Morning update: Thursday, Sept. 30

Curderburger is coming

Happy Thursday, Madison!

Last night the Madison School Board attempted to hold its planned public hearing on the renaming of James Madison Memorial High School. But of course, since we live in highly technological society, that comes with technical difficulties.

The meeting was supposed to be a chance for the public to provide feedback on the four finalists: Vel Phillips Memorial High School, Darlene M. Hancock Memorial High School, Bruce Dahmen Memorial High School, and Memorial High School.

Ultimately, because of such technical difficulties, the meeting had to be canceled. RIP. But if you have thoughts on the finalists, you're in luck. The hearing has been rescheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 14.

Now on with the show.

— Hayley

🚰 A new study shows Wisconsin has double the national rate for child lead poisoning.

Some context: The study was conducted by a national clinical lab and published through the Journal of the American Medical Association. The lab tested blood from more than 1 million children under the age of 6 from across the country. Those samples were taken and tested between Oct. 1, 2018 and Feb. 29, 2020.
The study shows that more than half of the children who participated had detectable lead levels in their blood. The national rate was 1.9%, while Wisconsin's was 4.3 %, the Wisconsin Examiner reports.
Related: The story of lead poisoning in Wisconsin is long and full of details. For a fuller picture on the issue, I highly recommend taking a look through Wisconsin Watch's Failure at the Faucet series.

♻️ Dane County wants to invest in clean fuel.

As part of his 2022 budget proposal, county executive Joe Parisi announced he wants to put $10 million to ward funding clean fuel infrastructure. Parisi has also said he wants all county buildings and fleets to have net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
The $10 million breakdown: According to reporting from WKOW, Parisi plans to put $5 million toward purchasing compressed natural gas (CNG) trailers, CNG comes from rotting trash and renewable natural gas. Another $2 million will go toward building a CNG filling station at the Fish Hatchery Road Highway garage, and $3.2 million for the purchase of eight CNG powered snow plows.

🍲 Here's quick bites for the foodies out there.

Culver's announced that it will make your dreams come true and bring the "Curderburger" to life for one day only. The specialty burger will be available Oct. 15. If you want one, the Cap Times' Rob Thomas says you should probably get to the restaurant early, as Culver's expects it will sell out quickly.
The owners of RED sushi are opening a new restaurant on East Washington. It's called Jacknife and will be located on the ground floor of the new Arden building. As Samara Kalk Derby of the Wisconsin State Journal writes, it'll be a fast-casual spot serving dumplings, sushi rolls, bowls, and various grab-and-go items. The restaurant is set to open next spring.
Today marks the Dane County Farmers' Market's 49th anniversary. (Wow!) DCFM says the best way to celebrate is by attending future markets, especially as the weather starts to cool down.
A review from the Cap Times: Mishqui Peruvian Cuisine brings Madison sweets and savories from South America.
A long(ish) read from Madison Magazine: Native chefs revitalize Wisconsin’s ancestral foods and spotlight Indigenous food sovereignty.

The infamous Curderburger from Culver's in all her glory. Image via Rob Thomas Twitter.

🥡 On the subject of food, here's your lunchtime read: What will it take to bring back Madison's restaurant workers?

The Cap Times' Lindsay Christians takes a deep dive into Madison's restaurant scene, which, like the rest of the nation, is facing a massive labor shortage.

👩🏽‍🏫 Madison College and the UW-Madison School of Education are teaming up to help diversify the teacher workforce.

The partnership will create a transfer pipeline that allows students from Madison College to transfer to UW's School of Education. The agreement is set to be formally signed today and will start next September.
By creating the transfer pipeline, university officials hope to attract more people from diverse backgrounds to UW's education program.

🚘 The city wants your feedback on John Nolen Drive.

As the city works on the John Nolen Reconstruction project, it has published a survey looking for feedback on the future of the major thoroughfare. You can find the survey in English here, and in Spanish here.
The goals for the project include adding bicycle and pedestrian accommodations along the roadway, improving safety, and adding more green space, Channel 3000 reports.

💫 Just for funsies: This UW Madison grad student is using TikTok to teach people astrobiology.

Lena Vincent has more than 50,000 on the social media platform and wants to use the space to help raise awareness about these areas of study.
"Science is hard, especially as a grad student," she told WPR. "So if you can get other people excited and passionate with you and kind of advocate for you and keep you going, I think that everyone can benefit from that."