Here’s what we were reading while enjoying advertising for Koch Industries at Badger games [1]
Public money
Mayor Paul Soglin continued working toward getting the City Council to approve a $200M plan just that would bring Exact Sciences’ headquarters just off the capital [2], which will include significant public financing. A vote is scheduled this week. There is still no equity analysis [3] on the project. The City Council seeks to reinstate funding for a Midtown District Police Station [4], which Soglin’s proposed city budget delayed past 2021. The city could start a grant program to aid retail businesses on State Street [5], which Soglin believes are becoming an endangered species. The City Council will consider awarding a $25,000 grant to the Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development to focus on poverty and homelessness [6] in downtown Madison.
Homelessness
After a long search, Dane County has purchased a building on East Washington that it plans to convert into a homeless day center [7]. Some neighborhood residents have raised concerns about the location of the center [8]. Many of the neighborhood worries about Occupy Madison’s Tiny House village on the East Side have not come to pass [9]. The City Council showed little enthusiasm for Soglin’s proposals limiting time people can spend on benches [10]. Soglin’s approach to homelessness adopts politically conservative rhetoric [11] says Chris Rickert. One State Journal letter writer opposes Soglin’s efforts [12].
Race
Juan Jose Lopez, the first Latino elected to the Madison School Board, reflected on the growth of the community in Madison [13]. WCCF plans to produce a Race to Equity report focusing on Latinos [14]. Fabu says black people in Madison are being treated noticeably worse these days [15]. Madison students won Race to Equity scholarships from the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families [16], and the Boys and Girls Clubs won a $1.2M grant [17] to help prepare Madison students [18] for college. Paul Fanlund previews a speech by a Brookings Institution scholar arguing that Madison can be a laboratory for progress on issues of social mobility and racial disparity [19]. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne has dropped bail conditions on Cierra Finkley, a Madison woman charged in the stabbing death of her estranged boyfriend [20], but said he needed more time to decide whether to bring charges. The Young, Gifted and Black Coalition had focused attention on the case, arguing that self-defense laws need to be applied equally. Recently elected alder Samba Baldeh describes the challenges professionals of color face in the city [21]. YWeb Career Academy trains women and people of color in web design and development. [22]
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Links:
[1] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/education/university/koch-industries-running-commercials-during-badgers-games-as-part-of/article_55af34e4-eac4-55c8-a128-732a52146c4a.html
[2] http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/mayor-paul-soglin-promotes-deal-as-city-council-nears-vote/article_583834dc-04a7-542d-965c-c8a958785b38.html
[3] http://madison365.com/index.php/2015/09/28/not-in-our-name-judge-doyle-square-and-branding-corporate-welfare-as-racial-and-social-justice/
[4] http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/mayor-paul-soglin-city-council-continue-tug-of-war-on/article_59d1de7d-2585-51ca-8198-3fb306e66658.html
[5] http://host.madison.com/business/on-retail-grant-program-to-aid-retail-progressing-support-urged/article_5a772837-1199-5bf4-8b3f-c982b6ed5401.html
[6] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/madison-city-council-to-consider-for-nehemiah-poverty-program/article_65e195f8-8986-5d8d-9a20-fa7730c12d2b.html.
[7] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/dane-county-to-purchase-east-washington-avenue-site-for-day/article_51cbaae6-15d2-5152-be47-605bc466872a.html
[8] http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/neighbors-have-concerns-about-dane-county-s-proposed-homeless-day/article_6168bcde-7ed5-5b8a-a917-c15e40b9c101.html
[9] http://host.madison.com/news/local/one-year-in-madison-s-village-of-tiny-houses-wins/article_6d1a54cc-343a-5775-b3de-5fa341677580.html
[10] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/paul-soglin-s-bench-ordinance-gains-little-support-from-committees/article_51043219-a691-57f4-92c4-e730922ade1e.html
[11] http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/columnists/chris-rickert/chris-rickert-paul-soglin-reveals-inner-conservative-with-dubious-take/article_9936c755-17bd-5a28-ae4d-3fc926281e6a.html
[12] http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/opinion/mailbag/soglin-should-end-war-on-the-homeless---/article_45c395b6-d1ca-5fd3-b56f-4a64bf1b08fd.html
[13] http://capitalcityhues.com/091715JuanJoseLopez.html
[14] http://capitalcityhues.com/091715WCCF.html
[15] http://capitalcityhues.com/091715Fabu.html
[16] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/education/madison-high-school-students-win-race-to-equity-scholarships-for/article_113530ff-7417-5b5c-8785-0c6bf5bbaed8.html
[17] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/education/boys-and-girls-club-receives-million-grant-to-boost-student/article_361b3f36-cca2-5242-88c7-f571e19a6f50.html
[18] http://madison365.com/index.php/2015/09/22/great-lakes-commits-over-1-2-million-to-boys-girls-club-programs/
[19] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/paul_fanlund/paul-fanlund-the-business-case-for-social-mobility-in-madison/article_f1d302e5-8d43-5a2a-bc6f-1986f4a198f0.html
[20] http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime-and-courts/madison-woman-set-free-in-fatal-stabbing-after-da-declines/article_cf8f642a-42c7-5b2b-93d4-4c6fcf0d16d7.html
[21] http://capitalcityhues.com/091715NiaTrammel.html
[22] http://madison365.com/index.php/2015/09/24/yweb-career-academy-graduation-making-the-stem-field-accessible/