🚨 Why a city bus crashed into a restaurant

🚨 Bus Crashes Into Restaurant After Rider Attacks Driver

• A Madison Metro bus crashed into Asian House restaurant on Dempsey Road near Milwaukee Street Tuesday night after a passenger attacked the driver, causing him to lose control of the vehicle.
• Two people, including the driver, were treated for minor injuries, and one was taken to the hospital. The suspect, who allegedly began shoving the driver after learning the bus was not going to her desired stop, fled the scene. [City of Madison, Ch. 3000]

🏘️ City Council Okays Housing Reforms

• The Madison City Council approved a series of changes to the city’s zoning laws aimed at supporting different kinds of housing to deal with the city’s housing crisis.
• The package includes changes to how the city decides whether to demolish a building, and loosening restrictions on where a secondary building can be built on a property.
• Mayor Satya-Rhodes Conway introduced the changes last month, and talked on the City Cast Madison podcast this week about her vision to address Madison’s housing challenges. [City of Madison, 🔒 WSJ, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

🏥 Trump Budget Cuts Could Hurt UW Alzheimer’s Research

• A severe cut by the Trump administration in funding for medical research could hit UW-Madison’s research into Alzheimer’s disease the hardest. While the university gets National Institutes of Health funding for research into cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, five of the UW’s top 10 NIH grants involve dementia, including the top three.
• Wisconsin joined 21 other states in suing to block the cuts to so-called “indirect costs,” such as facilities construction and utility bills. A judge temporarily blocked the cuts.
• On the City Cast Madison podcast next Monday, host Bianca Martin talks about the impact of research funding cuts with Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery Director Jo Handelsman and Madeline Topf, co-president of the university’s graduate workers’ union. Subscribe today so you don’t miss out! [ 🔒 WSJ, 🎧City Cast Madison]

It’s (almost) March, and that means spring is here! I’m not saying that winter is done with us yet – this is Wisconsin, after all – but we’ve got warmer and rainier days in our forecast, and even a little bit of green.

It’s also a time when Madison is starting to get itchy to get outside and do things. Listen to the City Cast Madison podcast today as executive producer Hayley Sperling, host Bianca Martin, and I talk about what we’re most looking forward to seeing, doing, and eating this month. And below are a few more suggestions for your March madness.

🎉 Let the Good Times Roll

Overture Center’s International Festival returns on March 8 to take Madison around the world in a day. The daylong festival boasts 30 free live performances, from the UW Russian Folk Orchestra in Overture Hall to Son Del Atlantico Cuban fusion jazz in the lobby. Buy tasty food from Jakarta Cafe, Cafe Costa Rica, and more, and peruse arts and crafts for sale from many local vendors.

Get a head start on Mardi Gras by going to see Mama Digdown’s Brass Band bring New Orleans jazz to the High Noon on March 4. And New Orleans native Johnny Chimes will do a special Mardi Gras show at Middleton’s Big Easy-themed restaurant, Louisianne’s.

Wear your green when the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade marches around the Capitol Square on March 16. Madison Irish rockers the Kissers will play two shows at the High Noon Saloon on March 15. And call in sick for work Wednesday now if you plan to take in the annual St. Patrick’s Day Bar Crawl, starting at Camp Trippalindee.

UW-Madison students will be away on Spring Break on March 22-30, which is something to celebrate for locals looking for a little more elbow room at downtown concerts and restaurants!