🏥 Planned Parenthood pauses abortion services

🏗️ Construction Begins on Seven20 Apartment Building

• Workers broke ground this week on a 14-story apartment building, Seven20, on East Washington Avenue. The project will feature 244 apartments, space for four ground-floor businesses, and amenities that include a private movie theater, a pool, a dog park, and more. The building is scheduled to open in May 2027.
• 🎧 Dig deeper: We talk a lot about downtown construction on today’s Friday news roundup! The future of the former Madison College site downtown and the plight of a UW-Madison fraternity without a home figure in. We also talk about how fans are feeling bad about the UW Badgers disappointing season, and how we’re feeling great about all our new City Cast Madison Neighbors. Listen in! [InBusiness, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

🏥 Planned Parenthood Wisconsin Pauses Abortion Services

• Abortions will be put on hold beginning Oct. 1 at all Planned Parenthood locations in Wisconsin following the passage of President Donald Trump’s budget bill, which included steep cuts to Medicaid and a provision to defund the organization.
• Clinics will work to serve as many patients as possible before the deadline, officials said. Planned Parenthood has 24 health care centers throughout Wisconsin serving 60,000 patients annually. The move comes ironically after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the state’s 1849 abortion ban.
• 🎧 They warned us: PPWI CEO Tanya Atkinson and the manager of Planned Parenthood - Madison South Health Center, Tenisha Garner, went on the City Cast Madison podcast recently to talk about how Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” could restrict abortion access. [News 3, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

🏡 Dairy Drive Encampment Will Be Cleared Out Friday

• City workers plan to demolish the Dairy Drive homeless encampment this week, displacing more than 20 current residents. The occupants have to be gone from the camp by Friday, and tearing it down will cost $220,000.
• 🎧 Dig deeper: Brenda Konkel, director of Madison Street Medicine, talked about the impact of losing Dairy Drive on the City Cast Madison podcast. [WMTV, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

🧑‍⚕️ Health Care Workers Warn Of Overdose Spike

• On Sept. 24, Public Health of Madison Dane County issued a public health alert following five confirmed overdose response calls in the previous 24 hours.
• No reason has been found for the sudden spike in overdoses, although health officials speculate that a different combination of street drugs might have become available. Health officials recommend that residents who use drugs, or know somebody who does, learn the signs of overdosing and what to do.
• 🎧 Related listening: What triggers a public health overdose alert? Public health supervisor Julia Olsen gave us the details. [City of Madison, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

Meet Jimmy! Jimmy is part terrier and part chihuahua, and the chihuahua part of him does not love Wisconsin winters. (They’re even worse than his previous home in Alaska!) Some cold days he just flat-out refuses to go outside. But he loves warm weather and getting outside to try to chase bunnies and what look like GIANT squirrels.