WJI's daily reads for Oct. 13, 2021

WDJT: Wisconsin brewery helps parents sue school districts that don't follow CDC COVID guidelines.

The Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC announced they will sue "every school board in Wisconsin that doesn't follow CDC guidelines" on Sunday, Oct. 11.  

The effort comes as many schools are battling a surge of COVID-19 infection that has led some districts to temporarily close, shift to online learning and quarantine students.  

Kirk Bandstad, owner of Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC, is funding the lawsuits to help parents sue school districts after their child became infected with COVID-19.  

"I got flooded with parents across Wisconsin who are super upset, scared and felt powerless to protect their children," said Bandstad. "If they had masks in these schools, these kids could actually get an education." 
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The Washington Post: Biden administration orders end to ICE raids at workplaces.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s memo ordered a review of enforcement policies and gave immigration officials 60 days to devise proposals to better protect workers who report on their bosses from facing deportation.

Mass arrest operations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly referred to as ICE raids, have been used primarily against industries that employ large numbers of immigrants, such as meatpacking. Immigrant advocates and many Democrats who oppose the raids say they punish vulnerable workers, sow fear in immigrant communities and rarely result in consequences for employers.

​Reuters: U.S. Supreme Court considers reinstating death sentence for Boston marathon bomber.

Governing: Chicago police give out lots more tickets for bicycling violations in Black, Latino neighborhoods.

In the neighborhoods most affected, high cycling ticket rates could put a damper on jobs, residents’ health and efforts to reduce violence, said Olatunji Oboi Reed, president and CEO of racial equity-focused nonprofit Equiticity, which partnered on the study.

“There’s a role for cycling to play in improving our neighborhoods,” he said. “And when these types of inequities are in existence, from lack of infrastructure in our neighborhoods to enforcement inequities by (the Chicago Police Department), they serve as a dampening effect on more Black and brown people turning to bikes as a form of travel, as a form of recreation, as a form of physical fitness.”

The study raises questions about where and why police stop and cite cyclists. Its publication comes as the Chicago Department of Transportation is expanding bike lanes and resources amid a surge of interest in biking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study, published in September by the journal Transportation Research Part D, found that between 2017 and 2019, Chicago police issued tickets for cycling on the sidewalk in majority Black neighborhoods at eight times the rate in majority white areas. In Latino areas, they issued tickets three times as often.

WILL: WILL, Scott Walker urge U.S. Supreme Court to accept press conference case.

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