Your Daily Guide

🎶 Banned Watertown Concert Moves to Barrymore

• A performance of a piece of music that was banned by the Watertown School Board has been moved from Madison’s Minocqua Brewing Company Taproom to the 850-seat Barrymore Theatre on Thursday.
• The Watertown school board sparked a national backlash when they prohibited high school students from playing “A Mother of a Revolution!” at its spring concert because of the instrumental piece’s connection to the 1969 Stonewall rebellion. Hundreds turned out last week to see the piece’s composer, Omar Thomas, conduct a performance at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Watertown.
• Tickets for Thursday’s Barrymore performance are $25. While the musicians will mostly be non-students, the concert will raise money for the school band’s booster club.
• 🎧 Music to their ears! On the City Cast Madison podcast today, host Bianca Martin and executive producer Hayley Sperling talk about the concert. Plus, Hayley provides some important but definitely icky news about tick season this summer, and Bianca talks about interviewing a bonafide U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo, onstage at Overture Center! [🔒WSJ, WPR, Library of Congress, Eventbrite, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

🚨 Monona Police Use New ‘Grappler’ To Stop High-Speed Chase

• Monona Police used a new device known as a “grappler” to halt a high-speed chase on Highway 51 Sunday night.
• The department is one of only a few in the country to use grapplers, which are essentially a net attached to a tether on the front of a police vehicle. When deployed, the net becomes entangled in the pursued vehicle’s rear tires and axle.
• Some context: A 2024 Cap Times investigation found that Monona Police pursued more cars of any Dane County department, and had the most instances of crashes and fatalities. [News 3, Spectrum News, Cap Times]

💸 Facing $15M Deficit, Dane County May Hike Park Fees

• Dane County park reservation fees and permits may see their largest hike in a decade as the county faces a $15 million budget shortfall.
• Many of the permits would be priced differently for Dane County residents and non-residents. For example, dog permits would rise to $46 to $55 for residents, and to $96 for non-residents. Disc golf tournament fees would rise from $200 to $350.
• Parks officials say the increases would result in an additional $100,000 in revenue. A public hearing is scheduled for June 10. [Cap Times, Dane County Parks]

⬆️ Last Week’s Photo

This science station is located inside Zuzu Cafe!

🥳 Congratulations to Samantha S., Kristin M., and Jackie K. for being the first three people to guess correctly!

⬇️ This Week’s Photo

Where is this bench and Art Deco bronze lamps located? A few clues:

• It’s downtown
• It’s outside a government building that’s been in the news a lot lately
• I hope your guess is on the right ‘trak!