Remembering Queen Elizabeth II; what to know about COVID-19 boosters

I'm Bill Glauber and this is the Daily Briefing newsletter by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Sign up here to get it sent to your inbox each morning.

Friday is going to be gorgeous: In the 80s and sunny.

Memories of Queen Elizabeth II>

Mostly, you saw her at a distance.

On television. Or working a rope line. Or center stage at national celebrations.

Immaculately dressed. Always proper. A monarch at ease with her role.

It's almost hard to describe the hold Queen Elizabeth II had on Great Britain. Her death Thursday at the age of 96 marked the end of her 70-year reign.

I got to see a sliver of it when I worked in London for the Baltimore Sun, from 1995 to 2002.

I never met her but I did go to a couple of her garden parties at Buckingham Palace. Tea, sandwiches, a view of the royal family.

And of course, I covered her from a distance.

It was the era of Cool Britannia. The country seemed young again. The economy was on the rise.

The royal family was troubled by broken marriages and tabloid scandal. The 1997 death of Princess Diana shook the nation — I can still remember watching the mourners leave flowers in front of Kensington Palace, until the pile was waist high and went on for yards.

As the country mourned, anger grew at the royal family. And just as things seemed at a breaking point, Elizabeth appeared on television and praised her former daughter-in-law.

"No one who knew Diana will ever forget her," she said.

The crisis was averted.

In June of 2002 the queen threw open the gates of Buckingham Palace to welcome 12,000 people for a picnic and classical concert to help mark her golden jubilee, her 50 years on the throne.

Elizabeth was dressed in chartreuse, had a radiant smile and stole the show.

Some of those who had won tickets via a lottery were dressed formally. Others were in jeans.

I met a guy named Andrew Gill, a moving man from Leeds, who wore an English national team soccer shirt.

I'm looking at the story, right now, and I see he told me: "A lot of people are closet monarchists, I guess."

And then I overheard Gill, who was lying on the grass, sampling the delights from a picnic basket, tell a friend on the telephone: "Yeah, I'm sitting here at Buckingham Palace now, eating Her Majesty's dinner."

More on the death of Queen Elizabeth II

• Queen Elizabeth II's historic reign.
• King Charles III and the future of a slimmed down monarchy.
• After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain faces the unthinkable.
• That time Queen Elizabeth II 'visited' Milwaukee by sailing within the city limits on Lake Michigan.

What to know about COVID-19 boosters

With new omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine booster shots trickling into Wisconsin pharmacies, I figured it was a good time to check in with Patrick Remington.

He's an emeritus professor and director of the UW-Madison Preventive Medicine Residency Program.

Remington's main advice: "Do all the little things. Vaccines and boosters really help. If you do get sick, early treatment helps. And don't let your guard down."

For those who have questions about getting the booster, Remington suggests checking in with your medical provider.

And he remains awestruck by the vaccine program.

"The great thing about our science, we now have vaccines that if they don't prevent the disease they keep you out of the hospital and keep you alive," he said.

Here are a couple of key stories to read:

• Devi Shastri on what to know about the booster roll-out.
• Froedtert Hospital is telling employees who claimed COVID vaccine religious exemption that they must now get a new option that does not use fetal cell lines.  

Don't miss these

• 🪙When a quarter might just be worth more than 25 cents: Some Wisconsin state quarters have an error, upping the coin's value, and a TikTok video has gotten everyone excited about it again.
• Wisconsin Republicans on the Joint Committee on Finance passed their own plan Thursday for $31 million in opioid settlement funds. The lawmakers rejected the Evers administration's proposal and instead directed more money to law enforcement.
• A federal judge has cleared the way for Enbridge to continue operating a pipeline through Bad River tribal land, citing consequences of disruptions.
• Officials have renamed 25 places in Wisconsin that had names derogatory to Indigenous women. Here's where they are.
• The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office has moved one step closer to exiting its disintegrating building. And it's about time. Just read some of the quotes.
• Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly announced a 2023 run to rejoin the court. 
• Before his first court appearance in Racine County to face charges of election fraud, Harry Wait compared himself to founding fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.  

Anyone want cheese curd crew socks?

Culver's just took branding to another level.

That's right, the firm's ButterBurger Boutique, launched for a limited time last fall and relaunched in August, is now here to stay.

Hannah Kirby has the details on the online shop that "carries cheese curd crew socks, a retro soft-style tee with the original Sauk City Culver's on the front, a Curdis (aka Culver's mascot) plush toy, and more."

Personal note: I will not be wearing cheese curd crew socks.

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Bill Glauber can be reached at (414) 224-2526 or bill.glauber@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BillGlauber.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Remembering Queen Elizabeth II; getting boosted with COVID vaccines