🏫 Mnookin Leaving UW For Columbia

📣 Madisonians Rally Against ICE

• Hundreds of people braved frigid temperatures to gather at the Wisconsin State Capitol building Sunday afternoon in protest of the increasingly violent federal immigration enforcement happening around the country.
• The protest was sparked by the killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis on Saturday. Pretti was an intensive care nurse at the Veterans Administration and graduated from Green Bay’s Preble High School in 2006.
• We want to know: What questions do you have about ICE, immigration, law enforcement, and community action at this time? Help inform our coverage as we follow this story. Send us an email at [email protected]. [WPR, City Cast Twin Cities, Fox 11]

🏫 Chancellor Mnookin Leaving UW For Columbia University

• UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin will leave the school at the end of the 2025-26 school year to become president of Columbia University in New York City.
• Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman said he will name an interim chancellor soon to replace Mnookin, who has served as chancellor since 2022, and a search for a permanent successor will begin later this year.
• Last summer, Columbia University agreed to a $221 million settlement with the federal government after the Trump administration accused it of antisemitism. The university did not admit wrongdoing, but said it would take steps to curb antisemitism on campus, and the agreement unlocked $1.3 billion in frozen federal funding. [UW-Madison, NPR]

🚲 Southern Wisconsin Bike Trails To Link Up in 2027

• Ever wanted to go all the way from Madison to Waukesha without leaving a bike trail? It may soon be a reality, as work to connect southern Wisconsin’s bike trails is set to kick off next year.
• Madison and Dane County will start the first phase by connecting Madison’s trail network to the Glacial Drumlin Bike Trail. Currently, there’s a five-mile gap between the end of the Glacial Drumlin trail in Cottage Grove and Madison’s Capital City Trail.
• Once completed, someone could ride from Waukesha through Madison to the Illinois state line via the Badger State Trail, or to Dodgeville via the Military Ridge Trail.
• Ready to hit the road? We’ve got some hot tips for winter biking. [Cap Times, City Cast Madison]

💻 6,000 Wisconsin Patient Records Fraudulently Sold

• Verona-based Epic Systems says that the medical records of 6,000 Wisconsinites were among files fraudulently accessed and sold by a group of health information companies.
• Epic alleged in a lawsuit that Health Gorilla allowed companies to access and market over 300,000 patient records without the patients’ awareness or consent.
• The lawsuits says the records were sold to attorneys, who sift through them looking for potential clients. [Cap Times]

Veterans Memorial Coliseum, once known as Dane County Coliseum, is about to enter a new era. The concert promoter FPC Live / Live Nation has proposed investing $100 million to transform the aging arena into a modern entertainment destination that would attract tourists and drive economic activity.

On the City Cast Madison podcast today, host Bianca Martin talks with Nick Pjevach, chair of the Madison Arts Commission, who says the county should be cautious before entering into a public-private partnership over the Coliseum.

But how did we get here? Here’s a look back at how the Coliseum got started, some of the biggest names to play on its stages, and what comes next.

A Fair Start

The Coliseum’s history dates back to 1895, when the county and the Agriculture Society purchased 250 acres of land to be home to the Dane County Fair. Over the ensuing decades, roads, parking lots, and other services were added to the site, and the Dane County Expo Center (renamed the Alliant Energy Center) opened in 1951.

But it wasn’t until 1967 that the Coliseum itself was built, becoming the home for UW men’s hockey, the World Dairy Expo, and Zor Shrine Circus. The Coliseum had a reputation for being the loudest college hockey arena in the country, and reportedly it was the place where the “sieve” chant (taunting an opposing goalie who lets a puck into the net) was started.

Elvis Has Entered the Building

Local concert promoters Herb and Sylvia Frank, who had been managing local theaters like the Capitol Theater and the Majestic Theatre, contracted with the county to run the Coliseum box office.

What was originally known as Madison Ticket Agency grew into Frank Productions, and the Franks brought big-name acts to Madison, including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, and more. (Frank Productions evolved to become FPC Live, so the renovation would in some ways bring the Coliseum full circle.)

The shows led to some historic moments in Madison music history. In 1977, on the way to his hotel before playing at the Coliseum, Presley reportedly witnessed a fight at a local gas station. He jumped out of his limousine and posed in a karate stance. A plaque commemorates the incident.

Frank became close friends with several of the performers he worked with, especially Cash. In a Coliseum show in 1982, Cash tricked Frank into coming on stage and then tied him to a chair as a prank.