📝 Is it time for a state butterfly?

💼 Goodbye Dane Co. Joe

• Dane County Supervisor Joe Parisi announced his retirement Wednesday after more than a decade in office. Parisi was first elected County Executive in April 2011 and prior to that served as Dane County Clerk and a representative in the State Assembly. His retirement takes effect next May. [Dane County]
• Some context: Dane County’s elected leaders oversee major projects and initiatives including the jail, Henry Vilas Zoo, Dane County Regional Airport, Alliant Energy Center, and landfill and lake management. [Madison Minutes]

🏫 UW-Madison Enrollment Breaks 50k

• For the first time in its 175-year history, enrollment at UW-Madison has surpassed 50,000 students. The state’s flagship university received a record-breaking number of applications from prospective freshmen and transfer students this year. This comes at a time when other UW System schools have struggled to recruit students. [Cap Times]

🚙 Homecoming Road Closures

• The UW-Madison homecoming parade is tomorrow. The parade will start on the corner of Gilman Street and Wisconsin Avenue at 6 p.m. then make its way to State Street, and end on Lake Street around 7:30 p.m. [UW-Madison]
• Langdon Street between N. Lake Street and Wisconsin Ave.; Henry and Carroll streets between Gilman and Langdon streets; and Wisconsin Avenue north of Gilman street will all close Oct. 6 at 4 p.m. Metro Transit will also have detours that evening. [City of Madison]

💟 Your Lunchtime Read: Post-Roe family planning in Madison

• This week, Madison Minutes and Tone Madison won a national journalism award for our collaborative reporting on family planning in Madison following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling. This series was a major undertaking for both of our tiny newsrooms. Personally, I’m incredibly proud to share this award with the talented journalists at Tone and to share these stories with you. [Tone Madison]
• Extra shout out to our friends at Wisconsin Watch who also won awards for their reporting on gender-affirming care in Wisconsin!  [LION]

Thursday, Oct. 5

• Book Release Party | Heather Swan & J.L. Conrad at Garver Feed Mill
• Ellen Hopkins: Author Talk & Book Signing at Sequoya Library
• From Bandstand to Broadway with Johnny Rodgers at The Bur Oak
• Insidious at Crucible
• The Lemon Twigs at Majestic Theatre
• Music Bingo at Starkweather Brewing Company
• Wright Design: What are we Missing in our Efforts to Curb Global Warming at Monona Terrace
• Zacc Harris Group at Arts + Literature Laboratory

End of an Era for Iconic Willy St Bakery

Nature’s Bakery, an iconic Madison institution, has closed. The ovens went quiet, the brick building on Willy Street has been sold, the workers who owned the business have left.

Tessa Echeverria was a worker-owner of the business for eight years and is now on its Board of Directors. Tessa came back to help lay the company to rest and tells us what happened.