🚨 Abundant Life shooter’s father arrested

🚨 Abundant Life Shooter’s Father Charged With Felonies

• Jeffrey Rupnow, the father of 15-year-old Abundant Life School shooter Natalie Rupnow, was arrested Thursday and charged with multiple felonies in connection with the tragedy, in which a student and teacher were killed and several others injured. One student remains hospitalized from the incident.
• Rupnow was charged with intentionally selling a dangerous weapon to a person under the age of 18 and contributing to the delinquency of a child.
• A California man, Alexander Paffendorf, who authorities said exchanged messages online with Natalie Rupnow was barred from owning or possessing firearms for three years last month, but is not expected to be charged with any crimes. [WPR, News 5 San Diego]

🎭 Funding Cuts Stun Madison Arts Organizations

• Madison arts organizations, including Madison Opera and Li-Chiao Ping Dance, were blindsided by the news that already-promised funding from the National Endowment for the Arts was being cancelled by the Trump administration.
• Madison Opera general director Kathryn Smith said she found out that the opera’s $25,000 grant had been canceled 10 minutes before the company’s production of “Don Giovanni” opened last Friday. The nationwide cuts were called a “Friday night massacre” by American Theatre magazine, and targeted small- and mid-sized arts organizations.
• 🎧 Dig deeper: Also sweating federal funding cuts are public radio and television, and Wisconsin Public Radio has announced that layoffs are in the works. We get into it on the Friday news roundup on the City Cast Madison podcast today. Executive producer Hayley Sperling, host Bianca Martin, and I also talk about the spate of car-building collisions lately, and the revolving door that is the Madison restaurant scene. Listen in! [Cap Times, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

🥫 Madison College Expands Food Pantry To Meet Rising Need

• In order to support a growing number of food-insecure students, Madison College is expanding its food pantry. In 2024, the pantry helped 1,600 students and distributed 20,000 pounds of food and household supplies.
• The expanded pantry will include new shelving, emergency food lockers, and a refrigerator to distribute produce from the Madison College Gardens and Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens. There will also be a new Student Wellness Center to provide health programs.
• The Madison College Foundation will match donations up to $20,000 to the pantry’s Meals Appeals Campaign through May 12. [Madison365, Madison College]

Meet Rosie! Rosie is a rescue with a ton of heart. She was so shy when her owners first picked her up in Green Bay that she wouldn’t even look at them. But her true self started to shine once she got home, and now she loves snuggles and long walks at the dog park. At home, she’s living her best life watching reruns of “House” and sleeping on her pink bed, which is just a little too small for her.

When you become a City Cast Madison Neighbor, you’ll get all the new perks of our expanded membership program like the chance to shout out a local business, nonprofit, or some other cool Madison thing in our newsletter. Here are a few things our Neighbors are celebrating this week.

📣 Vanessa N. wanted to shout out Mother Nature's Diaper Service for making reusable diapers affordable, approachable, and reliable. “Give it a try!”

📣 Leah K. shouted out Operation Fresh Start! “Their work to empower young people in our community is inspiring. Makes me proud to live here.”

📣 Ru O. gave her shout out to Fair Wisconsin, which “informs people of anti-trans legislation, prints out thousands of emailed testimonies, and delivers them to public hearings.”

Got something or somebody you want to shout out? Become a City Cast Madison Neighbor today!