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Category: Community

Antisemitic chalkings found at Dane County Farmers Market

Daily Cardinal

Antisemitic chalk messages endorsing Hezbollah, the Houthis and the military wing of Hamas — all of which are designated as terror groups by the United States — were found at the Dane County Farmers Market on Saturday alongside messages endorsing violence against Israelis and Zionists.The chalkings, located on the corner of State, Mifflin and Carroll Streets in downtown Madison, contained messages praising Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.

Madison activist awarded honorary doctorate

Spectrum News

A Madison activist is being awarded an honorary doctorate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It’s for his work advocating for the Black community and addressing racial disparities in Wisconsin.

Alexander Gee is normally a busy man. That’s because he said he’s working hard to raise funds needed to build the Center for Black Excellence and Culture.

Older generation weighs in on UW–Madison student protest

WMTV - Channel 15

82-year-old Bonnie Block is a Wisconsin native who lives in Madison and is a part of a group called the Raging Grannies, who encourages people to speak out. “We wanted to come and tell these students thank you for being here because I think it’s really important,” Block said. “All my life I’ve been heartened by groups of people who are saying no to what they see is wrong. I think that that’s critical.”

City to hold informational meeting on potential passenger rail station sites

Wisconsin State Journal

The city and national consultant HNTB have explored six corridors and recommend in January advancing three of them — Downtown/Isthmus, First Street near the Public Market, and around Oscar Mayer — for further evaluation. The study recommended dropping three other corridors — the UW-Madison campus, the East Side near Starkweather Creek and by Dane County Regional Airport.

Designers of Cottage Grove’s first dog park hope to capture community’s vibe

Wisconsin State Journal

James Steiner, a lecturer in UW-Madison’s Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture, collaborated with UW-Madison design students Keegan Ripley and Henry Hinchsliff to design the project, currently dubbed Bark Park. The effort was carried out through UniverCity Alliance, a campus organization that’s part of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and provides students with hands-on experience developing local projects.

Sustainable energy at home and in the community

Wisconsin Public Radio
By first inviting Wisconsin communities to identify their clean energy needs, a network of researchers, entrepreneurs and investors are pursuing projects in rural and urban areas as well as on tribal lands. Interview with Oliver Schmitz, associate dean for research innovation in the UW-Madison College of Engineering. 

Madison kicking off $300M Triangle redevelopment with a $50M first phase

Wisconsin State Journal

The city’s Community Development Authority, which owns 336 housing units at five sites and a small Asian grocery store on 10.5 acres bounded by West Washington Avenue and South Park Street, on Monday submitted plans for the initial phase of the larger redevelopment that will triple the total, up to 1,216 units.

Madison Muslims gather to celebrate the end of Ramadan

Wisconsin State Journal

“I think having a place to go when we’re away at college is really making it feel like a second home for us,” UW-Madison student Dorsa Radvarzangeneh said. “It’s been difficult throughout Ramadan, going through it alone.”

Many college students have been grateful to find community during Ramadan, a time for reflection and fasting, Radvarzangeneh said.

Innovative research into cover crops is helping Oneida white corn co-op restore depleted soil

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For the members of Ohe·láku, a co-op of Oneida Nation families growing their traditional white corn together, what started as an experiment has become a success story.

A few years ago, they partnered with the University of Wisconsin-Madison to test different cover crop mixes to restore soil they grow on, which had been depleted under prior ownership. Cover crops are left in the soil after the primary crop is harvested. The idea is to make sure the fields are never bare, increasing soil fertility, limiting runoff and keeping the soil moist.

Older Wisconsinites have the highest suicide rate of any age group. Why don’t we talk about it?

Green Bay Press-Gazette

There’s a disconnect in how we respond to older people struggling with their mental health, said Dr. Sarah Endicott, a clinical professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison focused on geriatrics. Some of that, she suspects, may be chalked up to ageism, which the World Health Organization defines as the stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination toward others based on age.

“I don’t think it’s intentional, but the lower value we place on older adults in general, especially when it comes to end-of-life, I’m guessing that’s part of the cause,” said Endicott, who also works as a geriatric psychiatrist at Stoughton Hospital in Dane County.

West Madison plan sparks outrage over city’s answers to big question

The Capital Times

To Kurt Paulsen, a professor of urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, there’s no question the city faces a critical shortage of housing to meet the needs. Paulsen’s research focuses on housing and land use.

“It absolutely is accurate to call it a crisis,” he said. “It’s the basic facts: Jobs are growing really quickly. Lots of young people are moving here. All those things mean housing demand is off the charts.”

UniverCity Alliance adds Driftless Area projects

Wisconsin Public Radio

The UniverCity alliance is a program that marshals the research capacity of UW-Madison students in service of the unique needs of cities, counties, villages, townships and others across the state of Wisconsin. The Alliance has helped some communities learn how government bodies can operate more efficiently, and others determine how to address needs like childcare in their local communities. Joining us on “Newsmakers” this week are Gavin Luter, Managing Director of the UniverCity Alliance; Max Hart of the Jackson County Board of Supervisors; and Doug McLeod, Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications at UW-Madison.

Smith: On its 75th anniversary, lessons of “A Sand County Almanac” more relevant than ever

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Leopold, born in Iowa in 1887, received a forestry degree from Yale and began his professional career in 1909 with the U.S. Forest Service. In 1924 he became associate director of the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison and in 1933 the University of Wisconsin created a chair of game management for him. Leopold died in 1948 fighting a grass fire on a neighbor’s farm. The property is now part of the Aldo Leopold Foundation near Baraboo.

Lakeshore Nature Preserve unveils new master plan

The Badger Herald

The Lakeshore Nature Preserve presented its master plan to the City of Madison’s Joint Campus Area Committee Thursday. The plan aims to protect the natural environment and share cultural resources through research and outreach.

Air sampling in Dane County schools tracks flu, COVID-19

Wisconsin State Journal

“It can tell us about the virus without us needing to stick anything up anyone’s noses or even know who was in a space,” said Dave O’Connor, a UW-Madison researcher involved in the surveillance. “Air sampling should be something that lots of schools bring on board to understand what the respiratory virus transmission risk is.”

Monitors have been at seven schools in the Oregon School District for two years, where air sampling last school year tracked flu and COVID-19 activity as reliably as student absences, rapid tests at school and regular tests from samples collected at home, UW-Madison researchers recently reported. That research was part of a UW study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that has analyzed respiratory illness at Oregon schools since 2015.

UW construction impacting MMSD graduation ceremonies

WMTV - Channel 15

The decision comes after UW Athletics announced the renovation of the Kohl Center ice hockey rink floor. Currently, UW leadership is unaware if the construction will take place before or after the scheduled graduation ceremonies this June.

You can sign Spanish tiles that will be part of Olbrich Gardens’ Thai pavilion on Sunday

Wisconsin State Journal

The pavilion arrived in Wisconsin in 2001 as a gift to UW-Madison from the government of Thailand and the Thai Chapter of the Wisconsin Alumni Association as a gesture of international friendship. Constructed in Thailand and then flown to the U.S. in sections, the pavilion was assembled by Thai artisans who were on one of the last planes to land in Chicago after the terrorist attacks.

If you’re having a health insurance dispute in Wisconsin, these organizations may be able to help

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Covering Wisconsin, a program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, helps people sign up for and understand their health insurance.

The program’s GetCovered Connector Tool can connect you with a local health insurance expert via Zoom, phone, or in person. The experts can provide advice on applications, appeals, coverage issues and more.