but everyone else got to travel.” Nelson finished her career as a seven-time All-American and six-time honorable mention All-American. She was one of 33 national semifinalists for the AAU James E. Sullivan Award, given annually to the nation’s best amateur athlete. “I tried to enjoy every second because college went by so fast,” Nelson said. “I’m not going to remember my senior year for the virus and I hope this isn’t what our senior class remembers. We got in 90% of our season, but spring sports either just started or never began.”
Photos courtesy Wisconsin Athletics
Verona alumna Beata Nelson accepts one of her three national championship trophies swimming for the University of Wisconsin at the 2019 NCAA Division I National Championships. She finished her UW career as a seven-time All-American and six-time honorable mention All-American.
Forward thinking
After the Big Ten Championships, Nelson started training at an Olympic pool in Milwaukee. Gov. Tony Evers’ “Safer at Home” order issued March 25 forced the former Wildcat to stop her daily trips. The Olympic Swimming Trials were scheduled to take place in June, but on March 24, the International Olympic Committee postponed the Tokyo Games. The IOC rescheduled the 2020 Games to July 23-Aug. 8, 2021. “I’m doing what I can to be outside and remain active,” Nelson said. “With swimming, we need a facility to make it happen. Training on land just isn’t the same.”
University of Wisconsin senior Beata Nelson swims to one of three individual national titles at the 2019 NCAA Division I National Championships. The 2016 Verona grad was named the 2019 NCAA Female Swimmer of the Year by SwimSwam.com, but had her 2020 season cut short due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“I tried to enjoy every second because college went by so fast. I’m not going to remember my senior year for the virus and I hope this isn’t what our senior class remembers. We got in 90% of our season, but spring sports either just started or never began.” Beata Nelson
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Girls basketball
Madison West football
Briggs, Schrimpf to play in WBCA All-Star Game
Murphy receives national award
Each athlete participating must raise money through donations for Midwest Athletes against Childhood Cancer Fund
Sports editor
ADAM FEINER
Madison West football coach Brad Murphy was the recipient of the Positive Coaching Alliance’s coveted National Double-Goal Coach Award for his positive impact on youth sports. Murphy is one of 25 national winners of the Double-Goal Coach Award, named for coaches who strive to win while also pursuing the more important goal of teaching life lessons through sports. The Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) is a national nonprofit focused on character-building workshops for parents, coaches, athletes and administrators in youth and high school sports. Award winners were selected from almost 700 nominations received from 44 states. “ C o a c h M u r p hy h e l p s athletes win in and out of sports,” PCA CEO Chris Moore said. “By creating a positive, character-building youth sports experience and serving as a Double-Goal Coach, Brad helps youth develop into better athletes and better people.” T h e awa r d i n c l u d e s a $1,000 prize and recognition within the website, newsletters and media campaigns and an invitation to accept the honor at PAC’s national youth sports award and benefit May 2 at Santa Clara University. Four award winners will also be chosen to win all-expense paid trips to California for the event and will take part in a panel discussion. The national coach of the
ADAM FEINER & MARK NESBITT Sports editors
Verona senior Rayna Briggs and Oregon senior Kaitlyn Schrimpf were selected to play in the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Game. Briggs, a first-team all-conference honoree, averaged a team-high 12.9 points per game and was the Wildcats’ top rebounder this season. She led Verona to an 11-12 record and a fifth-place finish (9-9) in the Big Eight. Briggs will be a member of the Division 1 South team. She will be teammates with Madison Memorial senior and Penn State recruit Leilani Kapinus and Middleton senior and Loyola University recruit Sitori Tanin, who were both named to the D1 WBCA AllState team. Schrimpf, one of four Panthers selected to the Badger South All-Conference this season, was a first-team honoree. She averaged 11.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.3 steals per game and helped Oregon to its first state tournament appearance in 40 years. Schrimpf will team up with fellow Badger South standouts Abbie Campion (Milton), Grace Tostrud (Monroe) and Jennifer Gorton (Monona Grove), as well as Badger North standout Maggie Trautsch of DeForest. Each athlete participating must
Photo by Adam Feiner
Oregon senior guard Kaitlyn Schrimpf was one of five players from the Badger Conference selected to play in the WBCA All-Star Game.
The MACC Fund was launched by former Milwaukee Bucks player Jon McGlocklin in 1976. McGlocklin started the fund in honor of longtime Bucks broadPhoto by Mark Nesbitt caster Eddie Doucette, whose son Verona senior Rayna Briggs was one was diagnosed with childhood of three Big Eight Conference players cancer at the age of 2. selected to the WBCA All-Star Game. To date, the WBCA has raised She will be teammates with Madison $ 2 . 8 m i l l i o n f o r t h e M AC C Memorial’s Leilani Kapinus and Fund. Middleton’s Sitori Tanin. The Division 2 girls game is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. on Friday, raise money through donations for June 19, at JustAgame Fieldhouse Midwest Athletes against Child- in Wisconsin Dells, with the D1 hood Cancer Fund. girls to follow at 4 p.m.
year will receive $10,000 for the Taube Family prize at the banquet. Murphy was previously selected as a regional winner for the award. Andrea Dearlove, the parent of a player, nominated Murphy for the award. “Coach Murphy connects with each player and makes sure they know their importance to the team,” Dearlove said. “What makes him stand out are his extra efforts to listen and to recognize the uniqueness of each individual on the team and what each individual needs to fill his personal emotional tank. “Since motivation is an individual trait, his efforts allow him to understand what obstacles might need to be worked through and what each player needs and wants to achieve his desired potential on and off the field.” One of the many attributes of a Double-Goal Coach, according to PCA, is that they take a mastery approach to sport rather than a scoreboard orientation, teaching athletes to put forward maximum effort, continuously learn and improve and not let themselves be stopped by mistakes or fear of mistakes. “He has a relentless approach to making sure that each player is getting better every day,” West assistant coach Arturo Bonomie said of Murphy. “His passion for the sport lies not in the final score of every game, but rather by what we as coaches and what players learn through the process. He has an expectation of being the best version of you every day in practice, in meetings and in the classroom.”
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Madison/Verona schools
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Verona Area School District
‘Rising to the challenge’ District educators keep students engaged through virtual learning
with Garageband or sing songs to them through recordings. “It’s neat to explore different ways they can engage with music at home, even if they don’t have all the instruments,” she said.
KIMBERLY WETHAL
Equitable lesson plans
Unified Newspaper Group
Lori Martin found herself having to push fear aside to teach her students last week. That fear was of being recorded, the Sugar Creek Elementary School fourth grade teacher said. But she decided having the students see her face on their first day of virtual learning, Thursday, March 19, was more important. “It’s a different twist, even though they see you every day,” she said. “One of the teachers just said, ‘If you’re afraid, just get over it.’ So this morning, I got over it … I read them the picture book and said, ‘Here goes nothing!’” Wi t h s c h o o l s c l o s e d throughout Dane County because of the COVID-19 crisis starting March 16, Verona Area School District teachers and staff began teaching their nearly 5,500 students with recorded video and online lessons that week. COVID-19 is a respiratory illness that was declared a pandemic March 11 by the World Health Organization. It’s caused by the novel coronavirus, which is so contagious, the state of Wisconsin has limited public gatherings to 10 people or fewer and is encouraging households to avoid all unnecessary contact with other people. It’s unclear how long schools will be teaching virtually. The state’s latest order relating to schools, on March 17, amended the original timeline of April 6 or later, requiring all public and private schools to be closed until further notice. The district began discussing the potential need for online lessons at the beginning of March, and district assistant superintendent for academic services Laurie Burgos told the Press Thursday, March 19, the planning for it has been intense. That has included researching how other districts have handled it, discussing how to communicate with families, how to ensure access to Internet and technology and what platforms teachers should use. Burgos said the need to be equitable to all students drove the building of a lesson plan structure to incorporate students who are English language learners, those who have Individualized Education Programs or are on 504 plans that remove barriers to education for students with disabilities. “Those conversations were at the forefront when we were thinking about how are we going to get something like this up and running,” she said. Having each student in the district already assigned an iPad helped ease the rollout of the virtual learning, Burgos said, noting that the devices all have filters on
Photos submitted
From left, Sugar Creek Elementary fourth grade teachers Chris Westberg, Lori Martin, Edgewood College student teacher Sarah Fetter and Justin Rippl wok on creating virtual learning curriculum on Tuesday, March 17.
Savanna Oaks information technology teacher Greg Puent creates virtual lesson plans for his students last week. them that limit what is accessible. At the elementary school level, students do much of their learning on the family friendly educational app Seesaw, while middle and high schoolers primarily use a learning management system called Canvas. Justin Rippl, a fourth grade teacher at Sugar Creek, said the teacher team of himself, Martin and Chris Westberg are trying to make the experience of virtual education seem both normal and exciting at the same time to students. “It’s creating those videos that are engaging for the kids to watch, but also having assignments created so they don’t feel like they’re just doing busy work, but they actually get to experience some new things,” Rippl said. Westberg said he transitioned his in-person lesson plans into virtual learning by teaching five minute lessons on specific topics. “We’re trying to adapt things like articles or books, so we’re reading them aloud and taking videos of us,” he said.
Going live
The planning for the virtual rollout was all hypothetical until it wasn’t, Stoner Prairie Elementary principal Tammy Thompson-Kapp said. That started with creating a week of lesson plans at a glance. So far, leading into the first two days before spring break, staff has risen to the occasion, she said. “I’ve been monitoring it all morning, and it’s amazing to see all of the teachers push their lessons out,” she said March 19.
Brunner said the transition to virtual learning presents a significant learning curve for staff, and for the first two days last week, he was just encouraging his staff to get students to mentally engage with school again rather than expect perfection. “We’re being incredibly gracious with the understanding of staff members who just aren’t quite there yet,” he said. “We don’t want people stressing themselves out, overwhelming themselves.” Burgos said the first two days were a learning experience for the teachers and staff involved with creating the lesson plans. “I know it’s not perfect, and we know there’s a lot of things we need to work out, but I’m really proud of the fact that all of us were able to pull together and be able to offer our students some learning opportunities,” she said. “We’ll get better at it.” Savanna Oaks information technology teacher Greg Puent said he’s fortunate that most of the curriculum he’s now giving to students virtually was already being done through online platforms to begin with. “It’s fun – the kids have been good, they’re asking good questions,” he said. “I can absolutely tell that they’re frustrated, but they’re sometimes frustrated in class, so it’s a different way of learning and it’s just going to take a little bit of time for everyone to get used to.” Sugar Creek Elementary music teacher Melissa Bremmer will be teaching Sugar Creek students piano via an iPad app, which is part of her normal curriculum, having students play instruments
April 10, 2020
15
MMSD
Superintendent hire backs out Gutiérrez says he’ll stay in Texas, help his district with COVID-19
Puent said the district set teachers up well to jump into virtual learning by ensuring access to technology is as equal as possible for the students. That has included providing hotspots to families who lack Internet access at home. Ensuring equity – one of the five pillars of the district’s strategic plan – goes beyond making sure every student can access the assignments. Brunner said he reminded staff they can’t assume all students have the ability to go outside for physical education or any supplies beyond the iPad, unlike in traditional classrooms. That equity mindset has evolved into giving students options for their education based on what they have access to at home. Glacier Edge Elementary art teacher Lois Feiner said her lesson plans include drawing challenges, where students don’t need more than a piece of paper and a pencil to get to work. The challenges also vary in difficulty, she said, from anything a kindergartener could draw to more intricate drawings for older students such as monster trucks of their own design or three-dimensional structures. Students are also allowed to use art applications that come preloaded on their iPads. “The biggest change has been the range of supplies that kids may or may not have at home, and then how to find step-by-step directions online to show kids what I mean when I might be talking about crayon resist or drawing three-dimensional,” she said.
KIMBERLY WETHAL
Re-creating the classroom
VASD briefs
Martin said that while virtual education keeps students engaged, it doesn’t replace the interactions teachers have with them on a daily basis. “My job is working with kids and people, and you’re just sort of shocked that we are where we are when you didn’t think it would get to that level,” she said. Feiner said watching students create is what gives her a sense of purpose in her job, and she found the idea of not interacting with students in the days that followed the shutdown difficult. Being able to interact with them virtually has allowed her to gain some of that purpose back. “We need students, we need that human interaction as human beings, but definitely as teachers,” she said. “As an elementary art teacher, the act of creating art is so rewarding, and so fulfilling to see students who may struggle in other areas find success in art is beyond what I could put into words.”
Fitchburg Star
Unified Newspaper Group
Madison Metropolitan School District will be without a permanent superintendent for the foreseeable future. Matthew Gutiérrez, whom the district hired in February as its superintendent, has rescinded his acceptance of the position, telling MMSD he plans to stay with Seguin Independent School District in Texas to help it navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Gutiérrez informed Madison school board president Gloria Reyes of his resignation Monday, April 6, writing in a letter that while becoming the superintendent of MMSD would have become the pinnacle of his career, the personal nature how his role has changed at Seguin made it difficult to leave. Now, he wrote, he is coordinating services that not only educate but also save and sustain the lives of people in the district. “This crisis will extend beyond the current circumstances, there will be a recovery period in a community significantly impacted,” he wrote. Gutiérrez was one of three finalists in January and was selected for his skills as a collaborative leader, according to a news release from the district in January. The school board will meet in closed session
to discuss its next steps, according to a Monday, April 6, Capital Times story, which said t h e s u p e rintendent search firm BPW and Associates has agreed to conGutiérrez duct a new search at no cost to the district. The COVID-19 pandemic is causing administrators to rethink switching roles in new districts. Roger Price, a consultant for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, said that two superintendents in northern Wisconsin had declined jobs they were hired for because of loyalty to their current districts as they deal with the fallout of COVID-19. School board president Gloria Reyes said while G u t i é r r e z ’s a n n o u n c e ment was both surprising and disappointing, she understood the timing of COVID-19 made the move no longer an option, according to the Capital Times story. “A s a r e s u l t o f t h e C OV I D - 1 9 p a n d e m ic, educators across the country have been forced to make incredibly difficult decisions, and the M M S D f a m i l y u n d e rstands and fully apprec i a t e s D r. G u t i é r r e z ’s decision to continue to s u p p o r t h i s c o m m u n ity, the only home he’s ever known, during these incredibly challenging times,” she told the Cap Times. Email reporter Kimberly Wethal at kimberly. wethal@wcinet.com and follow her on Twitter @ kimberly_wethal.
VAHS to give grading choice
Verona Area High School students will get to choose at the end of the school year either a letter grade or a pass/fail grade. The district is also relaxing standards for middle school and elementary school grading.
Board meetings go virtual
Verona Area Board of Education meetings will be conducted virtually for the time being, with members using communication technology as a result of the state’s “Safer at Home” mandate set through at least April 24. Previous meetings have live-streamed on the district’s website, with board members and district staff attending.
District extends meals distribution
VASD will continue to provide grab-and-go meals for students until further notice, after originally announcing the program would continue through Friday, March 27. Since the original announcement, state and county restrictions have lengthened the timeline for students to return to schools.
Superintendent search postponed
The school board’s decision on selecting a superintendent search firm has been postponed from its original date because of COVID-19 concerns. Still, the board’s timeline on finding current superintendent Dean Gorrell’s successor allows the search to stay on track, said member Meredith Stier Christensen.
16
April 10, 2020
Fitchburg Star
Oregon schools
ConnectFitchburg.com
Oregon School District
Settling in to online teaching OSD educators prepared for ‘new normal,’ at least for now SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
While high school seniors will graduate in June and most students will move ahead a grade this fall, the rest of the spring remains a mystery amid the coronavirus pandemic. With all schools closed indefinitely, and staff and students working from home, it’s the start of a new normal. After a week off for a well-timed spring break, Oregon School District teachers spent Monday prepping for virtual instruction to begin through what could be the remainder of the school year. But one positive is they’ve had some time to prepare for the massive change, OSD assistant director of learning and student achievement Jon Tanner told the Observer. “They have spent many hours during the past two weeks redesigning lessons, learning new tools, and adjusting to the ‘new normal’ so we can provide students with the best possible education, given our limitations,” he wrote in an email Monday, March 30. Still, the change from in-school to at-home learning – with teachers and peers miles away – is significant. “It is a big challenge, since so much of our students’ school experience is hands-on,” Tanner said. To help smooth that transition, the district distributed more than 1,000 Chromebooks and nearly 100 mobile internet access hotspots last month for families without internet access, as the bulk of the assignments will be online. “While we don’t want students staring at a screen for long hours each day, the Internet is obviously a good way to stay connected and provide some instruction,” he said. “We know not everything will go smoothly on day one, but we are planning to get feedback from students, parents, and staff, then adjust to make improvements.”
Rapid conversion
In the meantime, educators have used the past few weeks to get their home classrooms in order and prepare for virtual teaching. Oregon High School art teacher Michael Derrick’s new workstation is complete with an antique desk from the Randolph’s People’s Telephone Company in Oregon, where his father worked. “It was originally the operator’s desk from the early 1900s,” he wrote the Observer. “Dad took it and refinished it.” Now it serves as the space for Derrick to plan his lessons – not easy for educators like him used to working so hands-on with students and their many projects. “I miss being with my classes where I can help with personalized learning and provide better one-onone help,” he wrote. “We are making do, though.” OHS technology education teacher Ryan Stace is another teacher converting a traditionally hands-on learning curriculum into a relevant online format. To help, he’s using Schoology software that was the primary method of instruction for students who missed class time, he said. “I’m doing my best to sift through the resources and put together meaningful activities for the students for as long as school will be utilizing this online format,” Stace wrote the Observer. “The activities might not be as hands-on as they are used to in the regular school setting, but they will certainly still be educational.”
Photos submitted
OHS art teacher Michael Derrick has set up his new home office in his basement, complete with an antique desk, typewriter and vintage cameras. “Pulling double teaching duties now as a stay at home dad and online teacher,” he wrote the Observer in an email last week.
FOSD teams up to help feed students
Photo submitted
The Friends of the Oregon School District have teamed up with OSD staff in recent weeks to deliver food packs, breakfasts and lunches to students in the district during the schools closing order. On Monday, March 16, the group helped distribute 170 food packs, which were put togeher by FOSD and delivered by OSD staff.
OSD briefs OHS ‘pass/no pass’ for 2nd semester
Grades will still matter in this second semester, but to help reduce anxiety about grades during this uncertain period of virtual learning, Oregon High School is implementing a pass/no pass grading system for all high school students.
State: Class of 2020 will graduate Vehicles line up outside of Oregon Middle School last week to pick up laptops for students to use during the schools shutdown. The district is set to transition to virtual teaching starting Monday, March 31.
Maintaining communication
For Oregon Middle School seventh grade geography teacher Laura Stoller, her biggest consideration is anticipating what students can do independently, and planning high interest activities. “We really want to keep them engaged and learning, and that requires a delicate balance of just enough challenge, just enough review material, just enough support,” she wrote the Observer in an email Tuesday. “It’s hard enough to do that in person, but without having the daily personal interactions, it becomes even tougher. We are used to making modifications and differentiating for our students based on what happens in the classroom.” To stay connected, Stoller and her students use Google Hangouts and Google Meet for some face time. “When we are doing in-person instruction, we can at least see them each day and know they’re okay,” she said. To connect with his students, OHS social studies teacher Chris Wiegman is using Flipgrid, a social learning platform where a question or prompt is posed and students respond in a short video. “It allows us to communicate and collaborate together both academically and non-academically,” he wrote the Observer in an email Tuesday. Wiegman said while virtual learning is a new experience for everyone, he hopes students, families and his colleagues will embrace this as an opportunity to learn and grow.
“As a lifelong learner myself, I’m excited about this journey because I know that great learning experiences will result and we will see positive growth as a school community,” he said.
Finding a routine
Brooklyn Elementary School firstgrade teacher Meghan Mapes said for younger students, most of the connecting is through their parents, and creating videos for them to read “and to reassure my students that I am still here for them.” “It’s important to remember that our main goal for students is to sustain their learning from this school year,” she told the Observer in an email. “We want to keep the love of learning alive for our students and that can come in many different forms.” For families starting this new journey, Mapes’ advice is to start slow and try to create a learning routine that works for your family at home. “Know that OSD teachers and staff are here for you to answer your questions and to cheer you on — we are all in this together!” she wrote. And while teachers aren’t physically around for a while, Stoller said parents can play an important role in their child’s education as virtual learning is likely to finish out the school year. “Especially now, their involvement in their student’s learning is critical,” she said. “Our hope is that adults at home are engaged at least somewhat with their students and their learning.”
High school seniors will graduate as planned in June, and students won’t have to retake a year’s grade because of missing class time due to virtual schooling for what could be the remainder of the 2020-21 school year. That was the word from Gov. Tony Evers on Sunday, March 22, news release.
Preparing for virtual learning
At OSD, the week of March 16-20 was focused on connecting with families to ensure all district students were ready to access distance learning beginning Tuesday, April 1. The district distributed Chromebooks in a drive-through format to ensure students had the proper technology.
SkillsUSA state competition canceled
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction canceled the 2020 SkillsUSA Wisconsin State Leadership and Skills Conference, scheduled for April 28-29 in Madison. OHS was primed to do well after its showing at regional competition, with several medals, including four first place awards.
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April 10, 2020
Fitchburg Star
17
Construction: Single family homes, apartments will continue to fill mid-Fitchburg throughout 2020 Continued from page 1
Verona Road final phase
This year marks the last round of construction travelers will see on their trek northward to Madison for a while. The seven-year state project, which has caused significant traffic delays from the Beltline to just south of McKee Road, will finish with work below its new underpass on McKee Road. When completed, it will make McKee Road three lanes each way between Commerce Park Drive and Fitchrona Road, with work split into four stages. The first will be median work for future traffic pattern changes; the second phase will shift all traffic to the westbound lanes on the north side of the road. The third will switch traffic over to the eastbound lanes on newly done pavement, with the final phase including median work to finish off the project. Two lanes each way will remain open throughout the project’s duration, minus lane closures in non-peak travel hours from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 5 p.m. For the city’s project on McKee Road, eastbound lanes will be reconstructed first, and in mid-summer, the lanes will switch over so the westbound lanes can be repaved, Balke said, Photos by Kimberly Wethal with the project expected to finish Construction crews work on the last phase of the Verona Road project along McKee Road. The project will reconstruct McKee Road from Commerce by mid-November. Park Drive to Fitchrona Road to the west underneath the Verona Road overpass.
Fish Hatch project starts
Fish Hatchery Road reconstruction is starting a little later than planned and will last another year beyond the initial timeline. Last year, the $20.3 million project was split into two phases to lower its cost, as it had been described by city officials as having an aggressive timeline. The first phase, from the Beltline to Traceway Drive, will be completed this year, while the second, continuing to Brendan Avenue, is set for 2021. The project will reconstruct all six lanes of both north- and southbound Fish Hatchery Road, improve traffic flow at the eight intersections along the road, replace five failing retaining walls, mitigate flooding through stormwater improvements and add landscape planting and decorative paving.
After median work is completed, Balke said, crews will start on the northbound lanes in midApril, and southbound lane work will follow in July, lasting into the fall. During the project, there will be one lane going each way, and there will be temporary intersection closures at Greenway Cross and Post Road, Balke said. “We’ll give a couple weeks of advance notice on that,” he said. “You might have to go all the way down to Post Road or Index Road to get to Greenway again.” The project will also include construction of a bridge on the edge of the Nine Springs Golf Course property for a multi-use path. Email reporter Kimberly Wethal at kimberly.wethal@wcinet.com and follow her on Twitter @kimberly_wethal.
Notable projects • Verona Road construction • McKee Road construction • Fish Hatchery Road construction • Bridge replacements on Hwy. 14 • Two Promega facilities • Sub-Zero, Hop Haus and Race Day Events fill Seminole Highway • Forest Edge Elementary School
Orange cones outnumber vehicles on Fish Hatchery Road, as the state’s “Safer at Home” mandate reduces the amount of traffic on area roads. The first phase of the reconstruction project, from the Beltline to Traceway Drive, will take place in 2020, while the second phase of the project will take place in 2021.
Construction projects planned throughout the city KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
Construction crews work on the last phase of the Verona Road project. Forest Edge Elementary School, an Oregon School District K-6 building, is under construction the city’s eastern side. The school is planned to be open for fall 2020.
While road construction changes how people travel throughout Fitchburg this year, the city’s landscape will continue to change with several large projects on the city’s east, central and west sides. Apartments are also expected to crop up throughout the city, as five developments are planned to either break ground this year or wrap up construction. On the city’s eastern side, Oregon School District is erecting a new 130,000 square foot elementary school and an early childhood learning facility, and homes in the surrounding 248-acre Terravessa development are starting to fill in. Also on the east side, Uptown Crossing off of Syene R o a d c o n t i n u e s t o bu i l d
homes. The middle of the city is expected to get additional commercial and residential developments. Buildings for Hop Haus, Sub-Zero and Race Day Events begin to fill up the land west of Seminole Highway. Promega also plans to build a manufacturing center that will result in the business paying to extend Commerce Park Drive to Lacy Road and finish a research and development building at its Cheryl Parkway campus. Farm fields are being transformed into single-family housing, with the Stoner Prairie and Crescent Crossing subdivisions at the corner of Seminole Highway and Lacy Road planned to start this year and Fahey Fields beginning its third phase just south of Lacy Road. North of Lacy Road, the Lacy Woods Condominiums are also under construction
On the far west side, construction will also continue on the Quarry Vista subdivision, former site of the Hammersley Quarry at Lacy and Fitchrona roads. Hundreds of apartment units will be added to the city this year. A mixed-use apartment and commercial building is planned at the former All-Juice factory on Fish Hatchery Road, and two developments on Fitchrona Road in the Orchard Pointe neighborhood south of Target and Hy-Vee are slated to start construction on 263 units of senior and workforce housing this spring. Additional apartment buildings at the Nine Springs development just south of the roundabout at East Cheryl Parkway and Lacy Road are also under construction. Email reporter Kimberly Wethal at kimberly.wethal@ wcinet.com and follow her on Twitter @kimberly_wethal.
18 Fitchburg Star - April 10, 2020
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PLAYGROUNDS, TENNIS & BASKETBALL COURTS CLOSED All playgrounds, tennis courts & basketball courts in Fitchburg parks are closed. For the safety of all, please obey the signage posted.
FISH HATCHERY ROAD CONSTRUCTION Fish Hatchery Road construction began on April 1st. The first phase of the project will occur between Greenway Cross and Traceway Drive. Please stay alert for adjusted traffic patterns and construction workers. Traffic patterns are expected to change later this month.
For more information and to sign-up to receive updates visit: bit.ly/fhrrecon You can also follow the Fitchburg Transportation Projects Facebook page for additional news and updates about the Fish Hatchery Road project and other transportation projects in Fitchburg at www.facebook. com/FitchburgWITransportationProjects
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM PELLITTERI • Curbside large item collection is suspended until further notice. Due to COVID-19, large item collection has been deemed a potential health hazard to the driver. Reports have indicated that the virus can stay on both hard surfaces and fabrics for a duration of time. Residents may call Pellitteri for recommend alternative disposal methods. • Cart deliveries and exchanges will continue curbside. Swap-outs at Pellitteri’s office have been discontinued until further notice. • Pellitteri will continue to pick up extra bags of recycling outside of the cart and extra bags of trash that residents pay for. Reminder: extra recycling must be in clear, plastic bags (32-gallons or less, 50 lbs. or less).
• Residents are encouraged to bag their trash (any color) and recyclables (clear bags only) securely, even when it’s in the cart. Carts can tip over and if content spill out, it poses a hazard to the driver too pick up loose trash & recycling. Contact Pellitteri with questions at (608)-257-4285
2020 CENSUS #FitchburgCounts All City of Fitchburg residents should have received an invitation to complete the Census in their postal mail. If you haven’t already done so, be sure to complete the Census in April by visiting my2020census.gov. The Census will impact state and federal funding to the City of Fitchburg over the next decade, as well as informing federal, state, and local voting districts. Please see www.fitchburgwi.gov/2020Census for more information. Address Note When Completing the Census: The City of Fitchburg has been working with the U.S. Census Bureau since 2018 to ensure an accurate address database of City residences for the 2020 Census.
CRITICAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT FORM FOR OLDER ADULTS IN NEED The Fitchburg Senior Center is committed to keeping our community of older adults safe during the impact of COVID-19. Below is a link to their Critical Needs Assessment Form which can be filled out and submitted on line. If you or someone you know is in need of help, this form will provide
the Senior Center with the information they need to ensure services are provided. Please pass the word to other Fitchburg community members that the Fitchburg Senior Center is available to help serve our most vulnerable population. Access the form at https://bit.ly/2w8rNIF
COVID 19 SCAM ALERT! Described below are 2 recent scams targeting older adults in regards to the COVID-19 crisis. 1) The website “Coronavirusmedicalkit.com” is seeking to profit from the confusion and widespread fear surrounding COVID-19. The website claims to offer World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine kits in exchange for a shipping charge to be paid by a credit card. 2) Some social security beneficiaries have received letters through the mail stating that due to Social Security offices closed because of COVID-19 their payments may be suspended or discontinued unless they call a phone number referenced in the letter. If the beneficiaries call, scammers may mislead them into providing personal information including bank account and credit card numbers. It is recommended that you take the following steps to protect yourself from these and other scams during this pandemic: • Be wary of unsolicited emails/phone calls/ letters in the mail offering information, products or services related to the treatment of COVID-19.
• Research any charities or crowdfunding sites soliciting donations in connection with COVID-19 before giving donations. Remember an organization may not be legitimate even if it uses words like “CDC” or “government” in its name or logos. • Be wary of any “investment opportunities” tied to COVID19, especially those based on claims that their company’s products may help stop the virus • Do not click on links or open email attachments from unknown or unverified sources. Doing so could download a virus onto your computer or device. • Never give out your social security number, credit card information or bank accounts to someone you do not know For the most up to date information on COVID-19, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO) websites. To report suspected fraud schemes related to COVID-19, call the National Center for Disaster Fraud 1-866-720-5721 or email disaster@leo.gov
The City has participated in all mandatory and voluntary Bureau initiatives in this regard, including submission of a City residential address database to the Bureau. Given Fitchburg’s lack of a central post office, and overlapping zip codes with City of Madison, there may be instances of City of Fitchburg residences that have Madison postal addresses. Regardless of the postal address, if an address is in the City of Fitchburg, it will be counted as such in the 2020 Census. If a resident has a Census addressing question, they can visit my2020census.gov or call 844-3302020. If a resident doesn’t have their Census ID when visiting this website or calling in, they can submit their address.
SWAN CREEK COMMUNITY GARDEN The City is now accepting applications for gardeners at the Swan Creek Park Community Garden, 5175 E. Cheryl Pkwy. Interested parties should see the following link for more information and to fill out an application: http://www. fitchburgwi.gov/2397/Community-Gardens.
HYDRANT FLUSHING be cleared by opening the cold water tap to full flow for a few minutes. Please do laundry in the evening when water is clear to avoid damage to clothes. adno=150403
Fitchburg Utilities Spring Hydrant Flushing will start on Monday, April 13, 2020 and will finish on Friday April 24, 2020. Flushing will occur Monday thru Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Due to the flushing, the water may be temporarily discolored. Discoloration can
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Dane County
Grant demand spurs additional funding $800K added to support program after hundreds of applications
Photos by Emilie Heidemann
The Main Event venue will serve as a distribution site for farm kits and community meals.
Serving up hope amid a pandemic Chef spearheads efforts to help local farmers, curb food insecurity
Prompted by an overwhelming response last week from small businesses, Dane County is increasing support for a grant program to help them out during the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, April 6, county executive Joe Parisi announced the county will increase funding for its Small Business Pandemic Support Grant Program to $800,000 after receiving hundreds of applications since announcing it April 1. The program started out at $250,000, but according to an April 6 news release, by Thursday evening, Dane Buy Local had received 800 applications. Parisi said by more than tripling the funding total, Dane County and Dane Buy Local hope to help
more local businesses s u r v ive t h e COIVD-19 public health crisis that has caused many to close. Analiese Eicher “We want l o c a l bu s i nesses to know we stand with them and support them,” he said in the news release. “We encourage s m a l l bu s i n e s s ow n e r s throughout Dane County to apply for this funding to help retain employees and cover expenses.” On Wednesday, April 1, Parisi announced Dane County has selected Dane Buy Local to administer the new grant program. The funding is designed to assist businesses retain employees and reduce losses incurred by the pandemic. Dane Buy Local administers the grants and has information about the county program at danebuylocal.com. Grants as small as $1,000 will be awarded, and applications will be
Find out more For information on the grant program, call 712-3440, email colin@danebuylocal.com or visit danebuylocal.com. accepted through June 15, 2020, according to the news release. “The reality that the need is so much greater justifies an increase in funding at this point in time,” said Dane County Board Chair Analiese Eicher in the news release. “Businesses across Dane County need our help. That we can take this action quickly together is yet another example of Dane County leaders coming together in these trying times.” Email Unified Newspaper Group reporter Scott De Laruelle at scott.delaruelle@wcinet.com.
Sub-Zero, Wolf lay off more than 1,000 workers
EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
It’s a trying time for i n d iv i d u a l s a n d f a m i lies whose incomes have dwindled, making them unsure about how they will put their next meal on the table. It’s the same for local farmers, who have seen their sales plummet as restaurants have closed and grocery stores limit customers to curb the spread of COVID-19. But Chef Dave Heide, ow n e r o f C h a r l i e ’s o n Main in Oregon and Lilana’s Restaurant in Fitchburg, is looking to combat those crises in the coming weeks — finding an outlet for beleaguered farmers and families who are struggling with food insecurity, unemployment and homelessness. L i l i a n a ’s i s wo r k i n g with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dane County and Reach Dane to help get meals out to families and kids in need, Heide said. In the next few weeks, the Charlie’s on Main neighboring Main Event venue will serve as a packing and processing site for the meals, as well as kits to support local farmers. People will be able to pick up pre-packaged kits and meals at Liliana’s. “We are trying to get really great, from-scratch cooking,” Heide said of the goal to serve nutritious, fresh and hearty ingredients with recipes to accompany them. The farm kits will cost $50 or $100 depending on their contents, Heide said, the aim being 100
April 10, 2020
EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
Liliana’s Restaurant will be a distribution site for prepackaged goods to go to families in need and to those who want to support local farms.
“So many of these farmers are depending on restaurants to remain open. That’s how a majority of our mom and pop farmers make a living.” Chef Dave Heide, owner of Charlie’s on Main in Oregon and Lilana’s Restaurant in Fitchburg available per week. “So many of these farmers are depending on restaurants to remain open,” he said. “That’s how a majority of our m o m a n d p o p fa r m e r s make a living.” The public will be able to order the boxes on Monday and volunteers will package them on Saturday afternoons. Volunteers will package the Boys and Girls Club community meals Monday through Friday, to be delivered to drop sites that assist with food insecurity and homelessness in the county. Heide said those will reach 600-800 families who are struggling right now. But one of the challenges Heide said he and staff face with the programs are the ever-evolving regulations, and how quickly they change as a result of new pandemic developments.
So far, restaurants in the state are still allowed to offer curbside pickup and online ordering options — though some establishments have closed down altogether. Another challenge is coming up with nutritious food that’s not just pasta, Heide said. But he and chefs from around the county have b r a i n s t o r m e d d i ff e r e n t recipe ideas, which will be different each week – one including roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and charred broccoli. It’s all a matter of working with local farmers to find out what ingredients they have in excess. “We are adapting at a pace we can,” he said. Email Emilie Heidemann at emilie.heidemann@ wcinet.com or follow her on Twitter at @HeidemannEmilie.
Sub-Zero and Wolf Appliance announced Friday, March 20, the company is laying off more than 1,000 employees, some temporarily. The company will lay off 469 from its Sub-Zero operation and 574 from Wolf, a news release from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce development states. The businesses said the measure is to protect the health of its workforce amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The demand for production has gone down, as well. In June, the City of Fitchburg agreed to pay up to $5.5 million in taxpayer assistance toward the construction of a $60
million, 350,000-square-foot facility on Seminole Highway that was expected to add 100 jobs. The layoffs were to commence Sunday, March 22, after the end of the third shift, a letter to WDWD states. Plant closures and layoffs are expected to last until April 13, the news release states. Workers are expected to return on that date, but not all. Founded in 1945, Sub-Zero Group Inc. is a third-generation, privately-held company headquartered in Madison. In addition to its Fitchburg location the company, maintains warehouses and manufacturing plans in Goodyear, Arizona and Richmond, Kentucky, as well as showrooms throughout the United States.
Promega among state partnership to increase lab testing capacity EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
Promega among state partnership to increase lab testing capacity Promega is among six organizations in a public-private partnership to increase Wisconsin’s laboratory capacity for COVID-19. Gov. Tony Evers announced the partnership in March. Before the announcement, a news release states, the industry leaders for bringing more tests online included the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene and the Milwaukee Public Health Lab. They now include Promega, Exact Sciences, Marshfield Clinic Health System and UW-Health, according to the release. “Wisconsin is extremely fortunate to have these (organizations) in their own backyard,” Evers said in the release.
File photo
Promega is ramping up efforts to manufacture testing materials, helping to curb the spread of COVID-19.
“They are exhibiting the right kind of leadership that all Wisconsinites deserve: stepping up with innovation, cutting down superficial barriers and doing all they can to keep Wisconsin communities healthy.” Email Emilie Heidemann at emilie. heidemann@wcinet.com or follow her on Twitter at @HeidemannEmilie.
20 Fitchburg Star - April 10, 2020
Start with the best. We’re Here in Person and Online! Due to high volume of online orders, limited dates and times are available.
Miller’s will not have Weekly Sale items until further notice. We may offer limited promotions at this time in-store and online.
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New Store Hours: 6:3am-7:00pm Monday-Sunday 210 S. Main St., Verona • 845-6478
Your locally owned grocer for 118 years.