🚗 Willy Street’s rush-hour lanes on the chopping block

🏀 Five Former UW Players Sue Coach For Psychological Abuse

• Former UW-Madison women’s basketball coach Marisa Moseley has been sued by five of her former players in federal court for psychological abuse. The players – Lexi Duckett, Krystyna Ellew, Mary Ferrito, Tara Stauffacher, and Tessa Towers – say university officials responded to their concerns with “laissez-faire inaction.”
• The suit alleges that Moseley, who resigned in March, manipulated her players emotionally and mentally, including violating their privacy, retaliating against their protected speech and actions, and discriminating against them for their disabilities.
• Towers, who transferred to Ball State University in 2024, posted on social media in January that she was mistreated by Moseley, saying “I felt like I was like a lab rat for my coaches and staff.” [WKOW, Associated Press]

⚽ Women’s Soccer To Kick Off in Madison Next May

• The owners of Forward Madison FC announced over the weekend that a women’s soccer team will begin playing in Madison next year. The team will be part of the pre-professional United Soccer League’s women’s division, with players recruited from colleges.
• The team’s name has not yet been determined, and will play from May until mid-July at Breese Stevens Field. [Cap Times]

🚗 Would Removing Rush-Hour Lanes Fix Willy Street’s Crash Problem?

• As city traffic officials grapple with how to address a rash of vehicular accidents on Williamson Street, such as one that damaged the front of Mother Fool’s Coffee House in May, the Transportation Committee has an idea: Get rid of the rush-hour lanes.
• Between 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on weekdays, the city opens a second eastbound lane on Willy Street to accommodate rush hour traffic heading away from downtown. A majority of the crashes on the street in the last five years have happened during this time period, officials said.
• Committee members recommended that staff look into a trial run of removing the lanes. [WORT, Isthmus]

If you haven’t caught disc fever in Madison, there’s no better time than this weekend. On Aug. 22 and 23, Breese Stevens Field will be home to the Ultimate Frisbee Association’s Championship Weekend, in which the top four teams in the UFA league will compete for the top title.

Having Madison host the championships is a testament to the strength of disc sports in Madison, from fans packing the stands to watch the Madison Radicals play to athletes joining their own disc sports leagues. On the City Cast Madison podcast today, executive producer Hayley Sperling talks to Pete Schramm of the Madison Ultimate Frisbee Association about how the sport has caught fire.

Here’s a quick primer to help you disc-over disc sports in Madison.

🥏 What Is Ultimate, Anyway?

“It’s not the one with dogs, and it’s not the one with disc golf,” Pete told Hayley. (We’ll get into the golf part later.) Ultimate is a non-contact team sport, with seven players on a side, played on a field about the length of a football field, but narrower.

A player holding the disc (the “thrower”) cannot move, but has to pass to another player to move the disc up the field. The goal is to have one of your players catch the disc in the other team’s end zone.

🏆 The Ultimate Playoffs

The Madison Radicals didn’t make the championships this year, but they’ve had a solid reputation in the league since their inception in 2013. The Radicals won five consecutive Western Division championships between 2014 and 2018, culminating in winning the league championship in 2018. Their 2025 season is over, and they will start their 2026 season next May.

The Championship Weekend will feature two semifinal games on Aug. 22, followed on Saturday by the Western Ultimate League (WUL) vs. Premier Ultimate League (PUL) All-Star Game, which will be the first official event between the premier women’s and non-binary leagues anywhere in the world. The UFA Championship Game takes place Saturday night. All the games will be livestreamed on UFAtv.

Surrounding the four games will be two days of youth clinics, gear demonstrations, and other fan activities at Breese Stevens Field.

👟 How to Play Ultimate in Madison

If watching the best Ultimate players in the world gives you the itch to play yourself, Madison has you covered. The Madison Ultimate Frisbee Association runs leagues in every season, including the “Polar Bear League” in the winter. The most popular, understandably, is the summer league, with over 3,500 players and 1,700 teams. The summer and fall leagues are co-ed.

Meet Nicky! Nicky is an adult “dwarf hamster,” which means he’s basically an adorable little sphere. What he lacks in size he makes up for in personality. He loves storing snacks in those cheek pouches, and sometimes has them loaded up when he runs on his wheel. He likes gentle pets, and would love some chew toys to help with his long teeth.

Dane County Humane Society is in its final week of the “Clear The Shelters” campaign, which means adoption fees for Nicky and other critters (along with barnyard fowl) is 50% off until Friday!