Not every story can go viral or break the internet. Some stories fly under the radar, accomplishing important work and telling vital stories with little fanfare. Sometimes too little fanfare. Here, Isthmus section editors pick the stories that they feel deserve more spotlight.
Linda Falkenstein, features editor
Starting with its great headline, "The pursuit of hoppiness" is a compelling story that brings together an obsessed scientist, down-to-earth Wisconsin farmers, a cult product (super-popular hoppy craft beer IPAs) and the state's storied beer history. Reporter Dylan Brogan spent the day with horticulturalist James Altwies and hop farmers at Bill Arendt's family farm in Nekoosa during the fall hop harvest. The result is a story that gets to the heart of agriculture — a word that comes from the Latin ager, field, and cultura, cultivation, with its further connection to culture. Altwies' new hops varieties certainly are a modern exemplar of that connection, between the fertile fields of Wisconsin and a culture that craves ever more novel hoppy beers.
Judith Davidoff, editor in chief
Marc Eisen’s “Two Wisconsins” was a dynamo of a cover story (first in a two-part series) that laid out, in stark and compelling fashion, just how unevenly Wisconsin’s cities and regions have bounced back from the 2008 economic recession. To make a long story short, Dane County and Waukesha are thriving; Milwaukee and small towns in northern Wisconsin are not. I know I’m not the only one who was surprised by the disparities and anecdotes Eisen compiled to make his very convincing case. As stories go, it was widely read and highly praised, so it might not technically qualify as an underdog story of 2017. But it does so in one sense: Like much good, unbiased investigative work these days, it appears to be making little impact on the people in power — like our own Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who recently signed into law his Mining for America Act, which eliminates Wisconsin’s mining moratorium. In doing so, he suggested on Twitter that the law should really be called the “Keep Our Kids in Wisconsin” act, “as it gives one more reason to pursue a career in northern Wisconsin.” Millennials for mining, who knew?
Joe Tarr, news editor
Dane County judges seem to have a big problem with how District Attorney Ismael Ozanne does his job. That’s become increasingly clear from a series of courtroom spats between judges and prosecutors. In three articles, Bill Lueders, former Isthmus news editor and now a contributor, examined how the turmoil is clogging up the wheels of justice. One story detailed how Judge Josann Reynolds tossed charges against an Oakhill inmate accused sexual assault after the case languished for more than two years. Reynolds lectured Ozanne: “It appears to me that the only interest that the district attorney’s office is taking into consideration is its own interest and its complete, cavalier disregard of the defendant’s rights.” Another reported on how three alleged armed robbers walked free because Judge William Hanrahan said the DA’s office mishandled the case. The judge took the unusual step of writing the victim to explain himself. Days later, Hanrahan dismissed charges in another case, saying prosecutors were again unprepared. The stories were troubling to read — and it’s disappointing more people didn’t see them.
Catherine Capellaro, arts editor
I’d heard about the work of a couple of renowned physical theater artists who somehow relocated from London and Paris to a tiny church outside Spring Green, so I was excited when Craig Johnson wanted to write about Theatre de l’Ange Fou (Theater of the Crazy Angel). We sent Craig to check out a mind-blowing production of Eugene Ionesco’s “The Lesson,” starring talented newcomers (and family members) Dee King, Gail Grigg and Fiona King at the White Church Theatre. “I find myself in a waking dream,” Craig wrote in his feature “Church of the Absurd.” The theater’s founders, Steven Wasson and Corinne Soum, have quite an arts pedigree, and are creating some truly out-there collaborations with Kanopy dancers and other artists. It turns out Wasson grew up in Illinois and studied at the Valley School, between Dodgeville and Spring Green. In the 1970s, it was the only full-time mime and physical theater school in the United States. Would you look at that.