📝 Your guide to Madison’s summer food festivals

🥩 Knoche’s is Back, Kind Of

• The owner of Athens Grill who partially revived the beloved meat shop business after its original owners retired in 2022 is opening a pop-up shop this summer selling Knoche's meat.
• The pop-up will open this Saturday outside Steve’s Wine Beer Spirits at 3618 University Ave. from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. They also plan to sell on June 15, July 6, July 20, Aug. 17, and Aug. 31. [Wisconsin State Journal]

😋 The Campaign for Free Lunch

• Madison Area Democratic Socialists of America and Freedom, Inc. have launched a campaign calling on the Madison Metropolitan School District to fund free school lunches for all students. As part of the effort, the groups are also fundraising to pay off the current $235,000 school meal debt the district is facing.
• “Collectively, MMSD families today owe over $235,000 in unpaid lunch debt and students are forced to skip lunch and go hungry every day,” Madison Area DSA said in a statement. “Switching to universal free school lunches is an equity-based, moral demand of our school district that has numerous benefits, including improved educational outcomes and behavior.” [Spectrum News, Madison DSA]

⚖️ Your Lunchtime Read: Act 10 Is Back in Court. Here Are the Stakes for Wisconsin Unions.

• “Critics of the law want Act 10 to be tossed out, arguing it unfairly divides public sector workers. The case is likely to dig up long-standing arguments about the law and its effectiveness, with considerable stakes for the state.Regardless of how Dane County Circuit Court Judge Jacob Frost rules, the matter is likely to be appealed to the state Supreme Court.Striking down Act 10 could reverse a marked decline in the state’s union participation rate over the last 10-plus years, as well as the impacts this has had on the state's workforce.”
• Dig deeper: Last year, the City Cast Madison podcast took a deep dive into the revived repeal effort. [Cap Times, City Cast Madison 🎧]

The 2024 tornado season has been the most active in U.S. history. According to the National Weather Service, more than 800 tornadoes have been reported nationwide. April alone saw at least 300 tornadoes, the second-highest since 2011. Despite these numbers, there’s some possible relief: AccuWeather predicts fewer overall tornadoes in 2024 than in 2023.

But tornado behavior is changing, which experts say could have major consequences. A larger number of tornadoes now occur on the same day or in fewer days than before, and occur earlier in the spring. The “tornado alley” reference, which spanned from the Dakotas to western Colorado and down to Texas, may be outdated. The most destructive tornadoes are shifting east, such as in Illinois and Pennsylvania, and further south, like in Tennessee. April’s record-setting numbers were most numerous in central states.

While it’s not clear if climate change is contributing to these changes, what is certain is that more communities will be forced to build infrastructure and adopt new protocols to mitigate a tornado’s effects.

Madison's Best Summer Food Fests: Bust Out the Elastic Jorts

We’ve entered summer food festival season! From brats to strawberries to gluten-free fare — we’ve got it all. City Cast Madison podcast host Bianca Martin chats with Cap Times food editor Lindsay Christians, who’s been covering the upcoming Madison-area food festivals. Plus, we get a preview of new and soon-to-come local restaurants.