Spring Green, Wisconsin
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020 Vol. 1, No. 3 Free, Single-Copy
Voters cast their ballots Tuesday, as a pandemic surges
Photo by Emilie Conlon, Editor-in-Chief Top: Voters, while wearing masks, wait at least six feet apart outside the Arena town hall. Voters are waiting to cast their vote in the Nov. 3 presidential election. A sign indicated the village of Spring Green polling location at the community library, where voters could cast ballots for their pick of president as well as state and local officials.
See page 9 for more election photos and information!
Photo by Adeline Holte, Intern
Dodgeville hospital prepping for possible COVID cases Emilie Conlon, Editor-in-chief As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, area hospitals are at risk of becoming over capacity while treating positive cases of the virus, and continue to plan to handle a possible influx. At Upland Hills Hospital in Dodgeville, the hospital is currently at 75% capacity, as a 25 bed critical care facility. Nine rooms on the medical floor of the hospital are designated for coronavirus patients, with three of those rooms specifically designated for intensive care unit needs, said Tina White, Director of Marketing and Community Relations at the hospital. While cases continue to rise, White
said knowing a concrete timeframe for when the hospital might reach capacity is impossible to know. “There are several factors that make a timeframe hard to predict. COVID cases, hospitalization of COVID cases, hospitalizations of other diagnoses, recovery rate of those currently hospitalized, staffing, capacity at nearby and tertiary referral hospitals,” said White. White said the hospital is working to ensure staff and patients are safe through providing personal protective equipment and the implementation of a new UV decontamination device. Should the hospital reach capacity, White said there is a plan to make
available additional beds to maximize existing space within the facility. “The UHH incident command team is in communication with Iowa County Emergency Management and tertiary referral hospitals daily to monitor positive cases and essential resources,” said White.
For COVID-19 case numbers and statistics visit page 10
APT teams up with PBS—a preview As announced last week, American Players Theater has once again partnered with PBS Wisconsin to bring the second installment of their “Out of the Woods” series of play readings to a small screen near you. This series focuses on plays written by playwrights of color, and the readings include collaborations with artists and directors of color. Visit the PBS Wisconsin Facebook page or pbswisconsin.org/apt at 7 p.m. each Friday from Nov. 6 to Nov. 20 to hear APT actors read a selection of plays. Play readings are free to view online and on the free PBS app on your phone, tablet, other digital TV devices and smart TVs through Dec. 31. Three Valley Sentinel interns were given the opportunity to preview “The Sins of Sor Juana.” Their reviews, lightly edited, are below — The first release of this series explores faith and feminism as APT does their rendition of Karen Zacarías’ classic 1998 play, “The Sins of Sor Juana.” Based on the real life poet and philosopher, who is often credited as being the first feminist writer of the Americas, Sor Juanna is a sharp-witted, proud woman who is not afraid to cause turbulence in the world around her. She challenges those trying to control her by writing about love, feminism, religion, and other topics not deemed “appropriate” for women of the 1600s. Her story is told through the traditionally Latin-American style of magical realism, as her life seamlessly transitions from her past in the court, to her present in the convent, throughout the play. Done completely through Zoom, this play utilizes its medium very uniquely. While not being in the same room, the actors are still able to perform very subtle character interactions that give the play a very real feel. —Adam Meyer There is a price for being an intellectual woman. Why is it so hard to accept? What are the reasons behind a woman of intelligence being so terrifying? Juana Inès de la Cruz, portrayed beautifully by Melisa Pereyra, is a poet, daring to contrast the beliefs of the Mexican Viceroy’s Court. Juana is an intellectual woman, a thinker, someone who dares to step out of the cage women are forced to endure. This makes her controversial, and therefore impossible to accept.
See page 8