If you want to be a Badger
What's up in Madison today.
In this newsletter

Happy Tuesday, Madison!
Are you a UW-Madison student who loves Badger Football?
NBC Sports is in town today as part of their Big Ten Football promotional campaign and the network is looking for students with school spirit to be part of the program.
The first 300 students at Camp Randall Stadium will be featured in a video shoot with members of the Wisconsin football team and the UW Band that will be used in national promos all summer long.
If you're interested, put on your best game day outfit and get over to Camp Randall Stadium. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
— Hayley


🍻 What's next for The Red Shed?
- After more than half a century on Frances Street, The Red Shed is in search of a new home. A sign posted on the bar's door explains the owners of Wando's purchased the Shed's building and will take over the space on Sept. 30.
- Wando's owners are looking to put a "lounge-type bar" into The Red Shed building, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. Meanwhile, Red Shed's owners are looking for a new location.
🥕 A different kind of sausage fest is coming to town.
- Members of Madison's vegan community will put on the first Vegan Sausage Fest in May. The event is a direct response to Brat Fest, the annual event held at Alliant Energy Center that celebrates, well, brats.
- So far, the new festival has six participating businesses that will offer vegan brats, sausages, or sausage-themed baked goods, according to Madison Magazine.
- Organizers hope to turn the event into an annual affair. "For us it was more of an act of activism and awareness than anything," an organizer told the magazine.
📚 MMSD has a new temporary superintendent.
- The district has hired former assistant superintendent Lisa Kvistad to fill the role of interim superintendent once Carlton Jenkins retires in July.
- The bigger picture: The district is looking to fill multiple high-level positions. In addition to superintendent, MMSD is hiring a new chief financial officer, a senior executive director of human resources, and an executive director of curriculum and instruction, according to the Cap Times.

❤️🩹 Celebrating the life and mourning the death of Wisconsin's State Archaeologist.
- Wisconsin historians are remembering Dr. James Skibo as an "explorer" and "the people's archeologist" following his unexpected death last week.
- Skibo died after being recovered from Lake Mendota while on a routine dive. The cause of death is currently under investigation.
- As the state archeologist, Skibo oversaw 36,000 archaeological sites around Wisconsin. More recently, he was part of the team that helped unearth ancient canoes from the depths of Lake Mendota.
- "Jim’s passion and enthusiasm reverberated through the halls of our organization and throughout the state. An explorer at heart, Jim traveled Wisconsin on a mission to democratize archaeology, and he loved to tell the stories of the past through the lens of the archaeological record left behind," the Historical Society wrote in a statement. "His passion for the field and for the importance of uncovering, preserving and sharing history was inspirational to us all and he will be deeply missed by so many."
✈️ Your lunchtime read: The military cracks down on PFAS, but is it too little too late for Truax?
- Via Tone Madison: "The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) released new specifications in January that aim to curb the use of firefighting foam containing toxic forever chemicals on military bases. But these changes will have little immediate effect at Madison’s Truax Field, home to the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing and a major source of PFAS contamination across the Yahara River watershed."
🎙️ Today on City Cast Madison

Will Thursday’s Vote End the Dane County Jail Debate?
The Dane County Board is poised to vote this Thursday on whether to spend an additional $13 million on renovating the oldest part of the Dane County Jail. The latest vote comes after the Board has already earmarked $166 million for the project so far — and after the Board already approved a plan for a smaller, cheaper facility. County Executive Joe Parisi vetoed that plan, and is pushing for a larger version of the plan that Sheriff Kalvin Barrett favors.
But Dane County Supervisor Dana Pellebon says not so fast. And she might have the votes on her side.
📅 Events
Tuesday, April 18
- Astronomy on Tap Madison: Astronomical Monsters Across the Universe at Working Draft Beer Company
- Danish String Quartet at Memorial Union
- Greg Zelek (Organ) & Thomas Mesa (Cello) at Overture Center
- Live @ Mystery to Me: Angela Vasquez with Margaret Rozga at Mystery to Me
- Shrek themed trivia at The Rigby
- UW Badger Sports Talk: South End Zone at Madison Club
📝 Miss a Minute?
Check out the headlines from our last newsletter.
- Did a conservative UW student almost win a City Council seat?
- Elliot Page is coming to Madison.
- Say goodbye to the Brink Lounge.
- A UW professor is facing consequences after exposing herself to a student "to prove a point."
- Dairy production is back at Babcock.
