🚌 Flash your plastic and ride the bus

🚌 Using Your Credit Card To Ride the Bus? Priceless.

• Metro Transit passengers can now pay for bus rides by swiping physical contact-free MasterCard or Visa credit cards. The buses already accept mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
• The change means riders won’t have to prepay for rides or create an online account ahead of time. To receive transfers and discounts, riders should use the same credit card every time they pay. [City of Madison]

🧑‍⚖️ High Court Amends Governor’s Partial Veto Powers

• With the end of its term looming on June 30, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices issued a flurry of high-profile rulings this week. In addition to siding with Department of Natural Resources regulators over the cleanup of PFAs, the court unanimously ruled Wednesday that the governor’s expansive partial veto powers do not extend to bills that don’t include funding but dictate how money can be spent.
• The GOP-controlled Wisconsin Senate has passed several such bills, saying they don’t trust Evers’ partial veto pen and will add funding only after they’ve been signed. The court also declined to hear a challenge from Democrats to the state’s congressional district maps.
• 🎧 Dig deeper: The City Cast Madison team gets into the court’s busy, busy week on the Friday news roundup. We also talk about all the flooding this week, and the good news and bad news for those who support properly funding education. Give it a listen! [🎧 City Cast Madison, WPR, Cap Times, WQOW]

🎨 Willy Street Art Center Rises From the Ashes

• Nine years after the original building was destroyed in a fire, the Williamson Street Art Center will open its doors this weekend at 1020 Williamson St.
• The center now includes dozens of pieces of art made from materials left behind in the 2016 fire, director Sharon Kilfoy said. The center will have open houses Friday through Sunday, featuring three floors of art on display and for sale as well as a community mosaic garden. [WMTV]

A couple of weeks ago on the Friday Floof, we met Simon the cat. Today, we get to know Simon’s partner in crime, Watson (aka “Ms. Beans.”) While 11-year-old Watson is wary of new people and things (same, Watson, same), she’ll fall asleep in your lap once she gets to know you a bit (same, Watson, same). She purrs like an engine and makes everything better. Just don’t delay her 5 p.m. wet food dinner, or she’ll stare daggers at you like you slapped her.