Morning Update

Welcome to the Bucky Parade

Rejoice or recoil, fellow Madisonians because Bucky on Parade is back.

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Photo courtesy of Scott Gordon

Good morning, Madison!

Rejoice or recoil, fellow Madisonians, because Bucky on Parade is back.

The public art project features dozens of life-size Bucky Badger statues throughout Madison and Dane County. The endeavor first launched in 2018 and has given local and national artists a chance to put their own creative spin on Madison's favorite mammal.

This year's parade features 29 of the 85 original Bucky statues and you can scout all of their locations online with the Bucky on Parade app.

The project saw a small scandal when people started posing naked next to the statues.

Why? You might ask. Well, the same reason we have Bucky on Parade in the first place, why not?

“I love going out at night doing something that most people wouldn’t be doing. Or doing something we’re not supposed to be doing. I like the idea that this project challenges the idea of public art and what it should look like or be,” the creator of Buck Naked On Parade told Tone Madison in 2019. “I don’t know that there is anything that gets people riled up like the sight of a naked body. It provokes a lot of strong emotion in people and I think that’s interesting.”

— Hayley

🚧 Developments to watch.

East Wash: A developer has proposed a 14-story U-shaped building with 269 apartments and swimming pool on the 700 block of East Washington Avenue. Plans for the building currently include 35 studios, 163 one-bedroom, 59 two-bedroom, and 12 three-bedroom units, according to the State Journal.
Campus: Chicago developers Core Spaces is proposing a 14-story project called “Johnson & Broom” with roughly 400 units of student housing on North Broom Street between West Gorham and West Johnson streets. The plan had previously been proposed with 10 stories but developers have revised their plans to take advantage of a newly approved city ordinance that allows developers to add extra stories to downtown buildings if at least half of the new space is used for affordable housing.
Park Street: The city is looking to build a first-of-its-kind housing project centered around youth and providing support services for children in Madison's foster care system. The project is still in its early stages, but a developer will be selected this fall, according to the State Journal.

🗳️ Madison's mayor has joined Joe Biden's campaign advisory board.

President Joe Biden has selected Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway to join his campaign’s national advisory board for the 2024 election.
The group of 50 officials includes Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, and is chaired by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

🔥 An explosion on the West side has displaced 21 people.

The Madison Fire Department is investigating an explosion at a west-side condo that displaced 21 people and injured four Tuesday.
The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined but MFD says "the leading hypothesis is that the explosion is traced to a propane source located within the garage" and it is not believed to be an intentional act.
Dig deeper: 'It's like a bad, bad dream': Multiple people displaced after explosion on Madison's Southwest Side (Wisconsin State Journal)

💔 RIP Fiona.

Longtime Henry Vilas Zoo resident Fiona the capybara has died. She was 11 years old, according to the zoo, capybaras typically live eight to 10 years in the wild.
Fiona came to Henry Vilas Zoo in 2012 from Canada and greeted countless guests as one of the zoo's animal ambassadors. When not delighting onlookers with her swimming skills, Fiona enjoyed scritches from her keepers and treats of romaine lettuce, bell peppers, and watermelons.

🚻 Your lunchtime read: Gender neutral bathrooms are on the rise in Madison restaurants.

Via Cap Times: "Trans and nonbinary people benefit from individual gender neutral bathrooms, and they’re not the only ones. Inclusive restroom design can make going out easier for families with young kids, or caregivers of different sexes. Single-use bathrooms may be separate from and more expensive to install than multi-stall bathrooms — as with accommodations for people with disabilities, any time design separates certain parts of the populace from the rest, it can feel isolating and 'othering' to those people."

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