Your Daily Guide

👮 New High in Wisconsin ICE Arrests: There was an 82% increase in arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Wisconsin from May to June this year and arrest rates remained high in July. Arrests were highest at the end of June when ICE was conducting an operation where they arrested roughly 80 people over four days. [🔒Wisconsin State Journal]

• Three Wisconsin trucking schools lost their accreditation as part of the Trump administration immigration crackdown. The administration accuses the schools of certifying drivers who don’t meet federal qualifications for English proficiency. [WPR]

🗳️ Meet District One’s New (Interim) Alder: After District 1 Ald. John Duncan resigned to move away from Madison, the Common Council’s executive committee had to select an interim alder. This week, they unanimously choose Devine Nzegwu, a credit analyst at John Deere Financial, to serve as an alder until the election in April. [City of Madison, WKOW, Instagram]

🚒 Madison Has a New Ambulance: The Madison Fire Department now has a 10th ambulance in service for the downtown district. That area has increasingly needed more emergency medical services, so the city hopes this will help meet that demand. [City of Madison]

🍼 Wisconsin’s Black Infant Mortality Crisis: Wisconsin is regularly ranked as the worst state for the survival rate of Black babies in their first year of life. In the most recent publicly available data, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported an infant mortality rate of 12.5 deaths for every 1,000 births for Black babies and 4.8 deaths for every 1,000 births for white babies. [The Cap Times]

🧑‍🎨 AI Controversy at MMoCA: The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art is facing criticism for a sculpture that has yet to be unveiled. The sculpture “Diffuse Control,” by the digital artist Beeple uses AI and viewer input to manipulate art from the museum’s collection and generate graphics displayed on the sculptures’ 12 large screens. The City Cast Madison team talks about the backlash to the sculpture and the open letter condemning the museum for bringing the piece to Madison. [City Cast Madison 🎧]

Say hello to Frankie 👋 Frankie comes to Madison from Houston, where he was rescued after their last hurricane. Frankie’s humans say he is a great protector on their farm and his daddy’s favorite joy!