📝 Our new look

🐷 1 Small Step for Pigs

• The Board of Health for Madison and Dane County recently voted to change a city ordinance prohibiting pigs in Madison. The amendment allows Madison residents to own one pig as long as it’s under 24 inches tall, weighs less than 300 pounds, and is up to date with all required shots. City Council has the final say and it’s on the docket for next week. [Wisconsin State Journal]
• The move comes after local celebrity Rudi the Juliana miniature pig was told to leave his west-side home, sparking an outcry for change from the community. [Madison Magazine]

☕ Starbucks Workers Walk Out

• Employees of the State Street Starbucks staged a walkout last Thursday to protest insufficient staffing and poor working conditions. The strike wasn’t planned but after workers were told to open the store that day with an insufficient amount of staff, they made the decision to walk out. [The Badger Herald]
• “We are just continuously overwhelmed,” Starbucks shift supervisor and union organizer Matthew Cartwright said. “We don’t have the manpower. We don’t have the resources. And we’re getting basically no support from corporate.”
• Some context: The State Street shop is one of two unionized Starbucks stores in Madison. The team most recently went on strike in July as part of a nationwide protest against the company for removing Pride decorations in stores. [Cap Times]

💭 Have Thoughts on the County Budget?

• The Dane County Board of Supervisors is holding two public hearings on 2024 departmental budget requests. The first meeting is tonight and will cover departments including Public Health Madison and Dane County, the sheriff’s office, University Extension, and more. [Dane County]
• The details: The hearings will be held Sept. 11 and Sept. 13 at 6:00 p.m. with both virtual and in-person options.

♿ Your Lunchtime Read: Drawing the inaccessible bus stops of Metro Transit.

• “As a person with a physical disability, I have relied on public transportation my entire life in order to access work, school, groceries, healthcare, and social activities. I am not able to walk extended distances between stops, stand on a bus without seating, or wait outside for prolonged periods of time in heat or cold without consequences to my health. These issues, along with a lack of bus stops that are wheelchair-accessible, are just some of the issues that people with disabilities face in obtaining equitable transportation access.” [Tone Madison]

Monday, Sept. 11

• David Landau Kids Show at The Harmony Bar and Grill
• The Moth Madison: "Drive" Theme at High Noon Saloon

How We Know Wisconsin’s Maps are Gerrymandered

Princeton University’s Gerrymandering Project calls Wisconsin’s political maps “some of the most extreme partisan gerrymanders in the United States.” The U.S. Supreme Court declined to strike down Wisconsin’s political maps in 2018. But there are two new lawsuits asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to do so now.

Jordan Ellenberg, UW-Madison math professor, explains how he can prove Wisconsin’s maps are gerrymandered.