Isthmus Cover Stories
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Country love song
Bill and Bobbie Malone met in a tiny bar across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Forty years later the couple has become part of the fabric of Madison: writing books, performing music and creating the WORT-FM show “Back to the Country.” Read more
Nicole Taylor
The laureate next door
In January, Angela Trudell Vasquez became the seventh poet to hold the volunteer position of poet laureate of Madison. She’s a longtime social justice activist and poet of witness, but she is also a poet of play and of place. Read more
Feb 6, 2020
Alexei Vella
After the purge
With a “Wisconsin is open for business” mantra, former Gov. Scott Walker and legislative Republicans set a course to dramatically diminish the role of science in regulating and protecting Wisconsin’s abundant natural resources. Read more
Jan 30, 2020
Carolyn Fath Ashby
The most powerful man you don’t know
Joe Parisi has been running Dane County for close to a decade. He oversees an operating budget of $594 million, about 74 percent more than the city’s $341 million budget. Read more
Jan 23, 2020
Dylan Brogan
Last dance
Visions Night Club on East Wash closed its doors on Jan. 1 and isn’t expected to reopen. Staff writer Dylan Brogan reports on the strip club’s very last night. Read more
Jan 16, 2020
The fight for safe drinking water
The science is crystal clear: PFAS are a threat to human health. But are city officials listening as they deal with contamination in Madison’s water supply? Read more
Jan 9, 2020
Andrew Gibbs
2020 vision
As we begin a new decade, Madison’s creatives have big dreams for the future. We surveyed some movers and shakers, and found that their responses fell into several broad and significant categories. Read more
Jan 2, 2020
Take That 2019!
It’s that time of year again — Isthmus unloads on deserving targets with this year’s Cheap Shots. Read more
Dec 19, 2019
5:00 AM
James Heimer
Law & Disorder
The Dane County District Attorney’s Office used to be a plum job for prosecutors in the state. But many judges, attorneys and others say the office is struggling under Ismael Ozanne. Turnover is high, cases are getting tossed and morale is low. Read more
Dec 12, 2019
5:01 AM
John December
Civic envy
Many Madisonians have long pined for a public market and a modern mass transit system. Meanwhile, roughly 80 miles away, Milwaukee has ticked both off of its to-do list. How did the city do it and what can Madison learn? Read more
Dec 5, 2019
5:01 AM
Carolyn Fath Ashby
The cat issue
Last year at Thanksgiving we put together a special issue celebrating Madison’s dogs, dog people, and dog culture. What happened was predictable, we suppose. The cats demanded equal time. And why shouldn’t they? Read more
Nov 27, 2019
5:01 AM
Margaret Johnson
Second chance
With adoptions, foster homes, a barn cat program and low-cost spays and neuters, the Madison Cat Project is trying to keep more cats alive. Read more
Nov 27, 2019
5:00 AM
Trending
Changing the narrative
It has been a difficult year for the Madison school district. We asked school board candidates what would it take to change the narrative. Read more
Supreme consequences
Dane County Judge Jill Karofsky and law professor Ed Fallone are challenging incumbent Dan Kelly for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Read more
Evers’ Hail Mary
The governor has announced that he’s appointing a nonpartisan commission to draw new legislative maps. Unfortunately, the Republican Legislature will do everything it can to undermine a fair process. Read more
Masterful sounds on a miserably cold night
A musical “conversation” between Pinchas Zukerman, Amanda Forsyth and the Madison Symphony Orchestra warms Overture Hall on a chilly Valentine’s Day. Read more
Country love song
Bill and Bobbie Malone met in a tiny bar across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Forty years later the couple has become part of the fabric of Madison: writing books, performing music and creating the WORT-FM show “Back to the Country.” Read more
