Morning Update

Got scraps?

Morning update: Monday, Oct. 17

In this newsletter

Good morning, Madison!

Happy Monday. Here's your heads up that there's only a little time left to bring your food scraps to Sustain Dane’s farmers’ market tables for composting.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, food waste makes up 20% of trash headed to our landfills, and of that, 14.5% could have been consumed.

So far this year the organization has diverted more than 7,000 pounds of food waste from landfills.

If you have scraps to compost, bring them to the Sustain Dane’s farmers’ market table on Tuesdays at the South Madison or Eastside farmers' markets through Oct. 25.

Here's a full list of what can and can't be collected. Happy composting!

— Hayley

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💉 Covid-19 booster eligibility has expanded.

The FDA announced last week that children under 12 are eligible to receive the new bivalent Covid-19 booster shots.
The bivalent Moderna booster is now authorized for children ages six and up, while the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent vaccine is authorized for children ages five and up.
Use this website to schedule a vaccine appointment near you.

🥗 Who ordered another salad restaurant to State Street?

National salad chain sweetgreen will make its debut in Madison next year. Cap Times reports the Los Angeles-based fast salad chain will open up shop at 652 State St. in early fall 2023. The space was most recently home to a combination Einstein Bros. Bagels and Caribou Coffee.
The new shop will be on the same block as a Chipotle, across the street from Poke Plus Madison and Forage Kitchen, and just down the block from Salads UP. Unbelieva-bowl.

🏗 The city gave its final thumbs up to a 14-story housing project downtown.

City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved rezoning for a 337-unit apartment building at 121 E. Wilson St. The 14-story project includes first-floor restaurants and a large plaza overlooking Lake Monona that will be publicly accessible.
The building will have units that range in size from studios to three bedrooms. "The project will provide additional, needed housing Downtown," District 4 Ald. Mike Verveer told the Wisconsin State Journal. "Unfortunately, of course, none of the housing will be low-cost, given the premier location and significant views." So no affordable housing here.
Construction will start in spring 2023 with an anticipated completion in 2025.

🖊️ Latest posts from Bank of Sun Prairie:

Watch Out for These Convincing Financial Scams
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Want to learn more? Bank of Sun Prairie's Financial Fitness Center offers 50+ digital short courses in English and Spanish.

📣 The right-wing speaker stirring up controversy on campus.

Who? Matt Walsh, a political commentator known for his conservative views, is set to speak at Memorial Union about his film film What is a Woman (2022), which critics have called transphobic and homophobic.
Some context: The organization Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) invited Walsh to speak. The same group brought Ben Shapiro to campus in 2016 and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in 2021.
On Oct. 10, every bulletin board and chalkboard in the hallway of the Gender and Women’s Studies floor of Sterling Hall was found covered in posters for the Walsh event. Again, on Oct. 13, members of the Gender & Women’s Studies Department found their bulletin boards had been targeted and their notices had been torn down.
According to The Badger Herald, Gender & Women’s Studies Department Teaching Assistant Jesikah Leeper filed a bias incident report asking the university to investigate the matter "as a targeted act of hate speech and revoke YAF’s permission to use the Great Hall for their event."

📰 A Madison East High School teacher is getting national recognition.

Madison East High School Business and Media Teacher April van Buren was recognized as a "pioneer" in her field for her work in journalism education.
Three educators in the U.S. were given the National Scholastic Press Association's Pioneer award, which honors educators who "make substantial contributions to high school journalism programs and scholastic journalism education outside their primary employment," according to a press release.
Van Buren teaches an advanced broadcast class at East and advises the school yearbook. She also started East’s Newspaper and Photography Club and is working to create a journalism program in the Madison school district.

😷 Your lunchtime read: 'We’re in a dangerous situation.' How the pandemic has changed voting, politics and democracy.

Via Madison365: "On April 7, 2020, just weeks into the pandemic, thousands of people stood in line – six feet apart – for several hours to vote in spring elections for State Supreme Court and many local offices. A frantic court battle determined that the election must go on in person, despite Gov. Tony Evers’ desire to delay it. The entire City of Milwaukee could only open five polling places due to a shortage of poll workers. A million people requested absentee ballots; many never got them.

It was a chaotic time, and a difficult day for local election officials. Nearly three years and several elections later, it’s clear the way we vote, run for office, and engage in politics has fundamentally changed."

🗳️

Are you ready to vote? The election is Nov. 8 and MyVote.wi.gov is your one-stop shop for all election information. We've also pulled a few extra links for specific questions. Happy voting!

Check your voter registration here.
Get the details on voter IDs here.
Meet the candidates here.

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