🏈 See red in Madison with our Badger tailgating tips

💰Get Your Budget Questions Answered

• Both the City of Madison and Dane County are holding public sessions this week about their respective budgets.
• The city will host a virtual “Ask Me Anything” session at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 11 with Madison Finance Director Dave Schmiedicke and staff. They’ll answer questions about the city’s 2025 budget and the proposed budget referendum. Residents can ask questions during the session, or submit questions in advance. (Put “Budget AMA” in the subject line.)
• Meanwhile, the Dane County Board of Supervisors will host two public hearings at 6 p.m. on Sept. 11 and 12 to hear budget questions from individual departments. The sessions can be attended either in person or virtually. [City of Madison, Dane County Government]

🔥 Pocan is Pokin’ at Van Orden

• Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan says he enjoys working with his fellow Republicans in Congress, but he’ll make an exception for Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Prairie du Chien. Pocan hasn’t been shy about trolling Van Orden on social media, mentioning him 35 times on his X social media account in August alone.
• “Derrick Van Orden is unique and he's an embarrassment to Wisconsin just by having him serve in Congress,” Pocan told the Cap Times. For his part, Van Orden called Pocan a “creepy internet stalker” in a statement. [Cap Times]

👮 Barnes Calls for SROs Back in Schools

• With last week's school shooting in Georgia again putting school safety in the national spotlight, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes called for the reinstatement of school resource officers (SROs) in Madison schools.
• “[SROs] are a deterrent to potential threats, they foster positive interactions with students, and they are poised to react swiftly in the event of an emergency,” Barnes wrote.
• Critics of the SRO program say that having police officers in schools does little to address serious crime, and increases the number of children, especially Black children, referred to the criminal justice system. [NPR, WKOW, Cap Times]

🐍 For this week's sssuper ssspecial edition of Take Me Home Tuesday, Dane County Humane Society would like you to meet Voltage. This sneaky snake was found in Sun Prairie and brought to the shelter earlier this month. After failed attempts to find Voltage's family, DCHS is now looking for a new home for this ball python. Voltage obviously has a curious and adventurous spirit, but also enjoys curling up in warm spots.

Voltage is looking for a new aquarium to slither off to and explore. If you're a fan of reptiles and are interested in meeting this snake, ask for them in DCHS's Adoption Center as they're staying toasty in a nonpublic area of the shelter.