UP: Dave Cieslewicz. Madison's mayor apparently was on to something when he dropped out of the U.S. Conference of Mayors five years ago and helped start the Mayors Innovation Project instead. The group, which brings together officials from 90 municipalities, is meeting in Madison this summer. The project is described as an informal opportunity for mayors to share ideas on transportation, poverty, and other issues.
DOWN: Robert Morlino. Madison's bishop blames birth control pills for the Catholic Church's sex-abuse scandals. Morlino, in comments recently published in the Madison Catholic Herald, says the pill has led to a "general lowering of morality." Morlino also suggested that because some clergy decided to follow their own conscience on issues such as birth control, rather than the Church's teachings, "it's not surprising that some priests and some bishops started to follow their own conscience in terms of sexual misconduct."
