📝 Joe Biden stops in Wisconsin (again)

💻 What Joe Biden Said in Wisconsin

• Speaking of political spotlight, President Joe Biden was in Sturtevant, Wisconsin Wednesday stumping for his campaign and touting Microsoft’s plan to develop a multi-billion dollar artificial intelligence data center in the southeastern Wisconsin city that was once set to be the home of a Foxconn manufacturing center. (There’s not enough room in this email to talk about Foxconn but if you want to learn more about that whole ordeal, start here.)
• Biden highlighted his economic successes saying Wisconsin lost 83,500 jobs under former President Donald Trump but gained 178,000 since he took office. The Microsoft deal is expected to bring 2,000 union construction jobs to the area by the end of this year.
• This latest stop marks Biden’s fourth trip to Wisconsin this year and comes just one week after Trump was in Waukesha County. [WisPolitics, The Verge, Gov. Evers]

🚨 UWPD Investigating Possible Hate Crime at Library Mall

• UW-Madison Police are investigating three reports of violence on Library Mall this month. One incident involved a student displaying a pro-Israel sign who was allegedly approached by an unknown person with a knife who said “Jews shouldn’t be on campus.” UWPD is investigating the event as a possible hate crime.
• Meanwhile, organizers of the pro-Palestine encampment on Library Mall have continued to meet with UW administrators to discuss terms of an agreement for both sides. The university’s main priority is removing the encampment; Student protesters are asking that the university “invests ethically, with a foundation for further student and community input, in line with the Wisconsin Idea & shared governance.” But conversations broke down Wednesday with no resolution.
• At the city level, Madison’s City Council failed to pass a resolution stating their support for the pro-Palestianian protesters at the encampment after more than an hour of discussion. The council has previously passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East but this resolution failed with an 8-8 tie. [UWPD, Badger Herald, WMTV, Madison365]

🎤 Madison Has a New Spokesperson and You Know Him

• Longtime Madison journalist Dylan Brogan has been named the City of Madison’s first-ever communications manager. This is a new civil service role that City Council approved in the 2024 operating budget in effort to better inform and engage residents about local government activities.
• Dylan has years of journalism experience in the city and is also a born and raised Madisonian. He has countless bylines at Isthmus and WORT, but most recently he has been a part of the City Cast team producing podcasts for Madison and beyond. His favorite episode? This winter classic. Congrats and good luck, Dylan! [Wisconsin State Journal, City Cast Madison 🎧]

Vitruvian Farms Takes Local Produce to the Next Level

If you’ve ever been grocery shopping and wondered where the eggs or produce come from, we want to tell you about a grocery that delivers the ultimate local food shopping experience. It’s at Vitruvian Farms who now offers an on-site grocery store located right on their McFarland farm run by Tommy Stauffer and Shawn Kuhn. Host Bianca Martin sat down with Stauffer to learn about their new retail venture, and some of the 300 local products offered at this one of a kind grocery.