Isthmus to Northside: Drop dead!

For those of us on the Northside, a trip downtown, to campus, or the west side means taking Johnson and Gorham Streets. Our transportation infrastructure is designed specifically with that route in mind. And it's not just our cars - Metro runs six separate routes down that corridor for the people of north and northeast Madison.

It's long been rumored that residents on the upper Isthmus would like to dump us onto East Washington Avenue. What's different now is that the City is studying that very idea.

County Board no place for Tea Party antics

With shadows of last month's brinksmanship over the federal debt ceiling, most of the self-identified conservative minority on the Dane County Board are threatening a routine financing resolution. As the County Controller pointed out, the county uses this procedure every year to cover its fall obligations. The resolution requires a 3/4 vote because it involves financing, which is why the minority is able to hold it up.

Deadly shooting on Fordem

Yesterday morning, two young men were shot in the parking lot outside Camelot, on Fordem Avenue. Today we get the news that one of them has died and police believe a drug deal was involved.

A couple of weeks ago I talked about the importance of making public safety Madison's first priority as it crafts a truly challenging budget for 2012, in the shadow of a shooting on Ruskin. And this is not the first "targeted" shooting on Fordem...we remember last year's gang killing outside Webcrafters.

Two shootings in two weeks. Do we need any more reminders of the importance of giving our police the resources they need?

Neighborhood opposes bike boulevard

Tonight, the Sherman Neighborhood Association voted to oppose the Ruskin Street bike boulevard proposal, which falls within its boundaries. The association could be the first in Madison to express such an opinion on a proposed bike boulevard. Instead, it called for the City to maintain the current posted bike route, and to organize an overall Northside bike plan with community participation.

How about an awesomer Omaha?

Former mayor Dave Cieslewicz has a blog on Isthmus, and his post today is about how Madison should strive for becoming a New Urbanist mini-metroplis, lest we sink into the doldrums of the small-town Midwest. What I want to know is, why must we settle for such a Manichean choice?

Mayor's explosive budget quiet for Northside

This week Mayor Soglin released his proposed 2012 capital budget. Thus far the big item of contention is his major reduction of the City's TIF subsidy for the Edgewater Hotel project, which has created a firestorm of controversy and reopened this contentious issue. Meanwhile, there's not a whole lot in there that directly affects our part of town.

Legislature attacks local control on rental housing

The Cap Times' new city beat reporter has a blog post about a letter several local officials wrote to Gov. Walker about a proposed bill to override all local landlord-tenant ordinances. This is a terrible bill for the Northside, and for all of Madison.