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-- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison endorsed an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus on Wednesday amid rising tensions between his nation and China.

During a press briefing in Canberra, Morrison told reporters his government will continue pushing for an independent review of the virus' origins and China's early handling of the outbreak.

"This is a virus that has taken more than 200,000 lives across the world. It has shut down the global economy. The implications and impacts of this are extraordinary," Morrison said. "Now, it would seem entirely reasonable and sensible that the world would want to have an independent assessment of how this all occurred, so we can learn the lessons and prevent it from happening again. I don't think this is a remarkable suggestion."

His comments came as the worldwide COVID-19 death toll hit more than 224,000, with 3.2 million confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been at least 958,000 recoveries.

State to provide $140 million in food benefits to students

The families of Wisconsin students who receive free or reduced-price meals at school will receive debit cards to purchase nutritious food at grocery stores, the state announced Wednesday.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services will give $140 million in food benefits to families to cover the rest of the school year.

The federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act appropriated the funds to states to address students' nutrition during the pandemic.

Those who already receive food benefits will see the extra funds added to their QUEST cards. Those who qualify for free or reduced lunches but don't receive other state food benefits need to apply for a Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) card.

MADISON – A.J. Taylor was a football fan last weekend, just like many of those who cheered for him during his four seasons as a wide receiver at Wisconsin. Taylor, who saw his college playing days end because of an Achilles injury in the regular-season finale at Minnesota, watched the NFL draft to cheer for his former teammates. “I was fired up for them,” Taylor said by phone this week. “Why wouldn’t you be? It is the same thing I was trying to do. Their dreams came true. And that is amazing.” Taylor watched as tailback Jonathan Taylor (second round), linebacker Zack Baun (third round), center Tyler Biadasz (fourth round) and wide receiver Quintez Cephus (fifth round) were selected. He soon learned that linebacker Chris Orr signed a free-agent deal with Carolina.

“I don’t know the feeling,” he said of his former teammates getting a chance to pursue their professional dreams, “but I can imagine the feeling. And it’s phenomenal.” Taylor, who played in 52 games at UW, hopes the Achilles injury only delayed and didn’t kill his NFL aspirations.

-- Myanmar's military is intensifying a bloody campaign against armed rebels and civilians amid the coronavirus pandemic and ignoring a call for cease-fire, a United Nations human rights investigator said Wednesday.

Yanghee Lee, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said its military, the Tatmadaw, has increased attacks against the rebel Arakan Army and is increasingly targeting civilians in the western states of Rakhine and Chin and violating international law.

"While the world is occupied with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Myanmar military continues to escalate its assault in Rakhine state, targeting the civilian population," she said in a statement.

"Calls for a cease-fire, including by the Arakan Army, have gone unheeded. Instead, the Tatmadaw is inflicting immense suffering on the ethnic communities in Rakhine and Chin."

Lee called for an investigation into accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Tatmadaw, which she accused of "systematically violating the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law and human rights."

Lee said the most recent violence has included air and artillery strikes in civilian areas of Rakhine and Chin States that have killed and injured scores of adults and children, and said the Tatmadaw prevented some of the injured from receiving medical care.

MLB cautiously optimistic about late-June start in empty stadiums

Major League Baseball officials have become cautiously optimistic this week that the season will start in late June, and no later than July 2, playing at least 100 regular-season games, according to three executives with knowledge of the talks. They requested anonymity because the plan is still under consideration. And not only would baseball be played, but it would be played in their own major-league ballparks, albeit with no fans. MLB is considering a three-division, 10-team plan in which teams play only within their division – a concept gaining support among owners and executives. It would abolish the traditional American and National Leagues, and realign the divisions based on geography.

-- Kim Jong Un's powerful younger sister could be flexing her muscles in a critical period in North Korea, according to a South Korean parliamentary report published Wednesday.

Seoul's National Assembly Research Service says in the new report, an analysis of the third session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang, Kim Yo Jong's role in the leadership could be growing, local news service Newsis reported.

"It cannot be ruled out Kim Yo Jong's status and role extends to the role of the central leadership," or successor to brother Kim Jong Un, according to the South Korean analysis.

Speculation regarding the North Korean leader has not abated since an unconfirmed report in South Korea suggested he was in critical condition following heart surgery. North Korea watchers have pointed out Kim Jong Un is overweight, smokes and enjoys foods high in cholesterol.

The parliamentary report said Kim Yo Jong was reappointed an alternate member of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee Politburo. She has also issued statements addressing the United States and South Korea in her name. As a member of North Korea's ruling family and heir to the "Paektu bloodline," she is well positioned to expand her power and influence, the report says.

-- U.S. stocks climbed Wednesday amid optimism surrounding a potential coronavirus treatment despite news the domestic economy shrank 5 percent to start the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 532.31 points, or 2.21 percent, while the S&P 500 rose 2.66 percent and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 3.57 percent.

The increase put the S&P up more than 13 percent for the month of April, it's largest monthly gain since 1974 and the Dow rose 12.4 percent for its largest single-month gain since 1987.

Wednesday's gains came as a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases study said Gilead's drug remdesivir met its primary endpoint, with director and White House Coronavirus Task Force member Anthony Fauci saying it shows a "clear cut" positive effect treating the virus.

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-- Michigan Rep. Justin Amash announced Tuesday night he has launched a committee to explore running for president as the Libertarian candidate.

"We're ready for a presidency that will restore respect for our Constitution and bring people together," he said in a tweet announcing the committee's launch. "I'm excited and honored to be taking these first steps toward serving Americans of every background as president."

Accompanying the announcement was a link to his sparse "Amash for America" website seeking donations and calling for a "principled president" who will defend the Constitution, end cronyism and support the limits of government.

The former Republican-turned-independent has been contemplating running for president for months, and a few weeks ago said he was "closely" looking at the possibility of putting his hat into the ring.The spotlight of this 40-year-old conservative politician from Grand Rapids has grown under the Trump presidency, as he was often the only Republican to openly criticize the Commander in Cheif, and was the first of his party to join Democrats calling for an impeachment inquiry. In July, he announced his exit from the Republican Party, railing against "hyper-partisan" politics as most Americans "do not feel well represented by either of the two parties," he wrote in a Washington Post Op-ed. It is unclear how a third-party candidate will affect the already turbulent election campaign that has seen the Democratic Party with nearly 30 candidates announcing intentions to run whittled down to former Vice President Joe Biden as the presumptive nominee after Sen. Bernie Sanders exited the race early this month.

— The smallest companies seeking coronavirus relief loans were moving to the head of the line Wednesday after the Small Business Administration said that for eight hours ending at midnight Eastern time it would accept loans only from small lenders.

The step was being taken to ensure that small community lenders, those with under $1 billion in assets, and their small business customers would have access to the $310 billion program, SBA head Jovita Carranza said in a tweet.

There have been concerns about the nation’s smallest businesses being able to get loans because small banks — many of them with just a few hundred applications — have had to compete with big national banks submitting hundreds of thousands of loan requests. Carranza said smaller lenders would still be able to submit applications before and after the eight hours reserved for them. A statement issued later by SBA and the Treasury Department said the dedicated submission hours for small banks would be in effect only on Wednesday.

But the big banks also are submitting applications for small businesses, Richard Hunt, president of the Consumer Bankers Association, a trade group whose members include large national and regional banks, said in a tweet.

Tomorrow: Partly cloudy with a slight chance of thunderstorms and falling cheese. High 81F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

Tomorrow night: Scattered showers early, followed by partly cloudy skies overnight. Low around 65F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

Gov. Tony Evers cutting state spending by 5% in response to souring economy as coronavirus takes toll

MADISON - Gov. Tony Evers' administration is rolling out plans to cut many state operations by 5% as costs rise and revenue plummets amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Administration Secretary Joel Brennan said Wednesday his team is working out the specifics of how the cuts will be implemented and he expects them to amount to about $70 million. The cuts are being applied in the fiscal year that runs through June and are meant as a way to get on top of the sate's budget as the economy craters.

"The impact of the crisis on the overall economic climate will reduce state revenues at the same time that we are facing dramatically increased costs to marshal all potential resources to fight COVID-19," Brennan told state employees in an email sent late Tuesday and posted online by WisPolitics.com.

To help achieve the reductions, a hiring freeze will be maintained, merit raises won't be given and employee travel will be limited. The hiring freeze will have exemptions for jobs related to the state's response to the coronavirus outbreak that has sickened more than 6,500 Wisconsinites and killed more than 300.

– WISCONSIN Three weeks after Wisconsin residents cast ballots, researchers see no spike in COVID-19 cases attributable to in-person voting, though they say the effect from the election may be hidden in the numbers and difficult, if not impossible, to ever detect. Predicted by some experts and officials, a surge in cases from the chaotic day of voting may have been prevented by precautions embraced at the polls. Wisconsin residents also appeared to follow the stay-at-home orders carefully in the days after the election, data show. For roughly a week after the April 7 election, residents in most counties in the state rarely traveled from their homes and didn’t gather in large numbers, according to cellphone data analyzed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other universities across the country.

In other words, the vote occurred during what appears to be Wisconsin’s most compliant period of social distancing. More recent data show that compliance with the stay-home orders is waning, both in Wisconsin and nationwide. Starting around April 15 in Wisconsin, cellphone data show residents traveling from home more often, even though the state remained under a restrictive stay-at-home order. The same thing is happening in other states. The cell data, which tracks signals not individuals, show movement and gatherings. It’s unclear to experts what is behind the new movement and gatherings. It could be warming weather, increased discussion of government relaxing rules or simply “quarantine fatigue.”

“I am actually worried about this,” said Oguzhan Alagoz, an expert in infectious disease modeling at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who is using the cellphone data in his research. “It’s not just mobility, but the question is how do I behave during that mobility. It makes a big difference. I hope people are being careful as they are moving.”

Officials warn of coronavirus-related student loan scams

The state Department of Financial Institutions is warning student loan borrowers against scams related to the federal deferment of their student loans.

Under the CARES Act, borrowers of federally-held student loans will receive an interest-free forbearance on their payments for six months, retroactively from March 13 until September 30. Forbearance does not mean the payments are forgiven, just delayed.

The payments will be suspended automatically by loan servicers. Borrowers can still make voluntary payments while in forbearance.

Borrowers should be aware of potential scams associated with the forbearance, Lara Sutherlin, an administrator in the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection said in a statement Tuesday.

"All eligible federal student loans are automatically enrolled; borrowers should not be asked, nor should they pay a fee for anything related to their federal student loans at this time," Sutherlin said.

"Often student loan scams are robocalls or text messages asking borrowers to call them back in order to get more information on how these measures will impact their future payment obligations. If this happens, borrowers shouldn't answer or return these requests," Sutherlin said.

Brett Favre thinks Packers QB Aaron Rodgers will finish his career with another team

GREEN BAY - Brett Favre believes the Green Bay Packers sent Aaron Rodgers a “disrespect message” last week in the NFL draft.

In an appearance Wednesday with "The Rich Eisen Show," the Hall of Fame quarterback said his former team sent Rodgers the wrong message when it traded up to draft Utah State quarterback Jordan Love in the first round. Favre said he believes the decision to draft Love will lead to an unsavory conclusion to Rodgers’ career with the Packers.

“I think he’ll play somewhere else,” Favre told Eisen. “My gut tells me, no. It’s kind of cool — it’s not uncommon to retire and unretire now. When I did it, it was a little bit out of the realm. Now, it’s fairly common, not just in football but in all sports. Tom Brady and myself and Joe Montana and Peyton Manning — just to name a few — finished their career elsewhere. In my case, I played for four different teams. So I think you’re going to see that trend more and more, and I think Aaron will finish somewhere else. That’s my gut.”

Favre can empathize with the uncertain future Rodgers now faces. He was the Packers quarterback in 2005 when former general manager Ted Thompson drafted Rodgers with the 24th overall pick, starting the clock on Favre’s eventual departure from the Packers three years later. Favre said Thompson did not inform him of his decision before drafting Rodgers, similar to how general manager Brian Gutekunst did not inform Rodgers before drafting Love.

Favre said he spoke with Rodgers since the draft, though the only piece to the conversation he shared was that Rodgers was “surprised” with the pick. He said he wasn’t surprised Rodgers congratulated Love directly one day after the first round.

NCAA takes step toward allowing athletes to earn income from endorsements, social media content

The NCAA took a dramatic step Wednesday toward allowing college athletes to earn income for things like product endorsements and social media content when its Board of Governors approved a broad set of recommendations to address an issue that has put college sports leaders under significant political pressure over the last year.

With state legislatures across the country passing or looking into laws that would allow for college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness and members of Congress also sounding the alarm on the issue, what the NCAA announced Wednesday represents a significant change from prior NCAA policy.

“Allowing promotions and third-party endorsements is uncharted territory," Ohio State president and Board of Governors chairman Michael Drake said in a release.

Still, it’s unclear whether the NCAA’s action to broaden name, image and likeness rights and allow college athletes to hire agents will be enough to get lawmakers to back down. Though the working group presented broad recommendations that would be seen as a significant win for college athletes’ rights, there are several details that remain unresolved on exactly how the new rules would be written and enforced.

The process of codifying those recommendations into NCAA legislation will occur over the course of 2020, with an expected vote happening at the next NCAA convention in January.

Tonight: Partly cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low 39F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.

Tomorrow: A few showers in the morning with bright sunshine in the afternoon. High 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.

Tomorrow night: Clear skies early giving way to clouds and cows jumping over the moon and a few showers after midnight. Low around 40F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.

Monday: A few showers in the morning, then sunny in the afternoon. High 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.

Neenah DoubleTree to house COVID-19 patients who fear passing along virus, but don't need medical attention

NEENAH - The DoubleTree by Hilton hotel has been designated to house people who either have tested positive for coronavirus or believe they might have it and fear passing the illness along to vulnerable family members or roommates.

The Winnebago County Board, at a meeting Tuesday, approved a resolution to enter a contract with the hotel in which the county can rent rooms for those in need of a place to safely quarantine.

Those who could utilize the service include people who are housing insecure and have nowhere to recover from the virus, first responders or health care workers who are worried about bringing the virus home to their families, or those who simply live in small living quarters and can't easily isolate from others in their household, said Doug Gieryn, director of the Winnebago County Health Department.

Gieryn said the facilities would not only be open to Winnebago County residents, but to anyone referred by area health care providers.

Gas prices in Wisconsin remain the cheapest in the country, data from AAA shows, as demand remains low during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Wisconsin average for a gallon of gas is $1.23. The next cheapest state is Oklahoma, which has an average price of $1.37.

Four stations in Wautoma are charging $0.91 per gallon for regular unleaded gas, per price tracking site GasBuddy. The Costco locations in Pewaukee and Menomonee Falls, charging $0.94 per gallon, are the cheapest stations in the Milwaukee area.

Outside of Costco, which requires a membership, the Citgo location on 91st Street and Flagg Avenue in Milwaukee charges $1.00 per gallon, per GasBuddy. Broadway PitStop in Waukesha charges $1.02 per gallon.

Prices have remained steady, though, after a precipitous drop over the last two months.

The average price in the Milwaukee area is $1.22. At this time last week, the average price was $1.19. At this time last year, the average gas price in Wisconsin was $2.84.

Across the state, average gas prices are $1.11 in Green Bay, $1.18 in Madison, $1.06 in Appleton, $1.12 in La Crosse and $1.35 in Wausau, per AAA data.

Nationally, the average price for a gallon of gas is $1.77. Only 11 states and Washington, D.C., have average prices above $2 per gallon.

With the first full month of the original schedule having passed with no plan yet developed for a delayed opening of the season, Major League Baseball has given teams permission to establish their own policies to issue refunds for games postponed by the pandemic, according to several reports Tuesday including one in USA Today.

The Milwaukee Brewers are expected to announce their refund policy in the relatively near term, according to someone familiar with their thinking.

The 2020 MLB season was scheduled to open on March 26, with the Brewers playing at Miller Park against the Chicago Cubs that day. But, after the final week of spring camps was shut down by the spread of COVID-19, the season was put on hold, with games postponed to this point rather than canceled.

Until this point, teams were directed to treat lost games as postponements, similar to rainouts, for which tickets were retained for possible makeup dates. But, with about 20% of the home schedules having passed, teams now are allowed to give refunds.

The Brewers originally were scheduled to open a six-game home stand at Miller Park on Tuesday against the World Series champion Washington Nationals, which would have been their 15th home game. Thus, 18.5% of their 81game home schedule already has been postponed.

Ticket sales generally represent between 30% and 40% of a team’s revenue during any given baseball season, including concessions, parking and other in-game spending.

League officials and the players union reportedly have discussed many possible formats for playing a delayed season, which almost certainly will be shortened from the original 162-game schedule and likely without fans in the stands, at least at the outset. But, with so much still unknown about the pandemic’s spread and social distancing still encouraged, it could be some time.

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