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At home, Bryce (7) and Beck (5) Machacek officially begin the McFarland School Districts Distance Learning program, which was implemented in response to COVID-19 pandemic-related school closures, on Monday, March 23. Madison Metropolitan School District students are expected to begin a virtual learning program April 6.

STEVENS POINT A few items from a journal

As for many in these times, emails and phone calls have arrived from near and far. Family, friends, business associates and news sources over the years have reached out.

One came from Charles Wurster, a scientist who had a pivotal role in Wisconsins efforts to ban DDT in the 1960s. Wurster lives in Maryland, but Wisconsin is close to his heart. He was angered when we held an election during the pandemic, endangering lives and making a mockery of democracy. Trumpublicans want a Trumpublican dictatorship, he wrote. They want as few voters as possible, and the virus is helping them. I hope Charlie is wrong, but April 7's gruesome deed makes one wonder.

Up on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, Wisconsin native Patrick Herzog sends along his recipe for strengthening the immune system. Herzog, a wildlife biologist, author and educator who has spent most of his adult life in Canada, knows something about the topic. Twenty years ago, he was stricken with an aggressive form of leukemia, requiring a long-shot experimental treatment regime. He survived, and he told the story of how nature helped him heal in an inspiring 2017 book, Tiger, Tiger: A life Restored by Nature. He says folks in his rural setting have been quick to comply with Canadas stay-at-home advice. His own cancer regime required the same of him. I, of course, have been through the self-isolating gig before, one that was indeed a means to health and future life, he said in a recent message.

Read more:
Bill Berry: Online education, immune boosters and an election: More COVID-19 journal entries - Madison.com