📝 UWPD clashes with protesters

🚨 UW Reviewing Career Fair Incident

• UW-Madison is investigating after a video posted online showed a UW-Madison Police officer pushing a pro-Palestine protester during a demonstration at an engineering career fair Tuesday.
• The students were protesting in opposition to the presence of companies BAE Systems, Caterpillar, and General Dynamics, which have manufactured and supplied weapons used by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza.
• UW said one person was cited and later released for disrupting the event and prohibiting students from meeting with recruiters. [Instagram, The Daily Cardinal]

🚫 Fitchburg Says ‘No’ to $46 Million Police Facility

• Fitchburg city officials are going back to the drawing board after its city council voted this week to reject design plans for a new 74,560-square-foot police facility.
• The issue: The Fitchburg Police Department currently operates out of the basement of City Hall at 5520 Lacy Road. The department says it has long outgrown the current space and a new facility is necessary to keep up with the growing city. Fitchburg ultimately budgeted $35 million for the facility in its 2024-2033 Capital Improvement Plan
• The proposal: In December, FGM Architects submitted a $49.2 design plan that was scaled back to the $46 million plan presented this week. The design highlighted sustainability features, wellness rooms, and tactical training area.
• The rejection: The meeting was highly attended and more than 50 people signed up for public comment, which grew tense at times. Many residents argued the plan felt rushed and that they'd prefer to invest the money in other areas of the community like housing and transportation. Freedom, Inc., a local nonprofit that works with low-income communities, circulated a petition against the facility, which garnered more than 1600 signatures. [Wisconsin State Journal, City of Fitchburg, Freedom Inc.]

💼 100+ Layoffs at Sheridan Wisconsin

• Sheridan Wisconsin, formerly known as Webcrafters, announced it will shutdown its facility on Fordem Avenue, resulting in the layoff of 116 employees. The company has a history in Madison dating back to the nineteenth century.
• In a letter to the state and the mayor’s office, the business billed the layoffs as the result of “significant downturn in business at the Madison location.” The facility will close for good in June. [Channel 3000]

Meet the Chef Who Brought Middle Eastern Cuisine to Madison

Sabi Atteyih ran Casbah and Lulu’s restaurants for years, bringing Middle Eastern flavors to Madison at a time when hummus wasn’t available on every grocery store shelf. After a stint at UW, he’s now the chef of Taza Mediterranean Kitchen in Middleton.