Housing: Help out of the subprime crisis It's possible to negotiate solutions short of foreclosure Mary Ellen Bell on Thursday 05/08/2008, (1) Recommendation Alicia Emerson always dreamed about owning her own home. But what she bought was a house of cards. >More
NEWS
Did Madison cops miss chance to catch Joel Marino killer? Witness says he saw suspect again, but police didn't seem to care Jason Shepard on Thursday 05/08/2008, (14) Recommendations A key witness in the Joel Marino murder investigation says he saw Marino's killer walking along West Shore Drive six weeks ago, but he believes police did not take his call seriously. >More'Short-staffed almost always' Dispatchers defend former colleague, rip 911 Center management Jason Shepard on Thursday 05/08/2008, (2) Recommendations Former Dane County 911 dispatchers say it easily could have been them who forgot to call back a silent 911 call, and they fear that the dispatcher who failed to send police in response to murder victim Brittany Zimmermann's call for help will be made a scapegoat. >MoreThe high cost of dementia County's Mendota admissions rise as population gets older Vikki Kratz on Thursday 05/08/2008, (1) Recommendation The number of adults that Dane County sent to Mendota Mental Health Institute spiked 77% last year. The state-run facility took in 271 adults from Dane County in 2007, compared with just 153 in 2006. >MoreHousing: Help out of the subprime crisis It's possible to negotiate solutions short of foreclosure Mary Ellen Bell on Thursday 05/08/2008, (1) Recommendation Alicia Emerson always dreamed about owning her own home. But what she bought was a house of cards. >More
MUSIC
Roy Elkins: Rock the vote Roy Elkins of Broadjam oversees the MAMAs' Internet selection process Rich Albertoni on Friday 05/09/2008, (1) Recommendation When presenters ask "May I have the envelope, please" at music awards shows, there's a good chance Roy Elkins will be the guy handing it over. >MoreJames McMurtry: 'Cheney's toy' James McMurtry takes on George W. Bush Rich Albertoni on Friday 05/09/2008, (1) Recommendation Austin folk-rocker James McMurtry turned 46 this spring. He's been making records since John Mellencamp produced his first album in 1989. McMurtry's career got a second wind in 2005, thanks to politics. His song "We Can't Make It Here" became a post-NAFTA rust-belt anthem. >MoreMadison Bach Musicians: That was then Bach's 'Mass in B Minor' gets a period treatment John W. Barker on Friday 05/09/2008, (2) Recommendations For years, Trevor Stephenson's Madison Bach Musicians have been presenting Bach cantatas and concertos, thereby establishing Madison's first continuing laboratory for period-style performance of Baroque music. It's time the press took full notice of them, and what better occasion than their most ambitious venture so far. >More
911 snafu: Secrets and lies Officials respond badly to Brittany Zimmermann call revelations Bill Lueders on Thursday 05/08/2008, (2) Recommendations The moment authorities realized that Brittany Zimmermann called 911 before being beaten and stabbed to death on April 2, they should have admitted this publicly and explained what went wrong. >More
Opinion
Housing: Why the bubble popped Housing advocates and the feds oversold the value of ownership Bill Perkins on Thursday 05/08/2008, (1) Comment, (1) Recommendation It's hard to open a newspaper or watch TV without confronting the foreclosure crisis and its impact on the economy. The problem is that only part of the story is being told. >More
News
Housing: The hurt is on Real estate agents here feel the effects of a depressed housing market Rick Berg on Thursday 05/08/2008, (2) Recommendations The official word from the Madison real estate community is that houses are still selling and the deleterious effects of the national housing slump have largely passed us by. The truth is that the local market is hurting, and there's a deep and growing anxiety that things will get worse. >More
Opinion
Housing: The mayor's bad idea Merging the housing authorities could backfire Andy Heidt on Thursday 05/08/2008, (1) Recommendation Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's recent proposal to merge the city and county housing authorities smacks of an epiphany arising during a late-night card game. His idea to open the approximately $4 million Affordable Housing Trust to funding projects outside of Madison is equally mind blowing. I am compelled to comment on both. >More
Lucia di Lammermoor: Mad about you Lovers go over the edge Sandy Rucker-Tabachnick on Friday 05/09/2008, (1) Recommendation Overture Hall will shiver with murder and madness this weekend when the Madison Opera presents its premiere of Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti. Librettist Salvatore Cammarano based this tragic opera on Sir Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor, a tale of two feuding families, the Ashtons and the Ravenswoods, and their struggle to maintain power amid political turmoil. >MoreThe Nerd: Be my guest An Army buddy refuses to leave Jennifer A. Smith on Friday 05/09/2008, (1) Recommendation These days, the word "nerd" conjures up images of a gently inept dork, someone who enjoys Dungeons & Dragons or tinkering with computers a little too much. But in Larry Shue's The Nerd, now playing at Madison Repertory Theatre, the misfit of the title is really more of a jerk. He's clueless about other people's feelings, wipes his nose with toilet paper found stuck on his shoe — and he just might stay at Willum Cubbert's tasteful home for good, if Willum doesn't take serious action. >MoreThe better to eat you with The women plan to devour the men on Survivor Dean Robbins on Friday 05/09/2008, (2) Recommendations Survivor took a turn for the macabre at the end of April. The women banded together against the men in what they gleefully called "the Black Widow Brigade." Suddenly, the series didn't seem like a harmless game anymore. The women were treating it like a bloody sacrificial rite, with murder in their eyes. >MoreThe wheel world: Grand Theft Auto 4 Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Rated Mature Doug Elfman on Friday 05/09/2008, (1) Recommendation Grand Theft Auto 4 is a great game, though it does start slow and boring. (Do you really have to shoot pool and go bowling? Seriously?) >More
Where are you, Christian Bale? Public Enemies brings gawkers and gangsters to the Capitol Erica Pelzek on Friday 05/09/2008, (2) Recommendations Christian Bale strolled out of the East Washington entrance of the Capitol on Monday, sporting a sharply lined dark suit and slicked hair. He was here with Billy Crudup and a big Hollywood crew to shoot scenes for the gangster film Public Enemies, set in the 1930s. Vintage cars lined Pinckney Street, and extras milled around in long coats and fedoras. >MoreIron Man: Heavy metal Hard on the outside, soft on the inside Kent Williams on Friday 05/09/2008, (1) Recommendation From the Marvel Comics library comes Iron Man, a superhero epic starring Robert Downey Jr. as a weapons designer who, after nearly being killed by a bomb that literally has his name on it, retools himself as a knight in shining armor. Iron not being all that shiny, Downey's suit is sheathed in gold-plated titanium. >More
Locavore pastoral A summit looks at green eating in the countryside Terese Allen on Friday 05/09/2008, (1) Recommendation If news about the local foods movement seems to be everywhere these days, that's partly because so much of it is unfolding right before your eyes. Madison has the reputation as an epicenter of sustainable eating, a place where there's broad access to, and escalating support for, family farms and local fare. >MoreTalkin' baseball, and smoked brisket There's more than red hots at Mallards park Kenneth Burns on Friday 05/09/2008, (1) Recommendation Summer is coming, and soon it will be time for fun at the old ballpark, along with favorite ballpark foods: hot sausages, cold beer and...sushi? >More
SPORTS & RECREATION
Have you seen the bridge? The city's network of bike paths grows David Medaris on Thursday 05/08/2008, (1) Recommendation A bike route along the Yahara River from Lake Mendota to Lake Monona. Another along the west branch of Starkweather Creek, bridging East Washington and Aberg avenues. A safe route to Chavez Elementary School, on the southwest side. And the Marsh View Bike Path, skirting the marsh north of Madison Metro's east transfer point. >More
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