Your Daily Guide

🚗 Park Street Corridor Might Come Under City Control

• City officials are talking with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation about turning part of South Park Street from a federal connecting highway to a city street, to make it easier to implement safety improvements on this stretch from the Beltline to West Washington Avenue. Currently, any changes to the street need WisDoT approval, which slows down the process.
• Some context: In February, a 17-year-old West High School student was hit by a car and killed while crossing Park Street, renewing discussions about how to make this dangerous street safer for pedestrians.
• The city is waiting for WisDoT to finalize the jurisdiction transfer. If it goes through, it may involve WisDoT issuing a one-time payment of around $36 million for Park Street reconstruction and other projects, followed by the ending of existing ongoing state funding for this corridor. [Cap Times, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

🕗 MPD Considers Age Restriction, Curfew Downtown

• Some of the fights that broke out at the Mifflin Street Block Party in April involved juveniles, increasing police concerns about large groups of young people gathering downtown. To solve this issue, police are considering implementing an age restriction or curfew in parts of downtown. District 2 Ald. Will Ochowicz is concerned, however, that this policy could lead to profiling or discrimination, and is in favor of more proactive approaches.
• As many as 20,000 people attended the Mifflin Street Block Party this year, where dozens were arrested for fighting or alcohol-related offenses. While no shootings were reported, six guns were recovered. [WKOW, 🔒 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

🐔 Backyard Poultry Linked to Salmonella Outbreak

• Thirty-four cases of salmonella have been identified across 13 states, including five in Wisconsin. Public health officials are still trying to identify the source of the outbreak, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said that the majority of sick people who were interviewed reported contact with backyard poultry. This is the second year in a row that these animals have been linked to a multistate salmonella outbreak.
• Ron Kean, poultry specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension, said that birds who carry the bacteria can appear healthy, and that the infection might be spreading via chicks coming from mail-order hatcheries. General cleanliness and food safety practices can go a long way to mitigate the spread — that, and avoiding kissing your chickens. [WPR, 🎧 City Cast Madison]