11.14 Friday
Callen Harty, artistic director of Broom Street Theater, suffers a heart attack during the middle of a play. Harty was taken to the hospital minutes after curtain call. He was later discharged.
The Simpson Street Free Press, a free newspaper produced by Dane County youth, wins a national award from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. The paper is honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., with First Lady Laura Bush.
11.17 Monday
The Dane County Board passes a $493 million budget for 2009. The budget includes funding for the troubled 911 Center and to hire three new child protective services social workers. An amendment to spend $2 million for new emergency radios for municipalities fails.
Nancy Mistele, 55, a former Madison school board member, announces she will challenge Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk next spring. Mistele criticizes Falk's management of the county's 911 Center, which mishandled two calls this year. Spencer Zimmermann, who had also planned to run against Falk, says he's changed his mind.
11.18 Tuesday
Ryan Dutter, 36, of Middleton, allegedly shoots and kills his 12-year-old son, Kyle, before turning the gun on himself. Dutter is hospitalized, and later dies. Police say he has a history of financial problems.
R. Alta Charo, a prominent UW professor, is appointed to Barack Obama's transition team to review federal health policy. Charo is a bioethicist who has studied stem cell issues.
The city of Madison releases an internal report showing it saves $1.4 million annually with its new automated pickup of garbage and recycling.
Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser orders a new competency evaluation for Ee Lee, 24, who is accused of murdering her infant daughter in 2007. Prosecutors asked for the new hearing after Lee was moved from Mendota Mental Health Institute to a group home and a doctor said she appeared competent.
Rebecca Young dies at the age of 74. Young served on the Dane County Board, the Madison school board and for seven terms in the state Assembly.
11.19 Wednesday
The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council releases the results of a statewide audit showing that requesters seeking basic information from government officials encountered problems or rejections three out of 10 times. In Dane County, four of five agencies fully complied; the lone exception was the Madison school board, which gave a requester a hard time getting the minutes of closed meetings.
The Sequoya Library finally reopens. The library had been closed for longer than expected while it moved into a new space.
Compiled from local media
