Citizen Dave: The biggest issue of 2014 and beyond is non-representative government Dave Cieslewicz on Tuesday 12/30/2014 9:12 am In the final issue of Isthmus for 2014, I wrote about what I considered to be the top 10 stories of the year that would have the most impact in 2015 and beyond. I listed the top three as Governor Walker's reelection, the big Republican majorities in the Wisconsin Legislature, and local reactions to the Ferguson protests, in that order. I now wish to revise and extend my remarks. >More
A look ahead to Wisconsin craft beer in 2015: Breweries around Madison Robin Shepard on Monday 12/29/2014 2:00 pm Wisconsin craft breweries are gearing up for another great year in 2015, extending a period of unprecedented growth in the industry. This boom is evident around the entire state, but is particularly concentrated in Madison and the surrounding region, home to four of Wisconsin's seven largest craft operations and a bumper crop of start-ups. >More
Taste and vote in the homebrew contest at Isthmus Beer and Cheese Fest 2015 on Monday 12/29/2014 12:00 pm Isthmus Beer and Cheese Fest is known for showcasing breweries from across Wisconsin, but it likewise offers a chance to taste creations cooked up by a handful of top home brewers around Madison. Once again, Isthmus is proud to present its homebrew contest at the festival, which will be held at the Alliant Energy Center Exhibition Hall on Saturday, January 17. >More
Vinyl Cave: Aerial Ballet by Nilsson Bob Koch on Sunday 12/28/2014 8:00 am Along with the resurgence of vinyl reissues overwhelming the market in recent years has come a surprising amount of LPs featuring mono mixes, and not just for albums that don't have a good (or any) stereo mix. >More
Mama Madison: Time for New Year's 2015 resolutions Aimee Ogden on Friday 12/26/2014 1:32 pm New Year's resolutions are hard to keep. In fact, something around 90% of people fail every year! But one way that you can increase your odds of victory is to get other people involved. >More
Tell All: Turn off your damn cellphone! Tell All on Friday 12/26/2014 12:00 pm Dear Tell All: I was at a concert recently at the Overture Center, and the person in front of me spent most of the evening filming the event on her cell phone. I tried to ignore it, but in the dark room, I couldn't keep from focusing on the shaky, lit-up screen three feet away from me. >More
How the #SweetScientists Amy DeJong and Maya Warren won The Amazing Race Chris Lay on Tuesday 12/23/2014 1:07 pm If you're reading this, it's very likely that you followed Amy DeJong and Maya Warren as they traveled from New York to Los Angeles, taking the long way around the world, in a quest to win $1 million on the 25th season of The Amazing Race. Labeled the #SweetScientists by CBS, they visited 20 cities in eight nations over the span of about three weeks. >More
Isthmus on WORT: Can Dane County get Enbridge to insure Line 61? on Tuesday 12/23/2014, (1) Comment Isthmus news editor Joe Tarr reported on Enbridge's plans to expand Line 61's capacity and what the county's role is in the approval process in the December 18 issue, and discussed his story with WORT producer Dylan Brogan on that day's edition of In Our Backyard. >More
Lessons learned from daring wilderness travel Julie Buckles on Monday 12/22/2014 7:51 pm In the winter of 2013, my boss handed me a copy of Wild by Cheryl Strayed -- for obvious reasons. Strayed and I had both completed daring wilderness trips in the late 1990s. Strayed hiked 1,100 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail; I paddled 1,700 miles on the Voyageur Highway. >More
Union drive divides progressive Willy Street Co-op Dylan Brogan on Monday 12/22/2014 2:07 pm Workers at the Willy Street Co-op were set to vote on whether to form a union this month. But on Dec. 15, United Food & Commercial Workers abruptly canceled the election, accusing the co-op's management team of violating federal labor laws and the neutrality agreement negotiated between management and the union. >More
Citizen Dave: The Cargo Bike Shop is ready to outfit workhorses Dave Cieslewicz on Monday 12/22/2014 10:48 am When you think of bicycles, it's likely that the first images to come to mind are super-fit Lycra-clad racers in summer or maybe bundled-up urban hipsters in winter. But Tim Staton wants you to think of a bike as a workhorse too. >More
Drummer John O.Reilly stays busy making music with Trans-Siberian Orchestra Michael Popke on Sunday 12/21/2014 4:36 pm Drummer John O.Reilly may have one of the coolest jobs in rock. He's spent the past dozen years touring each November through early January with one of two traveling versions of the holiday rock-opera extravaganza Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and he's gigged with everyone from Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and Blue Oyster Cult to Yoko Ono and the late Richie Havens. >More
The Amazing Race 25, Episode 12: The #SweetScientists come from behind, play smart, and win! Chris Lay on Saturday 12/20/2014 5:13 pm When I pitched recapping the 25th season of The Amazing Race to Isthmus, all I wanted was to get paid to watch TV. That's the American Dream, right? I honestly hadn't thought about the possibility that contestants Amy DeJong and Maya Warren, a pair of students in UW-Madison's Food Science doctoral program, would actually make it all the way to the finale, much less come from behind to win it all. >More
Comedian Nate Craig enjoys a hometown holiday with standup and Townie Fest Alan Talaga on Saturday 12/20/2014 10:22 am Nate Craig has Madison in his blood. He was born here, and attended both West High School and UW-Madison. While Craig is open about the love he has for his hometown, it's hard to make a career in comedy living in Dane County. That's why he moved to California, where he now works as a writer and warm-up comedian for MTV's Ridiculousness. >More
Tell All: Where do I draw the line when my daughter dresses too sexy? Tell All on Friday 12/19/2014 12:00 pm Dear Tell All: My sweet little girl has turned into a teenager -- with a vengeance. At 16, she's obsessed with guys, along with the way she looks. This whole thing has been building up since middle school, but recently it's reached crisis proportions. >More
Give a gift of tickets to Isthmus Beer & Cheese Fest 2015 on Friday 12/19/2014 10:00 am What better way to show that you care? Tickets to the sixth annual Isthmus Beer & Cheese Fest make an ideal holiday gift for... well, your family, your friends, and even yourself! >More
Madison Snaps: December 19, 2014 on Friday 12/19/2014 7:00 am Today's image titled "Short Morning at Short Stack" was photographed by Paul T. McMahon. >More
Citizen Dave: My first venison dinner of the season Dave Cieslewicz on Thursday 12/18/2014 3:35 pm It was fate. The other night I came home to find a postcard from the Wisconsin DNR. The doe I shot on the first day of gun deer season in November had tested negative for chronic wasting disease. >More
Mama Madison: Talking about race with Families for Justice Jessica Burfield on Thursday 12/18/2014 1:36 pm Like many parents, I look at the wide world around my kids and do my best to prepare them for life. We talk about working hard, being kind and responsible, Internet safety, stranger danger, and the (gulp) birds and the bees. But what about a topic such as race? >More
Madison Snaps: December 18, 2014 on Thursday 12/18/2014 7:00 am Today's image titled "window peeping sunday morning" was photographed by Steven Bauer. >More
A Book A Week: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer Becky Holmes on Wednesday 12/17/2014 6:00 pm Annihilation is the first book in The Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer. It tells the story of the 12th expedition to Area X, the (fictional) site of a mysterious ecological disaster, located somewhere in the southern U.S. >More
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