You have as part of your Isthmus package this week our annual guide to summer activity, SummerTimes. "Summer?" you may ask, "Where was the spring?" And rightly so. It's been a slow-starting spring season and, really, summer doesn't officially start until 6:51 a.m. on Saturday, June 21. But we offer this catalog of summer happenings and attractions in time for Memorial Day, all the better to get an early start on your summer planning.
But before we get too much further into this year, let's revisit 2013 one last time. This retrospection is occasioned by last weekend's ceremony for the Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism awards, at which Isthmus garnered five recognitions.
Jay Rath captured a bronze in the Best Public Service Story category for his timely "Biting Bad: Local Bedbug Infestations Wreak Havoc on Body and Soul," which we published on Oct. 10. Also awarded bronze, as Best Background, Analytical or Interpretive Story, was news editor Judith Davidoff for "He Smoked Some Weed As a Teenager. Now this Madison Father of Two Is Facing Deportation." She wrote the first of multiple stories on this topic in the July 3 issue. Eventually the subject, who immigrated to this country as a child, was able to avoid the "illegal immigrant" frenzy.
On April 26 of last year, Isthmus published a collaborative project with the UW School of Journalism entitled "Meet Madison," portraying a cross-section of city residents. It received a silver award as an example of Best Use of Multimedia. Isthmus received another silver in the Best Business Story division for "Capitalist with a Soul," former editor Marc Eisen's profile of Promega CEO Bill Linton and his "unconventional vision." It ran on Sept. 5.
Capping off a productive showing was Bruce Murphy's gold award for Best Single Editorial. Entitled "Less Power to the People," and published on April 26, it concerned the Republican-controlled Legislature's attempt to limit recall elections.
Congratulations to all the award winners, and thanks for demonstrating that Isthmus still deals in the right stuff.
