Morning Update

No monkey business

Morning update: Wednesday, Aug. 3

In this newsletter

Happy Wednesday, Madison!

Back in June, the Henry Vilas Zoo introduced us to one of their newest residents, more or less.

When the zoo announced the arrival of a baby orangutan its mother Chelsea kept the newborn so close that zookeeps didn't know the baby's sex. Well now we know the baby is a girl and that girl's name is officially Menjadi (pronounced “Men-jah-dee”).

According to the zoo, Menjadi means “to come into being” in Malay.

We finally have a name for our baby!

Introducing Menjadi! Menjadi (pronounced “Men-jah-dee”) means “to come into being” in Malay. Malay is the language spoken in many parts of Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore. pic.twitter.com/4RgujtHPIQ
— Henry Vilas Zoo (@HenryVilasZoo) August 1, 2022

Chelsea will carry Menjadi everywhere for about 2 years, teaching her the ins and outs of life. Menjadi is Chelsea's second child. Her first baby, a male named Bob, was born in 2006 and now lives at the Oregon Zoo.

— Hayley

Correction: Last Friday we wrote all city buildings were closed to the public. This isn't true. City buildings are open as usual. We regret the error.

👮 What's up with the county jail.

The county announced Tuesday Sheriff Kalvin Barrett will begin closing the oldest portion of the troubled Dane County Jail and moving residents to jails in Rock, Iowa, and Oneida counties.
What's the issue? The jail's troubles have been long documented. Six years ago, the Dane County Jail Update Study found that the county "should not consider extending the life of the CCB Jail, but should work towards getting out of the building with due haste."

"A lack of safe and humane jail space, along with ongoing staffing shortages, has brought us to the difficult decision to place some of our jail residents in other counties. I will continue to advocate for a facility to be built in Dane County which reflects our community values." — Sheriff Kalvin Barrett

Moving the jail's residents will cost the county more than $500,000 for the rest of the year — money Barrett thinks would be better spent on the county’s long-stalled jail consolidation project.
The new jail's timeline: As the Cap Times reports, in July the County Board of Supervisors postponed a $798,000 change to the project's contract so that the board’s Black Caucus could propose a new approach for the project.
Black Caucus plan: On the heels of Barrett's announcement to close part of the jail, the caucus released its plan to reduce the jail’s population and address racial disparities in incarceration. The proposal calls for a smaller facility (five stories) with fewer beds. The smaller facility would put the project back on budget and cost less to operate once opened.

⛔️ Closing soon: part of Fair Oaks Avenue.

Starting next Monday, Aug. 8, Fair Oaks will be closed at Thurber Avenue for sanitary sewer work. The city expects the closure to last a week, so plan accordingly.

🚨 The city is lowering the speed limit on two major roads.

As part of its Vision Zero initiative, the city is reducing the speed limits on John Nolen Drive and Mineral Point Road. Starting next week, the speed limit on John Nolen between North Shore Drive and Lakeside Street will be 35 mph, (down from 40 mph). Later this month, the speed limit on Mineral Point Road will also reduce from 40 to 35 mph on the stretch between Whitney Way to the Beltline.
What is vision zero? As the city puts it, "Vision Zero is a data driven strategy intended to eliminate traffic deaths and severe injuries on City streets by 2035 while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all."

🗳️

How to return your absentee ballot.

The rules have changed, and drop boxes are no longer in use in Wisconsin. Still have an absentee ballot? It’s too close to Election Day to mail it back but you still have options. You can drop off your completed ballot at your clerk's office, early voting site, or polling place. You can find all of Madison’s early voting sites here.

💬 Have questions about abortion access and reproductive health in Wisconsin? Text this number.

In partnership with Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and Outlier Media, Wisconsin Watch has launched a texting service that allows readers to ask questions related to reproductive health in the state.
Are you curious about access to abortion in Wisconsin, contraception, or available resources? Text "reprohealth" to 73244 and the news outlet will guide you to answers.

Have questions about abortion access and reproductive health in Wisconsin, or a perspective to share? You can now text "reprohealth" to 73244 to reach @WisconsinWatch and @News414MKE.

Among other coverage, @PhoebePetrovic and I will be making a Q&A using your questions! pic.twitter.com/m3ZH8cmBoS
— Samantha McCabe (@sam_mccabage) August 2, 2022

🎧 Mark your calendars for the arrival of Boneset Records.

Tone Madison reports the isthmus' newest record store will open its doors Aug. 21 at 222 North Street.
If you'll recall, the idea for Boneset first came to be when Owner Maggie Denman took over the remaining inventory at Atwood Avenue’s Sugar Shack Records, which closed in April.
For now, the new shop will be open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays, with a goal of expanding those hours eventually. In addition to records, Boneset will also sell used VHS tapes and host a rack of vintage clothes from Milwaukee’s Return To Odd.

🦎 Happy Take Me Home Tuesday (yes, I know, it's Wednesday, we're trying).

From our friends at the Dane County Humane Society: Meet Anole a Holmes. Anole was found in late July in a tropical pond at a restaurant in Fitchburg. This spunky lizard is a bit skittish and is looking for a patient human to win its trust. Anole enjoys its terrarium, which will need to be set up in a warm and humid space. Anole enjoys eating mealworms and waxworms, mostly, but also need some supplements. Anole also needs plants because it gets most of its water from licking them.

Interested in learning more? Click here.

🔍 Your lunchtime read: A Navajo scientist couldn't translate his work to his family. Now, because of a UW-Madison project he co-founded, he can.

Via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "To his peers in Shiprock, New Mexico, he was known as 'the detective.'

As a kid, he was always asking questions, wondering how things worked and why.

'That’s probably where (my love of science) started. Just questioning everything,' said Sterling Martin, a recent biophysics graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Growing up in the Navajo tradition, Martin received limited answers to his questions, citing how his elders often told him: 'That’s just the way it's always been.'"

UMOJA Magazine is the oldest African-American owned magazine in Wisconsin. For nearly 30-years, UMOJA Magazine has provided Dane County and the state with positive news about the Black community. The magazine features beautifully illustrated covers commissioned by local and national African-American artists.

Subscribe to the magazine and follow the official Facebook page.

Interested in advertising? Contact Tracy Anderson, Manager of Business Operations & Advertising, at tanderson@umojamagazine.com.