Madison Media Digest: Racial justice, Education and Buildings

Here’s what we were reading while mourning the passing of three Madison Originals.

Racial justice

Madison365 discusses why the city’s overwhelmingly white media is a problem. The Capital Times looked at the tensions in the Madison Police Department’s neighborhood officer strategy. Black police officers often experience this tension in very personal ways. A task force initially looking at whether MPD should adopt body cameras has shifted its focus to trust issues between the community and police. Dane County’s proposed budget reflects its rosy financial outlook. The Madison Fire Department is reaching out to people of color to increase its own diversity. Don Edwards discussed what it takes to build a civic culture. 

Education

The Madison School Board gave MMSD Superintendent Jennifer Cheatham a strong performance review. The evaluation is public record. We wrote about the positive image Cheatham has in the community. State tax collection numbers mean more aid to MMSD, reducing the property tax increase requested to fund operations. The Preschool for the Arts is starting a series on how to talk about race with young children. Madison Memorial girls’ cross country team has coped with effects of a devastating car crash that occurred at the end of last season. The Community Development Authority would provide a three-story parking ramp to serve the expanded campus that Madison Area Technical College has proposed.

Buildings

Mayor Paul Soglin wants Exact Sciences to tell him how losing nearly two-thirds of its market value will affect the $200M Judge Doyle Square redevelopment to which the city pledged significant public money to support. Some say not to overreact to the drop in a stock price. The state will break ground on a new state office building in the Hill Farms neighborhood after receiving final approval. The project means this will be the last season for the Sheboygan Avenue Community Garden, which has been at the site for 35 years. The city may pursue an alternate location for a planned downtown part rather that use eminent domain to obtain its first choice site. The city may bring public nuisance charges against a landlord who has been cited more than 1,400 times for building code violations in the last five years. The owners of the Mayland Printing want to demolish the now uninhabitable building and sell the land.