Madison Media Digest: Child care, Law and Order, and Development

Here’s what Madison was reading about while waiting for Rhythm and Booms to start

Child care and social services

Kaleem Caire gave an interview to Madison Times regarding his project to revitalize Child Development Inc. on the South Side. WISC took up the story as well. The State Journal looked at the history of efforts related to the company, including past efforts to fill in gaps in what has been termed “a daycare desert.”

The Capital Times looked at the Black Male Collaborative, which seeks to improve and increase opportunities for local youth. A new UW-Madison center helps Vets access funding and adjust to campus life. CUNA Mutual donated $1.2M for teaching mentoring in Madison. The School Info Systems blog in Madison wonders how effective teacher training programs have been in Madison.

Law and Order

Detained patients needing mental health services are being denied access to Mendota Mental Health and instead must be shuttled to Oshkosh, which Madison Police intend to sue the state over. A Dane County Board member says a day shelter for the homeless should be moved downtown. The price tag for a new county jail could reach $135M. Madison city attorneys believe The Supreme Court decision striking down buffer zones outside of clinics that provide abortion in Massachusetts will not affect a city ordinance that created a 100-foot buffer around all health care facilities. Opponents of that law do not share that opinion.

Development

The city is considering sharply curtailing outdoor dining due to complaints about sidewalk space on State Street. Plenty of letterwriters told the State Journal they did not support that plan, suggesting letting them expand into a vehicle-free street. Details of outdoor dining and alcohol licensing are still being hammered out at the new Edgewater. John Roach writes in Madison Magazine that the opening of the new Edgewater Hotel is a sign of a great city achieving a vision.

--The Media Digest will take a one-week hiatus for Independence Day and return July 14.