Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul is leading in the fundraising race for attorney general, bringing in a record amount for this point in the election cycle.
Kaul reported on Thursday that he had raised nearly $411,000 in the first six months of the year and had more than $537,000 cash on hand.
Kaul’s campaign released the totals ahead of filing his report and did not say whether any of the amount raised included his own personal money.
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Two Republicans are running: University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Ryan Owens and Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney. Owens has raised $304,000 since getting into the race in April and had $250,000 cash on hand. Toney has raised $41,470 and had $27,790 on hand.
Wisconsin DHS: COVID-19 Weekly Recap
From July 11-15, there were 856 new cases of COVID-19 reported by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, bringing the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 614,596. Wisconsin has lost 7,372 total lives to the disease.
Forty-nine percent of Wisconsinites are fully vaccinated — 81.5 percent of people age 65 and older and 26.6 percent of children age 12-15.
This week, the Rock County Public Health Department announced its testing site at Blackhawk Technical College will be open for its last day on July 22. The final hours of operation, according to a press release from the department, are July 21 and 22 from 12-5 p.m.
Janesville Boutique Partnering With YWCA Transitions For Women Program
A boutique in Janesville is partnering with YWCA Rock County to support women in the community who are recovering from domestic violence, reports the Gazette.
Adorn Janesville has invited people to make headwear through YWCA’s Transitions for Women program that will then be sold at the boutique.
Solar Farm Approved For Southeastern Wisconsin
A 325-megawatt solar farm has been approved by Wisconsin regulators. The Darien Solar Energy Center, which will include battery storage, will be located in Walworth and Rock counties.
The center will provide electricity for roughly 75,000 homes, according to Kenosha News.
Middleton Software Company Sold For $450M
WTS Paradigm, in Middleton, has been sold to a firm in Texas for $450 million.
The tech company specializes in software development and consults with manufacturers, retailers and builders, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.
In 2018, there was a mass shooting at WTS Paradigm. A gunman, who was an employee of the company, shot four people, injuring them. Middleton police shot and killed the gunman on site.
‘What’s Ron Johnson Thinking?’
The Cap Times political reporter Jessie Opoien interviewed a handful of Republican operatives to investigate the question: Has U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson “always been this way?”
“Republican operatives who have worked with Johnson have a clear answer to that question: Johnson is the exact same person he’s always been. What’s changed are the issues earning his attention and the increasingly heated political environment,” Opoien writes.
Johnson still has not announced if he will run for reelection in 2022, but his seat has a growing line of opponents.
Pandemic Labor Shortage Hits Hard For Northeast Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is at 3.9 percent, according to the most recent data from the state Department of Workforce Development. That rate is even lower in northeastern Wisconsin, reports the Post Crescent.
“We have proof of that, in the form of businesses that are reducing their hours and are limiting their options,” said Matt Valiquette, executive director of the Bay Area Workforce Development Board. “They just simply do not have the staff to maintain a full operational tempo. And that’s that not every business, of course, but we’re beginning to see that far more widespread today than we did even a year or so ago.”
Study Finds Higher Temperatures For Communities Of Color, Low-Income Areas
A new study in Earth’s Future shows that low-income areas and communities of color in the U.S. experience much higher temperatures than those in wealthier and whiter communities.
“Urban areas are known to be hotter than more rural ones, but the research published Tuesday in the journal Earth’s Future provides one of the most detailed looks to date at how differences in heat extremes break down along racial and socioeconomic lines,” reports Michigan Radio.
Researchers found that people with lower income endured higher temperatures than those with higher income in 76 percent of the counties studies. In 71 percent of the counties, people of color endured higher temperatures in their communities than white people.
Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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