🍔 The iconic Plazaburger is back!

✈️ Was Airport Director AWOL During the Pandemic?

• An investigation of retiring Dane County Regional Airport director Kim Jones found that she was routinely unavailable to make key decisions, including when Southwest Airlines officials considered expanding service to the airport.
• Three top airport officials complained to county leadership about Jones’ performance, leading to a three-month investigation in 2023 that corroborated 12 complaints against her. Investigators found that Jones waited weeks to respond to queries, favored some employees over others, and appeared to lie to officials about a position she created for a preferred candidate.
• Jones denied all the complaints and is retiring in April. [ 🔒WSJ]

🎒Overcrowding at Kennedy Elementary Getting ‘Untenable’

• Parents and staff at Kennedy Elementary School on Madison’s east side are pleading with school district leaders to deal with the school’s overcrowding issue.
• Attendance at the school has grown from 500 students in 2016 to 580 students this year, making it the second-largest elementary school in the Madison Metropolitan School District. Parents say the school is over capacity, leaving little room for student therapy or small group instruction.
• Related: In an executive order last week, President Donald Trump targeted a MMSD policy supporting all gender identities, Superintendent Joe Gothard said the district would not be making any changes in reaction to Trump’s order, which threatens to withhold federal funding for schools. [Cap Times, Daily Cardinal]

🏠 Changes Coming For Eviction Protection Program

• City and county officials say a local policy created during the pandemic that helps lower-income renters facing eviction faces reduced funding as federal support runs out.
• The Eviction Diversion and Defense Partnership works with several organizations to provide legal help, rent payments, and other support. Most of the federal money that funds the program has been spent, and what’s left must be spent by Sept. 30. City officials are looking for other sources of revenue, but say such funding will likely be much less than in the past.
• Dig deeper: One way to combat eviction? Lawyers. [City of Madison, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

Meet Pico! An eight-month-old sweetheart who knows Spanish, Pico is a high-energy pup who enjoys chasing after balls and toys and running around the yard. He gets a little jumpy when excited, but redirects pretty easily with treats. He loves to snuggle, and snores when he snoozes. Car rides make him a little nervous, and he’d love to find a patient family with teens and older who will work with him on his confident and puppy etiquette.