Your Daily Guide

🧒 Feds Turn Down Madison College For Child Care Aid: Madison College was denied $2 million in federal funding for child care support for student parents enrolled at the school. The college has received funding from the Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools program since 2005, and school officials say the denial puts 28 student parents with 34 children at risk of losing support. [Madison College]

💔 April Hills Would Rather Join McFarland than Madison: The McFarland Village Board will vote this week on whether or not to annex the subdivision of April Hills on Madison’s southeast side. The neighborhood is part of the village of Blooming Grove, which will officially dissolve in fall 2027, and April Hills residents say they’d prefer to join McFarland than be absorbed into Madison. [Cap Times]

🎒 Are Madison’s Elementary School Classes Too Small? More than one in five elementary classes in Madison schools are smaller than the district’s target goal of at least 15 students per class. Enrollment decreases may be the reason, as Madison schools are down more than 300 students compared to the 2025-26 school year. [Cap Times]

🎸This Coffee Shop Goes To 11: Not every coffee shop invites hard rock bands to its grand opening, but Death Drip Coffee at 4601 Monona Dr. opened Nov. 6 with a wail of feedback. The new coffee shop leans into a heavy metal theme, with a menu that includes drinks called “Kill the Ache” and “Burial Plot.” [Instagram]

🙏 Madison ‘Gratitesters’ Were Happy With the Midterms: The residents of a local retirement home took to the streets over the weekend not to protest, but to say thanks for last week’s election results, wielding hand-lettered signs reading “Thank You!” “This is the one of the most Madison things I’ve seen in a minute!” said one Redditor.

• ❓ What are you grateful for? We’re assembling a list of our favorite 1,000 things about Madison in honor of our upcoming 1000th episode. Tell us what deserves to be on the list! [Reddit, City Cast Madison]

🐱 Is That a Bobcat in That Tree? Sure looks like somebody saw one in the Blackhawk neighborhood! Super cute, but keep your distance! [Reddit]

Did you know that Wisconsin is the only U.S. state to not recognize Veterans Day as a state holiday? Veterans Day, however, is still a federal holiday, and there are plenty of ways that Madisonians are honoring those who served and remembering the fallen this Nov. 11.

Here’s what’s going on in Madison this Veterans Day, as well as the reason why it’s not a state holiday in Wisconsin.

😦 What Do You Mean, Veterans Day Isn’t a State Holiday?

The reasons behind that are complicated. Wisconsin had always been a strong supporter of Armistice Day, the worldwide occasion that celebrated the end of World War I. In the 1950s, the U.S. government renamed Armistice Day as Veterans Day to honor Americans who served in all wars. But Wisconsin stuck to observing Armistice Day, and while there were some efforts in the 1980s to add Veterans Day as a state holiday in Wisconsin, it did not gather enough support to pass.

Those efforts have resurfaced in recent years. In 2022 the Wisconsin Senate passed a bill to make Veterans Day a state holiday, but it has not come up for a vote in the Assembly. In his 2025-26 budget, Gov. Tony Evers included a provision that would make both Veterans Day and Juneteenth state holidays, but it was removed by the Republican-led Joint Finance Committee.

In 2025, a group of Democratic lawmakers introduced “The Veterans Promise,” which would align Wisconsin with the U.S. government’s observance of Veterans Day. But it was never approved by the Legislature.

🇺🇸 Observance in the Capitol

The annual Veterans Day observance in the Wisconsin Capitol Rotunda will take place on Nov. 11, hosted by the Madison Veterans Council at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. The program begins at 9:15 a.m. with a concert by the VFW 1318 Band, followed by a speakers’ program at 10 a.m.

☕ A Cup of Veterans Day Coffee

In honor of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum’s 125th Anniversary, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Nov. 11 the museum will be serving up free cups of a special 125th anniversary coffee blend, “Rood Awakenings,” in honor of the museum’s first leader and Civil War veteran Hosea Rood. The coffee was roasted by Kawkauna-based Operation Coffee, a veteran-owned business.

Meet Clem! Although initially very nervous and unsure of people, this 11-month-old pup has made wonderful progress with time, patience, and plenty of care! Clem is an affectionate, playful pup who loves following his people around, lounging nearby on the couch, and playing with his favorite toys.

Clem can still be a little shy when meeting new people and navigating unfamiliar situations, but with a patient adopter, a calm environment, and positive reinforcement, he's sure to keep growing in confidence! He'd love a quieter home (not an apartment, ideally) without other dogs, and any children in the home will need to be teens or older.