Small indoor gatherings now allowed

Emergency order #11 as posted at https://publichealthmdc.com/documents/2020-12-15_Order_11.pdf is now in effect. It allows indoor gatherings in Dane County of up to 10 people, plus employees.

Be a guest host for Musical Time Machine

A program featured on WIDE-LP radio in the past that will reappear in January is Musical Time Machine. The 32 artists or groups that have been previously featured can be seen at http://madisonwi.us/WIDE-LP/MTM/index.htm. The idea is to feature a different group each week that has been producing albums for more than a decade. The station is looking for guest hosts to do enough new shows to fill out 2021 in combination with the old shows. The shows will air Sunday evenings from 7 to 8 pm (with more time available if needed).

License renewal granted

As of 11/20/20, the FCC granted renewal of WIDE-LP's broadcast license through 12/1/28. The authorization can be viewed at https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/lm/authorizatio...

Thanksgiving message from the City of Madison

The message can be seen at https://mailchi.mp/ef55cd9a01f2/covid-19-newsletter-923762?e=0a67b64d9f . It says, in part:

"Dane County is currently under Public Health Order #10, which prohibits indoor gatherings with people you do not live with, and restricts outdoor gatherings to 10 people or less, with physical distancing. Getting tested before gathering with others only tells you if you had COVID on the day you were tested. A negative test does not necessarily mean it is safe to gather with others.

Indoor gatherings prohibited in Dane County

Due to the coronavirus spike, from Nov. 18 to Dec. 16 indoor gatherings of any size are prohibited in our county. The details can be seen at https://publichealthmdc.com/coronavirus/forward-dane/current-order.

License renewal comment opportunity

The following announcement is currently airing 3 times a week on WIDE-LP:
On August 3, 2020, Madison Mainstream Radio (formerly HEALTH WRITERS, INC.), licensee of WIDE-LP, 99.1 FM, MADISON, WI, filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission for renewal of license. Members of the public wishing to view this application or obtain information on how to file comments and petitions can visit www.fcc.gov/stationsearch and search in the list of WIDE-LP's filed applications.

UW-Madison offers rapid COVID testing

UW-Madison is now offering free COVID-19 testing to area residents, ages five years and older, at the fully accessible Nielsen Tennis Stadium. This testing is for members of the public and participants do not need to be UW-Madison students or employees. The rapid antigen testing from Abbott BinaxNOW delivers results in as little as 15 minutes.

Are We Defunding Madison Police?

District 10 alder, Zachary Henak, and three other West Side alders have scheduled a Westside Community Conversation for October 21 at 6:30 PM via Zoom. The topic of this meeting is "Are We Defunding the Police?" Guests are Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, Laura Larsen, the City's Budget and Program Evaluation Manager, and Acting Chief of Police Victor Wahl and his West Police District Staff.

Mask requirements

For face mask requirements in Dane County, see https://publichealthmdc.com/coronavirus/masks .

COVID-19 Current Order Updates

Public Health Madison & Dane County is posting updates to the current order for our county on their web page at https://publichealthmdc.com/coronavirus/forward-dane/current-order.

County school reopen virtually

The current COVID-19 emergency order, which took effect Aug. 24, requires all schools in Dane County to "begin the school year virtually for students in grades 3-12." Details and FAQ are available at https://publichealthmdc.com/coronavirus/forward-dane/current-order .

COVID-19 Community Resources

The City of Madison has created a Community Resources page for COVID-19 at https://www.cityofmadison.com/health-safety/coronavirus/community-resour.... Public Health Updates from the city are available at https://www.cityofmadison.com/health-safety/coronavirus.
UW Health continues to maintain a COVID-19 Information page at https://coronavirus.uwhealth.org/.
Current national and international pandemic statistics are available at https://ncov2019.live/.

Make Music Madison Broadcast

Sunday June 21 is Make Music Madison day. Due to COVID-19 there will be no live broadcast or gathering at the WIDE-LP transmitter garage this year. Instead we will feature recorded music by Madison area artists all day, between talk shows, from 7 am to midnight. The schedule as currently planned is shown at http://madisonwi.us/WIDE-LP/photos/MakeMusicMadison/2020/index.htm. If you have a favorite Madison artist you would like to see on the schedule, email the station at radio -at- widelp -dot- org.

Outreach Grant Approved

The Friends of WIDE-LP, 5 station supporters who live in the Midvale Heights neighborhood where our station is located, submitted an application to Madison's Neighborhood Grants Program to fund a neighborhood outreach project. The project is described in an article on page 3 of the current issue of the Midvale Messenger newsletter online at http://mhcaorgnl.s3.amazonaws.com/2005_May_MM.pdf. Yesterday the $825 grant was approved by the Common Council. More news will appear here as the project gets underway.

Dane County Phased Reopening

See the Madison Coronavirus (COVID-19) page at https://www.cityofmadison.com/health-safety/coronavirus for the latest updates as Dane County begins phased reopening.

Safer at Home Order in Effect for Madison Until 5/26

As detailed in the 5/13/20 order available at https://publichealthmdc.com/documents/2020-05_Adopting_Safer_at_Home.pdf, the Safer at Home Order remains in effect for Madison and Dane County until 8 am on Tue. May 26. (There is a minor revision for "religious entities.")

Key COVID-19 links for Madison

UW Health has COVID-19 Information at https://coronavirus.uwhealth.org/ with a hotline number, a Frequently Asked Questions page, and many other links.

Public Health Madison & Dane County has Coronavirus info at https://publichealthmdc.com/coronavirus .
They post the current number of people in Dane County who have tested positive on the right and provide links on the left such as What to Do if You are Sick or Possibly Exposed.

SSM Health is offering free virtual evaluations: https://www.ssmhealth.com/

Friends of WIDE-LP forms

On March 1st 5 Midvale Heights neighbors came together to form Friends of WIDE-LP. Their first act was to work out the details of an application to Madison's 2020 Neighborhood Grant Program, and the application was submitted today (March 2nd). The application seeks a small grant in support of station outreach to the neighborhood by covering printing costs for a brochure, business cards, and door-hangers to raise awareness of the station and promote participation in an online survey.

Programming changes for 2020

As we start the new year, WIDE-LP has made the following program changes:

The Ralph Nader Radio Hour is a new weekly feature at 6 pm Thursdays, replacing Radio Curious.
Stage & Screen (musicals) moves to 10 pm Saturdays.
Humor Me moves to 10 pm Fridays.
Uncommon Instruments moves to 11 pm Fridays.
PNS Daily Newscast (6 min.) moves to 8 am weekdays.
2020Talks (3 min.) now airs at 10 pm weeknights (rather than after PNS Daily News). 2020Talks also continues to air before Story Classics at Noon Tue.-Fri.