📝 Gooooooooooooooal!

⚽ Futsal at Penn Park

• Madison officially has a futsal pitch. In 2023, the basketball and tennis courts at Penn Park were demolished due to their poor condition and have been replaced with two new full-size basketball courts and a futsal mini-pitch. The court area also got new seating, fencing, and lighting as part of the improvement.
• According to the city, Forward Madison FC and the Madison Parks Foundation are fundraising to bring additional mini-pitches to local Madison parks in the coming years.
• What’s futsal? It’s similar to soccer but played with a smaller ball and on a hard court. [Madison365]

⚖️ City Council President Urges Alder to Resign

• Content warning: This story contains descriptions of domestic violence.
• Following allegations of physical and emotional abuse by at least two women, City Council President Jael Currie has encouraged District 18 Ald. Charles Myadze to consider resigning. Myadze has “categorically” denied the accusations.
• Three top Democrats in the state also weighed in on the matter, calling Myadze’s denial “problematic.”
• “We believe in restorative justice and in the ability of people who have harmed others to successfully become leaders in their community. That privilege, however, requires accountability, making amends for the harm caused, and a genuine effort to change,” Madison-area Senators Kelda Roys, Melissa Agard, and Dianne Hesselbein, said in a joint statement. [Wisconsin State Journal, Madison365, WisPolitics]

🗳️ Votes (Re-) Counted In District 36

• A recount held Friday solidified the results of Dane County’s District 36 supervisor race. Cottage Grove Trustee David Peterson triumphed over Monona Grove School Board President Loreen Gage by five votes, upholding the election’s initial outcome.
• District 36 covers the eastern part of the county including parts of Monona and Cottage Grove. You can find your district here.
• Dig deeper: What does the county government do anyway? Find out from the guy who’s been running it for the past decade. [Wisconsin State Journal, Dane County, City Cast Madison 🎧]

👍 Vel Phillips Statue Gets Final Thumbs Up

• The State Capitol and Executive Residence Board recently granted the final approval needed to install a statue honoring Vel Phillips on the Wisconsin State Capitol grounds. The statue will be the first one at the state capitol to honor a person of color. An unveiling of the state is set for this June.
• Phillips was a politician, civil rights leader, and trailblazer who made history as the first Black American and woman elected to statewide office in Wisconsin, serving as the 29th Secretary of State. She was also the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and the first Black judge in Wisconsin.
• Dig deeper: Hear from Phillips’ son about why the statue matters. [Madison365, City Cast Madison 🎧]

How Jury Duty Works in Madison

Jury duty. America’s founders loved it. Many Americans try to avoid it.

But what’s it really like to serve on a jury? Do people actually get a jury “of their peers” here in Dane County? And if juries are so important, why do we have so few of them?