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Tuesday, December 30, 2014 |  Madison, WI: 13.0° F  A Few Clouds
The Daily

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Win tickets to Isthmus Wisconsin Punk Fest, Isthmus Wisconsin Funk Fest, more!

Isthmus is giving away another round of free tickets to amazing concerts, shows and more fun events! >More
 Citizen Dave: The biggest issue of 2014 and beyond is non-representative government

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
Madison Snaps: December 30, 2014

Today's image titled "viewing" was photographed by Chris Collins. >More
 A look ahead to Wisconsin craft beer in 2015: Breweries around Madison

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

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
 Fifteen memorable 2014 concerts in Madison and its Midwestern neighbors

Maybe it was happenstance. Maybe it was the surge line of a big trend. Either way, 2014 was the Year of the Woman for the more than 60 concerts I saw. >More
 Madison Snaps: December 29, 2014

Today's image titled "thankful for togetherness" was photographed by Chris Collins. >More
Vinyl Cave: Aerial Ballet by Nilsson

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
 Madland: Policy pandering could make a bad 2015-16 session in the Wisconsin Legislature even worse

One old saw about the Wisconsin Legislature is that the Assembly is apt to charge ahead -- its members are up for election every two years, so they are desperate to pick up policy wins quickly. Their relatively compact districts also make it easier for an extremist to get elected. >More
 Gooseberry on the Square to open on ground floor of U.S. Bank building

The vacant restaurant space on the ground floor of the U.S. Bank building on Capitol Square, formerly occupied by the Sunprint Cafe, has a new tenant working toward a spring 2015 opening. >More
 Mama Madison: Time for New Year's 2015 resolutions

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!

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
Madison Snaps: December 26, 2014

Today's image titled "winter ice shrubs" was photographed by Aistis Tumas. >More
 Madison Snaps: December 25, 2014

Today's image titled "Christmas on the Square" was photographed by Steven Bauer. >More
 Madison Snaps: December 24, 2014

Today's image titled "untitled" was photographed by Chris Collins. >More
 Clarinetist Joseph Morris is splendid in Middleton Community Orchestra's 2014 holiday concert

The December holidays mean the concert calendar is full of music no one would think of tolerating any other time of the year. Who wants to hear "Silent Night" or "White Christmas" in July? >More
 How the #SweetScientists Amy DeJong and Maya Warren won The Amazing Race

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?

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
 Madison Snaps: December 23, 2014

Today's image titled "Capitol Tree" was photographed by Michael Leland. >More
 Cheap Shots and 2014 in arts, music and food in the December 23 issue of Isthmus

What can you find in this week's Isthmus? Highlights from the latest issue follow. >More
 Isthmus Picks: Madison calendar for December 23, 2014 - January 9, 2015

Here are this week's Isthmus Picks. The Guide provides an extended listing of events in and around Madison. >More
 Lessons learned from daring wilderness travel

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

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
 'Twas a night in Wisconsin

Twas a night in Wisconsin, when all through the state,
Not a conservative was feeling anything but great. >More
 Housing co-ops in Madison facing internal crisis over rent strike

Ava Jindra can't take much more. An internal fight over the management of the Madison Community Cooperative, an organization that owns 11 housing co-ops, has left Jindra and many others feeling defeated. >More
 Citizen Dave: The Cargo Bike Shop is ready to outfit workhorses

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
 Madison Snaps: December 22, 2014

Today's image titled "mona lisa street art" was photographed by Steven Bauer. >More
 Drummer John O.Reilly stays busy making music with Trans-Siberian Orchestra

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!

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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
 How Chris Farley came out of Madison to conquer the world

In the 1980s, I lived near a tiny theater in downtown Madison called Ark Improv. A comedian named Chris Farley performed in this converted garage, and the place seemed way too small for him. >More
 Madison Snaps: December 18, 2014

Today's image titled "window peeping sunday morning" was photographed by Steven Bauer. >More
 Yang Sao Xiong, Enbridge, New Year's parties, Doolittle's in the December 18 issue of Isthmus

What can you find in this week's Isthmus? Highlights from the latest issue follow. >More
 Isthmus Picks: Madison calendar for December 18-25, 2014

Here are this week's Isthmus Picks. The Guide provides an extended listing of events in and around Madison. >More
 A Book A Week: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

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
 > PREVIOUS DAILY POSTS

CITIZEN DAVE

Citizen Dave: The biggest issue of 2014 and beyond is non-representative government

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
Citizen Dave: The Cargo Bike Shop is ready to outfit workhorses

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
Citizen Dave: My first venison dinner of the season

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
Citizen Dave: Let's drop the 'student-athlete' pretense for big-time college sports

When now-former Wisconsin Badgers football coach Gary Andersen unexpectedly caught the last train for the West Coast, one of the reasons suggested by pundits was that the UW has tougher academic standards for its players than a lot of other schools. >More
Citizen Dave: A lack of strong leadership is dooming Judge Doyle Square

In my view, good politicians keep their political capital balance just slightly in the black. Politicians who do nothing but hoard political capital may be popular, but they accomplish little, while those who are profligate spenders of it find themselves out of office and unable to accomplish anything. >More
Citizen Dave: Ferguson, body cameras and black incarceration in Wisconsin

Outside of Bobby Kennedy's impromptu speech upon the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I don't think I've ever heard or read a white liberal say anything useful about race. >More
Citizen Dave: Mayor Soglin's budget veto threat is good theatrics but bad government

There are two problems with Mayor Paul Soglin's threat to veto the city's 2015 budget, one substantive and the other strategic. >More
Citizen Dave: On being the loyal opposition

With the fall elections (mercifully) behind us it's time to look forward to local elections next spring. As we get ready for that, Isthmus editors have asked me to state why I think it's important that I share my criticisms of Madison Mayor Paul Soglin. So, here goes. >More
Citizen Dave: Wisconsin Democrats can look forward to 2016

I'm still sifting through the wreckage of last week's election. I promise this is the last time I'll write about it for awhile. After all, deer season is almost upon us! >More
Citizen Dave: Forthrightness is the prescription for what ails Democrats

The darkest moment in the 2014 midterm campaign was when Allison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky's Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, refused to admit that she had voted for President Obama. >More
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