Morning Update

The podcast is (almost) here

Morning update: Tuesday, Nov. 22

In this newsletter

Good morning, Madison!

Mark your calendars because the first episode of City Cast Madison will premiere Nov. 29! Check out the official trailer and be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

ICYMI: City Cast is a network of daily local news podcasts in cities around the country. Current cities include Chicago, Denver, Houston, Salt Lake, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, DC, and Boise.

City Cast Madison will publish at 6 a.m. weekday mornings and feature 15 minutes of local news, culture, and conversation from a kickass group of local journalists.

Personally, I could not be more excited to add City Cast Madison to my morning podcast rotation. You'll also see their work featured in this very email.

— Hayley

🚮 Notable city waste schedule changes this week.

Trash and recycling: There will be no curbside collection on Thursday or Friday in observance of Thanksgiving. If your trash and recycling are normally collected Thursdays, it will be picked up early on Wednesday instead. Friday pickups will be moved to Monday.
Drop-off sites: The Streets Division drop-off site at 121 Olin Ave. will close for the season Nov. 27. It will re-open in spring 2023. The city has two other drop-off sites available during the winter months but they operate with special hours. All drop-off sites will be closed on Thanksgiving and the Friday after.

🩺 Planned Parenthood is expanding its services in Madison.

Some context: Following the U.S. Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade in June, Planned Parenthood stopped providing abortions in Wisconsin. There are 22 Planned Parenthood health centers in the state, but only three of those clinics provided abortion services.
The organization is adapting to the new legal environment by expanding its birth control and family planning care at its clinic locations in Madison that previously only provided abortion services.
The clinic on Madison’s far East Side now provides birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, testicular exams, and postpartum care. Prior to the SCOTUS ruling, the clinic only provided abortion services because of the high demand, according to the Cap Times.
Related: New nonprofit helps Wisconsinites secure abortion care in Rockford, Illinois (Madison Magazine)

🔥 Following up on the Nitty Gritty dumpster fire.

The downtown spot announced it will be closed through Thanksgiving to assess the damage caused by a fire outside of the Nitty Gritty over the weekend.
If you'll recall: Early Sunday morning, Madison Police officers helped evacuate about 70 people from the building and shut down traffic around the scene after passersby called 911 to report a blaze. No one was injured in the incident.
Related: 'We just hope they can rebuild and comeback even stronger': Reactions to the Nitty Gritty fire (WKOW)

🍿 The Fitchburg AMC is still struggling with health code violations.

If you'll recall: The theater was forced to close briefly in October after a public health department inspection revealed a mouse problem.
A Nov. 8 re-inspection of the theater resulted in five public health violations. Two are considered "priority," meaning they can contribute directly to foodborne illness.
According to the inspection report, one priority violation centers around employees' lack of knowledge that they must report illness symptoms and exposures. The second priority violation came from inadequate dishwashing and sanitation concentrate levels.
The health inspector also found mouse droppings in various spaces around the theater but noted it was a significant improvement from the previous inspection, according to the State Journal.

UW provost John Karl Scholz bumps fists with an audience member during the 2019 winter commencement ceremony. (Photo by Bryce Richter /UW-Madison)

🎓 A top UW-Madison administrator is stepping down.

Provost John Karl Scholz announced he will step down as the university’s top academic official at the end of the current academic year. Scholz plans to return to a faculty role in the Department of Economics.
Scholz became provost in 2019 after previously serving as dean of the College of Letters & Science. He was one of five finalists in the university's search for a new chancellor and briefly served as interim chancellor before former UCLA law school dean Jennifer Mnookin became chancellor earlier this year.
The university is in the process of creating a search committee for the job and hopes to select a new provost this summer.
What's a provost? The position is the second-ranking officer under the chancellor, responsible for overseeing and coordinating the academic and outreach missions of the university.

Big-eyed queen, Sadie. Be sure to watch her recent TV appearance!

😻 Happy Take Me Home Tuesday! Meet Sadie!

From the Dane County Humane Society: This 15-year-young cat is so friendly and loves human interaction. Do you work from home and need a lap warmer? Sadie is up to the task. Watching a show on the sofa and wish you had someone to snuggle with? Sadie's your girl! Sadie loves humans so much that she doesn't want to share them with other cats, so she needs to be you're one and only. And if you fail to give her the attention she craves, she'll let you know with a few meows and head bumps.

Do you think this snuggle bug would make a great addition to your home? Learn more about Sadie here.

🏘️ Your lunchtime read: Lack of units in Madison, ever-growing population results in racial disparities in housing.

Via Madison Commons: "As housing and rent prices continue to rise in Madison, design justice may be the key to affordable housing progress.

Madison organization sets an example for affordable housing amidst the city’s growing population to address the housing crisis within low-income communities.

University of Wisconsin–Madison urban planning professor Kurt Paulsen describes the overarching narrative in Dane County as a shortage of housing, which means prices are rising and affordability will continue to be a struggle in Madison."

📬

Did someone forward you this email? Sign up here.