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Co-op contract

Morning Update: Friday, March 11

In this newsletter

Good morning!

Do you know anybody with a Madison-themed tattoo? If so, reply and let me know! I might want to talk to them for a story. If you reached out last time I brought this up, please know that I haven’t forgotten about you. 😊

A clarification: Yesterday, we said the City Council will vote on a permanent men’s homeless shelter at their meeting next week. But the council failed to reach a quorum, so there will be no City Council meeting next week. The vote will happen at a later date instead.

- Sam

🛒 Willy Street Co-op workers are closing in on their first union contract.

  • Union organizer and co-op employee Mike Tomaloff told WORT that a “strong majority” of workers supported the contract, which is expected to go into effect this month.
  • Workers won many improvements in working conditions, including guaranteed raises for existing employees, higher starting wages, and additional sick leave. Tomaloff says the co-op minimum starting wage will increase from $13.80 to $15.90 when the contract goes into effect.
  • A representative for Willy Street Co-op management declined to answer follow-up questions from me. They said they'd prefer to wait until things were officially wrapped before answering questions.

🔍 Gableman is sticking around for a while.

  • Michael Gableman, the former Supreme Court Justice hired by Republicans in the State Assembly to investigate the 2020 election, has been given a new contract that authorizes him to continue his work through the end of April, according to the AP.
    • The new contract doesn’t authorize additional spending, but makes some exceptions for the cost of litigating related court cases.
  • Earlier this month, Gableman presented a major report with numerous recommendations. His testimony was long and conspiracy-laden, and he recommended decertifying the election results, despite legal experts saying this is not possible.
  • Vos said Gableman is “not necessarily looking for additional things to investigate" during this stage in his investigation. “I don’t want to make it seem like we’re going to keep this going for another year,” Vos said.
  • In recent days, Gableman has been a guest on a podcast hosted by Steve Bannon. The two met at a voter fraud conference that was organized by the MyPillow guy.

🏗️  Redesigning Lake Monona

  • The city has officially launched the Lake Monona Waterfront Design Challenge to create a master plan for the lake's 1.7 miles of shoreline and 17 acres of public lakefront.
  • The parks department will narrow down entries to three finalists. Each will receive $75,000 to polish their plans before the final selection is made.
  • Not much of a planner? Me either! But I did enjoy this relaxing, four-minute-long aerial video of the waterfront.

🚏 You only have a few more days to submit entries to Metro's Bus Lines Poetry Contest.

  • Send in your short poems, haiku, prose poems, and excerpts from longer poems by March 14. Submissions can be made in any language.
  • This year’s winners will be posted online (not put on buses).

⏰ Don't forget to change your clocks!

  • Move your clocks ahead an hour on Sunday for Daylight Saving Time.

🦠 Covid-19 Update

Wisconsin Vaccination Rate: 60.5%

Dane County Vaccination Rate: 78.3%

Resources

📅 The weekend

Friday, March 11

Saturday, March 12

Sunday, March 13

See more in our weekly events roundup.

Wondering what 🟠 means? That symbol next to an event listing means that Tone Madison’s team of writers and editors recommends checking it out.

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