City Cast Madison
🚗 Officials clash over how to fix Stoughton Road
September 8, 2025 · — Rob Thomas
Good morning, Madison! Returning UW-Madison students can only dream of eating as well as last semester’s students did. The Daily Cardinal reported that UW Dining spent $36,000 on a live lobster feast for students on meal plans on May 1.
It wasn’t a total hit. Some students were reportedly confused by how to eat the crustacean, and one called it “the worst thing I have ever eaten” 🦞
What's CITY Talking About?
🏘️ Behavior Complaints Rise Outside Social Justice Center
- In the first seven months of 2025, police responded to 130 calls at the Social Justice Center on Williamson Street for assault, harassment, drug use, and more. The center has become a place where individuals experiencing homelessness congregate outdoors, and the police response has prompted concerns from neighbors and for the city attorney to consider the building a public nuisance.
- 🎧 Dig deeper: The clash is an example of a broader problem in Madison about how to deal with the city’s growing homeless population. On the City Cast Madison podcast, host Bianca Martin talks to Brenda Konkel, treasurer of the Social Justice Center and executive director of Madison Street Medicine, about what the city should and shouldn’t be doing to address the issue. [Isthmus, 🎧 City Cast Madison]
🚨 Survivors Say Diocese Ignored Complaints Against Priest
- An abuse survivors group accused Diocese of Madison Bishop Donald Hying of ignoring complaints against a Madison priest, Andrew Showers, who has since been charged with a computer sex crime.
- Showers was arrested on Aug. 24 for allegedly attempting to arrange sex with a 14-year-old child online. Last week, a former UW-Madison student said she had filed a complaint in 2024 accusing Showers of sexually assaulting her at a bar in Chicago, but Hying refused to meet with her. Another complaint was filed with the diocese about Showers in 2021. [Fox 47]
🚗 What’s the Answer to Reducing Crashes on Stoughton Road?
- City and state officials agree that something needs to be done to reduce the number of car accidents on Stoughton Road between Highway 30 and the Beltline. But they differ on how to accomplish that task.
- City officials want to reduce traffic speeds and add a multi-use path to make the road safer for pedestrians and cyclists. But state officials prefer adding additional lanes to improve traffic flow.
- Over 1,200 crashes have been recorded on the four-mile stretch of road between 2017 and 2021, more than four times the statewide average on similar thoroughfares. [Cap Times]
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Morgridge Hall, the new $267 million building on the UW-Madison campus, will be home to what majors?
- Business
- Computer Science
- Biology
- Journalism (yeah, right)
What To Do
Monday, Sep. 8
- 💬 Cap Times Idea Fest at Memorial Union
- 🇵🇸 From Rubble We Dance at Bartell Theatre
- 🏃 Ironman Wisconsin 2025 at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center
- 🏗️ Lego Night at Working Draft Beer Company
- 🎤 Malcolm Todd at The Sylvee
Sponsored Content
Madison Public Library Releases 150th Anniversary Edition!
September is Library Card Sign-Up Month, encouraging community members to explore library resources and reminding current cardholders of their benefits.
📰 Extra! Extra! When we did an episode recently on the long-gone Madison restaurants we miss, Jolly Bob’s came up again and again. Well, while the aqua-blue restaurant isn’t coming back, a new cookbook, “Tropics & Tonics,” aims to replicate the recipes and the spirit of the Willy Street spot. Whip me up an Avo Cat and a Bob’s Rum Punch! 🍹
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