Plus, a new wrinkle for John Nolen construction ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
Friday, August 28 

Your Daily Guide

Good morning, Madison! I’ve been telling you all week about how important the City Cast Madison Neighbors program is to help us do our work. I wanted to shout out the folks who became members this week. Welcome aboard to Diane C., Maureen M-B., Lily C., April S. and Chris G.!

And a special welcome back to Lauren B., who rejoined us as a City Cast Madison Neighbor! Lauren wrote us just the nicest note about what City Cast Madison means to her:

"I became a neighbor because local journalism is crucial to staying informed and empowered. Madison was made for a podcast like City Cast. Bianca, Hayley, Rob, and Jade bring warmth, compassion, and depth, while simultaneously staying impressively on top of hot news. If I could hug a podcast, it would be City Cast Madison."

We’d hug you right back, Lauren! Thanks for being there for us! If City Cast Madison has become a part of how you connect with Madison each day, why not join Laura and become a City Cast Madison Neighbor?

Become a member today!

What Madison's Talking About

An aerial photo of John Nolen Drive.

Beginning on Sept. 1, southbound motorists on Broom Street won’t be able to turn left onto John Nolen Drive. (City of Madison)

🚗 New Traffic Pattern For John Nolen Drive: Starting on Sept. 1, southbound traffic on Broom Street will not be able to turn left onto John Nolen Drive as part of the latest phase of the reconstruction project. That left turn will be closed until spring 2027. [City of Madison]

🏈 UW Opens $285M Indoor Athletic Center: Featuring a 120-yard indoor football field, sports medicine areas, and training and conditioning facilities, the new Kellner Family Athletic Center opened this week on the UW-Madison campus.

  • Construction on the second phase of the athletic center and on a new engineering building means fans should expect to take a little extra time getting to Camp Randall for of the six Badger home games this fall, beginning with the Sept. 12 game against the Western Illinois Leathernecks. Most notably, pedestrians will not be able to walk to the stadium under the Memorial Arch. [WMTV, 🔒Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

🏫 New Position Connects Centro Hispano and Madison Schools: A new joint position between Centro Hispano and MMSD aims to strengthen Latino students’ sense of belonging, identity, and academic success in school. Arturo Ambriz is Centro Hispano’s new associate director of family, youth, and community engagement.

🎒Welcome, New and Returning UW-Madison Students! No offense, but we are not going anywhere near campus this weekend while you move into the residence halls Aug. 29-31. [UW-Madison]

📚Remembering Dolly, One Free Book at a Time: Along with being a country music icon, Dolly Parton was a dedicated philanthropist, including giving hundreds of millions of free books to kids through her Imagination Library project. Madison Reading Project was the local partner for the endeavor in Dane and Sauk counties, and Sarah Burke is on the City Cast Madison podcast today talking about running the partnership and Dolly’s legacy.

  • Also on the pod, local entrepreneur and former Alder Scott Resnick talks with host Bianca Martin about executive producer Hayley Sperling about the mayor’s race heating up. Plus, Hayley digs out the most important moments in a city meeting about how the Corey Ruiz encampment was handled, and, in our members-only segment, should Madison students go back to pen and paper? [Madison Reading Project, 🎧 City Cast Madison]
PODCAST

Mayoral Race Heats Up, Dolly Parton's Legacy, and City Leaders' Encampment Response

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Friday Floof

A tan and white dog rolls on the floor.

Ivy is head over heels for her humans! (Photo by Lisa P.)

Meet Ivy! She’s 2.5 years old and a rescue who is supposed to be 51% Great Pyrenees but is mostly a goofball. Every morning, she makes a sound that roughly translates to “I wuv you.” Her people wish that everybody could have an Ivy kind of day. Us too 😍

Share your pet pics with us!
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We don't do one-size-fits-all. We do what fits your specific financial needs with one-on-one, face-to-face business and consumer banking… like it should be. Where will you be in 5, 10, 25 years? Let's plan together. That journey starts at Oak Bank.

What To Do

Friday, Aug. 28

Saturday, Aug. 29

More Madison Events

📰 Extra! Extra! Can you believe the Orton Park Festival has been going on for over 60 years? The east side festival returns tonight and runs through Sunday. Come for Family Night on Friday with a picnic in the park with multiple food vendors, then Saturday and Sunday are packed with great music.

I really want to catch Orton Park favorites The Sadies (2:45 p.m. Saturday) and Chicago power-poppers Sharp Pins (7 p.m. Saturday). But take my advice and get there early to see Madison-born singer-songwriter Jane Hobson (1:15 p.m. Saturday) 🎸

– Rob Thomas

✏️ Thanks to Hayley Sperling and Elizabeth Kauma for editing this week’s newsletter!

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