🔥 Shelters need help during heat waves

⛪ Churchkey Gets Resurrected, and Pink Flamingo Opens

• Just days after Churchkey Bar & Grill announced it would be closing after 50 years, the University Avenue bar has apparently reversed course and decided to stay open.
• The bar is currently closed for renovations but intends to reopen in time for the first UW Badgers football game on Aug. 28. No reason was given by the owners for either why they announced they were closing or why they had second thoughts.
• Now open (for sure) at 638 State St. is the Pink Flamingo Brunch Cafe, a new breakfast spot. The second-floor restaurant will serve locally-sourced brunches as well as empanadas and an oyster bar. [ 🔒WSJ, Instagram]

🥵 Homeless Shelters Need Bottled Water Donations

• With another heat advisory on Monday and plenty of summer left, Madison homeless shelters are asking for donations of bottled water. Porchlight officials say they’ve been taking in over 300 people a night this summer.
• Porchlight donations can be dropped off at 2002 Zeier Rd. between 4 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. weekdays; the shelter is also looking for bug spray, sunscreen, and summer clothing donations. Donations to The Beacon can be dropped off at 615 E. Washington Ave. between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., and the shelter is looking for volunteers to help with food and laundry services.
• Advocacy groups are pressing city and county officials to devote more resources to serving those without homes, as planned cutbacks to federal housing programs would roll back services in Dane County. [WMTV, Porchlight, Beacon, Cap Times]

🍎 UW Extension’s FoodWIse Ending After Funding Cuts

• FoodWIse, a UW Extension program that provides nutritional education to 35,000 low-income Wisconsinites and community organizations annually, will end in September after the Trump administration zeroed out its funding.
• In operation for 30 years, FoodWIse was funded by the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). The “One Big, Beautiful Bill” signed by President Donald Trump eliminated all SNAP-ed funding.
• UW Extension has begun the layoff process for more than 90 employees. [WMTV]

You may love your local independent bookstore, but do you love it enough to adopt it? When Augie McGinnity-Wake heard that State Street stalwart Paul’s Book Store was closing after 70 years, he bought 2,000 books from its inventory.

The store owner threw in some shelves, and McGinnity-Wake ended up starting his own online bookstore, Augie’s Books, in his basement. On the City Cast Madison podcast today, executive producer Hayley Sperling talks to McGinnity-Wake about keeping the spirit of Paul’s alive through his new venture.

Here are a few other locally-owned independent bookstores that inspire that same level of devotion from Madison bibliophiles. Be sure to check out our map of all these cool spots on Overlook Maps, as well as our other Madison maps!

A Room of One’s Own

At The Decemberists’ show at the Orpheum Theatre last weekend, singer Colin Meloy bemoaned that he couldn’t find Madison’s historic feminist bookstore in its longtime location on Gorham Street.

But don’t fret, Colin! A Room of One’s Own just relocated to a beautiful new space on Atwood Avenue. The store remains welcoming to all, but is particularly centered on being a home for the LGBTQ+ community in troubled political times.

Mystery to Me

Two longtime employees of this beloved Monroe Street store bought it from founding owner Joanne Berg last fall. While the store has an extensive mystery-thriller collection — as the name implies — it also includes plenty of general fiction and non-fiction books, and a children’s section created with a grant from bestselling author James Patterson.

Lake City Books

This charming garden-level bookstore has a dynamite location on North Hamilton Street just off the Capitol Square, a perfect oasis to browse the well-curated collection of new and used books, along with cards, puzzles, and Madison-themed gifts.

Ink & Ivy Book Boutique

Madison’s newest bookstore is a family affair, started on Regent Street by the mother-daughter duo of Shannon and Eden Anderson. The cozy store features a curated selection of books, artwork and learning toys, and aims to make itself especially welcoming to young readers.

⬆️ Last Week’s Photo

This mural is at the Dane County Regional Airport!

🎉 Congratulations to Julie R., Ashley R., and Gwen J. for being the first three people to guess right!

⬇️ This Week’s Photo

Do you know where this mural is located? A few clues:

• It’s on the east side of Madison
• It’s just around the corner from another recent Where Is It entry.
• It’s on the wall of the building of an organization that does a lot for the “common” good.