Here’s what we were reading while getting excited for yet another Badger football coach [1].
Education
Madison’s main public high schools are all under relatively new leadership [2]. The state has lost 2,900 teachers over the past nine years, but Madison has increased its teaching staff [3]. Nichelle Nichols, MMSD’s new director of engagement, wants parents to get involved in the schools [4]. Madison College’s South Campus held an open house and is emphasizing serving Spanish speakers [5]. One City Early Learning Center, which seeks to address the racial academic achievement gap in Madison, is opening its doors this fall [6].
A donation provided new school supplies at Gompers Elementary and Black Hawk Middle Schools [7]. The South Central Federation of Labor’s annual LaborFest will collect donations for homeless children in Madison schools’ Transition Education program [8]. A group of Madison East students traveled to Kenya [9]. Crossing guards met for a training session last week [10]. The YWeb Career Academy, which seeks to diversify Madison’s tech community, graduated 16 students [11].
Public Spaces
A State Journal investigation finds that blacks are arrested at 10 times the rate of white in Madison [12]. The arrests are clustered around State Street as well as East and West Towne Malls [13]. Concerns over safety, from both a building employee and a homeless advocate, clash in the debate over removing homeless from the City-County Building [14]. Despite the rhetoric coming from the CCB, Downtown Madison seems to be doing just fine writes Chris Rickert [15]. Brenda Konkel asks for better media coverage of the ongoing proposals on homelessness in Madison [16].
Buildings and Business
Madison’s finance committee approved a $201M project to bring Exact Sciences Coporation’s headquarters downtown, which includes $43M in public financing [17]. The deal represents the largest commitment to a private building in the city’s history [18]. The city will be paying Exact Sciences $30,000 per job created [19]. Former Mayor Dave Cieslewicz says the city is making a mistake [20]. An equity analysis is missing from the project [21], Brenda Konkel reports. This deal has moved too quickly for Chris Rickert to form a real opinion [22].
Elsewhere, Mayor Paul Soglin believes the major new state office building planned for Hill Farms will spur development downtown [23]. The City is pushing back on what it believes is “demolition by neglect.” [24] The Planning Commision approved a controversial demolition project in Nakoma [25]. Soglin proposed a grant program to help retail outlets downtown renovate their spaces [26]. The city will put $300,000 toward a food co-op on Allied Drive [27]. Alliant Energy has kicked off a project to study solar power generation in Madison [28]. Community members are trying to save local artist Sid Boyum’s home [29], which is filled with his artwork; it goes up for auction Sept. 16. The Fair Housing Center answers some frequently asked questions about tenant’s rights [30]. Are we ignoring a bigger problem by allowing for more bars on Willy Street [31], asks Gregory Humphries. Madison is emerging a strong home for start-up businesses [32]. Group Intellectual Ratchet aims to provide a community and events for millennials and young professionals of color in Madison [33].
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Links:
[1] http://www.isthmus.com/news/cover-story/head-coach-paul-chryst-uw-madison/
[2] http://host.madison.com/print_only/list/as-classes-resume-new-leaders-are-hoping-to-make-an/article_ae3e15d4-a1da-5512-ac87-8d84acdc9050.html.
[3] http://host.madison.com/news/local/education/wisconsin-public-schools-lost-teachers-over-nine-year-period/article_dfbd2120-c8ed-56ec-b50f-4bc8604286ad.html
[4] http://host.madison.com/news/local/with-deep-roots-here-nichelle-nichols-tackles-family-engagement-in/article_a5b0530f-19d6-5921-89d7-d2bb7dbe9fec.html
[5] http://capitalcityhues.com/082015MadisonCollegeSouthOpenHouse.html
[6] http://capitalcityhues.com/082015OneCityLearningCenter.html
[7] http://host.madison.com/news/local/education/madison-s-gompers-elementary-kicks-off-school-year-with-open/article_a0fe6a7f-0512-52b8-b1a6-c27eb8b67b2c.html
[8] http://themadisontimes.themadent.com/article/scfl-to-celebrate-labor-day-with-laborfest-2015-on-monday-september-7/
[9] http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/ogechi-emechebe/madison-east-high-school-students-travel-to-kenya-for-school/article_a78b03e5-7c51-5dd3-b41f-ddb85b7a1dc2.html
[10] http://host.madison.com/news/local/new-school-crossing-guards-practice-safely-stopping-madison-traffic/article_e8146f35-673a-5a45-a01d-82a857d39ccd.html
[11] http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/laurel-white/students-graduate-from-program-aiming-to-diversify-madison-s-tech/article_4202577b-3781-5e88-ba6b-0b75d4885b14.html
[12] http://host.madison.com/news/local/crime_and_courts/analysis-blacks-in-madison-arrested-at-more-than-times-rate/article_fd52f630-9647-5541-8114-a2541b8a8924.html.
[13] http://host.madison.com/news/local/crime_and_courts/downtown-mall-areas-most-common-locations-for-arrests/article_a1588e0f-8a24-5efb-8d0a-b89b536daa4d.html
[14] http://www.isthmus.com/news/news/homeless-sleep-at-city-county-building/
[15] http://host.madison.com/news/local/columnists/chris-rickert/chris-rickert-madison-s-downtown-thrives-despite-threat-from-homeless/article_f31ec017-0c52-5f9c-ba7d-370afa1d3787.html
[16] http://www.forwardlookout.com/2015/08/media-where-art-thou/23764
[17] http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/mayor-paul-soglin-on-judge-doyle-square-project-risk-has/article_912ffce2-342a-5cf7-b6e8-2b516dd4471f.html
[18] http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/city-council-will-decide-if-unprecedented-investment-for-judge-doyle/article_276e16cf-02e8-50c2-b562-b4d1ca203a26.html
[19] http://www.isthmus.com/news/madland/breaking-down-the-numbers-on-judge-doyle-square/
[20] http://www.isthmus.com/news/citizen-dave/judge-doyle-square-deal-not-square-deal/
[21] http://www.forwardlookout.com/2015/08/jds-where-is-the-equity-analysis/23759
[22] http://host.madison.com/news/local/columnists/chris-rickert/chris-rickert-vote-on-judge-doyle-square-could-prove-whether/article_d17b1e01-dc1b-52e6-86d3-6d227f98459c.html
[23] http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/paul-soglin-new-hill-farms-building-could-spur-downtown-redevelopment/article_408a95cd-d501-585e-8ca7-5d7c2934dec9.html
[24] http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/city-flexes-muscle-on-revamped-landmarks-ordinance/article_182f76f1-c527-57e8-a7e0-1ba248b7babf.html.
[25] http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/todd-milewski/madison-plan-commission-approves-contentious-nakoma-house-demolition-proposal/article_bc8026e1-9b98-5945-bdda-06557ae16cfe.html
[26] http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/paul-soglin-proposes-retail-grant-program-for-state-street/article_bbbe14d9-2772-5c4c-bd32-a6ed9bc9200c.html
[27] http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/bryna-godar/madison-city-staff-recommends-for-an-allied-drive-grocery-co/article_a333a9af-2396-56c3-81cb-9fa91ae3460e.html
[28] http://host.madison.com/business/alliant-to-study-solar-energy-generation-with-a-multi-year/article_5acc9530-dcd9-5481-a582-41e6c9bed940.html
[29] http://www.isthmus.com/arts/saving-sid-boyum-sculpture-house/
[30] http://capitalcityhues.com/082015FairHousing.html
[31] https://dekerivers.wordpress.com/2015/08/24/too-many-drinking-establishments-on-williamson-street-in-madison/
[32] http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/laurel-white/madison-on-its-way-to-being-startup-fly-over-no/article_386e3cf2-c441-547b-bae3-cd8df4293ae5.html
[33] http://www.isthmus.com/news/news/intellectual-ratchet-breaks-barriers/