Judge: Strip clubs should be eligible for emergency loans

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A judge says four Wisconsin strip clubs should be eligible to receive emergency loans offered by the federal government to offset losses due to the coronavirus.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman on Friday issued a preliminary injunction in favor of the owners of four Silk Exotic Gentleman’s Clubs in Milwaukee and Middleton, whose loan applications were rejected on the basis of the sexual nature of the businesses.

The Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program is designed to cover payrolls and other expenses for eight weeks while stay-at-home orders prevent normal business operations.

Adelman concluded the plaintiffs would likely succeed in arguing that their business, while sexual in nature, is not prurient and that the regulation violates First Amendment and due process rights, the Journal Sentinel reported.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin health officials on Saturday confirmed 346 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total to 7,660. There were seven new deaths, upping thy total 334, the state Department of Health Services reported.

The Cudahy Health Department reported Friday that 85 workers at the Patrick Cudahy/Smithfield Foods meatpacking plant in Cudahy have tested positive for COVID-19.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.