City Cast Madison

It’s the Friday news roundup and the whole City Cast Madison team is here. Bianca Martin, Dylan Brogan and Molly Stentz discuss the latest on big spending in our local Madison elections, ponder a deadly monkey virus that scientists say has the potential to spread to humans, and we deliver a eulogy for Burrito Drive. 🌯Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and 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 at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Egg prices have risen sharply in the past few months, after outbreaks of bird flu at major chicken farms have reduced the country’s supply of laying hens. But fear not! You can raise chickens in your own backyard safely and cheaply, with a little know-how. This week, the Madison City Council voted to allow residents to keep up to eight chickens, doubling the previous legal limit. We talk to backyard chicken keeper (and podcast producer) Molly Stentz about how to do it. 🥚 Join us every Thursday as we explore Madison's food culture, from the brewers and bakers to the chefs and cheesemakers.Read all about it: 📰 Yes, Molly’s chickens were once in the New York Times.🛠️ Check out these DIY Chicken Coop Plans. And here’s how to get your chicken license from the city.🐣 Abendroth Hatchery and Sunnyside Hatchery have chicks. 🌽 The Nutzy Mutz pet store stocks chicken feed.❄️ Here’s an electric water base to keep your chickens’ water from freezing. 🐥 The MadCity Chickens page has some other good resources. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and 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 at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’ve hopped on a bus in Madison in the past twenty years, you’ve heard his voice. Next stop… Pinckney at Mifflin. Next stop…It’s his voice that announces every stop on every Madison Metro bus. He’s always there, guiding us around the city. But you’ve never heard his name… until now. Meet Ward Paxton, the voice of Madison Metro. 🚌Also on this episode:⚖️ Watch the Wisconsin Supreme Court debate 🤓 Tonight is Nerd Nite! Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and Instagram!Want some 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 at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With big bank failures dominating the headlines, we wondered: how did Madison tech start-ups weather the storm? Did the small and somewhat insulated nature of our tech community shield it from bigger problems? Or could a bank run happen here? And is more government investment for local tech an answer to reducing dependence on Silicon Valley?For answers, we turned to Scott Resnick, COO of Hardin Design and Development, and a board member of Starting Block Madison, a startup and technology hub.🤳 Have your own take? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and 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 at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Powering your home with solar is not only good for the planet, it might actually save you money. Heather Allen, an advisor for RENEW Wisconsin, walks us through her experience putting solar panels on her Madison home. It’s easier than you might think, especially with incentives offered by the City of Madison, Wisconsin, and the federal government. Just watch out for squirrels. 🌞 Is your Madison home a good fit for solar? The MadiSUN program is here to help. 🛠️ RENEW’s Tips on How to Find a Solar Installer. 💵 Get Solar Quotes OnlineAlso on the show today:⚖️ Watch the only debate with the candidates for Wisconsin Supreme Court on March 21. 🌱 Get the dirt on soil, March 22, with this UW lecture. No soil... no food!Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and 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 at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dylan Brogan, Bianca Martin, and Molly Stentz roundup the news with a Madison mystery involving missing millions and the political fight over banning conversion therapy. Plus, we wonder about local fallout from the recent bank failures. Learn more about the news: 🏳️‍🌈 Conversion Therapy Bans in Wisconsin. Madison is one of 14 cities across the state to have banned the practice. 💰 Wisconsin Investment Fund. The state’s fund for start-ups 🏦 How the Silicon Valley Bank failure affected local tech start-ups🏀 Banking Advice from the Bucks? Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 50 bank accounts🤖 And do YOU know any great life hacks about living in Madison? Do you know more than AI? Send yer tips to madison@citycast.fm.Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367. We’re also on Twitter and 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 at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s never been easier to eat a meat-free diet in Madison. 🥦 There are now two dedicated vegan restaurants, Jardin and Sookie’s Veggie Burgers, and a third in the works, with the JustVeggiez food cart planning to open a soul food storefront on State Street. 🥬In addition to vegetarian favorites Green Owl, Monty’s Blue Plate and Himal Chuli, the city’s packed with tasty Thai and Indian restaurants offering a number of veggie options. Add this to juice bars like New Day Eastside Juicery and a whole host of dairy-free bakeries like East Side Cakes, Heirloom Bakery & Kitchen and Level 5 Donuts, and you’ve got tasty treats for many kinds of diets. 🍩🥕And there’s a Madison Vegan Spring Pop-Up Market happening on March 26th at the Goodman Center.Lindsay Christians, food editor of the Cap Times, is here to give us her favorite tips for feeding the vegan in your life and how we might all eat more veggies. Read her story in the Cap Times. 🧁🍜 Lindsay also recommends: The Weekday Vegetarians: 100 Recipes and a Real-Life Plan for Eating Less Meat: A Cookbook.🍄 Join us every Thursday as we explore Madison's food culture, from the brewers and bakers to the chefs and cheesemakers.Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and 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 at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Madison School Superintendent Carlton Jenkins is retiring in July - and the search is on for his replacement. The next leader will need to tackle teacher shortages, pandemic fallout and stubborn racial disparities in student academic achievement. Madison School Board President Ali Muldrow fills us in on what happens next. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and 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 at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The bagpipes were back on the Capitol Square last weekend for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. With the official holiday mere days away, how are you celebrating? If you’re Fitchburg alder Gabriella Gerhardt, you’re trying to break the world record for “Largest Collection of Four-Leaf Clovers.”Four-leaf clovers are considered lucky due to their rarity. They’re technically a genetic mutation of a common clover plant. Gerhardt already holds the records for “Most four-leaf clovers collected in one hour” and “Most four-leaf clovers collected in eight hours.” She’s got a whole room in her house devoted to them.And she’s joining us today to share her secrets about how to find these treasures. (When it’s not snowing, that is...)Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and 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 at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Domestic violence in Wisconsin is at an all-time high. Just a few weeks ago, another event shocked neighbors in Madison. Police chased a man into the Kwik Trip on East Wash, where he shot at police before locking himself in the bathroom and taking his life. He was suspected of strangling his girlfriend days earlier. Police are also investigating four sexual assaults in Madison so far this year. Statistically, most intimate assaults are committed against women. And that’s why a local martial arts studio has focused on teaching women self-defense skills. Ali Treviño-Murphy, co-owner of Underground Self Defense, says when women fight back, they are more likely to survive an assault. And she’s here to tell you how.And if you’re in need of help, text the Domestic Abuse Intervention Services hotline anytime: (608) 420-4638. If you prefer to speak with someone over the phone, call their Help Line: (608) 251-4445. In cases of intimate partner violence, it may be safer to create an escape plan than to fight back.If you have experienced an assault, find help at the Dane County Rape Crisis Center. Their hotline is (608) 251-7273.Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at (608) 318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and 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 at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices