Morning Update: Friday, Sept. 24

Good morning, Madison.

It's fall, which means it's time to share one of the best Onion articles ever produced:

Enjoy your weekend!

- Sam

🕺 There’s some confusion over Madison homecoming dances, the State Journal reports.

On Wednesday, the school district released new guidance that allows homecoming dances to be held as long as certain restrictions are in place.
But West and La Follette high schools had already called off their dances for reasons related to COVID-19, the State Journal reports.
It's not clear if the high schools will reverse their decisions, but the district says individual schools have the final say in what kinds of homecoming events they host.

🍂 Fall colors are a couple of weeks behind schedule across the state.

Warmer temperatures have led to the fall foliage delay.
The Madison area is currently at 15% fall colors, according to the state's tracker.
The fall colors in our area are expected to peak at the end of October.

🚤 Tommy Thompson knows what you think, but he still gave it "the old college try."

The 79-year-old UW system president needed minor surgery last week after a water skiing accident.
“I know you think I’m nuts,” he joked during a news conference.
“I want to be able to show my grandchildren that I could do it, number one,” he said. “Number two, it was getting toward the end of the summer and I decided that I was going to give it the old college try."

🔍 Let’s check in with the GOP-backed efforts to investigate the election. WPR did a great explainer on this. Some highlights:

There are three separate investigations going on in Wisconsin.
None have revealed any evidence that there were any substantial irregularities in the 2020 election.
There have also been "numerous" Republican-backed lawsuits since the election, but none have turned up any evidence of wrongdoing, WPR notes.
Several similar efforts have taken place across the country, based on baseless allegations that voter fraud swayed the 2020 election.
Related: Widely-Discredited Election Review In Arizona Confirms Biden's Win (NPR)

🗳️ Senator Ron Johnson's former communications director is running for lieutenant governor.

Ben Voelkel worked for the Republication Senator for several years, the AP reports.

🏫 One Madison teacher described to PBS Wisconsin their "feeling of impending doom" about teaching during the uptick in the delta variant.

The teacher, whose identity was kept anonymous, works in a local elementary school.
In spring, the teacher had no positive cases in their classroom. This semester, they had one on the second day of school.

💵 The state has released more information on grant opportunities.