Associated Press

Democrats are making new moves toward a virtual presidential nominating convention this August, with party officials preparing to grant convention organizers in Milwaukee the authority to design an event that won’t require delegates to attend in person amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A top party official discussed the plans ahead of Tuesday’s virtual meeting of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss moves that still require approval by the committee and the DNC’s 447 members.

Updated at 2:50 p.m. CT

University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross directed campuses Thursday to prepare to cut academic programs and brace for layoffs as the coronavirus pandemic deepens the system's financial losses.

Cross said he wants campuses to evaluate their programs by January with an eye toward cost, whether they are duplicated at another campus, and student demand. System officials will decide which courses to eliminate subject to regents' approval, Cross told reporters during a video conference Wednesday afternoon.

Updated at 3:33 p.m. CT

Wisconsin’s presidential primary election held last month in the face of the coronavirus pandemic drew concern from doctors, voters, poll workers and politicians who warned that having thousands of people leave their homes to cast ballots would further spread the highly contagious virus.

Now well beyond the 14-day incubation period for COVID-19, and with a Tuesday special congressional election in northern Wisconsin looming, it remains largely unknown just how many people contracted the virus at the polls on April 7.

Every resident and worker in all 373 Wisconsin nursing homes will receive a free coronavirus test as part of a plan to expand testing to everyone who needs one, Gov. Tony Evers announced Monday.

A Wisconsin shipbuilder won a contract for up to 10 frigates on Tuesday, beating out three other shipbuilders, as the Navy seeks to build smaller, lethal warships during a time of growing threats.

The $795 million contract calls for Fincantieri Marinette Marine to move forward with design and construction of the lead ship, with options for up to nine more frigates, the Navy announced Thursday. The contract carries a value of $5.6 billion if all 10 ships are built, the Navy said.

Updated at 2 p.m. CT

Gov. Tony Evers has ordered state agencies to reduce spending by 5% between now and July, drawing praise Wednesday from Republicans who called for even more cuts in the face of steep revenue drops due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Updated at 2:35 p.m. CT

There are no plans to postpone or otherwise alter a special congressional election in Wisconsin that is less than two weeks away, even though more than 50 people who voted in person or worked the polls during the state's presidential primary this month have tested positive for COVID-19.

Dog groomers, upholsterers, lawnmower repair shops and other nonessential businesses that can offer contactless services will be allowed to reopen in Wisconsin, the latest loosening of a stay-at-home order designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Tony Evers announced Monday.

Meat isn't going to disappear from supermarkets because of outbreaks of the coronavirus among workers at U.S. slaughterhouses. But as the meat plants struggle to remain open, consumers could face less selection and slightly higher prices.

Industry leaders acknowledge that the U.S. food chain has rarely been so stressed and that no one is sure about the future, even as they try to dispel concerns about shortages.

Democratic Party chairman Tom Perez said Thursday that he expects to hold an “in-person convention” in Milwaukee to nominate Joe Biden for president, though he didn’t rule out the potential that portions of the event would be conducted virtually.

The convention is slated for the week of Aug. 17, but precise dates remain up in the air after Perez and party officials scrapped their original July 13-16 plans amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Updated at 1:02 p.m. CT

Health officials in Wisconsin said they have identified at least seven people who appear to have contracted the coronavirus from participating in the April 7 election, the first such cases following in-person voting that was held despite widespread concern about the public health risks.

Willie Davis, a Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman who helped the Green Bay Packers win each of the first two Super Bowls, has died. He was 85.

A 15th-round draft pick from Grambling began his NFL career by playing both offense and defense for the Cleveland Browns in 1958 and ’59. He had his greatest success after getting traded to the Packers. He remained with the Packers until finishing his NFL career in 1969 and was first-team All-Pro five times.

The longest-serving legislator in the United States is finally going to call it quits. Wisconsin state Sen. Fred Risser announced Thursday that he won't seek reelection this fall. 

After 64 years representing Madison in the State Assembly and State Senate, I have decided not the stand for re-election. pic.twitter.com/RtfJymSFYe

— Senator Fred Risser (@SenRisser) March 26, 2020

A conservative law firm asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday to overturn an appeals court ruling that stopped the purging of more than 200,000 people from the state's voter rolls, a move that Democrats argued was intended to make it more difficult for their voters to cast ballots.

Twenty-four people associated with a violent drug trafficking gang operating in a northeast Milwaukee neighborhood face federal charges, authorities said Wednesday.

Hundreds of federal, state and local officers executed search warrants Tuesday and rounded up 17 of the defendants. The rest remained at large Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Matthew Krueger said.

Officers recovered 53 firearms, including military assault-style weapons, 900 grams of heroin, and more than 150 grams of a drug mixture that contained fentanyl. They also found cocaine, marijuana and $300,000 in cash.

Updated at 4:19 p.m. CT

A woman who was found slain in a Milwaukee garage along with her two daughters had been beaten up by her boyfriend the day before she was reported missing — and just hours after the funeral of the couple's young son, according to a criminal complaint.

Republicans on the Legislature's finance committee on Wednesday rejected a plan to build new institutions to replace Wisconsin's troubled youth prison, saying the state doesn't have the money for the facilities.

The move signals that the existing prison won't shut down by the July 2021 deadline lawmakers imposed last year and raises questions about whether the prison will ever close.

A dean at Marquette University is one of two people struck and killed by suspected drunk drivers in separate crashes on Milwaukee's near west side, officials said Wednesday.

Marquette University officials identified one of the victims as Joe Daniels, 60, a business school dean and a faculty member since 1992.

He was crossing a main street on campus about 8 p.m. Tuesday when a 20-year-old female driver struck him, according to police. The woman was arrested.

Wauwatosa police say the teenage boy who was fatally shot by police fired first in Sunday's shooting at Mayfair Mall.  

On Friday, police released a squad car video from the shooting. Wauwatosa police officers don't wear body cameras.

The video shows police chasing 17-year-old Alvin Cole and the sound of gun shots. After Cole fired, one officer fired back five times, according to Wauwatosa Police Operations Capt. Brian Zalewski. The name of the officer has not been released.

The Wisconsin Republican Party this week will open its first-ever office in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, one of the clearest signs yet of the party's push to cut into Democrats' advantage among minority voters and the latest indication of how hard-fought every vote will be in the battleground state.

The office, which opens Thursday, will serve as the base for the party's minority outreach coordinator and serve as a hub for Republican events, campaign organizing and efforts to connect with black and Hispanic people in Milwaukee, party leaders told The Associated Press.