🧑‍⚖️ Phony political ads bankrolled by Musk

💰 Who’s Behind Those Deceptive Susan Crawford Ads? Elon.

• A group bankrolled by billionaire Elon Musk is behind misleading ads and text messages targeting Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford. The ads are crafted to look like messages of support for the progressive candidate, but claim she will “stand up for immigrants” and give criminals “second chances.”
• The ads purport to be from a group called “Progress 2028,” but are actually from a conservative group called Building America’s Future that counts Musk as one of its biggest donors.
• 🎧 Dig deeper: On the City Cast Madison podcast today, host Bianca Martin talks to Cap Times statehouse reporter Andrew Bahl about the statewide races on the April 1 ballot, including the Supreme Court race, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction race, and a constitutional amendment on Voter ID. [AP, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

🚨 UW-Madison Names New Police Chief

• Brent Plisch, who currently serves as interim police chief of the UW-Madison Police Department, was selected to be the permanent head of campus police. He will take office March 16.
• Plisch led UWPD’s response team in dismantling a pro-Palestinian encampment on Library Mall last spring. Faculty and students have criticized university leaders in sending police to take down the encampment.
• Why do universities need police departments anyway? A new podcast, “Reorientation,” looks at the checkered history of UWPD. [Ch. 3000, Cap Times, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

🎒 Are Staff Cuts on the Horizon for Madison Schools?

• Madison principals are hearing from school district administrators to expect staffing cuts in the 2025-26 school year. Madison School Board member Nicki Vander Meulen said some principals have notified staff that they may be out of a job or have to change schools according to district directives.
• The news comes four months after voters approved two tax referenda to boost funding for schools. A district spokesperson said the Madison School Board will discuss the potential changes at their meeting tonight. [Cap Times, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

Have you been paying attention to the news this past week? Take our five-question quiz and find out!

What long-running Madison restaurant briefly closed last week due to the “unimaginable,” and then reopened under the original owners?

• L’Etoile
• Mickie’s Dairy Bar
• Kavanaugh’s Esquire Club
• Culver’s