Here's what we were reading while sheltering from the weather (until the Internet went out, anyway).
Extreme weather
Dane County spent the week dealing with extreme weather [1], including tornadoes on Tuesday and Wednesday. Verona’s County View School sustained a direct hit, and the Verona Press reports the school suffered multi-million damages [2]. Blogger Deke Rivers at Caffeinated Politics has some pictures of damage [3] from Madison’s East Side. The Willy Street Blog says residents near Orton Park want to repurpose some of the downed trees into natural play structures [4], asking that the city slow removal of trees.
UW-Madison was spared Tuesday, but hit hard by Wednesday’s storms that knocked out many information services on the campus [5] (including Madison Commons). Meanwhile, State Journal editorial cartoonist Phil Hands sought to forestall [6] at least one line of argument related to the wild weather. The Madtown Traffic Blog has some background on the emergency sirens that you may or may not have heard [7]. Those more localized changes are actually part of policy sought by the county, which wants to use proximity rather city boundary [8] in emergency response.
Racial Disparities
Cap Times editor Paul Fanlund introduced the newspaper’s website [9]on Racial Disparties, "Together Apart." The website takes a multi-faceted view [10] of race relations in the city, both historical and current. PBS reported on racial disparity [11] in Madison, this week. The newspaper’s cover story this week was on use of the N-word [12], especially in Madison schools.
Looking at racial disparities in health, Capital City Hues published a column from the UW Carbone Cancer Center pointing out that cancer is a leading killer among [13] Dane County’s African Americans. The Cap Times talked to critics and supporters [14] of the Dane County Health Department’s Share the Room, Not the Bed campaign, which targets co-sleeping as a means of reducing infant mortality. In Wisconsin, the infant mortality rate for African-Americans is nearly four times that of whites. Ruth Conniff writes in The Isthmus that cuts to education funding create disparities in access to extracurriculars [15], as wealthier students can afford private lessons.
Public Spaces and Public Dollars
Rev. Alex Gee’s church, Fountain of Life, has started construction of a private park [16] that he envisions as an important gathering space. The State Journal’s editorial board is thrilled with the opening of Central Park in Madison [17].
The School board adopted a $402M budget [18] with a smaller property tax increase than originally sought, although that may change based on health insurance projections. MGE seeks to hike prices on light users of electricity [19] says the Cap Times’ Mike Ivey. Dane County home sales fell in May [20]. Meanwhile, could Scott Resnick be the next person in charge of Madison’s finances [21] as mayor.
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Links:
[1] http://www.channel3000.com/weather/new-round-of-storms-cause-damage-in-dane-county/26546460
[2] http://www.connectverona.com/articles/2014/06/17/tornado-shreds-school-homes
[3] http://dekerivers.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/photos-of-massive-storm-that-hit-madison-isthmus
[4] http://willystreetblog.com/wp/2014/06/23/nws-says-tornado-visited-marquette-neighborhood/#more-6284
[5] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/city-life/uw-madison-loses-internet-access-other-technology-services-wednesday-morning/article_4e13a60e-f708-11e3-8808-0019bb2963f4.html
[6] http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/opinion/column/phil_hands/hands-on-wisconsin-global-warming-or-act-of-god-who/article_6af05291-c1d6-52ba-987b-dbedc5db83de.html
[7] http://madtowntraffic.com/tidbits-helpful-info/
[8] http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/joe-parisi-seeks-change-in-how-emergency-responders-are-dispatched/article_70c1df04-62a0-57ba-a35d-e88396d6e8aa.html
[9] http://host.madison.com/ct/ct/topics/race-in-madison/paul-fanlund-our-website-on-racial-disparities-is-now-live/article_0529e31a-02dd-5c2d-8ff0-f73e5ebcce9f.html.
[10] http://host.madison.com/ct/topics/race-in-madison/
[11] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/videos/#106246
[12] http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/steven_elbow/negotiating-the-n-word-it-s-pervasive-in-pop-culture/article_ccc94a5a-f65c-11e3-aca3-001a4bcf887a.html
[13] http://www.capitalcityhues.com/061214CancerColumn.html
[14] http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/jessica_vanegeren/co-sleeping-advocates-dane-county-s-share-the-room-not/article_6f650d26-f261-11e3-8f77-001a4bcf887a.html
[15] http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=43001
[16] http://www.capitalcityhues.com/061214Nehemiah.html
[17] http://host.madison.com/news/opinion/editorial/grand-park-a-welcome-addition/article_e97661d0-7b97-5c55-8b05-0df2ddd0fc22.html
[18] http://host.madison.com/news/local/education/local_schools/madison-school-board-approves-million-budget-for/article_b43340df-b573-5748-ac99-191881a4f666.html
[19] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/writers/mike_ivey/mge-eyes-price-hike-on-smaller-customers/article_471c9d70-f338-11e3-9a7a-0019bb2963f4.html
[20] http://host.madison.com/business/dane-county-may-home-sales-see-drop-while-median-price/article_8c9ba9ab-3258-5733-8f3b-610cedace28e.html
[21] http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=42999