City Cast Madison

Congress ain’t working so well right now. The House of Representatives is without a speaker for the longest time in U.S. history. We’re weeks away from the government shutting down. All while the U.S. is playing a major role in the war in Gaza. And there’s still a war in Ukraine.Mark Pocan is the Madison area’s representative in Congress. Dylan Brogan caught up with him from his office in D.C. to learn what all these crises mean for us.Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Madison area has seen strong economic growth this year. Construction cranes abound. Housing prices have soared. Unemployment is low. We’re the fastest growing part of the state. You might think we’d be sitting pretty when it comes to city services. But according to Madison Finance Director Dave Schmiedicke, things are tighter than you’d think. City expenses are going up faster than the city’s ability to raise money. The last of the federal COVID aid is helping plug some budget holes for 2024, but after that, the city’s got big decisions to make. A big property tax hike? A citywide sales tax? They’re all on the table. Dylan Brogan gets the details. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Madison has its fair share of poltergeists, lingering spirits, and maybe even a few lake monsters. You just need to know where to look. Bianca Martin learns more about Madison’s scary side with Lisa Van Buskirk and Mike Huberty from Madison Ghost Walks.Mentioned on the show:🎃 Downtown Madison Family Halloween — Wednesday, Oct. 25👻 Warner Park Community Recreation Center Family Fun Night — Friday, Oct. 27 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The City Cast team is here to round up the news of the week. Dylan Brogan, Molly Stentz and Hayley Sperling recap how the Madison Public Market may get built after all. We also discuss how raises for thousands of university employees are the latest cudgel in the fight between the state legislature and UW. Plus, sometimes you just need to cry in public. And if you’ve got a Madison-themed Halloween costume in the works, we need to hear about it! Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram.Mentioned on the show:Budget boost will allow Madison Public Market to break ground this year [Isthmus]What’s Happening With the Madison Public Market? [City Cast Madison]Republican lawmakers exclude UW staff from state worker pay raise in fight over diversity funding [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]Best Places to Cry in Madison [Madison Minutes]Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to UW-Madison professor Jennifer Gaddis, most kids don’t eat school lunch in Madison. She studies school lunch programs across the country, including ours. It’s a problem because kids need healthy food to grow and learn. But Madison schools don’t have the kitchens, staff or money to make fresh meals from scratch every day. And last year, complaints piled in about the food.How did school lunches get so bad? How do we make them better? Dylan Brogan sits down with Jennifer to learn what can be done. 🧃 Join us every Thursday as we explore Madison's food culture, from the brewers and bakers to the chefs and cheesemakers.Also mentioned on the show:Check out our episode: What’s Happening With the Public Market?Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first school choice program in Wisconsin was created more than thirty years ago - and it’s been fought over ever since. If you’d rather send your kid to a private school than your local public school, and you have a low income, the state will pay for it. It started out as an experimental pilot program and now pays for more than 50,000 private school students. A new lawsuit by Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Bangstad claims it’s unconstitutional because it’s depriving public schools of public money. Molly Stentz speaks with Brian Potts, partner at Perkins Coie, about what the lawsuit seeks to do.  Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Madison journalist Bill Lueders learned first-hand what happens to dogs who attack. His dog Stella was attacked by a neighborhood pit bull left to roam. What followed was an investigation by the public health department that, months later, is still open. What Bill learned is that public health will investigate, but there are no easy answers. Meanwhile, the dog can attack again.Dylan Brogan gets the story from Bill Lueders. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Madison started the CARES, or Community Alternative Response Emergency Services, program in 2021 after a wave of protests and a series of deaths. Paramedics and crisis workers now respond to non-violent 911 calls in Madison, rather than police officers.Two years and thousands of calls later, the program seems to be working. But it’s not staffed on nights and weekends and it’s only available within city limits. It could become 24/7 and serve the Madison suburbs under proposals before the Madison City Council and the Dane County Board. Host Bianca Martin caught up with Madison Assistant Fire Chief Ché Stedman to learn how it all works. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The City Cast team is here to round up the news of the week. Dylan Brogan, Molly Stentz and Hayley Sperling talk about Madison schools gaining more kids this year, the UW system’s sudden rebrand, and how Madison residents are dealing with the war in the Middle East after a week of escalating conflict. Mentioned on the show:🎒 Madison schools see surprise enrollment increase [Cap Times]🏫 The University of Wisconsin System rebrands as the 'Universities of Wisconsin' [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]💔 Read UW Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin’s statement on the war in the Middle East [UW Madison]🎙️ Hear Nina Kravinsky’s NPR reports from the war in the Middle East [NPR]⛅ Where to get eclipse glasses and watch the solar eclipse on Saturday [Madison Public Library]Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seven Acre Dairy is many things - a cafe, a restaurant, a hotel, a butter plant. But if you talk to founder Nic Mink, it’s also a place for restoration. He renovated a shuttered old butter plant in Paoli, Wisconsin, a small community about twenty minutes from downtown Madison. It’s drawing neighbors near and far to enjoy locally-made butter, soft serve ice cream and a farm-to-table restaurant. It sits along the banks of the Sugar River, nestled among a savanna with oak trees older than the state of Wisconsin. Learn why Nic’s trying to preserve a little slice of Wisconsin’s dairy heritage in rapidly changing industry. 🧈 Join us every Thursday as we explore Madison's food culture, from the brewers and bakers to the chefs and cheesemakers.This conversation originally aired February 23, 2023. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices