🍸 Doing Dry January? These cocktails are for you.

🗳️ Ald. Myadze Misses Re-Election Filing Deadline

• Madison Ald. Charles Myadze, who is facing eight felony charges of domestic violence, will not be on the ballot for re-election in the spring.
• Myadze missed the Jan. 7 filing deadline for an incumbent and cannot file as a candidate in the April 1 election. As a result, the city has extended the filing deadline for other District 18 candidates until Jan. 10. [Ch. 3000]

🚒 South Side Fire Station Closing For Redevelopment

• Madison Fire Station No. 6 on Badger Road will close Thursday, with personnel and equipment moved to a temporary station on Fish Hatchery Road.
• The Badger Road property will be converted into a child care center for Madison College’s South Campus. A new permanent South Side station will be completed by late 2026 or early 2027. [🔒WSJ]

🏠 New $20 Million Grant Will Fund Home Energy Upgrades

• The city has received a $20 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency that will tackle one barrier to housing affordability – home energy costs.
• The grant will expand and complement community projects by Sustain Dane, Urban Triage, and other organizations to provide energy efficiency upgrades to Madison homes, leading to reduced energy bills and climate pollution. The goal is to make those improvements free for income-approved single and multi-family homes.
• Related: Need help making your home winter proof? Home maintenance maven and social media superstar Mercury Stardust joined the City Cast Madison podcast to share their tips for getting your house or apartment ready for the cold months. [City of Madison, City Cast Madison 🎧]

Whether you call them “mocktails,” “free spirits,” or “zero proof,” non-alcoholic cocktails, beer, and wine are having a moment right now. We’re in the midst of Dry January, the U.S. Surgeon General urges anti-cancer warnings on bottles of alcohol, and many people are discovering they can enjoy N/A drinks that are as complex and satisfying as their alcoholic counterparts without the negative side effects.

Listen to Merchant bar manager Jaiden Desens and Erika Yanke, a lead bartender at Lucille and Merchant, talk to Bianca Martin on the City Cast Madison podcast today about why they’re prioritizing N/A cocktails on their menu. Plus, here’s a few more places where you can get N/A drinks in Madison, along with some of their signature drinks.

Lucille

Come for the wood-fired pizza, stay for the N/A craft cocktail menu (just don’t call them “mocktails”), as well as an assortment of N/A beer and wine.

Signature N/A drink: Dream of summer drinks with the Pineapple Mint No-Jito.

Blind Shot Social Club

This spot hits a hole in one for both its indoor driving range and the largest N/A drink menu in Wisconsin. It’s especially strong on brunch cocktails, but has all-day N/A concoctions to suit every taste.

Signature N/A drink: The Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can’t Read, otherwise known as an N/A old fashioned.

Sober Social

Kristi Tanner started Wisconsin’s first NA bottle shop as a way to show that not drinking shouldn’t have to mean not socializing, with over 100 varieties of N/A wines, beers, and cocktails in its Middleton location.

Signature N/A drink: With so many options it’s hard to choose, but try a mushroom-fueled cocktail in a can from Little Saints.