Valley Sentinel - 12-30-2020

Spring Green, Wisconsin

Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020 Vol. 1, No. 11 Free, Single-Copy

Two rounds of snowy, cold weather hits the Valley Valley Boys hold off hard charging Dodgers Mike McDermott, Contributor

Photos by Quincy Aston-Lott, Managing Editor The River Valley area saw a small round of snow on Sunday. As of press time, more snow was expected as the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for Dec. 29 through Dec. 30, which was expected to drop six to eight inches of snow.

Top: A view of the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitors center from Peck’s Landing as snow falls on the Wisconsin River Sunday evening.

Bottom: Snow falls on Sharon Street in Arena Sunday evening.

The River Valley boys basketball team has a history of playing - and often winning - close games against Dodgeville. Last Monday night was no exception, as the Dodgers travelled to the River Valley gym to open their season. While the Blackhawks had played several games, this was both a season and SWC opener for Dodgeville, due to COVID precautions. Those who have grown accustomed to tight games between these rival schools would not be disappointed in this contest, whether they were watching in person or on RVTV. The RV boys have been generous hosts in the first half of games this year, and that script played out early in the game as the Dodgers jumped out to a ten point lead. The fully-staffed Blackhawks were not put off by having to play from behind, as they managed to claw their way back into the game.

Both teams seemed to be finding their groove as they went into halftime tied up at 25. Yes, this was the kind of game we all expected, and it would only get better.

The hometown five came out of the locker room on fire, quickly opening a 10 point lead and looking like they had designs on cruising to an easy win. No such luck! After Preston Hying made two free throws with 2:36 left in the game to give RV a 57-46 lead, Dodgeville went to work, dropping a quartet of bombs from behind the three point line. River Valley was again playing the role of far-too-generous hosts, giving the Dodgers extra possessions with turnovers and missed free throws.

A Dillon Garthwaite bucket cut the RV lead to 59-57 with :06 seconds left in the game. Hying was fouled and made the first free throw to stretch the lead

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Iowa County COVID-19 vaccination plans continue, cases rise Iowa County Health Department The Health Department reports an increase of 71 cases this past week bringing the total of cases to 1,620. During the previous week, 111 cases were reported, the week prior the increase was 109 cases and the week prior to that, 57 cases.

The number of individuals that have recovered is 1,569, meaning 51 cases are active. Cases are in all age ranges and across the entire county. See https:// www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid 19/county.htm for a breakdown of the location of positive cases.

This week’s dashboard update saw the percentage of positive cases remain

steady reporting 9.3% with this Dashboard update, steady from last week’s value of 9.6%, allowing our status to remain yellow. The average cases reported daily metric is also steady at 14.64, similar to last week’s average of 14.4, remaining at red status.

“Persistence with following public health recommendation remains critically important. The arrival of vaccine is wonderfully welcome and hopeful news, but until we achieve notable levels of vaccine uptake, every act of prevention still matters”, states Debbie Siegenthaler, Director, Iowa County Health Department. “Our health care and public health workers continue to need the

help of the community in slowing spread so that hospitals can continue to meet patient needs, especially as we monitor a potential post-Holiday surge” noted Siegenthaler.

COVID-19 Vaccine Planning

Iowa County Health Department, Iowa County Emergency Management, Upland Hills Health, Long Term Care facilities and Public Safety agencies continue with Covid-19 vaccination planning.

Agencies are working in a collaborative manner to administer vaccine to those in Phase 1A. Upland Hills Health received vaccine last week and the Iowa County Health Department anticipates arrival of vaccine in early January.

In mid-December, The FDA approved an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Moderna’s and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) released the interim recommendations for their use.

As recommended both by the ACIP Practices and the State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee (SDMAC), the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) is prioritizing hospitals and clinics as initial vaccination sites to reach front-line healthcare workers. Nursing home residents and the staff that care for them are priority as well. The Iowa

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opinion/editorial

WednesdaY, Dec.30, 2020

EDITORIAL

For the health of our community, download the COVID-19 exposure app Last week the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) announced a new smartphone COVID-19 exposure app which is intended to notify state residents when they have been in close contact with a positive case of the virus.

Many, if not all of us have probably received automatic notifications to download or enable the app at this point, and we want this to serve as a friendly reminder to go ahead and do so. This app could be a major game changer in how we manage the spread of COVID-19 statewide and in our communities.

For ten or more months, we’ve all been

saying that we are ready to return to “normal”, and this app, along with vaccination, could very well be the first steps towards getting us back there. The way we currently stand, county health departments are overwhelmed, they have stated many times they are unable to keep up with personal contact tracing notifications, which means there are likely infectious but asymptomatic individuals wandering around our communities, due simply to being unaware they were exposed to the virus.

The exposure notification app can remedy that, it anonymously notifies close contacts of individuals who test positive so that others

can quarantine and take precautions to lessen the spread.

The app doesn’t collect or store GPS or personal data, it uses anonymized bluetooth connections with nearby smartphones.

Those who test positive will receive a text messaging asking if they would like to notify those they have been in close contact with for more than 15 minutes.

If you receive this text, please send notifications. It’s completely anonymous and your friends, family and the random strangers you may have been in contact with deserve to know for their safety and so they don’t infect anyone else.

There is no shame to sending those notifications, the shame is not allowing others to know they could be carrying a potentially deadly virus.

Privacy concerns are always valid, however DHS and mobile operating software developers have gone above and beyond to reaasure us that there is no tracking done and that the “handshakes” shared between phone are truly anonymous.

Please enable, download and use this app. This, along with a breakthrough in vaccinations, seems to finally be the first glimmer of a light at the end of the tunnel of this pandemic.

Forum unveils 2020 top five research findings in the state Wisconsin Policy Forum While 2020 is a year that most people want to forget, it is also one that will generate important analysis by policy researchers for years to come. Critical insights have been revealed about the strengths and weaknesses of our government structures and safety nets in a time of crisis and these must be identified, analyzed, and addressed.

The Wisconsin Policy Forum has already begun such reflection. Soon after the pandemic turned the world upside down in March, we pivoted to a research agenda that probed its impacts on state and local governments and school districts and the way it affected key economic sectors and policy areas that demanded attention from policymakers.

Continuing a year-end tradition launched by the former Public Policy Forum more than a decade ago, we now announce our top five research findings for 2020.

As in previous years, selecting this year’s list was not easy. We produced 58 reports, policy briefs, and datatools on a broad range of topics, and we think each contained important findings and insights. Nevertheless, after much deliberation, we have narrowed our list of top findings to five based on their relevance to important policy challenges and their potential impact on policymaking in the years ahead. We describe them below in

chronological order: 1. Shift to online shopping helps taxpayers but not state budget. With thousands of Wisconsinites doing much of their shopping online as the pandemic raged, our June report, The Online Effect, explored how the shift was affecting state sales tax collections. We found that the $22.4 million in collections from online purchases in April 2020 exceeded those of the same month in 2019 by 133%, while collections from other segments like restaurants (-53%) and clothing stores (-73%) dropped substantially. For state government, this created a particular challenge given a unique provision in Wisconsin state law that requires any increase in sales tax collections attributed to purchases from certain online and out-of-state retailers to be used to lower state income taxes by a corresponding amount, as opposed to being retained by the state. We suggested this provision may merit new scrutiny given the state’s budget challenges and the unanticipated breadth of the shift to online commerce. As we predicted, a subsequent state report found the upcoming income tax cut for tax year 2020 will amount to $256 million – up from $77 million in the previous year.

2. Wisconsin’s police spending has increased as a share of municipal spending. In the wake of emerging calls to “defund” police, A High-Level Look at Police Funding Trends in Wisconsin, also released in June, explored police

Graphics via Wisconsin Policy Forum spending trends in Wisconsin. We found that municipalities spent $1.28 billion on police in 2018. That equated to $219 per capita, an increase of 197% in raw dollars from the $74 spent per capita in 1986 and a 30% increase when accounting for inflation. Meanwhile, law enforcement spending as a share of total municipal spending grew from 17.8% to 20.0% during that period. The report also noted that despite the increased spending, police staffing levels in

most of Wisconsin’s largest cities have lagged population growth over the past decade. Overall, we suggested that fiscal realities – as opposed to views on policing – would be the biggest driver in the debate over police defunding given law enforcement’s large share of local government spending and the intensifying financial challenges facing Wisconsin’s cities and villages.

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Details remain obscure regarding Santa’s Christmas route Did Kris Kringle’s Microbrew tastes help set his itinerary?

Gerry Strang, esq., Legal Editor Santa may have highlighted certain stops on his holiday run this year based on his love of certain Wisconsin microbrews, according to an independent investigation by Valley Sentinel.

Santa’s preferences may have provided increased media exposure to two Wisconsin villages by Santa including these destinations on an itinerary supplied to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, the investigation found.

Each year, NORAD, presents increasingly elaborate data to the public concerning the trajectory of Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. What reportedly began with a little girl’s accidental call to NORAD’s precursor, the Continental Air Defense Command, on November 30, 1955, has evolved into a multimedia presentation of NORAD’s live tracking of Santa over various platforms. This year, visitors to noradsanta.org could watch in real time as the jolly old elf went about his rounds, delivering, ac-

cording to the website’s final tally, some 7,623,696,221 gifts.

According to U.S. Air Force Capt. Nathanael Calllon, a public affairs officer for the program, 2020 statistics will not be available for a few days, but in 2019 he said, their volunteer call center had received 165 thousand inquiries for Santa’s location, and 1.8 million inquiries were relayed by Amazon Alexa smart speakers. The number of unique visitors to the tracking website has exceeded 20 million in its best years.

NORAD’s Santa-tracking website offers two- and three-dimensional options for interactively watching Santa on his route, or scanning the globe. Since 2012, the tracker has shown areas as they appear in aerial photography, but with borders and place names and no clouds.

On Christmas Eve, the tracker continuously noted the last place visited by Santa and his next stop, its distance and time to arrival. After Santa visited any given city or town a link would activate, directed to either a wikipedia page or a video regarding the locality.

Those watching Santa on Christmas Eve may have been surprised that Santa

was shown apparently bypassing some major population centers. In Wisconsin, the only municipalities where Santa was depicted as stopping were the villages of New Glarus and Amherst.

According to Callon, this anomaly does not mean Santa did not visit other locales, nor that NORAD lost track of Santa, but rather that the display of information had to be simplified.

“Santa visits so many places, so fast, that if we tried to show them all, it would overload our system,” said Callon.

Therefore, he said, the display was limited to those places showing Santa’s general itinerary. This also explains why the path depicted is sometimes erratic.

Santa could have stopped in Chicago on the way from Peoria to Munster, Indiana, but chose to hit Chicago between the two Wisconsin villages, seemingly adding almost 200 miles to his flightpath. In reality, though, Santa’s route is just much more thorough and complex than the tracker shows.

Even Santa’s simplified route showed travel at speeds above Mach 8, faster than America’s quickest jets. According to the NORAD website, Santa’s top

speed is actually “faster than starlight” and he sometimes slows down to allow U.S. fighters to provide him an escort.

Callon said Santa provides his simplified route each year to NORAD in advance. But if Santa was in fact visiting hundreds of thousands of homes across Wisconsin, why only inform NORAD of key stops in New Glarus and Amherst?

NORAD could not provide any information as to how Santa chose which sites to include, and directed inquiries to the North Pole.

Marcy Peterson, Clerk/Treasurer for Amherst, said she believed the Village had not made any arrangement with Santa for his visit there to be highlighted. A call to the Village Clerk in New Glarus produced a similar response.

Asked if she thought there might be a connection to the fact that both towns are home to celebrated microbreweries, Peterson said, “I like that explanation, because we do have Central Waters Brewery here, but I cannot confirm that.”

Valley Sentinel was unable to reach a manager at Central Waters Brewing in

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opinion

WednesdaY, Dec.30, 2020

Page 3

Wisconsin lags in public funding support for arts & culture Continued from page 2

3.Wisconsin’s gap between teachers and students of color is growing. A Teacher Who Looks Like Me, the first installment released in June of our two-part series on teacher workforce diversity, explored how the demographics of Wisconsin’s teacher workforce compared to those of its public K-12 students. We found that from 2009 to 2019, while the share of students of color in the state’s public schools grew from 23.6% to 30.7%, the share of teachers of color increased by only 1.1 percentage points to 5.6%. A large body of research has shown that a teacher workforce that closely mirrors the racial makeup of the student population can help bridge racial achievement gaps in academic performance and other student outcomes. That finding is particularly relevant to Wisconsin, where such gaps are among the highest in the nation. The second installment in the series will explore policy options to address these concerning trends and will be released in January.

4. Wisconsin allocates fewer state dollars to arts and culture than any other state. In August we released Arts and Culture in a Pandemic, a report that sized up the pandemic’s impacts

Graphic Via Wisconsin Policy Forum on Wisconsin’s arts and culture sector, which contributed just over $10 billion to the state’s economy in 2017. We assessed the situation as an “existential threat” after reviewing the consequences for 13 arts organizations supported by Milwaukee’s United Performing Arts Fund, which included a collective $2.5 million in financial losses and 554 staff

lay-offs or furloughs. We also found that Wisconsin’s 13 cents per capita of state funding support for arts and culture ranked last in the nation, and that several other states had taken steps to provide emergency relief support to their arts and culture sectors. In the months following the release of our report, Gov. Tony Evers announced three

rounds of emergency relief funding for Wisconsin’s arts and cultural organizations totaling $45 million.

5. Wisconsin’s support for public higher education has plummeted when compared to the rest of the nation. Our December report, Falling Behind?, as-

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Details remain obscure regarding Santa’s Christmas route Continued from page 2

Amherst, but worker Emily Gryga said she believed that her superiors at the brewery had indeed made prior contact with Santa. She stated that Kris Kringle does have a fondness for their Pecan Kringle Stout, but at Christmas, it is their Vanilla Cherry Stout that Gryga says “keeps his cheeks nice and rosy.”

And even though Santa makes his stops with supernatural speed, she felt

sure he had been at the brewery, saying she had heard the reindeer, “when they land, it really reverberates through the tanks.”

Dennis Rufener of New Glarus Brewing said that New Glarus definitely had dealings with the Jolly Old Elf. Not only is Santa a customer, but this Christmas he brought the brewery a present.

“He had his sleigh loaded up with fresh Door County cherries to help us

make our Belgian Red,” said Rufener.

No word on if Santa’s rumored microbrew sampler included local favorites from Furthermore Beer or Lake Louie Brewing, however we think he might be partial to Lake Louies’s Warped Speed Scotch Ale. Santa has not yet availed himself for an interview, so it remains a matter of speculation just to what extent his Christmas Eve flight through the state

Contact us

PO Box 144 Spring Green, Wisconsin 53588 USA (608) 588-6694 editor@valleysentinelnews.com valleysentinelnews.com Editorial Editor-in-Chief Emilie Conlon Creative Director Morgan Marlenga Managing Editor Quincy Aston-Lott Legal Editor Gerry Strang, esq.

was constructed around visits to these breweries, but it can be concluded with some certainty that he is aware of Wisconsin microbrews, enjoys them, and wishes them well.

Editor’s note: Thank you to the sources who contributed to this report, it is intended to be a satirical column.

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On certain topics in areas of great community interest, the editors of the Valley Sentinel may take positions they believe best represent and serve the interests of the community. Any opinions or positions taken by the editorial board are separate and distinct in labeling and substance from the community journalism that appears in the rest of the publication and does not affect the integrity

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and impartiality of our reporting.

Est. 2020 igne conflatum “Forged in Fire”

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Community

WednesdaY, Dec. 30, 2020

Highway 23 bridge construction partially paused until spring Wisconsin Department of Transportation The dedicated employees of Kraemer North America and the pleasant weather for the last few months have kept this project on schedule. The removal of the concrete deck and parapet walls were completed Dec. 22.

WisDOT, WisDNR and Kraemer North America have worked together to ensure the removal process has minimized debris from entering the Wisconsin River. Kraemer North America used various methods to meet this requirement (including cutting the deck in small manageable pieces, hanging specifically designed collection bins to catch the debris, etc.). This project also required detailed river bottom scans both before and after the deck removal to confirm debris did not enter the river. Both scans are now complete and being reviewed. If any debris is found by this review, it will be removed as quickly as possible (most likely this week).

The remaining piers and steel girders from the previous bridge will be utilized for the new concrete deck and parapet walls. The employees of Kraemer North America have already

begun the necessary repairs to the steel girders and placing the forms required to pour next year’s concrete. They plan to continue working as long as the Wisconsin winter weather allows. Then they will be back as soon as possible this spring to finish placing forms, laying the steel rebar and pouring the new concrete deck.

A few of reminders as mentioned previously: · Thank you for your patience during this construction project, utilizing our detour route and driving safe. · The bridge will remain closed throughout the winter and spring. The bridge is to be open to traffic (likely one lane that will utilize traffic signals to alternate traffic between northbound to southbound vehicles) in June of 2021.

The entire project is to be completed and the bridge fully open to traffic in September of 2021. · The river under the bridge will be a work zone during construction. The river will remain open to boaters and other recreational users, but some portions will be restricted for your protection. Be alert for crews working and use caution when navigating this area.

Photo by Quincy Aston-Lott, Managing Editor Construction signs blocking the Highway 23 bridge while it is closed for construction.

Photo by Quincy Aston-Lott, Managing Editor A view of construction and equipment on the Highway 23 bridge near the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitors Center. Construction work on the bridge will continue in Spring, once temperatures

In other news Arts Coalition community grants

The Spring Green Area Arts Coalition announced the organization’s Creative Community and Artisitc Development Grants will be available online at www.SpringGreenArts.org early January.

COVID-19 vaccination data page

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced Tuesday morning its website will now feature a vaccination data page. The data will include information on metrics for allocation, shipments and total vaccinations administered.

The page will also feature a graph showing the number of vaccines administered daily. The webpage is expected to be updated daily by 2 p.m., and can be found at www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/data.htm

Richland County continues vaccination distribution

Richland Hospital has recieved its third shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, and is expecting to vaccinate an additional 66 frontline healthcare workers with the first vaccine dose. Last week, the hospital recieved its first two shipments and was able to vaccinate over 60 healthcare workers. The hospital expects to receive continous, weekly shipments of the Pfizer vaccine, and expects to distribute it to the public as the distribution schedule continues.

Fatal crash

Fatal crash outside Plain leaves area driver deceased On Tuesday Dec. 22, a fatal, single-vehicle crash occurred around 9 p.m. in the town of Franklin.

According to a press release from the Sauk County Sheriff’s office, who responded to the incident, the vehicle went off the road and struck a tree near the intersection of Highway B and Knob Road, leaving the driver deceased.

At the time of the crash, the Sauk County Sheriff withheld the name of the driver to notify the family. Last week, the family confirmed the driver was Kody Allen Phillips, 28, of Plain.

According to the obituary written by his mother, Joni Johnson-Kropp, Phillips leaves behind his wife, Courtney Johnson and his 18 month old daughter Miryn Mae, along with a large extended family.

“He was so proud of his sweet family,” said the obituary.

Phillips was a 2011 graduate of River Valley High School, was employed at Pre-Played in Madison, and the couple had recently purchased a home in Plain.

Visitation was held 3-6:30 p.m. Dec. 30 at Richardson-Stafford Funeral Home in Spring Green, 780 N Winsted St. A private funeral service for family and close friends followed at 7 p.m. at Christ Lutheran Church in Spring Green, 237 E Daley St. Responding agencies included the Sauk County Sheriff and Plain Fire Department/EMS.

Community/opinion

WednesdaY, Dec. 30, 2020

Funding for public higher education lags in Wisconsin

Continue from page 3

sessed the state of public higher education in Wisconsin by examining financial, enrollment, and R&D trends as well as Wisconsin’s higher education governance structure. We found that since 2000, Wisconsin’s per-student revenues from taxes and tuition at its public universities and technical colleges has fallen from 10% above the U.S. average to 9.2% below that average ($13,640 here versus $15,018 for the U.S.). We also found that the UW System had fallen from the state’s second-largest area of state General Purpose Revenue spending in 1992 to fifth-highest today. The report concluded by laying out the range of policy options available to address the state’s higher education challenges, including a relaxation of tuition freezes or new state funding, additional administrative flexibili-

ty for UW-Madison and other UW system members, and efforts to boost enrollment.

Our desire to limit our list of top findings to five required us to omit several important ones, including findings related to the capacity of Wisconsin’s municipal and county governments, school districts, and state government to withstand the impacts of the pandemic; the continued success of K-12 school referenda statewide; and the severe impacts the pandemic has wrought on child care providers in Wisconsin.

We also had to leave out several important findings relevant to specific communities in Wisconsin, including increased numbers of auto fatalities involving African Americans in Milwaukee; the effectiveness of city of Milwaukee affordable housing efforts; how the continued evolution

of the Foxconn project is impacting the finances of the village of Mount Pleasant; and promising EMS and fire department shared services opportunities in Jefferson and La Crosse counties. Those interested in reviewing these and other research findings can access the Forum’s full portfolio of research publications on our research page.

We’re proud of our research output and grateful for your support during this chaotic year. We are already hard at work on several important research projects for 2021 with a specific emphasis on issues raised by the pandemic, and we’ll be highlighting those projects in our upcoming fourth-quarter newsletter. Happy holidays and we hope to see you in person next year!

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The Wisconsin Policy Forum is a statewide nonpartisan, independent policy research organization with offices in Milwaukee and Madison.

We provide informed analysis of critical policy issues affecting local governments, school districts, and the state of Wisconsin. Our research and facilitation activities encourage elected officials and community leaders to find effective, data-driven solutions to pressing policy challenges, and promote productive discussion among the public and private sectors.

Iowa county health officials continue vaccination progress Continue from page 1

County Health Department anticipates vaccine arrival in early January 2021.

Over the next weeks and months there will be many updates regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. It will take significant time for enough vaccine to be available for the general public. Experts on ACIP, SDMAC and DHS will continue to relay more information about the next tier of priority groups to be immunized.

The Iowa County Health Department is not keeping a list of persons who wish to receive the vaccine. Please keep up to date with the vaccine roll-out through press releases, the Iowa County COVID-19 website and/or the ICHD Facebook page.

We are many months away from having enough COVID-19 vaccine supply and reaching high vaccination coverage.

Even after the first people get vaccinat-

ed, it is important to continue wearing masks, physical distancing, washing our hands, and getting tested and isolating if we have signs and symptoms of COVID-19. Please continue using all these COVID-19 precautions so that we stand the best chance of getting our families, communities, schools, and workplaces “back to normal” soon.

Iowa County Dashboard Metrics Epidemiology: Our percentage of positive cases decreased slightly, now at 9.3%, remaining yellow. The average cases reported daily metric increased slightly to 14.6, remaining in the red.

The Outbreak metric remains red.

Healthcare Status: Testing rate remains green with an average of 157 tests performed daily. We encourage anyone with symptoms to contact his/her health care provider to be tested. Local health care partner’s facility use status (represents med surge and ICU capacity)

has changed to yellow. Staffing status indicates the number of available staff to care for the volume of patients and is currently yellow. Critical supply status reflects at least fourteen days’ worth of supplies. This metric remains green.

Our regional health care infrastructure metric represents regional hospital bed use and is currently yellow, as 80.5% of regional hospital beds are in use, down some from last week. In addition, 82% of total regional ICU beds are in use, also down from last week.

Public Health Status: Community spread decreased some but remains in red, as 40% of cases are reporting no known source of transmission in the past two weeks. Our goal is that fewer than 20% of cases have no known source of transmission. This value is a reflection of current information, some data is missing, as not all cases have been in contact with the health department.

Our contact tracing efforts are at 96%.

This metric is dependent on individuals either answering the phone or returning our calls, which remains an issue. Our health department volume and staffing metric remains yellow. Emergency Management: Our emergency management partners remains green. PPE demand continues to be up and the supply chain is experiencing issues with gloves, gowns and N95 masks.

School Capacity Indicator Dashboard https://www.iowacounty.org/ COVID-19IowaCountySchoolGuidance This dashboard contains metrics from our Iowa County COVID-19 Dashboard along with new case rate metric (per 10,000) in the past two weeks. Today, the new case rate is 86, steady from 85 per 10,000 at last dashboard report and still a bit above the prior week’s value of 70.

COVID-19 Testing Information

Sauk County Mondays from 11am to 1pm at Spring Green Fire/EMS 2 Step Online Registration & Appointment REQUIRED: www.springgreenems.com Tuesdays from 8am to 12pm at Reedsburg Ambulance Service Online Registration REQUIRED: www.register.covidconnect.wi.gov *Note: Even if you have previously registered via covidconnect site, you must re-register each time you are tested.*

Wednesday from 4:30pm to 8pm at Merrimac Fire & Rescue Appointments REQUIRED: Call (608) 393-3205 2 Step Online Registration & Appointment REQUIRED: 1. Complete questionnaire at www.register.covidconnect.wi.gov 2. Call (608) 643-7603 to schedule appointment. Call MondayFriday 8am-4pm *Note: Even if you have previously registered via covidconnect site, you must re-register each time you are tested. Enter the car line from Water St to Lincoln Ave, then follow the yellow directional signs to check in station located at 55 Prairie Ave. Vehicles with more than one person in them are welcome but each person MUST have pre-registered and have scheduled an appointment.*

Fridays from 8am to 12pm at Circus World Parking Lot (testing conducted by Baraboo Fire & EMS *No testing on 1/1 Online Registration only. Unable to accept phone calls 2 Step Online Registration & Appointment REQUIRED: www. forms.gle/uXHPPe86hiosRHbN8

Iowa County Testing will continue in 2021 on Thursdays, alternating between Iowa and Lafayette Counties, from 11am-1pm, weather dependent.

Testing will be held on Thursday, January 7, 2021 from 11am – 1pm in Lafayette County at the Ames Road Multipurpose Building at 11974 Ames Road in Darlington.

The following week’s test site will be in Iowa County on Thursday, January 14, 2021 from 11am – 1pm at the Health and Human Services Center located at 303 West Chapel Street in Dodgeville.

Richland County

Tests will be available on a FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVE basis.

The Richland Hospital continues to offer COVID-19 drive-thru testing from 11am to 4pm Monday-Friday for hospital & clinic patients displaying COVID-19 symptoms or to those that have a confirmed exposure.

January 4th from 9am to 12pm at Richland County Fairgrounds January 6th from 9am to 3pm at UW-Platteville RichlandClassroom Building January 7th from 9am to 3pm at Richland County Fairgrounds January 11th from 9am to 12pm at Richland County Fairgrounds January 13th from 9am to 3pm at UW-Platteville RichlandClassroom Building th January 14 from 9am to 3pm at Richland County Fairgrounds January 18th from 9am to 12pm at Richland County Fairgrounds January 21st from 9am to 3pm at Richland County Fairgrounds January 25th from 9am to 12pm at Richland County Fairgrounds January 28th from 9am to 3pm at Richland County Fairgrounds

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Community

WednesdaY, Dec. 30, 2020

COVID-19 Dashboard Wisconsin Summary Cases as of 12/29/2020

474,537 16.9% Positive Cases

+13,522 from 12/22

83.1%

2,340,164 Negative +36,450 from 12/22 Cases

4,783 Deaths +238 from 12/22

Richland County 1,079 Positive Cases

+48 from 12/22

Iowa County

9,667 +181 from Negative 12/22 Cases

12%

1,650 Positive +46 from 12/22 Cases

88%

Sauk County 12.2% 87.8%

27 Deaths

4,419 Positive +137 from 12/22 Cases

31,770 Negative +344 from 12/22 Cases

6 Deaths

+1 from 12/22

Total cases since 3/15/2020

13 Deaths

+0 from 12/122

7,895 Negative +54 from 12/22 Cases

River Valley School District Cases as of 12/22/2020

+0 from 12/22

Vaccine Summary Statistics 265,575

Allocated

Updated: 12/29/2020

156,875 Shipped

47,157

Administered

Pfizer Vaccines Administered 40,850 Moderna Vaccines Administered 6,306 Graphic by Whitney Back

Data From: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/index.htm

Cases per zip code Cases as of 12/22/2020

Sports/ Outdoors/recreation

WednesdaY, Dec. 30, 2020

RV defeats Dodgeville 60-70 at home game

Page 7

Continued from Page 1

to 3 points. His second shot rimmed out, was picked up by Garthwaite and heaved all the way from the Valley free throw line. Everyone in the gym held their breath for several seconds as the shot narrowly missed going in to send the game to overtime. Valley escaped with a nice home victory, 6057. Circle Friday, February 5th on the calendar, as that’s when River Valley will travel south to Dodgeville for the rematch. No matter who comes out on top, chances are it’s going to be a barn-burner.

Preston Hying led the Blackhawks in scoring with a game-high 29 points.

Landen Alt added 10, and Kameran Smith contributed eight big points off the bench. Dillon Garthwaite paced the Dodgers with 25 points on the night.

Photos by Mike McDermott, Contributor Blackhawk player Will Bailey, No. 3, drives to the basket at last week’s game against Dodgeville.

Blackhawk Tyler Nachriener, No. 10, brings the ball up the floor with two Dodgeville players trailing at the Dec. 21 game.

Wisconsin Waterfowl, Turkey, Pheasant Stamp Funding Project Applications Due Feb. 5 species in wetlands, grasslands and forests.

These stamps bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for species management, including habitat management, restoration, education and research projects. Every other year, at the start of each fiscal biennium, there is an opportunity for nonprofit, conservation and non-government organizations, along with local, state and federal government agencies to apply for stamp funds.

The DNR’s species advisory committees and Wildlife Management program’s leadership select winning project proposals through a competitive process. Funding will be made available for winning projects during the DNR’s 2022-23 biennium, beginning July 1.

Eligibility information, project selection criteria, application guidance and further information is available www.dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/stamps.html

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will distribute more than $800,000 in funding to support wildlife conservation throughout the state in the new year.

This conservation funding comes directly from hunters purchasing turkey, waterfowl and pheasant stamps that support the restoration and management of critical habitat for Wisconsin’s wildlife. Government and nonprofit conservation organizations are encouraged to apply for this next round of biennial funding by Feb. 5.

For many years, Wisconsin’s wild turkey, pheasant and waterfowl stamp programs have provided wildlife and habitat management opportunities, with efforts directed toward key species. With each stamp purchased, hunters, stamp collectors and conservation enthusiasts contribute funds directly to restoration projects that recharge groundwater, store floodwaters, reduce invasive species and restore critical habitat across the state.

“Hunters and wildlife viewers can be confident their dollars contribute directly to improving wildlife habitat for the enjoyment of hunters and wildlife enthusiasts throughout the state,” said Jason Fleener, DNR Wet-

Photos by Caleb Metrich, Wisconsin DNR The 2021 Wild Turkey Stamp was designed by Caleb Metrich, of Lake Tomahawk, who won this year’s turkey stamp design competition. land Habitat Specialist. “The department and conservation partners work together to ensure these dollars are invested efficiently and paired with external grants whenever possible.”

Stamp-funded habitat projects also benefit a multitude of other wildlife and the general public by improving soil and water quality, restoring wetlands and helping to control invasive

“The good stuff.”

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WednesdaY, Dec. 30, 2020

Arts & Culture/Community

Review: Wonder Woman 1984 brings good character development Emilie Conlon, Editor-in-Chief

It’s finally here! Yes, I’m talking about “Wonder Woman 1984”, what else would it be?

I have been long awaiting this movie for so, so long, pretty much since I left the theater of the original movie in 2017. While I had been looking forward to this movie for quite sometime (its release had been rescheduled a few times due to COVID-19 this year), I went into my at-home showing with some reservations because I saw some lackluster reviews from friends and internet sources prior.

Let me just tell you, those disappointed reviewers had it all wrong. I’ll be 100% honest, this next installment isn’t anything groundbreaking, actually, far from it. It really is your typical superhero movie, while the plot is just interesting enough to keep you for the two and a half hour long movie, it’s a pretty flat, predictable plot, conflict, resolution format that most movies in this genre follow. Buuuut, if you’re a fan of Wonder Woman, or major character development, this movie is for you.

I think that this movie was really cool if you’re a true fan of the Wonder Woman character because it really hones in on some major characteristics of both Wonder Woman and her alter-ego, Diana Prince, all while proving a moral point and debuting Wonder Woman’s nemesis in this iteration of films.

Without giving too much away, this film really works to develop the character of Diana, establish more of her story after losing the love of her life, Steve Trevor at the end of the first movie in this reboot of her story. In my opinion, this movie does a really good job of showing the “normal” side of superheroes, the life they live when they aren’t fighting crime or saving the world,

Photos via DC/Warner Bros.

“Wonder Woman 1984” was released Dec. 25 in theaters and for at-home viewing on HBO Max due to COVID-19, and with its release brought major character development for this newest iteration of the DC superhero. really, we saw Diana Prince more than Wonder Woman in this film.

I think one of the more interesting aspects of this movie is how they manage to humanize a fierce amazonian demigod, showing that she herself struggles to do what’s right and struggles with finding herself after love lost.

If you’re a Wonder Woman fan, (in case you couldn’t already tell, I am), one of your favorite things about this movie is the callouts to some of “classic” features we think are pretty cool about her.

In the first movie, we got to see some

really cool shots of how her minimal armor works and how she can use it to dodge bullets and such. In the newest movie, we see a deeper dive into her lasso of truth, we are introduced to her bad-girl counterpart, Cheetah, along with getting see a major development in Wonder Woman’s powers.

Overall, the plot of the movie wasn’t what made it interesting, it was the characters and overall franchise development that kept me interested in. Many of the reviews I saw made complaints that the movie lacked an 80s motif, despite being based in the

middle of the decade. I will say, I do sort of agree, the movie really didn’t feel overtly 80s themed, it really could have been set in any decade, which was a missed opportunity for the filmmakers.

I think they could have really leaned into the 80s theme, used more 80s music, pop culture and style to make the movie a bit more interesting or enticing to a larger audience. Overall, a 4/5.

“Wonder Woman 1984” is available for viewing in theaters and for athome streaming via HBO Max.

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Photo by Quincy Aston-Lott, Managing Editor The “It’s a Wonderful Life” inspired theme outside The Opal Man, who was announced as the first place winner of the Spring Green Area Chamber of Commerce Tinsel and Lights decorating contest. Pamela’s Fine Jewelry won second place and Silver and Star B&B Inn won third.