📝 Hate speech spreads, protests persist

🚫 Hateful Messages Spread on Campus

• Anonymous individuals drew antisemitic chalk messages endorsing Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Hamas on the Capitol Square over the weekend. The perpetrators, who were photographed in the act by the Daily Cardinal student newspaper, did not claim to be part of any student group but on Monday, UW-Madison issued a statement saying two registered student organizations are being investigated for the act. The groups, Mecha de UW Madison and Anticolonial Scientists, have also received interim suspension notices.
• Meanwhile, Islamaphobic graffiti was spotted near Langdon Street Monday. The messages have been reported to the Madison Police Department and the university.
• The bigger picture: These instances of hate occurred as UW students enter their second week of protesting war in the Middle East. The protests have been largely peaceful with the exception of a police raid on the student encampment last week, in which multiple students, staff members, and police officers were injured.
• Staff speak out: Over the weekend, the UW chapter of United Faculty and Academic Staff condemned the university’s use of police force to disperse the encampment. Jewish staff and students have gathered more than 300 signatures on a letter supporting Gaza and condemning the use of police on the encampment. On Monday, more than 200 students, faculty, and staff marched on campus in support of Palestinian liberation and students’ rights to protest.
• Dig deeper: Madison has a unique connection to Gaza.[Daily Cardinal, Tone Madison, Badger Herald, City Cast Madison 🎧]

🗒️ MMSD Wants Your Feedback

• It’s budget season for Madison Schools and the district is looking for feedback, specifically when it comes to its facilities. MMSD will host several events this month to discuss what needs to be done across its many buildings and where the district’s priorities stand. Each event will discuss facilities specific to its attendance area, the first one is tonight at Vel Phillips Memorial High School.
• You can check out the full meeting schedule here. [MMSD]

🗳️ County Board Appoints Supervisor in District 7

• County Board Chair Patrick Miles has appointed Erin Welsh to represent District 7, which has been left vacant since the resignation of former supervisor Cecely Castillo in March. District 7 covers much of Madison’s West Side around Lake Wingra, including the Monroe Street area.
• Welsh is an attorney who works as the Deputy Director of the Office of Crime Victim Services. The issues at the top of her agenda include affordable housing, mental health and crisis intervention, and protecting natural resources. The full County Board will vote to approve her appointment. [Dane County, Madison Minutes]

For this installment of Take Me Home Tuesday, the Dane County Humane Society would like you to meet Nyx.

Nyx is a friendly adult cat who knows what she loves: getting pets (especially chin scratches and belly rubs), munching on yummy treats, and playing with wand toys. She also enjoys the finer things in life like sunbathing and sitting in windows watching the wildlife outside. Nyx enjoys being around people and will run to greet you, but she wants to have her human attention and affection all to herself, so she’s looking for a home where she can be the only feline.

Nyx is one of about a dozen black cats currently waiting at DCHS to find their new families. You can learn more about Nyx or the other black cats here.

Side note: My best friend is a black cat named Ozzy who came from DCHS. Whoever said black cats are bad luck was seriously misinformed!

Madison’s Most Famous (Bad) Date

The dating scene can be brutal. However, even a bad date might produce a good story, or in Ann Garvin's case, a viral one. The local author recently wrote a personal essay for Madison Magazine about a night gone terribly wrong when her date made a boldly ageist comment.